Lecture 2: Neuroanatomy

Question 1

Why should we study neuroanatomy?

Answer 1

it’s a gateway to understanding brain functions and disorders

knowing which brain structures are affected by disease is essential for diagnosis and treatment of disorders

Question 2

What is the integration of motor and sensory functions of the brain?

Answer 2

it’s not just a simple motor command to play the violin

auditory feedback is used to fine-tune motor performance (violin playing)

multiple brain regions are recruited

Question 3

What is plasticity?

Answer 3

the brain can adapt after injury

following a stroke a part of one hemisphere is injured, with loss of function

over time, part of the opposite hemisphere can take over the lost function

plasticity is better in younger brains

Question 4

What is superior positioning in the brain?

Answer 4

above, top, upper portion

Question 5

What is inferior positioning in the brain?

Answer 5

below, underside

Question 6

What is anterior positioning in the brain?

Answer 6

in front of

Question 7

What is posterior positioning in the brain?

Answer 7

behind

Question 8

What is dorsal positioning in the brain?

Answer 8

above the longitudinal axis of the forebrain and the longitudinal axis of the brainstem and spinal cord

Question 9

What is ventral positioning in the brain?

Answer 9

below the longitudinal axis of the forebrain and the longitudinal axis of the brainstem and spinal cord

Question 10

What is rostral positioning in the brain?

Answer 10

in front of the longitudinal axis of the forebrain

Question 11

What is caudal positioning in the brain?

Answer 11

on the backside of the longitudinal axis of the forebrain and the longitudinal axis of the brainstem and spinal cord

Question 12

What is the view from a coronal cut?

Answer 12

frontal

Question 13

What is the view from a sagittal cut?

Answer 13

medial

Question 14

What is the view from a horizontal cut?

Answer 14

dorsal

Question 15

What are the sulci?

Answer 15

grooves, folds

Question 16

What are the gyri?

Answer 16

crests, bumps

Question 17

What is located at the precentral gyrus?

Answer 17

primary motor cortex

movement

Question 18

What is located at the postcentral gyrus?

Answer 18

primary somatosensory cortex (sensation)

Question 19

What are the functions of the frontal lobe?

Answer 19

what makes humans different than domestic animals very evolved structure

short-term memory

behavioral organization and planning

memory retrieval

distinguishing reality vs. falsity

shaping personality

Question 20

What is the case of Phineas Gage?

Answer 20

Phineas Gage was a construction foreman who was tamping dynamite with an iron rod

when the dynamite exploded, the rod was blown through his head

as a result of destruction of his frontal lobes, Gage’s personality was altered, he became profane, irritable, and erratic in his interactions with co-workers

hi skull and the iron rod are on display at the Warren Anatomical Museum in Boston

this case played a major role in developing our understanding of the localization of brain functions

Question 21

What are the functions of the parietal lobe?

Answer 21

somatosensation

visuomotor guidance of behavior (e.g. recognition of object location/orientation)

attention

body awareness, knowing where you are in space

Question 22

What are the two major pathways for visual processing?

Answer 22

visual signals from the eyes reach V1 in the occipital cortex

from there, the signals are sent to two pathways; one dorsal, the other ventral

Question 23

What is the dorsal stream of visual processing?

Answer 23

vision for action (orientating grasps and reaches in the environment)

damage disrupts visuomotor tasks involving actions linked to object location (e.g. reaching)

optic ataxia is a disorder in translating vision into action

Question 24

How is the activation of posterior parietal cortex by attention and action in monkeys?

Answer 24

a spot of light elicits only a few action potentials in a cell when the animal’s gaze is directed away from the stimulus

the same cell’s firing increases when the animal’s eyes move to the stimulus

the cell’s firing increases even more when the monkey touches the spot without moving his eyes

Question 25

What is optic ataxia?

Answer 25

difficulties with visually guided reaching and grasping

inaccurate pre-shaping of grasp, misdirected reach, misorientation of hand

retains perception, loses action

damage to dorsal stream

Question 26

What is the ventral stream of visual processing?

Answer 26

vision for perception

damage to inferior temporal lobe impairs recognition of objects and leads to visual form agnosia

Question 27

What is visual form agnosia?

Answer 27

patient was able to copy pictures, but was unable to identify objects

lacks perception, retains action

damage to the ventral stream

Question 28

What is hemineglect?

Answer 28

results from unilateral damage to the parietal lobe

not aware the other half of the visual field exists

damage to right parietal love leads to neglect of left visual field

Question 29

What are two structures of the temporal lobe?

Answer 29

hippocampus

amygdala

Question 30

What is the function of the hippocampus?

Answer 30

learning and remembering facts and events

spatial navigation

forming associative memories of spatial and non-spatial information

Question 31

What is the function of the amygdala?

Answer 31

emotional expression

forming proper associations between emotions and behavioral situations

fear learning, primal functioning involved in classical conditioning

Question 32

What is anterograde amnesia?

Answer 32

damage to hippocampus

cannot make new memories

impaired consolidation of memory

old memories and motor skills are still intact

damage to area CA1 alone is enough to inflict anterograde amnesia in humans

Question 33

How is the hippocampus related to Alzheimer’s disease?

Answer 33

massive loss of neurons in CA1