Neural Exam 3 Limbic System

Front 1

"a set of physiological responses that occur more or less unconsciously when the brain detects certain challenging situations"

Back 1

Emotions

Front 2

Emotional responses occur within the _____ and the _____.

Back 2

Brain & Body

Front 3

"conscious experience of somatic or cognitive changes"

Back 3

Feelings

Front 4

What allows us to thrive in our environment?

Back 4

emotions & feelings

Front 5

When the brain detects stimuli that trigger an emotional response, what happens?

Back 5

It sends a command to the networks that control the endocrine glands, the autonomic system & the musculoskeletal system.

Front 6

What system regulates the endocrine glands and autonomic nervous system?

Back 6

Limbic System

Front 7

What is the limbic system composed of?

Back 7

anatomically and functionally connected nuclei and cortical structures.

Front 8

What are the interconnected structures and nuclei of the limbic system responsible for?

Back 8

exchanging and integrating information between the diecephalon, telencephalon, and mesencephalon

Front 9

Limbic Lobe location

Back 9

Ring around diencephalon
Serves as "circuit system" for basis of emotion

Front 10

What four structures are located on the outer arc of the limbic system?

Back 10

Parahippocampal gyrus, cingulate gyrus, subcallosal area, and indusium griseum

Front 11

What four structures are located on the inner arc of the limbic system?

Back 11

Hippocampal formation, fornix, septal area, and paraterminal gyrus

Front 12

What two structures are also included in the limbic system?

Back 12

Amygdala & mammillary bodies

Front 13

The limbic systems functions are concerned with the 4M's & 3 F's. What are they?

Back 13

4 M's: Mating, Mood, Motivation, & Memory
3 F's: Fear, Fighting, Food

Front 14

What system are some of the limbic systems functions closely related to?

Back 14

Olfactory system

Front 15

What 3 structures provide input for the limbic system?

Back 15

Limbic cortex, Amygdala, & Hippocampus

Front 16

what 2 structures provide output for the limbic system?

Back 16

Septum (Septal nuclei) & Hypothalamus

Front 17

What does the limbic cortex refer to?

Back 17

prefrontal cortex

Front 18

What is the prefrontal cortex important for?

Back 18

Judgment, insight, mood, and conditioned emotional reactions

Front 19

Damage & abnormalities to the prefrontal cortex result in?

Back 19

difficulty with reasoning and judgment & mood disorders

Front 20

What is known as the "little almond?"

Back 20

The Amygdala

Front 21

What is the amygdala important for?

Back 21

mediation and control of major affective activities, self preservation, and fear

Front 22

The complex of nuclei of the amygdala is divided into 3 groups:

Back 22

basolateral nuclei, corticomedial nuclei, and central nuclei

Front 23

The Amygdala couples ______ ______ _____ to an _________ ______.

Back 23

learned sensory stimuli to an adaptive response

Front 24

What are the 3 inputs to the amygdala?

Back 24

association areas of the visual, auditory, and somatosensory cortices

Front 25

What are the 2 outputs to the amygdala?

Back 25

hypothalamus & sympathetic neurons

Front 26

What allows for integration of information from different sensory modalities in the amygdala?

Back 26

interconnections

Front 27

Lesions to the Amygdala result in?

Back 27

lose affective meaning of the perception of external information

Front 28

What two major pathways connect the amygdala with the hypothalamus?

Back 28

1. ventral amygdalofugal pathway
2. stria teminalis

Front 29

Experimentation suggests that neurons in the amygdala can...

Back 29

"learn" to respond to stimuli associated with pain.

Front 30

Where is the hippocampus located?

Back 30

at the center of the allocortex

Front 31

CA 1 (Sommer Sector) of the Hippocampus will show ...

Back 31

the first morphologically detectable sign of cerebral hypoxia (reduced oxygen supply to the brain)

Front 32

What is the most important afferent pathway of the hippocampus?

Back 32

Perforant Pathway

Front 33

What is the Perforant Pathway?

Back 33

It extends from the entorhinal region (gateway to the hippocampus) to the hippocampus.
(both afferent & efferent information travel this pathway)

Front 34

What is the hippocampus involved with?

Back 34

memory

Front 35

The entorhinal region is associated with...

Back 35

smell and memory

Front 36

The hippocampus is involved with memory, specifically...

Back 36

LTM (Long Term Memory)

Front 37

Damage to the hippocampus will affect what?

Back 37

formation of new declarative memories
(eg. Alzheimer's)

Front 38

The nuclei in the Septal Region are involved in __________, ____________, and __________________.

