NSCI 1001 Study Guide - Fall 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Neuron, Cerebral Cortex, Paul Broca
12 Oct 2018
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NSCI 1001
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
Introduction to the Brain: Part 1 Neuroanatomy
• The Human Brain- the brain and the rest of the nervous system is a means of
communication between internal and external world
• Neurons- fundamental building blocks of the nervous system
- The human brain contains about 100 billion neurons
- Three major parts of a neuron:
1. Dendrites: receive information
2. Cell Body: process information
3. Axon: transmit information; axons can be quite long, connecting brain regions or
connecting brain to the body
• Glial Cells- along with neurons, comprise the nervous system
- 1 trillion glia in the human brain (10 glia for every 1 neuron; 10:1)
• The “Grandfather” of Neuroanatomy
• Camillo Golgi (1843-1926) Italian Scientist
- Developed the famous silver stain in which 1 in a thousand cells are labeled
- The low percentage of labeling was essential for identifying the organization of the
nervous system
- Ironically, Golgi argued for the reticular theory of nervous system organization, even
though his stain was used by Cajal to solidify the neuron doctrine
• Santiago Ramon y Cajal (1852-1934) Spanish Scientist
- Leveraged Golgi’s stain to characterize the nervous system of humans and other
animals
- Neuron doctrine: the nervous system is made up of discrete individual cells
- Cajal drew the ‘Hippocampus’ (important for learning and memory) along with
‘astrocytes surrounding neurons’ (support); with these drawings, function as often
deduced by anatomy
• Golgi and Cajal shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1906
• Goals of Neuroanatomy
1. Regional specificity- distinctions between and within regions. Transfer
information between brain regions
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
2. Connectivity- Cerebellar cortex
3. Function- note arrows predicting directionality of information
• Brain can be cut into different planes: coronal, sagittal, and horizontal
• Connectivity: use of anterograde and retrograde dyes in tract tracing experiments
- Anterograde- tracing in direction of information flow
Ex. PHA-L (black)
- Retrograde- tracing in reverse direction of information flow
Ex. Fluorogold (brown)
• Broca’a area- speech production (front middle, left)
Paul Broca (1824-1880) French Physician
• Wernicke’s area- speech comprehension (back middle, right)
Carl Wernicke (1848-1905) German Physician
• Functional Studies: Animal Models
- Lesion studies with animal models (knife cuts or neurotoxins)- precise manipulation
by damage
- Stimulation studies- the use of deep brain stimulation (DBS) in patients can be traced
back to these experiments
Ex. Electrical stimulation of the medial forebrain bundle
James Olds (1922-1976) American Scientist
- Drug infusion studies- all of these methods lack specificity
• Following Cajal…
- Ex. Horizontal section rat, neuronal staining (use of cells stains), white matter
labeling: Thalamus
• Principles of Fluorescence: light of one wavelength is absorbed and then released at a
longer wavelength (lower energy)
UV LightVisible Light→IR Light
• Use of Fluorescence in Anatomy-
- Ex. Looking at a piece of brain tissue under a microscope with a strong light source;
blue dye that is absorbed by light and then the green light is made visual
- Ex. Fixed rat hippocampal culture neurons and glia
- Dyes: Blue (DAPI, nuclei)
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Introduction to the brain: part 1 neuroanatomy: the human brain- the brain and the rest of the nervous system is a means of communication between internal and external world, neurons- fundamental building blocks of the nervous system. The human brain contains about 100 billion neurons. 1 trillion glia in the human brain (10 glia for every 1 neuron; 10:1: the grandfather of neuroanatomy, camillo golgi (1843-1926) italian scientist. Developed the famous silver stain in which 1 in a thousand cells are labeled. The low percentage of labeling was essential for identifying the organization of the nervous system. Ironically, golgi argued for the reticular theory of nervous system organization, even though his stain was used by cajal to solidify the neuron doctrine: santiago ramon y cajal (1852-1934) spanish scientist. Leveraged golgi"s stain to characterize the nervous system of humans and other animals. Neuron doctrine: the nervous system is made up of discrete individual cells.
