occlusions
blockages of blood vessels
stroke
lack of blood flow to the brain caused by a clop or rupture of a blood vessel
ischemic stroke
swelling of blood vessels in the brain
hemorrhagic stroke
bleeding around/into the brain
transient ischemic attack (TIA)
resolution of acute neurological/stroke deficits within 24 hours
stroke symptoms (5)
- numbness/weakness of face, arms or legs, especially on one side of the body
- severe headache with no known cause
- trouble seeing in one or both eyes
- confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
- trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
factors associated with increased stroke risk (5)
advanced age, diabetes mellitus, symptoms more than 10 minutes, weakness, impaired speech
Broca’s area
‘spoken language’
classical production of language
includes shape the mouth makes
Wernicke’s area
‘language reception’
arcuate fasciculus
ribbon of tissue that joins the Broca’s area with the Wernicke’s area
Broca’s aphasia
damage to motor images
language comprehension skills are relatively preserved
typical damage to left inferior prefrontal cortex
Wernicke’s aphasia
fluent nonsense
neologisms
even simple sentences are not well understood
combination aphasia
Broca’s + Wernicke’s aphasia
progressive aphasia
slowed speech
naming errors
slow vs. acute progression
often secondary to Alzheimer’s or frontotemporal dementia
critical period hypothesis
there is an ideal ‘window’ of time in a person’s life to acquire language in a linguistically rick environment, after which further language acquisition becomes much more difficult and effortful
people who have more bilateral language representation
women
gay men
left-handed people
parkinsonism
differing combos of slowness of movement (bradykinesia), increased rigidity, tremor and loss of postural reflexes
dopamine
inhibitory neurotransmitter in the basal ganglia
acetylcholine
excitatory neurotransmitter in the basal ganglia
bradykinesia
slowed ability to start and continue movements and impaired ability to adjust the body’s position
akinesia
loss of movement
expressionless face
Lewy bodies
very tiny abnormal protein structures
multiple systems atrophy (MSA)
an adult-onset neurodegenerative disorder characterized by diverse clinical symptoms
MSA-Parkinsonian
progressive bradykinesia, rigidity, postural instability, jerky postural tremor and tremor at rest
MSA-Cerebellar
gait and limb ataxia, scanning speech, and cerebellar oculomotor disturbances
alpha waves
idling frequency
speed into which you go into ‘neural’
stage 1 sleep
often a replay of the day’s experiences
feels like a conscious examination
stage 2-4 sleep
mostly NREM stages
not active thoughts
delta waves
slowest frequency sleep waves
sleep paralysis
when the brainstem blocks the motor cortex’s messages and the muscles don’t most
brain is active but the body is immobile
REM sleep characteristics
dreaming, flaccid limb paralysis, rapid eye movements, increased autonomic activities
sleep latency
the interval to fall asleep after retiring
~10-20 minutes
REM latency
the interval from falling asleep to the first REM sleep
~90-120 minutes
dyssomnias
a broad classification of sleeping disorders that make it difficult to get to sleep or stay asleep
intrinsic sleep disorders
type of dyssomnia
ex. hypersomnia, narcolepsy, periodic limb movement disorder, RLS, sleep apnea, etc.
idiopathic causes
extrinsic sleep disorders
type of dyssomnia
ex. alcohol dependent sleep disorder, food allergy insomnia, inadequate sleep routines, etc.
modifiable behavior
circadian rhythm sleep disorders
type of dyssomnia
ex. advanced sleep phase syndrome, delayed sleep phase syndrome, jet lag, shift work sleep disorder, etc.
can hack with early morning light
narcolepsy
a neurological condition most characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness
periodic limb movement disorder/nocturnal myoclonus
sleep disorder where the patient moves involuntarily during sleep
parasomnias
a broad classification of various uncommon disruptive sleep-related disorders
intense, infrequent physical acts that occur during sleep
includes sleepwalking, sleep talking, sleep terrors, nightmares, and teeth grinding
fatal familial insomnia
inherited tendency to develop a progressively severe insomnia that is refractory to medicine
accompanied by neuropsychological problems like inattentiveness, confusion and amnesia
polysomnography
a comprehensive recording of the biophysical changes that occur during the sleep
simultaneous recordings of EEG, EOG, EMG, EKG, vital signs and breathing
anti-senescence
loss of function due to age
allotropic expression
insert many genes
xenohydrolases
insert foreign genes
WILT
target genes in vitra and in vivo
CRISPR
unlocked control over genome
Kurzweil’s 6 epochs
1: physics and chemistry
2: biology
3: brains
4: technology
5: merger of technology and software designs
6: the universe wakes up