Back 38

feeling, sociability, and procreation of the species

Front 39

The Septal Nuclei have connections to and from the...

Back 39

Olfactory bulb, Hippocampus, Amygdala, Hypothalamus, Midbrain, Thalamus, and Cingulate Gyrus

Front 40

The Septal Nuclei play a role in ________ and _________.

Back 40

reward and reinforcement

Front 41

What is the primary output for the limbic system?

Back 41

Hypothalamus

Front 42

The Hypothalamus has connections to...

Back 42

the frontal lobe, septal nuclei, and reticular formation of the brainstem

Front 43

What input is fed into the hypothalamus?

Back 43

input from the body

Front 44

The hypothalamus also contains sensors for what four things?

Back 44

temperature, osmolarity, glucose & sodium concentrations

Front 45

Hypothalamus is critical for activation of what?

Back 45

activation of autonomic and sexual responses.

Front 46

"A change in behavior resulting from acquiring knowledge and the world"

Back 46

Learning

Front 47

"the process by which that knowledge is encoded, stored, and later retrieved"

Back 47

Memory

Front 48

Is memory a discrete natural function?

Back 48

False, Memory is not a discrete natural function because it involves many different parts of the brain.

Front 49

What is the beginning of the axon? What is the end of the axon?

Back 49

axon hillock
axon terminal (terminal button)

Front 50

What are the branchlike projections from the neuron that conduct the electrochemical signals from other neural cells into the cell body?

Back 50

Dendrites

Front 51

What kind of signal is transmitted between the presynaptic and postsynaptic neurons?

Back 51

electrical or chemical signal

Front 52

Information passed between neurons may have an ____________ or ___________ effect?

Back 52

inhibitory or excitatory

Front 53

Most synapses are plastic. What does this mean?

Back 53

the strength of a synapse can change (increase or decrease)

Front 54

What is thought to be an integral concept in understanding learning and memory?

Back 54

Synaptic Plasticity

Front 55

What is long-term potentiation?

Back 55

a form of synaptic plasticity in which there is a long-lasting enhancement in signal transmission between two neurons as a result of simultaneous stimulation

Front 56

What is memory formation dependent on?

Back 56

changes in synaptic efficiency

Front 57

If two neurons are active at the same time, there will be ________________ synaptic efficiency and the strength of the synapse will ____________.

Back 57

increased/increase

Front 58

______________ + _____________ = STM

Back 58

Verbal information + Visuospatial information = short term memory

Front 59

Does STM rely on contributions from the hippocampus?

Back 59

NO

Front 60

What system governs the two subsystems of STM?

Back 60

the executive control processes

Front 61

What do the executive control processes do?

Back 61

allocate resources required for attention to verbal and visuospatial subsystems, as well as monitor/manipulate/update stored representations.

Front 62

When is the verbal system utilized?

Back 62

when we try to keep phonological (speech-based) information in conscious awareness

Front 63

What are the two additional mechanisms of the verbal system?

Back 63

a storage mechanism (represent phonological knowledge) & a rehearsal mechanism (keeps representations active)

Front 64

What system retains mental images of visual objects, as well as locations of objects in space?

Back 64

The visuospatial system

Front 65

What parts of the brain are involved in the rehearsal of visual information?

Back 65

parietal, inferior temporal, and occipital cortices

Front 66

What is LTM composed of?

Back 66

all experiences of conscious memory

Front 67

Patients with what type of lesion will show deficits with LTM?

Back 67

extensive bilateral lesions of the limbic association area of the medial temporal lobe

Front 68

What are the two classifications of LTM?

Back 68

implicit & explicit memory

Front 69

What is a form of memory that is automatic and requires little conscious processing from the individual?

Back 69

Implicit memory - It is tightly connected to the original conditions under which learning occurred.

Front 70

What type of memory allows for conscious or deliberate recall of facts or events?

Back 70

Explicit memory - It is highly flexible - easy to form & forget.

Front 71

Explicit memory can be divided into ________________ and ________________.

Back 71

episodic memory (autobiographical memory or the memory of personal events) & semantic memory (used to learn the meaning of new words/concepts)

Front 72

What are the four steps of explicit memory?

Back 72

1. Encoding
2. Storage
3. Consolidation
4. Retrieval

Front 73

What is the process by which new information is attended and linked to existing information in memory?

Back 73

Encoding

Front 74

What is the neural mechanism by which information is held over time?

