Chapter 4 - The Central Nervous System Flashcards Preview

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Flashcards in Chapter 4 - The Central Nervous System Deck (25)
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1
Q

What is the central nervous system?

A

The central nervous system comprises the brain and the spinal cord.

2
Q

what is the peripheral nervous system?

A

The peripheral nervous system includes all parts of the nervous system that lie outside the central nervous system; it links the central nervous system to all other parts of the body, carrying messages to and from the central nervous system.

3
Q

what is the cerebral cortex?

A

The cerebral cortex is involved with information-processing activities such as perception, language, learning, memory, thinking and problem solving. The cerebral cortex is also involved with planning and the control of voluntary bodily movements.

4
Q

what is the primary visual cortex?

A

the primary visual cortex is almost entirely involved with receiving and processing visual information from the eyes. (part of the cerebral cortex)

5
Q

what area are three main areas of the cerebral cortex?

A
  • various sensory cortex areas: receives and processes information from our different senses.
  • Motor Cortex area: receives, processes and sends information about voluntary bodily movements.
  • Association cortex area: receives and integrates sensory, motor and other information and is involved in the more complex mental abilities.
6
Q

what are the cerebral hemispheres?

A

The cerebral hemispheres are two almost-symmetrical brain structures that appear to be separated by a deep groove (longitudinal fissure) running from the front to the back of the brain.
The left hemisphere receives sensory information, and controls movements from the right side of the body.
The right hemisphere receives sensory information, and controls movements from the left side of the body.

7
Q

What is the Corpus callosum?

A

The corpus callosum is a band of nerve tissue that connects the left and right cerebral hemispheres and serves as the main communication pathway between them. its function is to act like a ‘bridge’ for neural messages between the two hemispheres.

8
Q

what are the four lobes of the cerebral cortex?

A
  • the frontal lobe
  • the parietal lobe
  • the occipital lobe
  • the temporal lobe
9
Q

what are sensory areas of the cerebral cortex

A

the sensory areas of the lobes receive and process information from the sensory receptors in the body. the sensory receptors are specialised neurons that detect and respond to a specific type of sensory information.

10
Q

What is the frontal lobe?

A

The frontal lobe is the largest of the four lobes and occupies the upper forward half of each cerebral hemisphere, right behind your forehead.

11
Q

What is the Primary Motor Cortex?

A

The primary motor cortex is specifically involved in controlling voluntary bodily movements through its control of the skeletal system. The primary motor cortex in the left frontal lobe controls the voluntary body movements on the right side and the right side of the lobe controls the voluntary body movements of the side left of the body.

12
Q

Describe Broca’s Area

A

Broca’s area is crucial in the production of fluent articulate speech. Which is located in the left hemisphere of the frontal lobe.

13
Q

Describe the Parietal Lobe

A

The Parietal Lobe in each hemisphere processes sensory information from the body and skin senses other sensory areas in the brain.

14
Q

Describe the Primary Somatosensory Cortex and state what lobe it is in

A

The primary somatosensory cortex is located in both sides of the parietal lobe and it receives and processes sensory information from the skin and body, enabling us to perceive bodily sensations
sensory information may include: touch, pressure and temperature, information about muscle movements and the position of limbs

15
Q

What is Homunculus?

A

Homunculus is a misshappened person whom represents the body parts in the terms of the relative size of the area each body part occupies along the primary somatosensory cortex

16
Q

What is and what roles do the Temporal Lobe part take in?

A

The Temporal Lobe is in each hemisphere and in primarily involved with auditory perception, it plays an important part in memory, aspects of visual perception such as our abilities to identify objects and recognise faces an our emotional responses to sensory information and memories.

17
Q

What is the Primary Auditory Cortex?

A

the Primary Auditory Cortex is in each temporal lobe and receives and processes sounds from both ears. the primary auditory cortex is also specialised to process different sounds. verbal sounds are mainly processed in the left hemisphere of the primary auditory cortex whereas non-verbal sounds such as music are processed in the right hemisphere of the primary auditory cortex.

18
Q

What is Wernicke’s Area?

A

Wernicke’s Area is located in the left hemisphere of the temporal lobe, it is involved in speech production but hs a more crucial role in comprehension of speech

19
Q

Describe the occipital lobe

A

the occipital lobe is devoted to the sense of vision

20
Q

What is the primary visual cortex?

A

the primary visual cortex is located both hemispheres of the occipital lobe and is the major destination of visual information from the two eyes

21
Q

List 5 specialisations from each hemisphere

A

Left Hemisphere specialises in verbal functions
-verbal tasks(reading, writing, speech and comprehension)
-Analysis (maths, sequential tasks, evaluations)
-Logical Reasoning
-Receives and process sensations in the right side of the body
-controls voluntary bodily movements in the right side of the body
Right Hemisphere specialises in non-verbal functions
-spatial and visual thinking (jig-saw puzzles, map reading)
-creativity and fantasy
-appreciation of art and music
-recognising emotions
-receive processing sensations for the left side of the body.

22
Q

What are the two major functions of the spinal Cord?

A
  • receives sensory information from the body and sends these messages to the brain.
  • receives information from the brain and sends the message to the relevant parts of the body to control the muscles, glands and internal organs.
23
Q

what is the difference between Broca’s Aphasia and Wernicke’s Aphasia?

A

Broca’s Aphasia is when a person has difficulty speaking, although the continue to have speech. people who have it can only speak very short sentences (3-4 words) mainly in verbs and nouns and are aware of their own language difficulties.
Whereas Wernicke’s Aphasia is when a person has difficulty comprehending speech and speaking in a meaningful way. Wernicke’s aphasia will often have fluent and grammatically correct speech however what is said is usually nonsense and have little or no conscious awareness or understanding of their condition.

24
Q

What is Spatial Neglect?

A

Spatial Neglect is an attentional disorder where an individual fails to notice anything either on their left or right side. They tend to behave as the other side does not exist. Spatial Neglect is most commonly observed when damage has occurred to the right hemisphere of the parietal lobe

25
Q

Explain what Split Brain Surgery is

A

Split Brain Surgery is involved with surgerically cutting the corpus callosum, which disconnects one hemisphere from the other hemisphere. This makes the two hemispheres unable to directly receive information from one another