Psych 280 Quiz 1

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Alblation/lesion studies

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INVASIVE TECHNIQUES in which some part or parts of the brain of a test animal are DESTROYED, REMOVED or DISCONNECTED in an effort to observe the resulting effects of the invasion on the BEHAVIOUR of the animal.

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STEREOTAXIC SURGERY

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sophistacted procedure to ENSURE that the area of the brain affected in the study is the ACTUAL AREA of the brain that was INTENDED to be affected

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two STEREOTAXIC SURGERY tools

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1.an ATLAS to provide directions to the TARGET SITE, and

2.an INSTRUMENT for getting there.

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dimensions in a STEREOTAXIC ATLAS

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·VENTRAL (bottom of the brain) - DORSAL (top of the brain);

·LATERAL (outside side of the brain) – MEDIAL (inside center of the brain);

·ANTERIOR (toward the front of the brain) – POSTERIOR (toward the back of the brain).

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Bregma

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the point at the top of the skull where the 2 major skull bones intersect
- used in stereotaxic atlas

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**STEREOTAXIC TECHNIQUE**

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A method of brain surgery that maps neuroanatomical structures onto a 3-D coordinate system, thereby allowing the precise identification of locations within the brain.

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ASPIRATION LESIONS

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Suction out the area of the brain. Only effective for surface areas of the brain (cortical structures).

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RADIO FREQUENCY (RF) LESIONS:

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Bombard the area with an alternating electric current that destroys the area.

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CHEMICAL LESIONS

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Inject the area with selective neurotoxins that destroy only those tissues that take up the neurotoxin and leave those that don’t intact.

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CRYOGENIC BLOCKADE

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Implant a cryoprobe into the brain tissue and pump coolant through it which acts to cool the neural tissue adjacent to it sufficiently to stop neural activity (i.e., neurons stop firing) but not enough to destroy it (reversible technique).

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SECTIONING

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Manually cut the brain tissue connecting the area in question with other areas using a leucotome.

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COMPUTERIZED TOMOGRAPHY (CT SCAN):

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· Computer-assisted 3-D X-ray

· Image is based on differences in the density of brain structures.

· Produces a much higher resolution than conventional X-ray but still produces a fairly “fuzzy” outlines of soft/less dense structures.

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MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING (MRI SCAN):

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· Similar in principle to a CT scanner however, instead of passing X-rays through the tissue, it passes a strong MAGNETIC FIELD.

· Image is based on differences in the energy emitted from hydrogen molecules contained in the brain structures.

· Produces a much higher resolution image than a CT scan.

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POSITRON EMISSION TOMOGRAPY (PET SCAN):

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· Patient is injected with a RADIOACTIVELY TAGGED CHEMICAL that closely resembles GLUCOSE. Glucose is the primary metabolic fuel for the brain and is therefore readily taken up by the brain and in differential amounts according to which areas of the brain are most active.

· Unlike true glucose, the radioactive glucose-like molecule cannot be metabolized by the brain and so it accumulates in the active neurons until it can be gradually broken down (= “1/2 LIFE”).

· The patient is asked to perform a cognitive task and during this time, the radioactive tag is differentially taken up by those areas of the brain that are active during that task.
· After it is taken up and before it is broken down, the tag emits radiation that is captured by the scanner and represented in different colours depending upon which areas of the brain are most active. Areas of high activity = yellow & red. Areas of less activity = blue & green.

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FUNCTIONAL MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING (fMRI SCAN):

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· Similar to MRI but uses substances OTHER THAN hydrogen (e.g., OXYGEN).

· Similar to PET in that using oxygen provides a measure of METABOLIC ACTIVITY during cognitive tasks.

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Advantages of fMRI over PET:

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· No radioactive substances are injected into patient.

· Provides better structural information.

· Provides better resolution.

· Is able to monitor changes in real time (not dependent on the ½ life activity of a radioactive substance).

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Recording with MACROELECTRODES

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· = EEG (electroencephalography).

· Detect activity of many neurons within “ear shot” of each electrode (thousands or millions at once).