Back 74

Storage

Front 75

What is the process by which temporarily stored information is converted to a more stable form of memory?

Back 75

Consolidation

Front 76

What is the process by which stored informatin is recalled?

Back 76

Retrieval

Front 77

Damage to what will affect all four steps in explicit memory?

Back 77

the medial temporal lobe

Front 78

Learning moves from _____ stage to an ___________ stage.

Back 78

cognitive stage to an autonomous stage

Front 79

How are new perceptual, motor, or cognitive abilities learned through?

Back 79

repetition

Front 80

What neural circuits are independent of the medial temporal lobe?

Back 80

those that initiate habit, motor skill, and conditioned learning

Front 81

What is a change in behavioral response that occurs over time in response to a single stimulus?

Back 81

Nonassociative learning

Front 82

What occurs when you form associations between events?

Back 82

Associative learning

Front 83

What are the two types of nonassociative learning?

Back 83

Habituation: learning to ignore the stimulus that lacks meaning
Sensitization: learning to intensify your response to all stimuli

Front 84

What are two types of associative learning?

Back 84

Classical Conditioning: associating a stimulus that evokes a measurable response with a secondary stimulus that normally does NOT evoke this response
Operant Conditioning: involves formation of a predictive relationship between an action and an outcome

Front 85

Where does critical motor function belong to?

Back 85

The cerebellum

Front 86

What are the 2 layers of the cerebellar cortex?

Back 86

a Purkinje cell layer and a granule cell layer

Front 87

What are the major output cells of the cerebellum?

Back 87

Purkinje cells

Front 88

What do Purkinje cells utilize to inhibit cerebellar output?

Back 88

GABA

Front 89

Marr-Albus theory of motor learning

Back 89

1. fiber input carries error signals indicatinga movement failed to meet expectations
2. connections are made by adjusting the effectiveness of the parallel fiber inputs to the Purkinje cells

Front 90

Internal models for the motor system are based on _____________. The brain has accurate internal models for the ____________ and _________ for movements. Thus motor learning is based upon ___________ __________ of internal models in the cerebellum.

Back 90

synaptic plasticity
dynamics & kinematics
continuous tuning

Front 91

Many operations performed by the motor system may be based on _____________?

Back 91

internal models stored in the brain

Front 92

Damage to the cerebellum can result in these 3 things:

Back 92

1. Decomposition of movement
2. Intention tremor
3. Dysdiadochokinesia

Front 93

Inability to produce coordinated smoot movement

Back 93

Decomposition of Movement

Front 94

When making movement towards a target, the individual will produce an involuntary tremor. This tremor will increase as he/she approached the target.

Back 94

Intention Tremor

Front 95

Difficulty preforming rapidly alternating movements

Back 95

Dysdiadochokinesia

Front 96

A rare form of encephalitis that involve a tremor

Back 96

Limbic Encephalitis

Front 97

Symptoms of Limbic encephalitis:

Back 97

STM deficits, hallucinations, agitation, psychosis, and sleep disturbances

Front 98

Stems from an abnormal regulation of fear

Back 98

Anxiety disorders
A healthy person regulates the stress response through learning

Front 99

The stress response is characterized by:

Back 99

Avoidance behavior, Increased arousal, Activation of the sympathetic division of the ANS, & release of cotrisol from adrenal glands

Front 100

What is involved in orchestrating the somatic responses necessary for stressful situations?

Back 100

The hypothalamus

Front 101

The stress response can be traced back to the _______ of ________ in the hypothalamus that contain _______ releasing hormone.

Back 101

activation of neurons
Corticotropin

Front 102

The stress response ensues when

Back 102

the central nucleus of the amygdala becomes active

Front 103

One of the most neurodegenerative disease in the US

Back 103

Alzheimer's Dementia

Front 104

Alzheimer's Dementia is characterized by destruction of the __________ resulting in difficulty with __________ __________.

Back 104

hippocampus
consolidating memory

Front 105

Symptoms of suspected AD

Back 105

loss of mental capacity, loss of recent memory, forgetfulness, transient periods of confusion, restlessness, lethargic periods, errors in judgment, and reduced capacity to learn

Front 106

We start to see these twisted protein fibers first developing in areas important for memory and spreading through the brain.

Back 106

Plaques & NFT's (neurofibrillary tangles)
Beta-amyloid and Tau protein

Front 107

What is a degenerative disorder of the CNS, characterized by altered mood/depression: degernation of structures int eh limbic systems - loss of motivation & apathy?

Back 107

Parkinson disease