Name all 4 lobes of the cortex and one corresponding function
Frontal lobe: motor and non-motor functions, conscious movement, emotional expression, problem solving, memory, language, judgment, sexual behaviors
Parietal lobe: sensory information integration, spatial orientation, cognition, computation
Occipital lobe: visual perception, color recognition, reading, reading comprehension, depth perception, recognition of object movement
Temporal lobe: auditory perception, memory, speech, language comprehension, emotional responses, visual perception, facial recognition
What are the differences between IPSP and EPSP at the postsynaptic membrane?
EPSP (Excitatory postsynaptic potential): depolarization; positive ions (e.g., sodium or calcium) flow into the postsynaptic neuron; more likely to generate action potential
IPSP (Inhibitory postsynaptic potential): hyperpolarization; negative ions (e.g., chloride) enter the postsynaptic neuron or positive ions (e.g., potassium) leave the neuron; less likely to generate action potential
Brain death
coma
vegetative state
minimally conscious state
Locked in syndrom
How aware and arousable are patients in the different states?
Place
brain death
in a cognitive function/motor function plot
Cortex
a) how many layers does it have
b) what are the processing steps / typical input output circuit
a) Six layers
b) Thalamus —> input layer IV --> layer II/III --> layer V —> layer VI —> Thalamus
a) Where are grid cells and place cells located?
b) Which two cell types influence grid cells and how?
c) Function of place cells
a) Grid cells - Entorhinal cortex, Place cells - Hippocampus
b) Head direction cells: direction of move, speed cells: speed of motion; provide the information to update grid cell firing
c) Spatial orientation
Hedonic value of food
a) what happens when yummy food is always available?
b) how dynamic is the hedonic value of food and why is that useful for the animal?
a) binge eating
b) The hedonic value of food is dynamic because it can change over time, allowing the animal to seek and explore a variety of foods, ensuring a balanced diet and maximizing nutritional intake. The hedonic value of the food depends on its availablity -> decreased reward if food is available for an extended time. Maybe allows the animal to conserve energy in searching for food?
Define H.oeconomicus and describe how it differs from H. sapiens
Homo oeconomicus:
always the same rational decisions
maximizes utility
never changes
Homo sapiens:
relative preferences
risk/ fear
framing
endowment
values discounting —> future values are worth less
Difference between short term and working memory
Short-term memory: temporary information storage; passive sensory trace (e.g., remember a tone)
Working memory: storage and manipulation; active exploitation of long-term memory (e.g., remember start of sentence to know its meaning at the end of it)"
Theory of mind
a) Which experiment can be used to prove TOM
b) Which area is active during TOM
a) Experiment: food storing behavior in birds --> changing food cache if they know they had been observed while storing food, but only when they already had stolen food themselves
b) Area active during TOM: prefrontal cortex (mammals) and Nidopallium caudolaterale (birds)
What is the framing effect? Which brain region is involved?
a) Framing effect: putting a decision into a specific context
b) Involved brain region: dorsomedial prefrontal cortex
Is the human cortex special? If yes, why?
Yes: Compared to other mammals (not to other primates) and birds, the human cortex is special with its six-layers which include a granular layer IV for fusing and integrating information.
Additionally, the high number of forebrain neurons is highly relevant for complex cognition. No: Cortex is not different to cortex in other primates.
Depression
a) Define re-uptake inhibition
b) What neurotransmitters are essential?
a) Normally, leftover transmitters return to the pre-synapsis via autoreceptors after a short time. Blocking: Transmitters are longer in the synaptic cleft --> increased effect
b) Dopamine, Serotonine, Norepinephrine
LTP
a) what was the first area it was described in?
b) which receptors are essential?
a) Hippocampus
b) NMDA & AMPA
Glasgow coma scale: Describe + Name the 3 Tests
Scoring for damage in brain and if the patient is in coma or not.
Tests: open eyes (spontaneously or stimulated), verbal communication, motor response
Draw the Wernike-Geschwind model
Layer 4
a) is L4 thicker in the sensor cortex or the motor cortex
b) why?