· Certain wave forms are associated with particular states of consciousness (e.g., alpha w/ relaxed wakefulness; beta w/ attentive wakefulness; delta w/ deep sleep) and cerebral pathology (e.g., epilepsy).

· Electrodes are typically attached to the skull (and are therefore noninvasive) with conduction paste or surgically implanted. Can also be done invasively (your textbook refers to this approach as “invasive EEG recording”).

· ERP (event-related potentials) = EEG associated with a discrete event to which the subject attends. The subject’s EEG response to a sensory event (e.g., an auditory click) is recorded many times. By averaging out the background EEG ‘noise’ across all of the trials, the EEG response to the sensory event can be isolated.

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Recording with MICROELECTRODES

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· = single-unit recording.

· Your textbook describes 3 variations of it:
1. intracellular unit recording;
2. extracellular recording;
3. multiple unit recording.

· Detects the activity of individual neurons.

· Electrodes either inserted (temporarily) or implanted (semi-permanently) stereotaxically and subject is monitored over time.

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Stimulation Studies

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Stimulation studies don’t record electrical activity---they PRODUCE it in specific areas of the brain. Brain tissue can be stimulated using ELECTRODES or CHEMICALS.

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ELECTRICAL STIMULATION

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(Wilder Penfield, 1940’s)

· Introduce electrical pulse with ELECTRODE.

· Less specific/localized than chemical stimulation.

· First thought to have possibly led to the discovery of the location where MEMORIES are STORED in the brain. Penfield electrically stimulated the cortex of his patients during open brain surgery and carefully mapped their responses to these stimulations onto a representation of the brain. Unfortunately, stimulation of precisely the SAME spot on the cortex in future stimulations of other patients and even the SAME PATIENT did NOT generate the same memory. So much for the location of memory storage in the cortex.

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CHEMICAL STIMULATION

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· The chemical (neurotransmitter) is injected through a stereotaxically inserted CANNULA.

· More specific/localized than electrical stimulation.

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Neurohistological Studies

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Include both TRACING & STAINING techniques.

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STAINING

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ADMINISTRATION of CHEMICALS that attach themselves to specific cell structures and thereby make it possible for researchers to visualize different cells in the brain.

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TRACING

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the INJECTION of CHEMICALS into the animal and the OBSERVATION of the path that chemical travels through the cellular pathways.

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Golgi stain

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· Discovered by an Italian researcher called Camillo Golgi (1870’s).

· Golgi stain contains SILVER CHROMATE that stains entire NEURONS BLACK (axons & cell bodies).

· Allowed the visualization of INDIVIDUAL NEURONS for the first time and is therefore particularly useful for investigating the DISTRIBUTION of DENDRITES & AXONS.

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Nissl stain

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· Franz Nissl (1880’s).

· Nissl stain selectively stains NEURONAL CELL BODIES but leaves the AXONS unstained.

· A number of different dyes are all referred to as Nissl stains, including METHYLENE BLUE & CRESYL VIOLET, each of which penetrate the RNA, DNA and other proteins located in the CELL BODY of the neuron.

· Since the Nissl stains reveal the CELL NUCLEUS, they are particularly USEFUL for MAPPING CELL DENSITY.

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Myelin stain

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· Selectively dyes the SHEATHS of MYELINATED AXONS.

· As a result, WHITE MATTER, which consists of myelinated axons, is stained black, whereas other areas of the brain, consisting mostly of cell bodies and nuclei, and including UNMYELINATED AXONS, are not.

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Anterograde Labeling
(TRACING TECHNIQUE)

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“MOVING FORWARD” or “DOWNSTREAM” from some REFERENCE POINT.

Anterograde labeling methods use CHEMICALS that are taken up by the DENDRITES or CELL BODIES and move TOWARD the TERMINAL BUTTONS.

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Retrograde Labeling
(TRACING TECHNIQUE)

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means “MOVING BACKWARD” or “UPSTREAM” from some REFERENCE POINT.

Retrograde labeling methods use CHEMICALS that are taken up by the TERMINAL BUTTONS and move TOWARD the DENDRITES.

