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Biological Psychology > Neuroscience (L1-4) > Flashcards

Neuroscience (L1-4) Flashcards

1
Q

Multiple sclerosis

A
  • Neurological condition caused by demyelination of axons, causing slower transmission
  • Symptoms include fatigue, vision problems and difficulty walking
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2
Q

Propogation of an AP

A
  • Initiated at the axon hillock
  • Move down an axon using saltatory conduction (jumps between unmyelinated nodes of Ranvier)
  • Myelin prevents any charge leakage through the axon
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3
Q

Blood-brain barrier

A
  • Semi-permeable barrier between blood and brain
  • Produced by tightly packed cells in the capillary walls of the brain
  • Protects and helps to regulate the chemical balance of the brain
  • Small uncharged, lipophilic molecules can cross
  • Other substances access the brain via active transport
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4
Q

What is the…

  • Central nervous system
  • Peripheral nervous system
A

CNS - brain and spinal cord

PNS - connects CNS to the organs and muscle

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5
Q

What is the neuron doctrine?

A
  • The idea that the brain consists of individual neurons

- Shown by Santiago Ramon y Cajal using staining techniques

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6
Q

Glial cells

A
  • Astrocytes provide structure, supply neurons with nutrients and oxygen and modulate neurotransmission
  • Microglia remove dead neuronal tissue and provide immune defence
  • Oligodendrocytes (CNS) and Schwann cells (PNS) insulate nerve cells with myelin sheaths
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7
Q

Rett Syndrome

A
  • Affects young females
  • Caused by mutations in the MECP2 protein
  • Symptoms include loss of speech and motor control, seizures, orthopedic and digestive problems, anxiety, etc.
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8
Q

Neurons

A
  • Perform information processing tasks
  • Specialised depending on their location
  • Soma contains nucleus, mitochondria, ribosomes and ER
  • Dendrites are branching fibres that receive info from other neurons via synaptic receptors
  • Axons are thin fibres that transmit info to other neurons
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9
Q

Membrane potential

A
  • Resting membrane potential = -70mV

- Penetrable for small uncharged molecules

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10
Q

Action potentials

A
  • If stimulation exceeds the threshold of -55mV, an AP is triggered (all-or-none)
    1. Na+ channels open = Na+ flows in = inside more positive = depolarisation to +40mV
    2. K+ channels open = K+ flows out = repolarisation
    3. Refractory period occurs where an action potential cannot be initiated
    4. Na+/K+ pump restores resting potential by moving 3 Na+ out and 2 K+ in
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11
Q

Synapses

A
  • Junctions at which signal is passed from one neuron to another
  • Delay transmission (Charles Sherrington showed reflexes are slower than conduction along axon)
  • Synaptic transmission is chemical (shown by Otto Loewi)
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12
Q

Neurotransmitters

A
  • Synthesised by presynaptic neuron
  • Stored in vesicles in axon terminal
  • Released in synaptic cleft via Ca2+-dependent mechanism
  • Bind to receptors on postsynpatic neuron
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13
Q

How do neurons work?

A
  • Act as an information integrator and a decision maker

- Combine excitatory and inhibitory inputs to determine whether to fire

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14
Q

Receptors

A
  • Protein embedded in the membrane that matches molecular shape of a neurotransmitter
  • Ionotropic receptors are ligand-gated (fast and short-lived effect)
  • Metabotropic receptors are GPCRs (slow and longer-lasting effect)
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15
Q

Excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP)

A

Depolarisation of the neuron that increases the rate of APs in the postsynaptic neuron

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16
Q

Inhibitory postsynaptic potential (IPSP)

A

Hyperpolarisation of the neuron that decreases the rate of APs in the postsynaptic neuron

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17
Q

Temporal summation

A

When rapid repeated sub-threshold stimulations of a presynaptic neuron accumulate

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18
Q

Spatial summation

A

When postsynaptic inputs arriving simultaneously at different locations on the dendrites are combined

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19
Q

What are the neurotransmitter differences between species?

A
  • Variations in the number of synapses
  • Amount of neurotransmitter release
  • Sensitivity of receptors on postsynaptic cells
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20
Q

Acetylcholine (ACh)

A
  • Involed in motor control
  • Regulates attention, learning, memory and sleeping
  • Involved in Alzheimer’s disease
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21
Q

Dopamine

A
  • Influences movement, motivation, emotional pleasure and arousal
  • High levels linked with schizophrenia
  • Low levels linked with Parkinson’s disease
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22
Q

Glutamate

A
  • Excitatory NT involved in learning and memory

- High levels linked with migraines and seizures

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23
Q

GABA

A
  • Inhibitory NT

- Low levels linked to seizures, tremors and insomnia

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24
Q

Noradrenaline

A
  • Controls mood and arousal

- Low levels linked to depression

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25
Q

Serotonin

A
  • Regulates hunger, sleep, arousal and aggression

- Low levels linked to depression

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26
Q

Endorphins

A
  • Act within pain pathways and emotion centres of the brain

- Low levels can lower pain threshold

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27
Q

How is the action of neurotransmitters terminated?

