Transcript Neuroscience Jeopardy

Created by:
Beven Livingston, Becky Huot, & Wendy Hasenkamp
Graduate Students
Emory University Graduate Program in Neuroscience
Edited by:
Jordan Rose
Outreach Coordinator
Center for Behavioral Neuroscience
http://www.cbn-atl.org/education/outreach.html
Please send questions or comments to [email protected]
Common
Bonds
Potpourri
What’s that
for?
When it goes
wrong
$200
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COMMON BONDS - 200
A disease affecting the following people:
 Vincent
van Gogh
 Kurt Cobain
 Ted Turner
 Jim Carrey
 Winston Churchill
 Harrison Ford
 Charles
Dickens
 Robin Williams
 Monica Seles
 Emily Dickinson
 Sting
 Roseanne
What is Depression?
There are two major types of depression:
 UNIPOLAR
– major depression
– Affects 17.6 million
Americans/year
– Affects 1/5 women
– Affects 1/15 men
– Treatment cost $30
billion in 1990
 BIPOLAR
– manic depression
– Affects 2-3 million
Americans/year
– men and women
equally affected
– treated with Lithium
Symptoms of Depression
 Unipolar
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
(major)
persistent sadness
loss of interest
loss of energy
changes in appetite
low self-esteem
changes in sleep
poor concentration
school/work absences
 Bipolar
(manic)
– Recurrent episodes
of mania and
depression
– euphoric mood
– irritability
– racing thoughts
– excessive spending
– decreased sleep
Causes of Depression
 GENETIC
– most important
predisposing factor
vulnerability to
depression
 vulnerability to
environmental
factors

 ENVIRONMENTAL
–
–
–
–
–
stress (major/chronic)
serious loss
chronic illness
separation
chemical dysfunction
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COMMON BONDS - 400
A disease affecting the following people:
 Michael
J. Fox
 Muhammad Ali
 Pope John Paul
 Janet Reno
What is Parkinson’s Disease?
movement disorder
 slowly progressive
 tremor at rest
 Akinesia: inability to
move
 Bradykinesia: slow
movements
 postural reflex
impairment

affects over 1 million
Americans
 Avg. age of onset: 58
 40% of PD patients
are under age 60
 Decrease in
neurotransmitter
dopamine

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COMMON BONDS - 600
 disease
of aging
 gradual memory loss
 dementia
 affects 1 million
Americans
 Ronald Reagan
What is Alzheimer’s Disease?
 EPIDEMIOLOGY
– Usually does not
occur before age 45
– rare before age 65
– affects 11% of
people over 65
– unknown cause
 DIAGNOSIS
– Memory loss
– Rule out other
possible factors

Head injury, PD,
Huntington’s, Stroke,
tumor, infection, metabolic
diseases
– Post mortem histology
Alzheimer’s Histology
 Loss
of neurons
 Change in neuronal morphology
 Accumulation of ß-amyloid protein
“plaques” (extracellular)
 Cytoskeletal abnormalities (intracellular),
“neurofibrillary tangles”
Normal Aging - T1 axial
Normal Young Adult Brain
normal
Normal 88-yr old Brain
enlarged
Compare ventricular volumes
relative to the whole brain mass
Periventricular white
matter hyperintensity
Alzheimer’s Disease - T1 coronal
Normal
88 yr. old w/ moderately
advanced Alzheimer’s Disease
*
Hippocampal shrinkage
Ventricular enlargement
Cortical shrinkage (increased space
around the brain)
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COMMON BONDS - 800
A disease affecting the following people:
 Drew
Barrymore
 Mickey Mantle
 Ernest Hemingway
 William Faulkner
 John Steinbeck
What is Alcoholism?
 SYMPTOMS
–
–
–
–
depressed mood
appetite disturbance
memory deficits
psychomotor
agitation
– self deprecation
 COMORBIDITY
– mood disorder
– anxiety
– antisocial
personality disorder
Lifetime Prevalence
 ALCOHOL
– 10-20%
– 5:1 male:female
– 1/10 drinkers
develops problem
 OTHER
–
–
–
–
–
–
DRUGS
Marijuana 4%
Stimulants 2%
Sedatives 1%
Heroin 0.7%
Hallucinogens 0.4%
Cocaine 0.2%
Questions about Drug Abuse
 Why
certain drugs?
– Reinforcing
properties
– Reward pathway in
the brain
 Why
–
–
–
–
certain people?
Genetics
Personality
Environment (stress)
Comorbidity
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POTPOURRI - 200
 The
major cell type of the nervous system
What is the Neuron?
a neuron consists of a cell body (C), an axon (B),
dendrites (D) and a myelin sheath (A)
 message transmission between neurons occurs
through neurotransmitters (serotonin, dopamine)
 learning occurs as connections between neurons
are strengthened

