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NEURO EXAM 1 Questions and Correct
Answers
Sensory neuron axons can do one of three things on entering the spinal cord
✓ ~: 1) travel up the cord to its higher levels or the brain,
✓ 2) connect with interneurons in the cord itself
✓ 3) connect directly to motor neurons
Cortex
✓ ~: CONSCIOUS activities
Spinal cord
✓ ~: -SUBCONSCIOUS activities; involuntary; "reflexes"
*although some reflexes come from medulla
Medulla
✓ ~: -autonomic functions (breathing, HR)
-pathways going in and out (peripheral to/from central)
-contains the cardiac, respiratory, vomiting and vasomotor centers and therefore deals with
the autonomic (involuntary) functions of breathing, heart rate and blood pressure.
Medulla and Pons contain...
✓ ~: - clusters of neurons which are involved in the control of the head, face, eyes, tongue
and vital body functions.
- clusters of neurons called the *reticular formation*
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Reticular formation
✓ ~: - clusters of neurons within medulla and pons
- its axons extend widely throughout the rest of the brain and spinal cord
- regulates the level of activity in parts of the brain
- important in arousal and awareness levels
- destruction in this part of the brain → permanent coma
- also modulates pain pathways
Breathing cycle
✓ ~: Inhalation + Exhalation (air comes in due to lower pressure in lungs than atmosphere)
What muscles are directly attached to the lung?
✓ ~: TRICK QUESTION...none are DIRECTLY attached but diaphragm & abs help
Major inhalation muscle
✓ ~: -diaphragm
-contracts and descends when we breathe in
-pleural lining suctions lungs to ribs & they move/expand
Major exhalation muscle
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✓ ~: abs
Restrictive lung disease
✓ ~: restrict movement of lungs due to abnormalities of thorax (obesity, scoliosis, ALS)
Obstructive lung disease
✓ ~: makes pathways more narrow (COPD, asthma, ephysema)
Pons
✓ ~: -between midbrain & medulla, in front of cerebellum
-regulation area of incoming/outgoing signals
-sensory roles in hearing, balance, taste
-motor roles in eye movement, facial expression, chewing, swallowing, salivation, & crying
-lies between the midbrain (above) and the medulla oblongata (below) and in front of the
cerebellum.
-contains nuclei that relay signals from the forebrain to the cerebellum, along with nuclei that
deal primarily with sleep, respiration, swallowing, bladder control, hearing, equilibrium,
taste, eye movement, facial expressions, facial sensation, and posture.
Within the pons is the pneumotaxic center, a nucleus that regulates the change from
inhalation to exhalation.
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The pons is implicated in sleep paralysis, and also plays a role in generating dreams.
Cerebellum
✓ ~: -involved in balance, proprioception, integration/coordination of movement
(starting/stopping, over-/undershooting target)
-plays an important role in motor control. It may also be involved in some cognitive functions
such as attention and language, and in regulating fear and pleasure responses
5 Components of a Synapse
✓ ~: 1. pre-synaptic ending (w/*many types* of NTs (not just 1 per synapse),
neuromodulators, mitochondria, organelles, etc)
2. pre-synaptic membrane (release NTs)
3. synaptic gap
4. post-synaptic membrane
5. post-synaptic ending (w/NT receptors)
Which is faster: chemical or electric synapse?
✓ ~: electric because of small gap
electrical synapses
✓ ~: - electrical changes in one cell are transmitted almost instantaneously to the next
- Ions can generally flow both ways at these junctions (bi-directional