Drugs for the Central Nervous System
Lecture 1 – Introduction to CNS diseases and their therapies
Glutamate → most important excitatory neurotransmitter
GABA → inhibitory neurotransmitter
Mammal brain comparison → frontal and prefrontal cortex of human is developed during evolution
• Medical research → monkeys (more similar brain to human than mice or rat)
Main difference between monkey and human brain → communication and language
Surgical section → from the bottom
Frontal (or coronal) section → vertical in the middle
Transverse (or horizontal) section → horizontal in the middle
Body planes
• Radial symmetrically
• Bilateral symmetrically → if you do a cut, left and right are exactly the same
Sensory nerves → integration (brain) → motor neurons
Regions that are closer to the spinal cord → important for basal fundamental
functions of the organisms
Regions that are closer to the forebrain → important for decision making
• Becomes large in development
Human brain
Cerebral cortex
• Frontal → decision making
• Parietal → (somato)sensory
• Occipital → vision
• Temporal → hearing
o Hippocampus → learning and memory (short term, process called acquisition)
Retrieval → when you memorize something the day after (cortex and hippocampus
used)
,Sensory nerves → parietal lobe, somatosensory cortex → decision made → frontal lobe, motor
cortex → signal via motor nerves (efferent nerves) → muscle
Structures of the brain
1. Brainstem
2. Cerebellum
3. Thalamus
4. Cerebrum
5. Corpus collosum
1. Brainstem
Two main functions
1. Basic functions
2. Sensory/motor nerves
(filtering and routing information)
Consists of:
• Medulla oblongata
• Pons
• Midbrain
2. Cerebellum (“arbor vitae”)
Functions
1. Motor coordination
2. Motor memory
→ voluntary movements: when you are learning how to bike
Right part of the cerebellum communicates with:
• The right part of the spinal cord
• The left part of cortex
Right part of the cerebellum → posture, gait
Ataxia → cerebellum disfunction
3. Thalamus
Thalamus
• Sorts data
Hypothalamus
• Thermoregulation
Pituitary gland
• Hormonal activity (oxytocin, water balance)
4. Cerebrum
Integration of all the information.
• Triggers action or emotion
Structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) → high resolution imaging of the anatomy of the
brain
, • White matter
• Grey matter → thickness is measured
o Cell bodies of neurons are located in here
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) → measures changes in the blood flow to different
parts of the brain
• Ipsilateral hemisphere: on same side
• Contralateral hemisphere: on opposite site
Language-based activity: women use both sides of their brain whereas men use only a single side.
This difference may reflect different strategies used for language processing.
Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) → measurement of the water inside the brain
• Measurement of the integrity of the white matter (myelinated axons) and number of fibers
• Cortical spinal tract → sends signal to the muscle and controls movement
4. Cerebral cortex
Consists of five parts
• Frontal cortex (about 50%)
• Parietal cortex (somatosensoric)
• Occipital cortex (vision)
• Temporal cortex (smell, hearing, memory)
• Insular cortex (taste, visceral, feelings)
Six-layered sheet (about 5 mm thick)
• Processing units (mini-columns)
• Primary sensory (topographical)
• Association parts (relates info)
Total covers threequarters of brain.
Essential for consciousness (mind).
5. Corpus collosum
Connects the left and right hemisphere by fibers (white matter).
Right hemisphere → facial recognition
Left hemisphere → reasoning, logic
Brain areas that are involved in language → Broca’s (B), Geschwind’s (G), and Wernicke’s (W)
neocortical areas
• Broca’s (B) area is only in left hemisphere: speaking, language
produced
• Geschwind’s (G) area is in both hemispheres
• Wernicke’s (W) area is in both hemispheres: language
understood
6. Basal ganglia
Involuntary movements.
Diseases:
• Huntington disease
• Parkinson disease
, Consists of:
• Caudate
o Frontal part, nucleus accumbens: if it is activated
→ reward seeking behaviour, pleasure and addiction
• Putamen
• Internal capsule
→ form striatum
7. Midbrain – substantia nigra
Function: dopamine production
Darker part: substantia nigra, black neurons, contain melatonin
Disease:
• Parkinson disease → neurons are dying (produce dopamine)
Dopamine pathway: 4 pathways
• Nigrostriatal pathway
• Tubero-hypophyseal pathway
• Mesocortical pathway
• Mesolimbic pathway
Substantia nigra
Healthy Parkinson
8. Hippocampus
CA1, CA2, CA3 areas → learning and memory
In temporal lobe.
Hippocampus in Alzheimer’s disease
Hippocampus is reduced.
Hippocampus in ischemia
Loss of neurons.