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Sodium Amytal (WADA)Test

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In the SODIUM AMYTAL TEST (Wada, 1949), a CATHETER is inserted into the LEFT or RIGHT CAROTID ARTERY and then the barbiturate sodium amytal, is injected.

This chemical temporarily anesthetizes one cerebral hemisphere.

The aim is to test the function of each cerebral hemisphere individually in particular with regard to its relative dominance for LANGUAGE functions.

During the 6-8 minutes after injection with sodium amytal while one hemisphere remains “PARALYZED,” the neuropsychologist tests the function of the “AWAKE” hemisphere.

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Dichotic Listening Test

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Subjects are exposed to audiotaped recordings of different digits in each ear at the SAME TIME. Subjects correctly report more of those digits presented to the ear CONTRALATERAL to the hemisphere dominant for LANGUAGE.

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NEUROLOGICAL EXAM

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reflexive functioning, cranial nerve functioning, medical hx, assessment of muscle tone & gross muscular movement, perception of stimuli

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MINI MENTAL EXAM

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- quick impression of cognitive function such as language capabilities, orientation to location, attention, mental status

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Halstead-Reitan Battery

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- takes 6-8 hours to administer

- originally administered in the 1930’s to assess cognitive abilities in patients with brain injury

- revised in the 1950’s to assess cognitive abilities of patients with psychiatric illness

- 5 TESTS

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Halstead-Reitan Battery FIVE TESTS

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1. Category Test: problem solving test in which the patient’s ability to engage in abstract reasoning is assessed

2. Tactual Performance Test: patient is required to fit blocks of different shapes into holes with no visual guidance.

3. Rhythm Test: patient is required to detect differences and similarities between rhythms.

4. Speech Sounds Perception Test: patient is required to match spoken nonsense syllables with written counterpart

5. Finger Tapping Test: patient is required to tap their finger as quickly as possible for 10 seconds.

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Neuroanatomy

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the study of the structure of the nervous system

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Neorochemistry

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The study of chemical bases of neural activity

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Neuroendocrinology

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The study of interactions between the nervous system and the endocrine system

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Neuropathology

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The study of nervous system disorders

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Neuropharmacology

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The study of effects of drugs on neural activity

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Neurophysiology

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The study of the functions and activities of the nervous system

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Physiological psychology

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study of the neural mechanisms of behaviour by manipulating the nervous systems of nonhuman animals in controlled experiments

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Psychopharmacology

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study of the effects of drugs on the brain and behaviour

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Neuropsychology

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study of the psychological effects of brain damage in human patients

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Psychophysiology

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study of the relation between physiological activity and psychological processes in human subjects by noninvasive physiological recording

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Cognitive Neuroscience

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study of the neural mechanisms of human cognition, largely through the use of functional brain imaging

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Comparative psychology

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study of the evolution, genetics, and adaptiveness of behaviour, largely through the use of the comparative method.

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TREPHINING

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the practise of boring holes into the skulls of (living) patients with the hypothesized purpose of letting out demonic spirits that were thought to be possessing the patient

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MALLEUS MALEFICARUM

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(literally, the "witches hammer"), a guidebook to the identification and persecution of witches, and with it the infamous witch hunt. The malleus maleficarum was first published in 1448 and went through 30 editions and was translated into several languages by 1669. It generally treated all disorders, physiological as well as mental, whose origins were unknown, as products of the supernatural and caused by witchcraft. The last legally sanctioned witch hunt took place in Switzerland in 1782.

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PHRENOLOGY

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First proposed by Franz Josef Gall and Johann Casper Spurzheim

Phrenology is the practise of reading the physical contours of the surface of the skull.

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TREPHINING

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the practise of boring holes into the skulls of (living) patients with the hypothesized purpose of letting out demonic spirits that were thought to be possessing the patient

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MALLEUS MALEFICARUM

Back 52

(literally, the "witches hammer"), a guidebook to the identification and persecution of witches, and with it the infamous witch hunt. The malleus maleficarum was first published in 1448 and went through 30 editions and was translated into several languages by 1669. It generally treated all disorders, physiological as well as mental, whose origins were unknown, as products of the supernatural and caused by witchcraft. The last legally sanctioned witch hunt took place in Switzerland in 1782.

