Transcript Introduction to Brain in Health and Disease

Welcome to 755
 Brain in health and disease
 Chris Elliott & Sean Sweeney
 Aim: describe the workings of the CNS

in health and disease
Neurons
 Glia
 Blood vessels

 See http://biolpc22.york.ac.uk/755
Synapses Learning & Memory
 complementary module
 more cellular approach
what is cellular basis of synaptic function
 how does this relate to learning
 how is memory stored and related to our
“conscious remembering”

 Gareth Evans, Sean Sweeney, Chris Elliott
Reading

Purves, D et al 2008 Neuroscience 4th ed
(Sinauer)


Most of my pictures come from this
Carlson NR (2010) Physiology of behaviour
(10th ed) (Allyn & Bacon)
Diseases
Aim of the lecture
 Techniques to study brain
 What makes a brain?
neurons glia
 synapses



neurotransmitters
mammalian brain regions
 Consciousness
Techniques for brain study
 Anatomy

post-mortem ?
 Electrophysiology
Extra - & Intracellular recording
 Electroencephalography
 DBS & TMS

 Scanners

PET & fMRI
Anatomical techniques
 Silver stain/fluorescent
label
 Immunocytochemistry
 deoxyglucose
Intracellular recording
Electroencephalography
 EEG
DBS & TMS
 DBS (deep brain
stimulation)
 TMS (transcranial magnetic
stimulation)
transient stimulus or lesion by
intense electromagnetic
wave
Scanners
 CT scanners (X-rays)
 PET


inject positronlabelled H2O
accumulates labelled
O2 or glucose
 fMRI – resonance of
haemoglobin affects
nearby water
depending on amount
of O2 bound
Summary so far…
 Properties of neurons accessible
anatomically
 functionally
 even in humans

What makes a brain ?
Cells
 Axon
 Dendrites
 Soma
Synapses
Molecular release of NT
Key neurotransmitters
 Acetylcholine – NMJ / heart / CNS
 Glutamate main excitatory NT
 GABA main inhibitory NT

glycine in spinal cord
 Adrenaline
 Dopamine
 Serotonin
 Any diseases ?
degenerative
 developmental

Glia
 About 100 times more
glial cells than neurons
 Support neurons
Astrocytes form blood-brain
barrier
Meninges
 Dura [hard] mater
 Arachnoid [spiderlike]
 pia [soft, gentle] mater
 meningitis ~ 9 new
cases in UK+Ireland
/day
Neurons
 Why are neurons so interesting ?
Fast signalling
 Specific connections
 Long distances

 Key features:
Need glia
 Ion channels
 Synaptic transmission

Summary so far…
 Properties of neurons accessible
anatomically
 functionally
 even in humans

 Brain depends on
neurons
 glia
 blood supply
 constant environment

Human CNS
Axes of human CNS
Planes of section
Lobes of the cortex
Sagital section
Brainstem
hippocampus
Spinal cord
cerebellum
cerebral
hemispheres
optic
tectum
olfactory bulb
medulla
http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1093/icb/42.4.743?journalCode=icbi
Summary so far…
 Properties of neurons accessible
 Brain depends on …
 Main parts of CNS

cortex = cerebrum

highly developed in mammals, especially
primates
midbrain
 brainstem
 spinal cord

How does brain activity link
to movement?
Spinal cord
Feedback reflex
feedback reflexes
Motor cortex
 motivated movement
Basal ganglia
 timing of movement
Cerebellum
 important in
learned motor
skills
Summary so far…
 Properties of neurons accessible
 Brain depends on …
 Main parts of CNS
 Feedback control of movement
spinal cord
 cerebellum

 Feedforward
cortex
 basal ganglia

Consciousness?
Stages of Sleep
Sleep
pattern
Sleep
 Dolphins can sleep
with L or R half- brain
 Flies sleep
 roles for DA and 5-HT
Sleep is necessary
Summary to end…
 Properties of neurons accessible
 Brain depends on …
 Main parts of CNS
 Control of movement
Feedback
 Feedforward

 Control of awareness
Thought for the day
 "Why
does research take so long?“
 "Why is progress so slow?“
 "Why don't we have effective therapies
for these devastating diseases?"
http://www.jneurosci.org/cgi/content/full/29/41/12722