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NEUR 2025 > Introduction: History of Neuroscience > Flashcards

Introduction: History of Neuroscience Flashcards

Introduction Part 1

1
Q

When a person acted abnormal, the ancient Egyptians would drill a hole into their skull, a procedure called…

A

Trepanation

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2
Q

The ancient Egyptians performed trepanation to….

A

Provide an escape route for evil spirits

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3
Q

Sometimes, trepanation actually improved the person’s condition, likely because…

A

It allowed blood to drain out, thus relieving intercranial pressure

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4
Q

True or false:

A process can produce results even if the explanation driving it is incorrect.

A

True

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5
Q

The ancient Egyptions were aware of ____ 5000 years ago.

A

Brain damage symptoms

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6
Q

The ancient Egyptians believed that memories were stored in the…

A

Heart

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7
Q

____ theorized that the brain was the seat of mental processes.

A

Plato

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8
Q

____ theorized that the brain was involved in sensation and intelligence.

A

Hippocrates

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9
Q

____ was among the first to suggest that things in the environment, not spirits, were the cause of illness.

A

Hippocrates

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10
Q

____ theorized that the heart was the center of intellect.

A

Aristotle

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11
Q

Aristotle believed that the primary role of the brain was to…

A

Cool the heart

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12
Q

Aristotle believed that humans were intelligent because…

A

Our large brains allowed for greater cooling capacity

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13
Q

____, a physician to gladiators, dissected and studied sheep brains.

A

Galen

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14
Q

The “spongy area” that Galen found was the….

A

Cerebrum

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15
Q

Because it was spongy, Galen believed that the cerebrum…

A

Stored memories

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16
Q

The “stiff area” that Galen found was the…

A

Cerebellum

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17
Q

Galen believed that the cerebellum…

A

Pumped fluid to inflate the muscles

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18
Q

Galen observed cerebrospinal fluid and believed that it…

A

Caused muscles to contract

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19
Q

Galen’s theories about the brain are collectively called the….

A

Ventricular theory

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20
Q

Descartes supported the ____ theory of the brain.

A

Descartes

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21
Q

Descartes believed that the brain controlled…

A

Animal-like behaviro

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22
Q

Descartes believed that people have a God-given soul and a mind that exists…

A

Outside of the brain

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23
Q

Descartes believed that the mind controlled the ____, which was a valve for fluids.

