Physiological Psychology > Week 5: Brain Structures > Flashcards

Week 5: Brain Structures Flashcards

(46 cards)

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1
Q

Amygdala

A

Emotional processing, specifically fear
- Learning what to be afraid of
- Active when observing emotions in other (if someone near you is scared, you start to feel scared)

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2
Q

Autonomic Nervous System

A

Controls heart, intestines, and other organs
- Somewhat involuntarily controlled
- Contains sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system, each act in opposite ways on organs

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3
Q

Basal Ganglia

A

Related to motion/movement
- Learning and remembering how to do things (procedural memory)
- Damage impairs movement
- Huntington’s Disease: inability to control unwanted movements

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4
Q

Binding Problem

A

The question of how the brain combines different sensory features (color/shape/motion) processed in separate brain areas into a single, unified perception of an object

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5
Q

Brainstem

A

Medulla, pons, midbrain, & parts of forebrain
- Motor and sensory connection between brain/body
- Cranial nerves: sensation/motor function in head
- Sleep cycle/consciousness
- Cardiac/respiratory function

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6
Q

Central Nervous System (CNS)

A

Brain and spinal cord

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7
Q

Cerebellum

A

Controls movement, motor learning, classical conditioning, and cognitive functions
- Movement: balance/coordination, small movements that keep you upright
- Motor learning: fine adjustments/fine tuning of big motions
- Cognitive functions: reading, shifting attention, rhythm judgements (ex. skateboarding)

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8
Q

Cerebral Cortex

A

Left and right hemispheres linked by corpus callosum, anterior comissue
- Highly folded (more tissue)
- Gyrus: bumps on surface of brain
- Sulcus: grooves/folds between gyri
- Groove quantity is related to intelligence, more folds = more smart

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9
Q

Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF)

A

Clear, cloudy fluid that fills the ventricles of the brain
- Choroid plexus cells make CSF

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10
Q

Corpus Callsoum

A

The connecting bundle/bridge that links the two hemispheres of the brain
- Is a tract (axons in CNS which travel together)

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11
Q

Dorsal

A

towards the top of the brain

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12
Q

Forebrain

A

Contains the thalamus, hypothalamus, hippocampus, basal ganglia, and cerebral cortex
- Related to many processes such as motivation, emotion, memory, hormone release, movement, etc.

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13
Q

Frontal Lobe

A

Motor planning, higher order cognitive processing
- Top part of the brain by eyes
- Precentral gyrus: primary motor cortex
- Functions in language production, information integration, attention, and planning
- Damage causes inhibition issues such as doing tasks in wrong order or doing things you aren’t supposed to do

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14
Q

Gray Matter

A

Cell bodies/dendrites
- Center of spinal cord, mainly outside of brain

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15
Q

Hindbrain

A

Medulla, pons, cerebellum
- Help with vital reflexes, relaying sensory information, movement, etc.

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16
Q

Hippocampus

A

Consolidates short term memories into long term memories + stores memories
- Spatial navigation/memory
- Part of limbic system
- Damage leads to inability to remember new people/places/things
- Motor learning and working memory remain intact

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17
Q

Hypothalamus

A

Ventral to thalamus (underneath)
- Signals pituitary gland which alters hormone release
- Motivated behaviors/drives: feeding, fleeing, fighting, sex, temperature regulation, & drinking

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18
Q

Inferior Colliculus

A

Hearing, specifically the ability to perform sound orientation
- Auditory spatial localization, startle response

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19
Q

Klüver-Bucy Syndrome

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A

When wild monkeys face damage to the temporal lobe, they no longer display normal fear and anxiety responses
- Instead of being afraid of snakes/fires, see them as no danger
- Damage to limbic system

20
Q

Laminae

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A

Layers within the cerebral cortex
- Parallel to surface of the cortex

21
Q

Limbic System

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A

Motivation and emotions
- Houses the amygdala and hippocampus

22
Q

Medulla

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A

Vital reflexes
- Just above spinal cord
- Example of reflexes: breathing, heart rate, vomit, salivation, coughing, sneezing
- Damage frequently fatal

23
Q

Meninges

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A

Membranes that surround the brain and spinal cords
- Dura mater: outer, strong covering
- Subdural hematoma: collection of blood under dural
- Arachnoid matter: middle
- Pia matter: inner, follows gyro

Subarachnoid space
- Blood reabsorbs CSF

Swelling = Meningitis

24
Q

Midbrain

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A

More prominent in bird/reptiles/amphibians/fish
- Tectum: “roof”
- Tegmentum: “covering”
- Substantia nigra: dopamine pathway that facilitates movement

