The 4 main structures involved in the Central Nervous System
What are the:
1. Cerebrum (brain)
2. Brainstem
3. Cerebellum
4. Spinal cord
Acronyms of the 7 Functional Classifications for the Cranial Nerves (half-points if less than 7 or if 1 is incorrect)
What are: GSA, SSA, GVA, SVA, GSE, GVE, SVE?
The bending of light when it travels across two different types of media (such as air to liquid)
What is: refraction?
The 2 main differences between alpha motor and gamma motor neurons.
What is: Alpha motor neurons innervate extrafusal fibers vs. Gamma motor neurons that innervate intrafusal fibers. Alpha motor neurons are also more myelinated than gamma motor neurons, which makes for a stronger, faster travel process.
How a damaged receptive field can reflect in a 2-point discrimination test
What is: In a 2-point discrimination test, a person with a damaged receptive field may fail this test and not be able to tell that the 2 points are in different locations of whatever structure they are on (hand, arm, etc.). The person may instead feel like the two points are in the same location.
The purpose of gyri
What is: to pack in more neurons in a limited space (aka the skull)?
The name of the structure connecting the left and right thalami
What is: the interthalamic adhesion?
Where binaural information is integrated in the auditory pathway
What is: the superior olivary complex (nucleus)?
The 3 types of information that the LMN's integrate
What are:
1. Sensory information
2. Information from the UMN's
3. Information from the interneurons
Explanation of the Gate Theory of Pain
What is:
Tactile (touch) input to a structure in pain will activate the inhibitory interneuron, which will inhibit the 2nd order projection neuron to the Anterolateral pathway, and thus reducing the amount of nerve signals being sent to the brain to be perceived as pain.
The 3 ways in which excess neurotransmitters are cleaned up (half points if less than 3!)
1. Diffusion - Neurotransmitters wander off into the extracellular space.
2. Enzymatic Degradation - Enzymes that are in the synaptic cleft inactivate or decompose excess neurotransmitters.
3. Reuptake Transporters - embedded back in the membrane of the presynaptic terminal and/or on nearby astrocytes
The main function of the internal capsule
What is: to be the "toll plaza" of the projection fibers, where all axons that transmit motor and sensory information pass through. Main meeting point of many projection fibers
The purpose of the vestibulo-ocular response
What is: to stabilize vision by adjusting the eyes according to head movement OR to maintain a fixed gaze during head motion.
The motor neuron syndromes that display positive neurological signs
What are: upper motor neuron syndromes?
What is:
Impairment in left hemisphere - Trouble naming the strawberry but can circumlocute (describe around the word) instead
Impairment in right hemisphere - Trouble describing the strawberry's features (fruit, seeds, grows on a vine, etc.) but can name it
The secondary CNS structures stemming from the Prosencephalon, Mesencephalon, & Rhombencephalon
What are the:
Prosencephalon - Telencephalon, Diencephalon
Mesencephalon - Midbrain/Mesencephalon (either one accepted)
Rhombencephalon - Metencephalon, Myelencephalon
The structure of the brain that contains more than half of the brain's neurons
What is: the cerebellum?
The 4 destinations for the projections of the vestibular pathways + a relative function for each
What are: the cerebellum for motor activity coordination, the spinal cord for posture, the CN III/IV/VI nuclei for eye movement, and the VP thalamic nucleus to primary somatosensory cortex for proprioception/sensation.
The effect of the Pars Reticulata projections to the VA and the VL of the thalamus
What is: inhibitory?
The term describing the scientific process that allows us to perceive color
What is: Resting negative membrane potential creates attraction, so a concentration gradient is present as a driving force because there is a difference in concentration levels and electrical gradient is present because the negative ions want to move out and positive ions want to move in
At least 4 structures that the MCA supplies blood to
What are:
- lateral portion of frontal/parietal lobes
- subcortical nuclei
- Broca's area / Wernicke's area
- Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
- Premotor/Primary motor cortices
- Primary somatosensory cortex
- Inferior Parietal Lobule
- Auditory Cortex
The lesion that would have to occur in order for a person to not be able to see the lower right corner of a picture
What is: a lesion in the upper left optic radiations?
The structure that comes after the external globus pallidus in the indirect basal ganglia pathway
What is: the subthalamic nucleus?
3 characteristics of hypokinetic dysarthria + 3 characteristics of hyperkinetic dysarthria?
What are:
Hypokinetic: soft voice production, hoarseness, tremulous voice, articulatory undershoot, hypernasality, increased speech rate
Hyperkinetic: distorted facial expressions, strained vocal quality, uncontrolled articulatory gestures, unintelligible speech