Brain Development
What is Amylopia?
Reduced visual acuity of one eye that is not caused by internal issues
What is Ultradian?
A pattern that has a period shorter than a day
Where is the language area of the brain?
The left hemisphere
What are the biological functions of sleep?
Energy conservation, niche adaptation (nocturnal or diurnal), body and brain restoration, memory consolidation
What is Zeitgeber?
A cue that an animal uses to synchronize its activity with the environment
What direction does neural pruning happen?
Caudal to Rostral
What is a night terror?
Sudden arousal from stage 3 sleep marked by intense fear and autonomic activation
What is Apraxia?
Impairment in making precise movements
What causes narcolepsy?
Caused by having a messed up orexin (hypocretin) signalling system (in the hypothalamus)
What are the two main types of sleep?
Rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep and slow-wave sleep (SWS)
What happens if Phenylketonuria is not caught?
causes intellectual disabilities
What is Melanopsin?
A special photopigment in retinal ganglion cells that makes them sensitive to light
What is DTI tractography?
Using diffusion tensor imaging to visual the orientation and terminations of white matter tracts in the brain
How does American Sign Language support motor theory of language?
People who use sign language use the same language areas and show the same aphasia symptoms when those areas are damaged
What stage of sleep is less prevalent among older people?
3
What is Fragile X syndrome?
Intellectual disability is caused by lack of neural pruning
What are the Four neural systems underlying sleep?
Forebrain, brainstem, pontine, hypothalamic
What is Arcuate fasciculus?
Fiber tract the is viewed as the connection between Wernicke’s area and Broca’s area
What is desynchronized EEG?
Mix of many different high frequencies with low amplitude
What is significant about the pineal glands in birds/amphibians?
1. Sensitive to light because of thin skull
2. Secretes melatonin during night to inform brain about day length
What is the 5th step of nervous system development?
Neuronal Cell Death
What is the last molecular step of the circadian rhythm?
Per and Cry eventually break down
Give me the pathway for speaking a written word
Primary visual cortex-> angular gyrus -> Wernicke’s area -> arcuate fasciculus -> Broca’s area -> motor cortex
What is the Hebbian synapses?
Synapse that is strengthened when it successfully drives the postsynaptic cell
What is Alzheimer’s at a cellular level?
1. Amyloid plaques are formed by a buildup of beta-amyloid proteins
2. Cells show neurofibrillary tangles- abnormal whorls of neurofilaments that directly relate to the magnitude of cognitive impairment
3. Neurons die in basal ganglia, which means loss of ACh receptors