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POTPOURRI - 400
 The part of the body injured by
actor Christopher Reeves.
What is the Spinal Cord?
 When
the spinal cord is damaged,
information travelling along descending
motor tracts and ascending sensory tracts is
blocked.
 Motor
and sensory deficits can be predicted
from the level and location of the lesion in
the spinal cord.
Spinal Cord
Spinal Cord Injury (SCI):
The Big Picture
 Estimated
250,000 SCI people in the U.S.
 11,000 new injuries reported annually
 Paraplegia (paralysis of legs) affects 55% of
the SCI population
 Quadriplegia (paralysis of all extremities)
affects 44% of the SCI population
Causes of SCI in the U.S.
 Vehicular Accidents
 Violence
 Falls
 Diving
accidents
 Work/Sports Related
40%
25%
21%
10%
4%
Age Distribution of SCI Population
 Approximately
60% of SCI population were
injured between 15-30 years of age
 Most frequently occurring age is 19 years.
 Male 70%
 Female 30%
 Ninety percent of SCI population lives normal
lifespan
Costs Associated with SCI
 In
1992, approximately 10,000 SCI’s were
reported.
 Estimated lifetime costs associated with these
SCI’s are $10 Billion.
 Individual suffering and loss to society are
impossible to calculate.
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POTPOURRI - 600
An
immediate muscular response
to a specific stimulus. Like when
the doctor hits your kneecap with a
hammer.
What is a
Reflex?
Tapping a tendon to
elicit a contraction
of the muscle can
determine the status
of the nerve that
supplies that
muscle.
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POTPOURRI - 800
The
part of the retina that has no
photoreceptors. (optic _______ )
What is the Optic Disc?
Blind Spot
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WHAT’S THAT FOR? - 200
The
largest structure of the brain, it
is divided into two hemispheres
and each containing four lobes.
What is the Cerebral Cortex?
Cerebral Cortex
 Frontal
Lobe = Motor
 Parietal Lobe = Sensory
 Temporal Lobe = Hearing, Language
 Occipital Lobe = Vision
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WHAT’S THAT FOR? - 400
The
part of the brain that is
composed of the midbrain, the
pons, and the medulla.
What is the Brain Stem?
 Controls
heart beat and respiration
(breathing).
 Contains the major ascending and descending
pathways.
 It is a link between the cerebral cortex, the
cerebellum, and the spinal cord.
 Contain the cranial nerve nuclei
12 C.N.
Midbrain
Pons
Medulla
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WHAT’S THAT FOR? - 600
 A tennis
ball-sized
structure at the base
of the brain that is
important for
coordination of
movement and
balance.
What is the Cerebellum?
2
main functions:
– Coordinates skilled voluntary movements
by influencing muscle activity
– Helps to control equilibrium and muscle
tone through connections with the
vestibular system
Cerebellum
 When
the cerebellum is damaged (commonly
from tumors, trauma or alcohol), patients
exhibit:
–
–
–
–
Hypotonia (diminished muscle tone)
Ataxia (loss of coordinated, smooth movements)
balance
Intention tremor (a tremor that arises when
voluntary movements are attempted)
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WHAT’S THAT FOR? - 800
 The
part of the brain that controls
HOMEOSTASIS:
Thermoregulation
 Circadian rhythms
 Appetite control
 Stress Response
 Reproduction

What is the Hypothalamus?
 Fight
or Flight
Response
 Blood pressure control
 Endocrine Control
– Reproduction
– Stress
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WHEN IT GOES WRONG - 200
 The
mental disorder portrayed by Dustin
Hoffman as Raymond in Rain Man
What is Autism?
 Developmental
–
–
–
–
–
–
Disorder
Impaired communication (verbal/nonverbal)
Impaired social interactions
Behavior - stereotyped, self injury
Hypersensitivity of senses (light, touch)
Large variability in symptoms
Not a mental illness
Autism
 PREVALENCE
– 1/500 children
– 3-4 times more
common in boys
– >1/2 million people
in US today
– 3rd most common
developmental
disorder
 CAUSE
–
–
–
–
Not known
Not psychological
Genetic link
Major area of research
Autistic Savant
10% of autistics have spectacular abilities (like Rain
Man’s ability to count the number of toothpicks that
fell on the floor just by looking at the mess for a
second).
 Skills like math, music, memory, and art are
extremely advanced while social skills remain
impaired.
 less than 1% of non-autistic population has these
abilities
 underlying changes in brain unknown; major area of
research

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WHEN IT GOES WRONG - 400
The neuromuscular disease named
after an older baseball player for
the New York Yankee’s. It is fatal
and has no known cause or cure.

What is
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
(Lou Gehrig’s disease)?
 EPIDEMIOLOGY
– uncommon
– 4 to 6/100,000
– men and women
equally
– age 40-70
 SIGNS
& SYMPTOMS
– degeneration of motor
neurons in the brain and
spinal cord
– muscle weakness and
atrophy
– doesn’t affect intellect,
or sensory
Neurons in ALS
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WHEN IT GOES WRONG - 600
The mental disorder characterized by
disturbances in thinking, emotional reactions,
and social behavior, as well as delusions and
hallucinations.
What is SCHIZOPHRENIA?
 Commonly
misunderstood as “multiple
personality disorder”
 Devastating psychiatric disease that affects 1%
of the population
– 1/3 of homeless in America are afflicted
 ‘Positive’ symptoms:
delusions,
hallucinations, disorganized speech & thoughts
 ‘Negative’ symptoms: flattened affect, apathy,
social withdrawal, poverty of speech
SCHIZOPHRENIA
 Age
of onset is generally from 16-25, but
males tend to develop the disorder earlier than
females
 Excessive dopamine neurotransmission within
the brain is hypothesized to be the cause of
schizophrenia
 As you might expect, the most common drugs
used to treat schizophrenia are dopamine
antagonists (block dopamine
neurotransmission)
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WHEN IT GOES WRONG - 800
 The
disease characterized by irrational fear
of open spaces. Sigourney Weaver’s
character had this condition in Copycat.
What is Agoraphobia?
 Often
accompanies panic disorder, fear of
having an attack in an unsafe place
 PANIC
DISORDER = sudden, unpredictable
onset of terror
– people believe they are having a heart attack or
dying
– average length of attack is 10 minutes
Phobias
 Specific
Phobia (of particular object or situation)
– affects 1 in 10 people
 Social
Phobia (of becoming humiliated in social
situations)
– runs in families, begins in early adolescence
– associated with depression or alcoholism
Back >