A

Pineal gland

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24
Q

Ben Franklin’s work with electricity is fundamental to neuroscience because…

A

Neurons communicate via electrical impulses

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25
Emil du Bois-Reymond and Luigi Galvani's experiments demonstrated that muscles...
Twitch with electrical stimulation
26
Bois-Reymond and Galvani used electrodes in carefully dissected frog legs to...
Introduce electrical impulses into the nerves
27
Thanks to Bois-Reymond and Galvani's experiments, we know that the brain...
Is capable of generating electricity
28
Bois-Reymond and Galvani's experiments provided the first evidence that nerves...
Could conduct electricity
29
Bell and Magendie's experiments showed that cutting the spinal nerve results in...
A loss of sensation and motor control
30
Bell and Magendie's experiments showed that cutting the ventral root...
Disrupted motor control but left sensation intact
31
Bell and Magendie's experiments showed that cutting the dorsal root....
Disrupted sensation but preserved motor control
32
A nerve that carries information both to and from the CNS is called a...
Mixed nerve
33
# True or false: The dorsal and ventral roots each only carry information in one direction.
True
34
Information flows into the central nervous system through the...
Dorsal root
35
Information flows from the central nervous system through the...
Ventral root
36
List two reasons why the study of the brain is considered the most complicated biological science.
1. The brain contains trillions of delicate neurons 2. Neurons are not all the same and can behave independently
37
Flourens performed experimental ____ on pigeons.
Ablations
38
Flourens' experiments used ____ to burn out certain portions of pigeons' brains.
Electricity ## Footnote Ethanol and vodka can also be used to the same effect
39
After performing his ablations, Flourens would observe the birds' behavior to...
See what functions were lost and/or what functions were gained
40
The functions of many regions of the brain were discovered as a result of...
Flourens' experiments
41
Flourens' experiments showed that the cerebellum has a role in...
Movement
42
Flourens' experiments showed that the cerebrum has a role in....
Sensation and perception
43
Flourens' work provided the first experimental support for....
The functions of different parts of the brain
44
Franz Joseph Gall suggested ____ as a way to determine the traits of an individual.
Phrenology
45
Phrenology asserted that bumps on a person's skull reflected...
Bumps on the brain's surface, and therefore their personality
46
Despite it being incorrect, about half of physicians at the time used ____ to make medical and legal recommendations.
Phrenology
47
____ noticed differences among species and suggested that they arose through natural selection.
Charles Darwin
48
Darwin's work suggests that behavior is a....
Heritable trait
49
Behavior is heritable because....
It is caused by neurotransmitter release, and the release profiles for neurotransmitters are gene-encoded
50
____ had a patient with a lesion on their brain who could understand language but could not speak.
Paul Broca
51
Broca concluded that the ____ is the area of the brain responsible for speech.
Left frontal lobe
52
Fritsch and Hitzig performed experiments which showed that administering an electrical current to dog brains caused...
Movement
53
David Ferrier repeated Fritsch and Hitzig's experiments with...
Monkeys
54
Ferrier found that removing certain parts of monkeys' brains caused...
Paralysis
55
____ is sometimes considered the Father of Neuroscience.
Otto Loewi
56
Loewi was the first to describe the presence of a...
Neurotransmitter
57
Loewi demonstrated the release of the neurotransmitter Ach, which he called a...
"Vagal substance" ## Footnote (thought it had to do with the vagus nerve)
58
Hodgkin and Huxley explained the ionic mechanisms that underlie...
Action potential
59
Hodgkin and Huxley found that the brain could be modeled like a...
Circuit board
60
In a "circuit board" model of the brain, the "switches" are ____ and the "binary code" is ____.
Neurons ; electrical impulses or presence of neurotransmitters.
61
The ____ is a mathematical model that describes how action potentials are initiated and propagated in the brain.
Hodgkin-Huxley
62
Roger Sperry's split-brain research revealed...
The lateralization of brain function
63
Sperry studied patients who had undergone ____, a treatment for severe epilepsy.
Corpus callostomy ## Footnote (splits the brain into two hemispheres by severing the corpus callosum)
64
Sperry's work demonstrated that the left and right hemoispheres...
Have specialized functions and can operate independently
65
The left hemisphere of the brain is generally associated with...
Language and analytical tasks
66
The right hemisphere of the brain is generally associated with...
Spatial and creative tasks
67
Eric Kandel researched the molecular mechanisms of...
Memory
68
Kandel used ____ because they have large, easily identifiable neurons.
Sea slugs (Aplysia)
69
Kandel's research revealed how ____ strengthen during the formation of memories.
Synaptic connections
70
____ is the ability of synaptic connections to strengthen when forming new memories.
"Synaptic plasticity"
71
Kandel demonstrated that changes in the strength of synaptic connections are critical for...
Learning and memory
72
____ is a non-invasive imaging technique that uses strong magnetic fields and radio waves to generate detailed images of the brain.
MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging)
73
____ measures brain activity by detecting changes associated with blood flow.
Functional MRI (fMRI)
74
____ uses radioactive tracers to visualize metabolic processes.
PET (Positron Emission Topography)
75
PET scans are often used to study... | (two)
1. Brain metabolism 2. Neurotransmitter activity
76
The ____ is a large-scale effort to map all the neural connections in the human brain.
Human Connectome Project
77
The Human Connectome Project aims to create a comprehensive map of the...
Brain's structural and functional connectivity
78
The Human Connectome Project aims to identify how...
Different regions of the brain are connected and how they interact
79
____ is a revolutionary gene-editing technology that allows precision alteration of DNA.
CRISPR

NEUR 2025 (13 decks)

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