Seminar 2

Question 1

regeneration ability of peripheral nerves

Answer 1

normally able to regenerate to some extent after injury

Question 2

regeneration ability of CNS

Answer 2

inflammatory and inhibitory processes that occur after injury limit the ability of the brain and spinal cord neurons to regenerate after injury

Question 3

how to neurons communicate

Answer 3

via electrical and chemical impulses

Question 4

electrical impulses

Answer 4

take the form of action potentials (they propagate along the axons of neurons)

Question 5

chemical impulses

Answer 5

occur with neurotransmitter release from the axon terminals and reach other target neurons

Question 6

afference

Answer 6

to carry toward (the brain)

Question 7

efference

Answer 7

to carry away (the brain)

Question 8

The more frequently neurons are used…

Answer 8

the more they are reinforced

Question 9

neuroplasticity

Answer 9

the lifelong ability of neural pathways to reorganise based on experience

Question 10

2 ways neuroplasticity can occur…

Answer 10

• functional - change synaptic strength (between neurons)
• structural - change grey/white matter (within neurons)

Question 11

temporal summation

Answer 11

occurs when a second stimulus arrives at a synapse before a previous stimulus has fully decayed

Question 12

spatial summation

Answer 12

occurs when multiple stimuli from different areas of a neuron interact

Question 13

convergence

Answer 13

when multiple neurons send signals to a single target neuron, combining information from various sources

Question 14

divergence

Answer 14

a single neuron sending signals to many other neurons, distributing information across a wider network

Question 15

what do temporal and spatial summation; convergence and divergence help solve and how?

Answer 15

the degrees of freedom problem in terms of a very large number of neurons, each with a very large number of possible synapses

Question 16

sensory receptors and example

Answer 16

part of the afferent system and they encode information about the environment and about our cells. (e.g, receptors in skin allow us to detect touch, pressure, stretch and pain)

Question 17

what can peripheral damage do to afferent information?

Answer 17

can reduce the quality of afferent information and therefore impair movement. In this way sensation and movement are intricately linked

Question 18

If we see someone with muscle wasting and poor control, what might we suspect?

Answer 18

degeneration of motor neurons.

Question 19

what type of movement can muscles produce and what are they innervated by?

Answer 19

involuntary and voluntary movement and innervated by motor neurons

Question 20

ventral

Answer 20

front of the body

Question 21

dorsal

Answer 21

back of the body

Question 22

Primary Motor Cortex (M1) organisation?

Answer 22

topographical - medial - lateral, legs, trunk, arm, hand, face, tongue

Question 23

The more cortical neurons dedicated to a region indicates what?

Answer 23

The amount of precision needed.

Question 24

what is the M1 responsible for producing?

Answer 24

-voluntary movement

Question 25

distal muscles are controlled by what part of the M1?

Answer 25

contralateral part

Question 26

proximal muscles are controlled by what part of the M1?

Answer 26

bilaterally by both the contralateral and ipsilateral motor cortex

Question 27

what are the Basal Gangia loops formed with the motor cortex critical for?

Answer 27

movement control, especially well-learned, internally guided and sequential movements