Psy 416

Chapter 2: Brain Anatomy

 Big Picture Goals for Today
1. Anatomy: Know 3 axes of brain
anatomy,(med-lat, sup-inf, ant-post),
location of 4 lobes, major landmarks
(thalamus, hypothalamus, lateral/long.
fissure, sup. Colliculus, M1, S1…) .
2. Communication: Understand rate coding
vs. place coding.
3. Big Picture: Explain what neuroanatomy
contributes to brain research.
Why should I care about anatomy?
• The brain creates the mind.
 You will know someone with a
neurological/psychiatric disorder!
 Brain Related Health Issues
Incidence in USA
• Alzheimer’s 5.7 million
• Schizophrenia 3.2 million
• TBI 1.7 million per year
• Parkinson’s .5 million
• Strokes 800,000 per year
• Epilepsy 3.4 million
• Anxiety 40 million
• MDD 16.1 million
Sources: NIMH, NIH & NCI
 Scientific Literacy
• How do I research a disorder when it happens?
• How do I find original empirical research?
• Pubmed, Google Scholar, UNR MIKC, author
website.
• Difference between review & empirical paper
• UNR Library:
Digging deeper

• Google Scholar
• Authors’ web sites
Digging Deeper
Digging Deeper
How to find grants and Clinical
• NIH rePORTer: http://projectreporter.nih.gov/reporter.cfm
Trials
Digging Deeper
 Scientific Literacy Goals
• Do not rely on others’ interpretations
• Your taxes helped pay for it, take advantage
of it.
• Find papers that you care about.
Part 2: Neuroanatomy
Nervous System: CNS + PNS
 Brain Anatomy and Scale:
Neuroscience covers molecules to networks
 Brain Anatomy:
A question of scale
 Brain Anatomy:
A question of scale & Layers
• Neocortex: 6 layers of neurons: 1 close to skull
 Brain Anatomy:A question of scale
• White Matter Fiber Tracts: Anatomy, Diffusion Tensor Imaging, resting state
connectivity, functional connectivity
• Connectome Project (Harvard-UCLA): http://www.humanconnectomeproject.org
 Brain Anatomy:
A question of scale
• Brain networks

Nam et al., 2017

 Neuron Doctrine (1894)
Dr. Ramon y Cajal
• The brain is made of discrete cells

• Next: What do they look like and how do

they communicate?
Neurons: Arriving Information
Dendritic Arbor
Neurons: Action Potentials
Dendrites: Passive Spread to Axon
Neurons: Reaching Threshold
Neurons: Action Potentials

Outside Cell

Inside Cell
Synapses
Action Potentials: Neurotransmitter
release
Post-Synaptic Potential
Neurons: Information in Rate Code
Neural Response: Rate Coding
 Neural Response: Rate Coding
• Rate Coding:
– neural modulation seen in the number of
spikes/second.
– Fast/slow tempo
E.g., Cochlea
 Place Coding: Spatial Cognition
• Grid Cells – One example cell.

Hartley et al., 2013

 Gross Brain Anatomy
• S. Ramon y Cajal
Golgi Stain
 Nissl Stain (cressyl violet)
• Rough ER
Nissl Stain
Brodmann Areas
Wilder Penfield: Mapping the Brain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqxhdffo_0c
 Brain Anatomy: Axes
Superior

Medial (center)

Anterior Posterior
Rostral Caudal

Lateral (outside)

Inferior
 Brain Anatomy: Lateral
Longitudinal fissure Central Sulcus

Sylvian fissure
Brain Anatomy: Lateral View
Brain Anatomy: Motor Cortex
Homunculus
 The representation x neural
density of the homunculus

What does this

distortion tell us
about the brain?
Brain Anatomy: Hemispherectomy*

Reuter-Lorenz et al., 2011

Brain Anatomy: Hemispherectomy*

Moosa et al., 2013

Brain Anatomy: CSF drainage
Brain Anatomy: Ventricles
Brain Anatomy: Medial

Calcarine Sulcus
 Brain Anatomy
• Corpus Callosum
 Callosotomy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkOd_9hjUmc

Gazzaniga, 2010
Callosotomy

Nature - 2012
 Brain Anatomy: Internal structures
• Pineal gland
• Melatonin
Brain Anatomy: Pineal Tumor
Brain Anatomy: Internal
Structures
 Discussion Points
1. Does this seem like ‘dead science’?
2. Do you want to learn more?
3. What is the role of anatomy in the
conversation?
 Coming Next: Ch. 3-5 Methods
• How do we know what brain structures do?