Parts of the brain

Question 1

How many ventricles in the brain?

Answer 1

4
2 lateral and 2 ventricle

Question 2

Which ventricle can only been seen by the sagittal view?

Answer 2

4th

Question 3

What is the purpose of the ventricles ?

Answer 3

communicating network
cavities filled with csf (made by choroid plexus) to help buoyancy

Question 4

What is the size of the ventricles dependent on ?

Answer 4

cortical atrophy (ventricular enlargement when neurones are lost)

Question 5

What are the following lobes involved in ?
- frontal
- parietal
- occipital
- temporal

Answer 5

frontal = mood, behaviour, decisions
Parietal = sensory
Occipital = visual
Temporal = spatial navigation, language, auditory

Question 6

What is the name of the bundle of nerve fibres which join the hemispheres together ?

Answer 6

Corpus callosum

Question 7

What experiment did Roger Sperry carry out ?

Answer 7

Cut the corpus callosum to cause lack of communication between hemisohere to stop the seizures caused by epilepsy

Question 8

What does the thalamus do?

Answer 8

relay station for sensory info

Question 9

What does the basal ganglia do?

Answer 9

involved in extrapyramidal motor control
(pyramidal = cortical spinal tract)

Question 10

What is extrapyramidal motor control?

Answer 10

Initiation and fine control of movement (can also inhibit movement)

Question 11

What happens if the sub thalamic nuclei is damaged?

Answer 11

Give rise to ballismus (uncontrolled movement of limbs)

Question 12

What does the striatum do?

Answer 12

dopamine rich
important in extrapyramidal control and impact on mood

Question 13

What does the limbic system control?

Answer 13

emotion and mood

Question 14

What are the key nuclei within the limbic system ?

Answer 14

Amygdala, hypothalamus, hippocampus

Question 15

Where is the amygdala located?

Answer 15

Basal forebrain

Question 16

Give examples of the catecholamines in the brain

Answer 16

Dopamine, adrenaline/epinephrine, noradrenaline/noraepinephrine

Question 17

What are the dopamine nuclei?

Answer 17

substantia nigra, ventral tegmental area and arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus

Question 18

Where is 5-HT sythesised and what is the structure ?

Answer 18

Synthesised in raphe nuclei
Indoleamine

Question 19

What is fMRI?

Answer 19

Functional magnetic resonance imaging
Based on the face oxyhemoglobin (has different magnetic resonance than deoxy)

Question 20

What’s the resolution of an MRI?

Answer 20

less than 1mm

Question 21

What can be used to map pathways and connectivity in the brain?

Answer 21

diffusion tensor imaging

Question 22

What does PET stand for ?

Answer 22

positron emission tomography

Question 23

What does SPECT stand for ?

Answer 23

single photon positron emission tomography

Question 24

What are some non-invasive ways to reveal activity of the brain?

Answer 24

EEG
MEG
PET scan
SPECT scan

Question 25

What are the indirect markers for changes in NT function?

Answer 25

Cerebrospinal fluid (invasive but closer to where metabolites formed) Plasma Urine Binding platelets

Question 26

What are the advantages and disadvantages of using animal models?

Answer 26

Ad = drug screening Disad = not exact phenocopy of gene