Background ; The CNS
This fluid, found in the brain’s ventricles, cushions the brain and spinal cord while delivering nutrients and removing waste.
What is cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)?
This imaging method measures changes in blood oxygen levels to track brain activity, often used in cognitive neuroscience research.
What is functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)?
This non-invasive technique uses weak electrical currents applied to the scalp to modulate brain activity.
What is transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)?
This brain region is responsible for the execution of voluntary movements and is organized in a somatotopic map.
What is the primary motor cortex?
These photoreceptors are concentrated in the fovea and are responsible for color vision and sharp visual detail.
What are cones?
This brain region, part of the limbic system, is essential for episodic memory and is involved in disorders like Alzheimer's disease.
What is the hippocampus?
This method produces 3D images of the brain using X-rays but involves exposure to ionizing radiation.
What is computed tomography (CT)?
This method uses electromagnetic induction to stimulate neurons non-invasively, often used in research and therapy.
What is transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)?
This brain structure plays a key role in coordinating motor learning and detecting errors in movement execution.
What is the cerebellum?
This visual pathway, also known as the "what" pathway, is involved in visual object recognition.
What is the ventral stream?
This major division of the brain, which includes the medulla, pons, and cerebellum, regulates fundamental functions like breathing and balance.
What is the hindbrain?
This imaging technique uses magnetic fields and radiofrequency pulses to generate detailed images of the brain's structure.
What is magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)?
This technique induces controlled seizures to treat severe depression, particularly when other treatments fail.
What is electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)?
This dopamine-producing brain region modulates both the direct and indirect pathways in the basal ganglia and is degenerative in people with Parkinson's Disease.
What is the substantia nigra?
This extrastriate visual area, also known as V5, is involved in motion processing and receives input from the pulvinar.
What is Area MT?
These cells, which outnumber neurons, provide essential support to neurons in the brain and spinal cord.
What are glial cells?
This imaging method tracks brain activity by detecting magnetic fields generated by neurons at millisecond temporal resolution.
What is magnetoencephalography (MEG)?
This invasive technique involves surgically implanted electrodes that stimulate specific brain regions, often used for Parkinson’s disease.
What is deep brain stimulation (DBS)?
This basal ganglia pathway facilitates movement by reducing inhibition of the thalamus, which excites the motor cortex.
What is the direct pathway?
This phenomenon ensures that objects maintain a stable color appearance despite changes in lighting conditions.
What is color constancy?
This insulating material, produced by oligodendrocytes, speeds up the transmission of electrical signals along axons.
What is myelin?
This type of MRI measures water diffusion to visualize white matter tracts in the brain.
What is diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI)?
This stimulation technique, using high-frequency sound waves, can be used to target deep brain structures noninvasively, and is still experimental.
What is transcranial focused ultrasound stimulation (TfUS)?
This pathway in the basal ganglia prevents unwanted movements by tightening the inhibitory "leash" on the thalamus.
What is the indirect pathway?
This brain region, part of the ventral stream, is specialized for facial recognition and damage to it can cause prosopagnosia.
What is the fusiform face area (FFA)?
This structure within the midbrain plays a critical role in visual localization by receiving projections from the eyes.
What is the superior colliculus?
This functional imaging method tracks the uptake of radioactive isotopes to measure metabolic processes in the brain.
What is positron emission tomography (PET)?
In transcranial direct current stimulation, this type of electrode increases neuronal excitability by depolarizing the membrane.
What is the anodal electrode?
This lateral frontal motor area plans movements triggered by external cues and is larger in humans than in monkeys.
What is the premotor area (PMA)?
This term refers to the way the brain integrates slightly different images from both eyes to perceive depth.
What is binocular disparity?
This neuroanatomical term describes the orderly mapping of the body’s surface onto specific areas of the brain, particularly in the primary motor and somatosensory cortices.
What is somatotopy?
This type of brain imaging uses electrodes placed on the scalp to measure electrical activity, often used for studying event-related potentials.
What is electroencephalography (EEG)?
In electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), electrical stimulation induces this type of event in the brain, leading to the therapeutic effects observed in depression.
What is a seizure?
Weakness on one side of the body, often following a stroke, is called this.
What is hemiparesis?
This area of the brain is specialized for processing color information and maintaining color constancy and is NOT retinotopically organized.
This dopaminergic pathway, originating in the substantia nigra, is vital for regulating movement and is impaired in Parkinson’s disease.
What is the nigrostriatal pathway?
This type of contrast in MRI is used to track brain activity and is based on changes in oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin levels.
What is blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) contrast?
This type of repetitive TMS, abbreviated as rTMS, has been shown to be effective in treating major depressive disorder.
What is repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS)?
This rare neurological condition affects the ability to reach and grasp objects, often caused by damage to the dorsal visual stream.
What is optic ataxia?
This visual disorder results from damage to the ventral stream, impairing the ability to recognize objects despite intact motor function.
What is visual form agnosia?
This midbrain area modulates pain and is activated during placebo effects and stress-induced analgesia.
What is the periaqueductal gray (PAG)?
This type of invasive imaging method can be done to record local field potentials of neuronal populations in awake/behaving humans undergoing surgery.
What is electrocorticography (ECoG)?
This brain stimulation method uses small electrical currents delivered at specific alternating frequencies to try to increase or decrease different oscillatory rhythms in the brain.
What is transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS)?
Lesions to this region impair self-initiated movements and the execution of complex motor sequences.
What is the supplementary motor area (SMA)?
This part of the retina, where the optic nerve exits the eye, contains no photoreceptors and is known as the "blind spot."
What is the optic disk?
This Roman physician proposed the brain, not the heart, creates the mind, marking a key historical shift in understanding cognitive neuroscience.
Who is Galen?
This specialized imaging technique measures the concentrations of neurotransmitters and other chemicals in the brain.
What is magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS)?
This method of brain stimulation uses light-sensitive proteins to control neuron activity.
What is optogenetics?
Damage to this part of the brain can lead to utilization behaviors, perseveration, and generally disorganized movement plans.
What is the prefrontal cortex?
These mechanoreceptors, responsible for detecting fine touch and pressure, are concentrated in the fingertips.
What are Merkel cells?