Week 6 - Neurobiology Flashcards

1
Q

What are afferent nerves?

A

Nerves that carry messages to the brain or spinal cord.

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2
Q

What is agnosias?

A

Due to damage of Wernicke’s Area, an inability to recognize objects, words or faces.

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3
Q

What is aphasia?

A

An ability to produce or understand words, due to damage of the Broca’s area.

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4
Q

What is the autonomic nervous system?

A

A part of the peripheral nervous system that connects to glands and smooth muscles. Consists of sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions.

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5
Q

What is Broca’s area?

A

An area in the frontal lobe of the left hemisphere. Implicated in language production.

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6
Q

What is the central sulcus?

A

The major fissure that divides the frontal and the parietal lobes.

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7
Q

What is arcuate fasciculus?

A

A fiber tract that connects Wernicke’s and Broca’s speech areas.

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8
Q

What is the cerebellum?

A

A nervous system structure behind and below the cerebrum. Controls motor movement coordination, balance, equilibrium, and muscle tone.

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9
Q

What is the cerebrum?

A

Consists of left and right hemispheres that sit at the top of the nervous system and engages in a variety of higher-order functions.

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10
Q

What is cingulate gyrus?

A

A medial cortical portion of the nervous tissue that is a part of the limbic system.

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11
Q

What is a computerized axial tomography?

A

A noninvasive brain-scanning procedure that uses X-ray absorption around the head.

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12
Q

What is ectoderm?

A

The outermost layer of a developing fetus.

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13
Q

What are efferent nerves?

A

Nerves that carry messages from the brain to glands and organs in the periphery.

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14
Q

What is electroencephalography?

A

A technique that is used to measure gross electrical activity of the brain by placing electrodes on the scalp.

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15
Q

What is event-related potentials?

A

A physiological measure of large electrical change in the brain produced by sensory stimulation or motor responses.

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16
Q

What is the forebrain?

A

A part of the nervous system that contains the cerebral hemispheres, thalamus, and hypothalamus.

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17
Q

What is fornix?

A

A nerve fiber tract that connects the hippocampus to mammillary bodies.

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18
Q

What is the frontal lobe?

A

The most forward region (close to forehead) of the cerebral hemispheres.

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19
Q

What is functional magnetic resonance imaging?

A

A noninvasive brain-imaging technique that registers changes in blood flow in the brain during a given task.

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20
Q

What is the globus pallidus?

A

A nucleus of the basal ganglia.

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21
Q

What is the gray matter?

A

Composes the bark or the cortex of the cerebrum and consists of the cell bodies of the neurons.

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22
Q

What is gyrus?

A

A bulge that is raised between or among fissures of the convoluted brain.

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23
Q

What is the hippocampus?

A

A nucleus inside (medial) the temporal lobe implicated in learning and memory.

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24
Q

What is the hypothalamus?

A

Part of the diencephalon. Regulates biological drives with pituitary gland.

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25
Q

What is immunocytochemistry?

A

A method of staining tissue including the brain, using antibodies.

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26
Q

What is a lateral geniculate nucleus?

A

A nucleus in the thalamus that is innervated by the optic nerves and sends signals to the visual cortex in the occipital lobe.

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27
Q

What is the lateral sulcus?

A

The major fissure that delineates the temporal lobe below the frontal and the parietal lobes.

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28
Q

What are lesion studies?

A

A surgical method in which a part of the animal brain is removed to study its effects on behavior or function.

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29
Q

What is the limbic system?

A

A loosely defined network of nuclei in the brain involved with learning and emotion.

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30
Q

What is magnetic resonance imaging?

A

Or MRI is a brain imaging noninvasive technique that uses magnetic energy to generate brain images.

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31
Q

What is the magnification factor?

A

Cortical space projected by an area of sensory input (e.g., mm of cortex per degree of visual field).

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32
Q

What is the medulla oblongata?

A

An area just above the spinal cord that processes breathing, digestion, heart and blood vessel function, swallowing, and sneezing.

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33
Q

What is the neural crest?

A

A set of primordial neurons that migrate outside the neural tube and give rise to sensory and autonomic neurons in the peripheral nervous system.

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34
Q

What is neural induction?

A

A process that causes the formation of the neural tube.

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35
Q

What are neuroblasts?

A

Brain progenitor cells that asymmetrically divide into other neuroblasts or nerve cells.

36
Q

What is neuroepithelium?

A

The lining of the neural tube.

37
Q

What is the occipital lobe?

A

The back part of the cerebrum, which houses the visual areas.

38
Q

What is the parasympathetic nervous system?

A

A division of the autonomic nervous system that is slower than its counterpart—that is, the sympathetic nervous system—and works in opposition to it. Generally engaged in “rest and digest” functions.

39
Q

What is the parietal lobe?

A

An area of the cerebrum just behind the central sulcus that is engaged with somatosensory and gustatory sensation.

40
Q

What are pons?

A

A bridge that connects the cerebral cortex with the medulla, and reciprocally transfers information back and forth between the brain and the spinal cord.

41
Q

What is positron emission tomography?

A

(or PET) An invasive procedure that captures brain images with positron emissions from the brain after the individual has been injected with radio-labeled isotopes.

42
Q

What is the primary motor cortex?

A

A strip of cortex just in front of the central sulcus that is involved with motor control.

43
Q

What is the primary somatosensory cortex?

A

A strip of cerebral tissue just behind the central sulcus engaged in sensory reception of bodily sensations.

44
Q

What is the rostrocaudal?

A

A front-back plane used to identify anatomical structures in the body and the brain.

45
Q

What is the somatic nervous system?

A

A part of the peripheral nervous system that uses cranial and spinal nerves in volitional actions.

46
Q

What is spina bifida?

A

A developmental disease of the spinal cord, where the neural tube does not close caudally.

