PSY 201 1st Edition Lecture 5 Outline of Last Lecture I. Cell types: neurons, glia and blood vesselsII. Nerve Cell Communicationa. Nerve impulse (action potential)b. Synaptic transmissionc. Neural integrationd. Neurotransmitters and the effects of drugsIII. Learning in Neural NetworksOutline of Current LectureI. Cerebral Cortexa. Topographic organizationb. Contralateral connectionII. Neural Plasticitya. Movie: “Brain Transplant”, shown in classb. IntroductionCurrent LectureI. Cerebral Cortexa. Topographic organization: a map of the receptor surface and muscles (‘homunculus’), depending on the primary sensory and motor neuronsi. Receptive field: part of space or body surface a cell responds to1. For vision and sensationii. The maps are not ‘to scale’; the amount of cortex doesn’t directly correspond to the size of the body part1. Indicates finer sensitivity with larger area (sensory)2. Motor control larger areas indicate greater control of movement (motor)iii. Maps can move around after events like denervation (cutting off a nerve),skips the de-nerved area1. Referred to as ‘plastic’b. Contralateral connections: each side of the cortex is connected to the opposite side of the body (ex. right side of the cortex is connected to the left side of the body)These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.i. Hemispheres are connected and communicate through the corpus callosumc. Asymmetry of higher functionsi. Left hemisphere: most important for language, controlling speech, observes and tries to make sense of the worldii. Right hemisphere: most important for spatial information, can understand language and instruction1. Split-brain patients: people who have had their corpus callosums cut surgically to control seizuresII. Neural plasticitya. Movie: “Brain Transplant” (shown in class)i. Synopsis: a drug dealer who synthesized a quicker version of heroin turns out to be a poison, causing Parkinson’s-like symptoms in young victims1. The neurotoxin that he created could be a cause for ‘natural’ Parkinson’s diseaseb. Introductioni. Brain has limited ability to repair damageii. Brain transplants try to help recovery by replacing lost tissue with tissue from another brain1. Parkinson’s disease: difficulty starting and stopping voluntary movement, immobility, tremors (commonly occurs in older people)a. Degradation of ‘substantia nigra’ (SN) cellsi. A nucleus in the midbrain with cells containing dopamine NT and project to motor
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