25
Occipital Lobe
Vision - Posterior part of cortex, towards the back/bottom of the brain - Cortical blindness: damage to occipital lobe, no conscious visual perception/visual imagery/vision in dreams - Primary visual cortex = V1 = striate cortex - Extrastriate: complex shapes, figure/ground, motion
26
Parasympathetic Nervous System
Vegetative, non-emergency response - Rest and digest - Ganglia not linked - No threat, store food/energy for next threat - Pupils constrict, decreased heart rate/contraction force, dilated blood vessels/lower blood pressure, increase digestion/saliva production
27
Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)
Connects brain/spinal cord to rest of body - Contains the somatic nervous system and autonomic nervous system
28
Parietal Lobe
Math/numerical ability, where you are in space - Between occipital and central sulcus (dorsal, anterior to occipital lobe) - Postcentral gyrus: primary somatosensory cortex (S1) - Receives sensation from touch receptors, muscle stretch receptors, joint receptors - Multimodal integration, spatial information, and numerical information
29
Pituitary Gland
Produces hormones - Posterior pituitary: brain tissue, releases vasopressin/oxytocin in response to neural signal - Anterior pituitary: glandular tissue, makes hormones, release controlled by hypothalamus
30
Pons
Axons from each half of brain cross to the opposite side of the spinal cord (contralateral control) - Latin for bridge - Relay sensory info from forebrain to cerebellum - Sleep, respiration, swallowing, facial expression/sensation
31
Prefrontal Cortex
Complex functions such as: - Language production: Broca's area - Working memory: ability to remember recent events - Decision making (planning ahead) - Planning movements - Part of frontal lobe
32
Somatic Nervous System
Sense organs to CNS and CNS to *voluntary* muscles - Receives and processes information, controls movement in response to info - Skin, eyes, ears, etc.
33
Spinal Cord
Links body/brain through communication with all sense organs/muscles except those in head - Segmented: 31 pairs of spinal nerves - Closest to head: neck/arms - Further from head: legs/feet - If cut, brain loses sensation and motor function from that region/below (lower injuries are less harmful for this reason) - Bell-Magendie Law - Gray/white matter
34
Substantia Nigra
Dopamine pathway that facilitates movement - Parkinson's: death of cells in substantia nigra, difficulty starting movement + slow execution - Dopamine related to rewards and movement
35
Superior Colliculus
Vision - Preliminary vision processing - Eye movements
36
Sympathetic Nervous System
Nerves that prepare organs for vigorous activity - Expend energy to keep self safe - Fight or flight response (also include freeze/fawn) - Arranged in chains of ganglia, therefore one response activates the whole chain - Dilates pupil, increases heart rate/contraction force, increased sweat secretion, increased blood pressure/constricts blood vessels, slow digestion and reduced saliva
37
Tectum
"Roof" in the midbrain - Superior colliculus: vision (preliminary vision processing, eye movements) - Inferior colliculus: hearing (auditory spatial localization, startle response)
38
Tegmentum
"Covering" in the midbrain - Ventral tegmental area (VTA): emotion/reward, often related to substance abuse
39
Temporal Lobe
Auditory information - Left lobe understands language - Wernicke's Aphasia: deficit in comprehending language Complex vision - Movement and faces Emotional and motivational behaviors - Klüver-Bucy syndrome: monkeys w/ temporal lobe damage not fearful
40
Thalamus
Relay station - recieves sensory information, processes it, and sends output to cortex - Except olfaction (smell) - Many nuclei recieve input from one sensory system - Lateral geniculate nucleus: vision - Medial geniculate nucleus: auditory
41
Ventral
toward bottom of brain
42
Ventricles
Developmentally, brain begins as neural tube (develops inside-out) - Central canal - fluid-filled channel in spinal cord - 4 ventricles in brain - Choroid plexus cells make CSF, CSF fills ventricles - Ventricles are connected
43
White Matter
Myelinated axons - Outside of spinal cord, inside of brain
44
Words for Different Brain Slices (Different Planes)
- Horizontal plane: horizontal slice, based on brain orientation, cut back through head from eyes to back of head - Sagittal plane: slice straight through head, cut down the middle of the head from nose to back of head (split head in middle, nose = middle) - Coronal plane: cut head in half from ear to ear, separate front of head from back
45
Directional Terminology of the Brain
- Dorsal: towards top - Ventral: towards bottom - Superior: above another part - Inferior: below another part - Medial: towards middle (midline) - Lateral: towards edge (away from midline) - Ipsilateral: same side - Contralateral: opposite side - Anterior: towards front of brain - Posterior: towards back of brain
46
Bell-Magendie Law (Spinal Cord)
Dorsal roots: carry sensory information - Dorsal root ganglion: cell bodies of sensort information Ventral roots: carry motor information - Motor neuron has cell body in spinal cord
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