A
  • Re-uptaken
  • Degraded
  • Reabsorption
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28
Q

Psychoactive drugs

A
  • Drugs facilitate or inhibit transmission at synapses
  • Agonists mimic and increase the effects of a NT
  • Antagonists block the effects of a NT
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29
Q

Myasthenia Gravis

A
  • Autoimmune disease caused by inhibition of ACh receptors
  • Symptoms include fluctuating muscle weakness and fatiguability
  • Treated with AChE inhibitors
30
Q

Name two narcotics

A

Morphine and opiates

31
Q

Name a hallucinogen

A

LSD

32
Q

Abused drugs

A
  • Most stimulate the release of dopamine from the nucleus accumbens
33
Q

Cocaine

A
  • Local anaesthetic (blocks Na+ channels to interfere with the propogation of APs)
  • Stimulant (activates CNS to produce arousal and elevated mood)
  • Potentiates the effect of dopamine and serotonin by blocking their reuptake
34
Q

Autonomic nervous sytem

A
  • Part of the peripheral nervous system
  • Sympathetic division uses noradrenaline for ‘fight or flight’
  • Parasympathetic division uses acetylcholine for ‘rest and digest’
35
Q

What are the 3 planes of the brain?

A
  • Coronal: view from the front
  • Horizontal: view from above
  • Sagittal: view from the side
36
Q

Coordinate system of the brain

A
  • Anterior (closer to front) or posterior (closer to back)

- Superior/dorsal (closer to top) or inferior/ventral (closer to bottom)

37
Q

What are the 3 major parts of the brain formed during development?

A
  • Hindbrain
  • Midbrain
  • Forebrain
  • Hindbrain and midbrain form the brainstem
38
Q

Hindbrain

A
  • Medulla: coordinates heart rate, circulation and respiration (contains the reticular formation which regulates sleep and arousal)
  • Pons: a major relay at which axonal projections become contralateral (cross sides)
  • Cerebellum: controls fine motor skills, coordination, balance and cognitive functions
39
Q

Midbrain

A
  • Contains structures that have secondary roles in vision, audition and movement
  • Superior colliculi: help guide eye movements and fixation of gaze
  • Inferior colliculi: help sound localisation
  • Substantia nigra: plays a role in reward, addiction and projects to the basal ganglia to integrate movements
  • Tectum: orients an organism
  • Tegmentum: involed in movement and arousal
40
Q

Forebrain’s diencephalon

A
  • Thalamus: relays and filters information from sensory organs and transmits it to the cortex
  • Hypothalamus: regulates body temperature, hunger, thirst and sexual behaviour
  • Mamillary bodies: relay for impulses coming from the amygdala & hippocampus
41
Q

Forebrain’s limbic system

A
  • Hippocampus: creating, storing and combining memories
  • Amygdala: emotional behaviour and formation of emotional memories
  • Cingulate cortex: linking behavioural outcomes to motivation and learning
42
Q

Cerebral cortex

A
  • Part of the forebrain
  • Consists of grey matter
  • Wrinkled/convoluted to increase SA
  • Gyri are ridges
  • Sulci are groves (called fissures if deep)
  • Split into Broadmann’s map of 52 areas
43
Q

Cerebral hemispheres

A
  • Left and right hemispheres communicate via the corpus callosum (dense band of fibres at bottom of longitudinal fissure)
  • Corpus callostomy is a surgical procedure that disconnects the cerebral hemispheres resulting in a condition called ‘split-brain’
  • Each hemisphere has 4 lobes
44
Q

Frontal lobe

A
  • Anterior to the central sulcus and superior to the lateral fissure
  • Important for movement and complex human capabilities
  • Broca’s area - important for speech production
  • Primary motor cortex
  • Prefrontal cortex - plays a role in organizing, planning, decision making and impulse control (damage impairs impulse control)
  • A frontal lobotomy is a surgical procedure that disconnects the prefrontal area from the rest of the brain
45
Q

Parietal lobe

A
  • Posterior to the central sulcus
  • Important for body sensations and spatial localisation
  • Primary somatosensory cortex
  • Parietal association areas: combine info from body senses and vision
    to dentify objects by touch, determine the location of limbs and locate objects in space
46
Q

Occipital lobe

A
  • At the posterior of the brain

- Processes visual information in the primary visual cortex

47
Q

Temporal lobe

A
  • Located laterally on the brain (sides)
  • Primary auditory cortex
  • Language, auditory and visual association areas (eg. Wernicke’s area for language comprehension and production)
48
Q

What is phrenology?