47
Q

What are sulci?

A

The crevices or fissures formed by convolutions in the brain.

48
Q

What is the sympathetic nervous system?

A

A division of the autonomic nervous system, that is faster than its counterpart that is the parasympathetic nervous system and works in opposition to it. Generally engaged in “fight or flight” functions.

49
Q

What is temporal lobe?

A

An area of the cerebrum that lies below the lateral sulcus; it contains auditory and olfactory (smell) projection regions.

50
Q

What is the thalamus?

A

A part of the diencephalon that works as a gateway for incoming and outgoing information.

51
Q

What is transduction?

A

A process in which physical energy converts into neural energy.

52
Q

What is wernicke’s area?

A

A language area in the temporal lobe where linguistic information is comprehended.

53
Q

What is white matter?

A

Regions of the nervous system that represent the axons of the nerve cells; whitish in color because of myelination of the nerve cells.

54
Q

What is working memory?

A

Short transitory memory processed in the hippocampus.

55
Q

What is blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD)?

A

The signal typically measured in fMRI that results from changes in the ratio of oxygenated hemoglobin to deoxygenated hemoglobin in the blood.

56
Q

What is the central nervous system?

A

The part of the nervous system that consists of the brain and spinal cord.

57
Q

What is depolarization?

A

A change in a cell’s membrane potential, making the inside of the cell more positive and increasing the chance of an action potential.

58
Q

What is hyperpolarization?

A

A change in a cell’s membrane potential, making the inside of the cell more negative and decreasing the chance of an action potential.

59
Q

What is invasive procedure?

A

A procedure that involves the skin being broken or an instrument or chemical being introduced into a body cavity.

60
Q

What are lesions?

A

Abnormalities in the tissue of an organism usually caused by disease or trauma.

61
Q

What is neural plasticity?

A

The ability of synapses and neural pathways to change over time and adapt to changes in neural process, behavior, or environment.

62
Q

What is noninvasive procedure?

A

A procedure that does not require the insertion of an instrument or chemical through the skin or into a body cavity.

63
Q

What is the peripheral nervous system?

A

The part of the nervous system that is outside the brain and spinal cord.

64
Q

What is a positron?

A

A particle having the same mass and numerically equal but positive charge as an electron.

65
Q

What is spatial resolution?

A

The degree to which one can separate a single object in space from another.

66
Q

What is temporal resolution?

A

The degree to which one can separate a single point in time from another.

67
Q

What is the basal ganglia?

A

Subcortical structures of the cerebral hemispheres involved in voluntary movement.

68
Q

What is the brain stem?

A

The “trunk” of the brain comprised of the medulla, pons, midbrain, and diencephalon.

69
Q

What the cerebral hemispheres?

A

The cerebral cortex, underlying white matter, and subcortical structures.

70
Q

What is the coronal plane?

A

A slice that runs from head to foot; brain slices in this plane are similar to slices of a loaf of bread, with the eyes being the front of the loaf.

71
Q

What is diffuse optical imaging?

A

A neuroimaging technique that infers brain activity by measuring changes in light as it is passed through the skull and surface of the brain.

72
Q

What is electroencephalography?

A

A neuroimaging technique that measures electrical brain activity via multiple electrodes on the scalp.

73
Q

What is the frontal lobe?

A

The front most (anterior) part of the cerebrum; anterior to the central sulcus and responsible for motor output and planning, language, judgment, and decision-making.

74
Q

What is functional magnetic resonance imaging?

A

(fMRI): A neuroimaging technique that infers brain activity by measuring changes in oxygen levels in the blood.

75
Q

What are gyri?

A

Folds between sulci in the cortex.

76
Q

What is the horizontal plane?

A

A slice that runs horizontally through a standing person (i.e., parallel to the floor); slices of brain in this plane divide the top and bottom parts of the brain; this plane is similar to slicing a hamburger bun.

77
Q

What is the motor cortex?

A

Region of the frontal lobe responsible for voluntary movement; the motor cortex has a contralateral representation of the human body.

78
Q

What is myelin?

A

Fatty tissue, produced by glial cells that insulates the axons of the neurons; myelin is necessary for normal conduction of electrical impulses among neurons.

79
Q

What is phrenology?

A

A now-discredited field of brain study, popular in the first half of the 19th century that correlated bumps and indentations of the skull with specific functions of the brain.

80
Q

What is the sagittal plane?

A

A slice that runs vertically from front to back; slices of brain in this plane divide the left and right side of the brain; this plane is similar to slicing a baked potato lengthwise.

81
Q

What is the somatosensory cortex?

A

The region of the parietal lobe responsible for bodily sensations; the somatosensory cortex has a contralateral representation of the human body.

82
Q

What is spatial resolution?

A

A term that refers to how small the elements of an image are; high spatial resolution means the device or technique can resolve very small elements; in neuroscience it describes how small of a structure in the brain can be imaged.

83
Q

What is a split-brain patient?

A

A patient who has had most or all of his or her corpus callosum severed.

84
Q

What is temporal resolution?

A

A term that refers to how small a unit of time can be measured; high temporal resolution means capable of resolving very small units of time; in neuroscience it describes how precisely in time a process can be measured in the brain.

85
Q

What is transcranial direct current stimulation?

A

A neuroscience technique that passes mild electrical current directly through a brain area by placing small electrodes on the skull.

86
Q

What is transcranial magnetic stimulation?

A

A neuroscience technique whereby a brief magnetic pulse is applied to the head that temporarily induces a weak electrical current that interferes with ongoing activity.

87
Q

What is visual hemifield?

A

The half of visual space (what we see) on one side of fixation (where we are looking); the left hemisphere is responsible for the right visual hemifield, and the right hemisphere is responsible for the left visual hemifield.