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PHRENOLOGY

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First proposed by Franz Josef Gall and Johann Casper Spurzheim

Phrenology is the practise of reading the physical contours of the surface of the skull.

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RENÉ DESCARTES

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French philosopher and mathematician who believed that the soul interacted with the body, controlling the movements of the muscles through the PINEAL GLAND (he thought this to be the “seat of the soul”). Wrong.

Important contributions:

first to suggest that there was an INTERACTION between the MIND and the BODY

first to use a MODEL to explain his theories

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LUIGI GALVANI

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(1700’s: 1737-1798) Italian physiologist who found that electrical stimulation of a frog’s leg nerve caused contraction of the leg muscle to which it was attached. This finding led to an accumulation of knowledge about the role of nerves in behaviour. It also led to a fascination with “re-animation” of the dead…the leg muscle of a dead frog could be made to twitch by applying electrical current (hence Mary Shelley’s novel “Frankenstein” in 1818).

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JOHANNES MÜLLER

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(1800’s: 1801-1858) German physiologist who wrote the DOCTRINE OF SPECIFIC NERVE ENERGIES which states that although all nerves carry the same basic electrical impulse, we perceive this impulse differently depending upon which nerve is carrying them. Muller’s work led many scientists to experiment directly on the brain and thereby paved the way for much research on localization of function in the brain.

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FRANZ-JOSEPH GALL

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(1700’s: 1758-1828) Austrian physician who, along with his colleague JOHANN CASPER SPURZHEIM, (1776-1832) developed PHRENOLOGY (the notion that the extent of a person’s abilities and faculties could be assessed by the topography of their skull).

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PIERRE FLOURENS

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1800s

French physiologist who performed many ABLATION EXPERIMENT

His experiments led him to the conclusion that it is not the location of removal that is important in the ablation but HOW MUCH TISSUE IS REMOVED.

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PAUL BROCA

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- studied patients who had part of their brain destroyed

- Through TAN, discovered area quite consistently related to the ability to produce speech and came to be known as BROCA’S AREA

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CARL WERNICKE

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his patients could make normal-sounding speech sounds but the speech itself was meaningless nor could they comprehend speech. The area of the brain identified by Carl Wernicke as involved in this deficit came to be known as WERNICKE'S AREA

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HERMANN von HELMHOLTZ

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(1800’s: 1821-1894) German physicist and physiologist who the first scientist to attempt to measure the SPEED OF CONDUCTION though nerves and found it to be much slower than was previously thought, indicating that neural conduction was more than a simple electrical message and foreshadowing the existence of the SYNAPSE.

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JOHN HUGHLINGS JACKSON

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Electrical stimulation studies on the brains of epileptic patients led to localization of the motor & sensory cortex. His work also led to the notion of hierarchical organization (the notion that the brain is organized in functional layers that control increasingly more complex aspects of the same fundamental behaviours.

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SANTIAGO RAMÓN y CAJAL

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Spanish anatomist who shared the Nobel prize for his work on the neuron with CAMILLO GOLGI (1843-1926), the inventor of the silver chromate stain with which the entire structure of the individual neuron could be seen. Cajal demonstrated that the nervous system is composed of INDIVIDUAL CELLS rather than one physically connected net and proposed the NEURON DOCTRINE which states that the brain is composed of individual cells called neurons and that information is transmitted between these cells across a small space called the SYNAPSE. Ironically, since Cajal’s work was made possible by the CAMILLO GOLGI’s stain, Golgi argued against Cajal, claiming that neurons are physically connected to one another.

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WILDER PENFIELD

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Electrical stimulation of patients during brain surgery led to a map of the sensory and motor functions of the cortex.

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** Sham Lesion ***

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A placebo procedure in which the subject is exposed to all of the elements of the surgical procedure required to produce a brain lesion but the lesion itself is not produced.