Brain Busters
Who is credited with the first description of Alzheimer's disease as a distinct neurological condition, including the amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles?
Alois Alzheimer
The blood-brain barrier is crucial for protecting the brain from harmful substances. Which type of cells form the barrier?
Endothelial cells
A 50-year-old patient presents with early signs of disinhibition, inappropriate social behavior, and a noticeable decline in executive functions such as planning and decision-making. MRI imaging reveals atrophy in the frontal and temporal lobes. What is the most likely diagnosis?
Frontotemporal Dementia
Which neurologist is famous for developing the theory of functional localization in the brain, including identifying areas responsible for speech and motor control?
Paul Broca
A patient with a hemisection of the spinal cord at the T10 level will present with which type of sensory and motor deficits?
Ipsilateral motor loss below the level of the lesion (due to corticospinal tract involvement) and contralateral loss of pain and temperature sensation (due to spinothalamic tract involvement)
The concept of "executive dysfunction" is primarily associated with which brain region?
The prefrontal cortex
Which neurologist contributed to the identification of the "mirror neuron" system, explaining how observing actions activates similar regions in the brain as performing them?
Giacomo Rizzolatti
The rubrospinal tract is involved in which type of movement control?
Assists with motor control, particularly for coordination of upper limb movements.
The "Stroop Test" is often used to measure which cognitive ability?
Cognitive interference and attention (specifically, selective attention)
This famous neurologist's contributions helped to popularize the idea of "neuropsychology," a discipline that examines brain-behavior relationships.
Oliver Sacks
Which area of the brain is associated with the ability to recognize faces, and damage to it can cause prosopagnosia?
The fusiform gyrus (part of the temporal lobe)
Who developed the first comprehensive map of the human brain’s motor cortex?
Wilder Penfield
Dorsal column fibers synapse in which thalamic nucleus before projecting to the primary sensory cortex
The VPL (ventral posterolateral nucleus) of the thalamus