The layer IV is thicker in the sensor cortex than in the motor cortex, because there we need to integrate more input information.
a) Why is the enteric nervous system called little brain?
b) Where is it located?
c) How is it connected to the central nervous system?
a) Very high density of neurons, can work on its own, same chemicals and cells as the brain
b) gastrointestinal tract
c) via the parasympathetic division of the ANS
a) Name three famous patients in the history of cognitive neuroscience and the scientists who worked with them
b) Describe their lesion areas and the main impaired function with it
1) H.M. -> William Scoville: bilateral lobectomy —> removed anterior temporal lobe incl. Hippocampus, Impaired function: Storing long-term explicit memories
2) Phineas Gage -> HarlowLesion: Prefrontalcotex, Impaired function: change of personality, impaired decision making
3) Leborgne (“Tan”) -> Broca-Lesion: Broca-Area, Impaired function: Language Production
Which theories are there to describe the mechanisms behind working memory?
Persistent
Transient
Silent
Name all five cell types associated with spatial recognition
grid
head direction
speed
border
Pathway of addiction: Which brain areas are involved and what neurotransmitters are essential?
VTA -> NAc -> PFC
Dopamine, GABA, Glutamate
Brainstem
a) What is part of the brainstem?
b) Which midbrain area is crucial in the development of Parkinsons?
a) Myelencephalon, Pons in Metencephalon, Mesencephalon
b) Substantia nigra
a) Which two wave oscillations are present during sleep and anaesthesia?
b) Are they intrathalamic or thalamocortical?
a) alpha and delta waves b) thalamocortical
Name 5 symptoms of the frontal lobe syndrome
damage of higher-order cognitive functioning
dysexecutive syndrome
failure to plan
disturbance of working memory
disturbance of language and speech production
disturbance of social behavior
Single neurons firing
a) Who described it first?
b) Which experiment did they use?
a) Hitzig and Fritsch in the "Ueber die elektrische Erregbarkeit des Grosshirns" (1870)
b) Experiment: Galvanic stimulation (DC) of dog cortex elicited characteristic contractions of the head and limbs --> were able to map out the motor cortex and identify specific areas that, when stimulated, produced movement in distinct parts of the body
Granular cortex
a) what is special about it
b) why is it so important for cognition
a) only in primates --> Layer IV
b) important to integrate and fuse information
Define a psychotropic drug
chemical substances that change brain function and result in alterations in perception, mood, consciousness or behavior
Which two afferents in the nucleus arcuatus follow a
a) high Leptin level?
b) low Leptin level?
a) α-MSH, CART
b) NPY, AgRP
Thinking about the differences between avian and mammalian brains, what is necessary for complex cognition?
Different architectures, but high number of neurons in the forebrain in common -> requirement for complex cognition similar area: PFC & nidopallium caudolaterale
Explain the reward discounting effect
rewards that occur in the future have some risk of not being collected -> value is discounted
the delay discounting curve is quite steep, the value of a high reward drops rapidly to almost none if it is in the future
humans prefer options with immediate reward
Which part of the PFC is active if irrational fast decisions are suppressed?
lateral prefrontal cortex is important for suppressing fast (irrational) decisions
Describe three brain oscillation frequencies and one typical activity it can be seen at
delta: deep sleep/coma/anesthesia, loss of bodily awareness
theta: dreams, deep meditation, creativity, reduced consciousness
alpha: physically, mentally relaxed --> eyes closed
beta: awake, alert consciousness, thinking, excitement
gamma: heightened perception, learning, problem solving, cognitive processing
Draw the spike-orientation model and explain it
OR
Draw the spike-orientation curve and explain it
Name 2 clinical tests to check brain death
1) cold water in ear - caloric test
2) pressure on eyes
3) absent light reflex (pupil), absent sucking reflex
4) eyes do not open when painful stimulus is applied to nail bed
5) absent cough reflex (when intubated)
6) apnoe test
a) Which two neurons are part of the autonomous nervous system before reaching the organ?
b) Which NTs are present in para. and symp.?
c) Name one exception
a) pre- and postganglionic neurons
b) acetylcholine is present in both epinephrine and norepinephrine only in sympathetic postganglionic neurons
c) sweat glands, part of the sympathetic division but uses only acetylcholine
In which axes can the Prefrontal cortex be organized? Which features/functions are linked to them?