Lecture 1 – Introduction to CNS diseases and their therapies
Glutamate → most important excitatory neurotransmitter
GABA → inhibitory neurotransmitter
Mammal brain comparison → frontal and prefrontal cortex of human is developed during evolution
• Medical research → monkeys (more similar brain to human than mice or rat)
Main difference between monkey and human brain → communication and language
Surgical section → from the bottom
Frontal (or coronal) section → vertical in the middle
Transverse (or horizontal) section → horizontal in the middle
Body planes
• Radial symmetrically
• Bilateral symmetrically → if you do a cut, left and right are exactly the same
Sensory nerves → integration (brain) → motor neurons
Regions that are closer to the spinal cord → important for basal fundamental
functions of the organisms
Regions that are closer to the forebrain → important for decision making
• Becomes large in development
Human brain
Cerebral cortex
• Frontal → decision making
• Parietal → (somato)sensory
• Occipital → vision
• Temporal → hearing
o Hippocampus → learning and memory (short term, process called acquisition)
Retrieval → when you memorize something the day after (cortex and hippocampus
used)
,Sensory nerves → parietal lobe, somatosensory cortex → decision made → frontal lobe, motor
cortex → signal via motor nerves (efferent nerves) → muscle
Structures of the brain
1. Brainstem
2. Cerebellum
3. Thalamus
4. Cerebrum
5. Corpus collosum
1. Brainstem
Two main functions
1. Basic functions
2. Sensory/motor nerves
(filtering and routing information)
Consists of:
• Medulla oblongata
• Pons
• Midbrain
2. Cerebellum (“arbor vitae”)
Functions
1. Motor coordination
2. Motor memory
→ voluntary movements: when you are learning how to bike
Right part of the cerebellum communicates with:
• The right part of the spinal cord
• The left part of cortex
Right part of the cerebellum → posture, gait
Ataxia → cerebellum disfunction
3. Thalamus
Thalamus
• Sorts data
Hypothalamus
• Thermoregulation
Pituitary gland
• Hormonal activity (oxytocin, water balance)
4. Cerebrum
Integration of all the information.
• Triggers action or emotion
Structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) → high resolution imaging of the anatomy of the
brain
, • White matter
• Grey matter → thickness is measured
o Cell bodies of neurons are located in here
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) → measures changes in the blood flow to different
parts of the brain
• Ipsilateral hemisphere: on same side
• Contralateral hemisphere: on opposite site
Language-based activity: women use both sides of their brain whereas men use only a single side.
This difference may reflect different strategies used for language processing.
Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) → measurement of the water inside the brain
• Measurement of the integrity of the white matter (myelinated axons) and number of fibers
• Cortical spinal tract → sends signal to the muscle and controls movement
4. Cerebral cortex
Consists of five parts
• Frontal cortex (about 50%)
• Parietal cortex (somatosensoric)
• Occipital cortex (vision)
• Temporal cortex (smell, hearing, memory)
• Insular cortex (taste, visceral, feelings)
Six-layered sheet (about 5 mm thick)
• Processing units (mini-columns)
• Primary sensory (topographical)
• Association parts (relates info)
Total covers threequarters of brain.
Essential for consciousness (mind).
5. Corpus collosum
Connects the left and right hemisphere by fibers (white matter).
Right hemisphere → facial recognition
Left hemisphere → reasoning, logic
Brain areas that are involved in language → Broca’s (B), Geschwind’s (G), and Wernicke’s (W)
neocortical areas
• Broca’s (B) area is only in left hemisphere: speaking, language
produced
• Geschwind’s (G) area is in both hemispheres
• Wernicke’s (W) area is in both hemispheres: language
understood
6. Basal ganglia
Involuntary movements.
Diseases:
• Huntington disease
• Parkinson disease
, Consists of:
• Caudate
o Frontal part, nucleus accumbens: if it is activated
→ reward seeking behaviour, pleasure and addiction
• Putamen
• Internal capsule
→ form striatum
7. Midbrain – substantia nigra
Function: dopamine production
Darker part: substantia nigra, black neurons, contain melatonin
Disease:
• Parkinson disease → neurons are dying (produce dopamine)
Dopamine pathway: 4 pathways
• Nigrostriatal pathway
• Tubero-hypophyseal pathway
• Mesocortical pathway
• Mesolimbic pathway
Substantia nigra
Healthy Parkinson
8. Hippocampus
CA1, CA2, CA3 areas → learning and memory
In temporal lobe.
Hippocampus in Alzheimer’s disease
Hippocampus is reduced.
Hippocampus in ischemia
Loss of neurons.
