3.5 Neuropsychology
Lectures
,Lecture 1 → Introduction, Perception & Motor
System
● Studying the brain
○ Neurological damage
■ See what happens when an area of the brain is damaged
■ Vascular disorders (strokes) → sudden onset events
● Cerebral hemorrhage → bleeding in the brain
● Cerebral ischemia → disruption of the blood supply (thrombosis,
embolism, arteriosclerosis
■ Tumors → mass of cells, grows independently of rest of body
■ Trauma → injuries (close or open head)
■ Epilepsy → excessive and abnormal activity patterns in the brain,
induces transient loss of consciousness
■ Degenerative disorders → death of neurons, motor or cognitive
difficulties often noticed by family
● Parkinson's → degeneration of basal ganglia, reduction of
dopamine, difficulty initiating behavior
● Alzheimer's → degeneration of neurons in the cortex, attentional
deficits, forgiveness, changes in personality
● Huntington's → genetic, atrophy of striatum, first impairs motoric
abilities and then cognitive processes
● Korsakoff → degeneration of diencephalon, mainly due to chronic
alcoholism & malnutrition, produces amnesia
● Multiple sclerosis → degeneration of the myelin surrounding the
axons, can lead to degeneration of the neurons itself, autoimmune
disorder
○ Research methods
■ Psychophysiological indices → measure the peripheral response
● EDA (electrodermal activity) → measures activation of
sympathetic nervous system (physiological arousal) which is
necessary to initiate a behavioral response
○ Larger response to both positive and negative pictures
compared to neutral ones
● EMG (electromyography)
● ECG (electrocardiogram)
■ Imaging techniques → measure brain activation
● EEG → measures electrical signal originating from pyramidal cells
(negative charge), when numerous are activated synchronically,
we detect large waves on the scalp which are event related
potentials (ERPs)
, ● fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) → measures
metabolic signal originating from blood oxygen level (BOLD
response)
○ BOLD signal is an indirect index of neural activation
(secondary marker), can only measure slow responses
● MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)
● PET (positron emission tomography)
○ Anatomical organization (based on mouse/crocodile brain)
■ Rostral & anterior → body parts towards the nose
■ Caudal & posterior → body parts towards the tail
■ Dorsal → body parts pointing up from
back
■ Ventral → body parts pointing down from
belly
■ Medial → structures close to the midline
■ Lateral → structures far from the midline
■ Ipsilateral → structures on same side of
body
■ Contralateral → structures on opposite
side of the body
○ Ways to view brain
■ Axial → slice at eye level
■ Sagittal → slice through the middle
(between hemispheres)
■ Coronal → slice between ears
■ Look at which side is left and right (radiological opposite)
○ Important structures
■ Myelencephalon (medulla) → connects brian & spinal cord
■ Metencephalon (hindbrain) → consists of pons & cerebellum
(somatosensory structure)
■ Mesencephalon (midbrain) → consistent of tegmentum, peri aqueductal
gray (PAG), visuomotor structure
■ Diencephalon → consists of hypothalamus & thalamus, “gateway to the
cortex”
■ Telencephalon → cerebral cortex & subcortical structures
○ Ventricles → hollow spaces filled with cerebrospinal fluid
■ Four → right & left lateral, third and fourth
■ Reduce shock caused by sudden head movements
○ Nervous system
■ Central nervous system (CNS)
● Brain
● Spinal cord
■ Peripheral nervous system (PNS)
● Somatic nervous system (SNS)
Lectures
,Lecture 1 → Introduction, Perception & Motor
System
● Studying the brain
○ Neurological damage
■ See what happens when an area of the brain is damaged
■ Vascular disorders (strokes) → sudden onset events
● Cerebral hemorrhage → bleeding in the brain
● Cerebral ischemia → disruption of the blood supply (thrombosis,
embolism, arteriosclerosis
■ Tumors → mass of cells, grows independently of rest of body
■ Trauma → injuries (close or open head)
■ Epilepsy → excessive and abnormal activity patterns in the brain,
induces transient loss of consciousness
■ Degenerative disorders → death of neurons, motor or cognitive
difficulties often noticed by family
● Parkinson's → degeneration of basal ganglia, reduction of
dopamine, difficulty initiating behavior
● Alzheimer's → degeneration of neurons in the cortex, attentional
deficits, forgiveness, changes in personality
● Huntington's → genetic, atrophy of striatum, first impairs motoric
abilities and then cognitive processes
● Korsakoff → degeneration of diencephalon, mainly due to chronic
alcoholism & malnutrition, produces amnesia
● Multiple sclerosis → degeneration of the myelin surrounding the
axons, can lead to degeneration of the neurons itself, autoimmune
disorder
○ Research methods
■ Psychophysiological indices → measure the peripheral response
● EDA (electrodermal activity) → measures activation of
sympathetic nervous system (physiological arousal) which is
necessary to initiate a behavioral response
○ Larger response to both positive and negative pictures
compared to neutral ones
● EMG (electromyography)
● ECG (electrocardiogram)
■ Imaging techniques → measure brain activation
● EEG → measures electrical signal originating from pyramidal cells
(negative charge), when numerous are activated synchronically,
we detect large waves on the scalp which are event related
potentials (ERPs)
, ● fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) → measures
metabolic signal originating from blood oxygen level (BOLD
response)
○ BOLD signal is an indirect index of neural activation
(secondary marker), can only measure slow responses
● MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)
● PET (positron emission tomography)
○ Anatomical organization (based on mouse/crocodile brain)
■ Rostral & anterior → body parts towards the nose
■ Caudal & posterior → body parts towards the tail
■ Dorsal → body parts pointing up from
back
■ Ventral → body parts pointing down from
belly
■ Medial → structures close to the midline
■ Lateral → structures far from the midline
■ Ipsilateral → structures on same side of
body
■ Contralateral → structures on opposite
side of the body
○ Ways to view brain
■ Axial → slice at eye level
■ Sagittal → slice through the middle
(between hemispheres)
■ Coronal → slice between ears
■ Look at which side is left and right (radiological opposite)
○ Important structures
■ Myelencephalon (medulla) → connects brian & spinal cord
■ Metencephalon (hindbrain) → consists of pons & cerebellum
(somatosensory structure)
■ Mesencephalon (midbrain) → consistent of tegmentum, peri aqueductal
gray (PAG), visuomotor structure
■ Diencephalon → consists of hypothalamus & thalamus, “gateway to the
cortex”
■ Telencephalon → cerebral cortex & subcortical structures
○ Ventricles → hollow spaces filled with cerebrospinal fluid
■ Four → right & left lateral, third and fourth
■ Reduce shock caused by sudden head movements
○ Nervous system
■ Central nervous system (CNS)
● Brain
● Spinal cord
■ Peripheral nervous system (PNS)
● Somatic nervous system (SNS)