Medio-lateral axis (intero- and exteroceptive): cognitive control, decision-making, working memory, attention, and emotional regulation; mediodorsal thalamic projections to PFC
Ventro-dorsal axis (what and where):
Rostro-caudal axis (more and less abstract): see below
Which subcortical area is so closely linked to the PFC that it is included in defining the PFC?
Orbital frontal cortex
Do rodents have a PFC?
Yes, a medial PFC. Mammals have a PFC, and rodents are mammals.
BUT: They lack a lateral PFC. We should instead ask more functionally --> How do rodents solve complex cognitive tasks? It is the behavior, not the cortex, that is selected by evolution
a) Which 2 different types of memory can be distinguished?
b) What the difference in recalling them?
c) State the full name of the hippocampal memory cycle
d) Which kind of receptors are important regarding the CA1 area?
a) Explicit (declarative) and Implicit (nondeclarative)
b) Explicit: by concious effort, Implicit: unconciously
c) Trisynaptic Circuit: Entorhinal cortex (Perforant path) -> dentate gyrus (Mossy fibers) -> CA3 (Schaffer collaterals) -> CA1
() = paths
d) AMPA and NMDA
Link the drug to their function:
Benzodiazepine, Barbiturate, Nicotin, LSD, MDMA
Hallucinogen, stimulating, depressing, anxiolytic
Benzodiazepine: Anxiolytic
Barbiturate: Depressing
Nicotine: Stimulating
LSD: Hallucinogen
MDMA: Stimulating
a) Which is the basal mechanism behind the alleviation of positive symptoms through conventional antipsychotics?
b) What is the main side effect?
c) Name a therapeutic advantage of atypical antipsychotics and an advantage regarding side effects
a) Antagonising D2 receptor
b) EPS (extrapyramidal symptoms): most commonly caused by typical antipsychotic drugs that antagonize dopamine D2 receptors
c) Also targets negative symptoms, reduced occurrence of EPS
a) What is the difference between bulimia nervosa and binge eating?
b) What neurotransmitter systems are disturbed in anorexia nervosa?
a) Bulimia nervosa is binge eating with subsequent purging. Binge eating is without subsequent purging.
b) NTs in anorexia nervosa: 5-HT (punishment and inhibition) is increased and DA (reward and motivation) is decreased
Explain the vertical and the horizontal electode penetration in the hypercolumn.
Vertical: neurons with the same preferred orientations.
Oblique or horizontal: systematic change in orientation across the cortical surface. More orientation-selective cells need to be in layer IV (input layer).
What are the parameters of oscillation?
amplitude, phase, and frequency
Name 5 executive cognitive functions
Attention
(Working) memory
Temporal Integration
Planning
Decision-making
Inhibitory Control
Monitoring
Which drugs resemble which neurotransmitter?
Acetylcholine: nicotine
Noradrenalin/adrenalin: amphetamine, cocaine, LSD
Dopamine: amphetamine, cocaine, heroin, cannabis, LSD
Serotonin: amphetamine, cocaine, LSD
Glutamate: AMPA, NMDA
GABA: alcohol, barbiturate
Histamine: opiates
Which neurotransmitter leads to which mood?
Acetylcholine: arousal, focused attention, promoting learning
Noradrenaline/Adrenaline: arousal, attention
Dopamine: pleasure, reward, motivation, curiosity
Serotonin: sedation, sleep and stress regulation, appetite, memory, sexual desire
Glutamate: excitatory GABA: inhibitory, relaxation
Histamine: wakefulness, inflammation
The Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA) is involved in psychosis. Which pathways target brain region and disease?
The mesolimbic and mesocortical pathways originating from the VTA target brain regions such as the nucleus accumbens and PFC --> dysfunction in these pathways is implicated in psychotic disorders, e.g., schizophrenia
Same side effects of antipsychotics and antidepressants?
drowsiness
dizziness
dry mouth
gastrointestinal disturbances
cardiovascular
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