Week 2 Vocab

Question 1

Lens

Answer 1

a piece of glass or other transparent substance with curved sides for concentrating or dispersing light rays, used singly (as in a magnifying glass) or with other lenses (as in a telescope)

Question 2

Fovea

Answer 2

a small depression in the retina of the eye where visual acuity is highest. The center of the field of vision is focused in this region, where retinal cones are particularly concentrated

Question 3

Macula

Answer 3

an oval yellowish area surrounding the fovea near the center of the retina in the eye, which is the region of keenest vision

Question 4

Optic disc

Answer 4

the raised disk on the retina at the point of entry of the optic nerve, lacking visual receptors and so creating a blind spot

Question 5

Optic nerve

Answer 5

each of the second pair of cranial nerves, transmitting impulses to the brain from the retina at the back of the eye

Question 6

Photoreceptors

Answer 6

a structure in a living organism, especially a sensory cell or sense organ, that responds to light falling on it

Question 7

Rods

Answer 7

a thin straight bar, especially of wood or metal

Question 8

Cones

Answer 8

a solid or hollow object which tapers from a circular or roughly circular base to a point

Question 9

Receptive field

Answer 9

The area which when stimulated elicits a particular response, such as a reflex, the firing of a sensory neuron, or the activation of a ganglion cell

Question 10

Parvocellular layers

Answer 10

cell layers of the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus that relay information about motion and spatial analysis

Question 11

Magnocellular layers

Answer 11

cell layers of the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus that relay information about detailed form and color vision

Question 12

Lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN

Answer 12

a nucleus of the thalamus which in part of the visual pathway in receiving information from the optic tract and sending information to the primary visual cortex

Question 13

Optic chiasm

Answer 13

the X-shaped structure formed at the point below the brain where the two optic nerves cross over each other

Question 14

Optic tract

Answer 14

the pathway between the optic chiasma and the brain.

Question 15

Homonymous visual field defects

Answer 15

the defect occurs in the same portion of the visual field of each eye with a lesion posterior to the optic chiasm

Question 16

Bitemporal visual field defects

Answer 16

the defect occurs in the bilateral visual fields when there are lesions to the optic chiasm

Question 17

Monocular visual field defects

Answer 17

the defect occurs in one visual field when there are lesions anterior to the optic chiasm

Question 18

Contralateral superior quadrantanopia

Answer 18

pie in the sky” a visual field defect caused by a lesion to the temporal lobe

Question 19

Contralateral inferior quadrantanopia

Answer 19

• ”pie on the floor” a visual field defect caused by a lesion to the parietal lobe

Question 20

Optic radiation

Answer 20

• a wide range of white matter axons that fan out as they leave the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus and travel back towards the primary visual

Question 21

Primary visual cortex

Answer 21

Brodmann’s area 17 located in the banks of the calcarine fissure in the occipital lobe

Question 22

Visual acuity

Answer 22

sharpness of vision, measured by the ability to discern letters or numbers at a given distance according to a fixed standard

Question 23

Ophthalmic artery

Answer 23

the artery which supplies the retina and originates just above the internal carotid artery

Question 24

Optic neuritis

Answer 24

an inflammatory demyelinating disorder of the optic nerve often related to multiple sclerosis

Question 25

Extraocular muscles

Answer 25

each of six small voluntary muscles controlling movement of the eyeball within the socket

Question 26

Nuclear and infranuclear pathways

Answer 26

involve the brainstem nuclei of cranial nerves III, IV, and VI; the peripheral nerves arising from these nuclei; and the eye movement muscles

Question 27

Supranuclear pathways

Answer 27

involve the brainstem and forebrain circuits that control eye movements through connections with the nuclei of cranial nerves III, IV, and VI

Question 28

Torsional

Answer 28

movements that involve the eye rotating slightly about its axis

Question 29

Lateral rectus

Answer 29

an extraocular muscle, innervated by cranial nerve VI, that abducts the eye

Question 30

Medial rectus

Answer 30

an extraocular muscle, innervated by cranial nerve III, that adducts the eye

Question 31

Superior rectus

Answer 31

an extraocular muscle, innervated by cranial nerve III, that elevates and intorts the eye

Question 32

Inferior rectus

Answer 32

an extraocular muscle, innervated by cranial nerve III, that depresses and extorts the eye

Question 33

Inferior oblique

Answer 33

an extraocular muscle, innervated by cranial nerve III, that elevates and extorts the eye

Question 34

Superior oblique

Answer 34

an extraocular muscle, innervated by cranial nerve IV, that depresses and intorts the eye

Question 35

Intorsion

Answer 35

movement of the upper pole of the eye inward

Question 36

Extorsion

Answer 36

movement of the upper pole of the eye outward

Question 37

Oculomotor nuclei

Answer 37

located in the upper midbrain at the level of the superior colliculi and the red nuclei, just ventral to the peri aqueductal gray matter

Question 38

Trochlear nuclei

Answer 38

located in the lower midbrain at the level of the inferior colliculi and the decussation of the superior cerebellar peduncle

Question 39

Abducens nuclei

Answer 39

located on the floor of the fourth ventricle under the facial colliculi in the mid-to-lower pons

Question 40

Diplopia

Answer 40

double vision

Question 41

Hypertropia

Answer 41

elevation of the eye from the vertical axis; vertical strabismus

Question 42

Anisocoria

Answer 42

pupillary asymmetry

Question 43

Ptosis

Answer 43

upper eyelid drooping

Question 44

Miosis

Answer 44

decreased pupillary size

Question 45

Anhidrosis

Answer 45

decreased sweating of the ipsilateral face and neck

Question 46

Reticular formation

Answer 46

a diffuse network of nerve pathways in the brainstem connecting the spinal cord, cerebrum, and cerebellum, and mediating the overall level of consciousness

Question 47

Consciousness

Answer 47

the state of being awake and aware of one's surroundings

Question 48

Alertness

Answer 48

being awake and depends on normal functioning of the brainstem and diencephalic arousal circuits and cortex

Question 49

Attention

Answer 49

uses the same circuits as alertness together with additional processing in frontal parietal association cortex

Question 50

Awareness

Answer 50

knowledge or perception of a situation or fact

Question 51

Non-REM sleep

Answer 51

non-rapid eye movement phases of sleep which begin the sleep process

Question 52

REM sleep

Answer 52

rapid eye movement phase of sleep which is where most dreaming typically occurs

Question 53

Narcolepsy

Answer 53

a condition characterized by an extreme tendency to fall asleep whenever in relaxing surroundings

Question 54

Coma

Answer 54

a state of deep unconsciousness that lasts for a prolonged or indefinite period, caused especially by severe injury or illness

Question 55

Vegetative state

Answer 55

a stage after coma where patients may enter a perplexing state in which they regain sleep-wake cycles and other primitive orienting responses and reflexes mediated by the brainstem and diencephalon, but remain unconscious

Question 56

Persistent vegetative state

Answer 56

a term used if a vegetative state persists longer than one month

Question 57

Minimally conscious state

Answer 57

a stage of recovery from a vegetative state where patients have some minimal or variable degree of responsiveness including following simple commands, saying a single word, or holding onto an object