A
  • The correlation of brain anatomy with behaviour/personality
  • Proposed by Franz Joseph Gall
49
Q

How can brain lesions be stimulated?

A
  • Invasive: use stimulating electrodes
  • Non-invasive: trancranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) where neurons are excited/inhibited by externally applied electromagnetic field
50
Q

How can the electromagnetic activity of a single neuron be recorded?

A
  • Use of microelectrodes which impale the cells of interest

- A nano lead is implanted into an axon and records neural activity without stimulating it

51
Q

What are grandmother cells?

A
  • Responds to only one stimulus (eg. name/ image of a celebrity)
  • Discovered by Quigora et al.
  • Shows that visual info is stored in a localised way
52
Q

How can the electromagnetic activity of a neuron population be recorded?

A

Electroencephalography (EEG)

  • Measures brain activity on the scalp
  • Sensitive to postsynaptic dendritic currents generated by a population of neurons that are active in synchrony
  • Uses a cap with implanted electrodes placed in a specific arrangement
  • Used for diagnosing epilepsy (displays spike and wave)
53
Q

Event-related potentials (ERPs)

A
  • EEG activity time-locked to an external event (eg. sound, visual signal)
  • Good temporal resolution
  • Poor spatial resolution
54
Q

Magnetoencephalography (MEG)

A
  • Recording of magnetic fields produced by electrical currents in the brain using arrays of SQUIDs
55
Q

Neuron staining techniques

A
  • Golgi staining - stains about 5% of neurons
  • Myelin stains - stains axon
  • Nissl stains - stains somas
56
Q

CT scans

A
  • Computerised tomography
  • A contrast dye is injected into the blood
  • Combines multiple x-ray photos from different angles
  • Based on the fact that x-ray absorption varies with tissue density (higher density = lighter)
57
Q

MRI

A
  • Magnetic resonance imaging
  • A strong magnetic field is applied and then ceased
  • The energy released by molecules in the tissue as a result of the pulse is measured
  • Differently charged molecules respond differently to the pulses, hence the energy signals reveal brain structures with different molecular composition
58
Q

PET scan

A
  • Positron emission tomography

- Measures local blood flow in a brain region using a radioactive tracer

59
Q

fMRI

A
  • Functional MRI
  • Measures brain activity by detecting the levels of deoxyhemoglobin (BOLD response)
  • Active neurons consume oxygen and convert oxyhemoglobin into deoxyhemoglobin
60
Q

Syndactyly

A

A condition in which fingers are connected by skin tissue

61
Q

Phantom pain

A
  • When amputees experience pain in their missing limb

- Caused by neurons from other body areas invading area that normally receives input from the missing limb

62
Q

What are the 3 main types of neurons?

A
  • Sensory neurons receive information from the external world and convey it to the brain via the spinal cord
  • Motor neurons carry signals from the spinal cord to the muscles to produce movement
  • Interneurons connect sensory neurons, motor neurons and other interneurons
63
Q

Spinal reflexes

A

Simple pathways that rapidly generate muscle contractions without input from the brain

64
Q

Forebrain’s basal ganglia

A
  • Basal ganglia: involved in planning behaviour and emotional expresion
  • Pituitary gland: releases hormones
65
Q

Central nervous system

A
  • In vertebrates separates sensory (back) and motor (front) processing
  • Higher levels perform more complex functions
66
Q

What is meant by ‘degree of relatedness’?

A

The probability of sharing genes

67
Q

Epigenetics

A
  • The mechanisms of interaction between genes (nature) and the environment (nurture)
  • Genes express themselves within an environment
  • Genetic methylation silences a gene
68
Q

Heritability

A
  • A measure of the variability of behavioural traits among individuals that can be accounted for by genetic factors
  • 0 = genes don’t contribute to individual differences
69
Q

Phineas Gage

A
  • Had an iron rod propelled through his frontal lobe
  • Became irritable, irresponsive and indecisive
  • Evidence that the frontal lobe is involved in emotion regulation, planning and decision making
70
Q

Executive functions

A
  • Hot EFs include impulses that take over our thoughts

- Cold EFs are logical choices that require rationality

71
Q

What is prosopagnosia?

A

The inability to recognise faces

72
Q

Hubel + Wiesel

A
  • Inserted electrodes into the occipital lobes of anaesthetised cats and observed the AP signals
  • Primary visual cortex are activated when a contrast between light and dark occurs in part of the visual field
  • Each neuron responds to a particular orientation and are called feature detectors

Biological Psychology (7 decks)

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