Brain Mind and Behavior

Neurophysiology
Tako Aladashvili
 1 Week
Introduction to the Neurophysiology.
Cellular components of the nervous system, neurons and glia, their morpho,
functional characteristics.
Ions movement in the membrane, ion channel types, equilibrium potential,
Resting and action membrane potentials.
Ionotropic and metabotropic channels; Synapse;
Chemical and electrical synapses, Neurotransmission steps,
Neurotransmitters and Neuromodulators,
EPSPs and IPSPs.
Ref: Chapter 1 Lippincott illustrated review of Neuroscience.
 2 Week
Overview of the Central nervous system and its development.
Brain and Spinal cord, their parts, lobes and segments.
Ventricular system, CSF production and importance.
Meninges and the spaces.
Overview of the PNS;
Organization and classification of nerve fibers.
Sensory receptors and proprioceptors.
Effector endings;
Neuromuscular junction.
Ref: Chapter 2, 3 Lippincott illustrated review of Neuroscience.
 3 Week
Spinal Cord sensory and motor functions;
Cord reflexes; flexor, withdrawal, crossed extensor reflexes,
posture and locomotion reflexes;
Reciprocal inhibition and reciprocal innervation;
Muscle sensory receptors: Muscle spindles and Golgi tendon
organs, their role in muscle control.
A-motor and g-moto-neurons and their co-activation.
Ref. Chapter 5 Lippincott illustrated review of Neuroscience.
 4 Week
Ascending and Descending tracts.
Posterior column-medial lemniscus system;
Anterolateral system with its lesions
Spino-cerebellar tracts.
Their origin, target and function.
Antero-lateral cortico-spinal and cortico-bulbar tracts.
Descending pathways from the brainstem;
Vestibulo-Spinal, Reticulo-spinal, Rubro-spinal and Tecto-spinal
tracts.
Brown-Sequard syndrome.
Ref. From Lippincott illustrated review of Neuroscience, Chapter 7 and 8.
 5 Week
Autonomic nervous system;
Visceral sensory and visceral motor;
Parasympathetic, Sympathetic and Enteric.
Visceral reflexes (Blood pressure control, bladder control
and sexual responses).
Ref: Chapter 4- Lippincott illustrated review of Neuroscience.
 6 Week
Brain stem. Medulla oblongata, pons and midbrain.
Cranial nerves with their nuclei and functions (blood supply for
the brainstem).
Reticular formation System
Breathing center – vomiting, hiccupping, and coughing,
Neurotransmitter systems in the brainstem.
Ref: Chapter 6, 12, Lippincott illustrated review of Neuroscience.
 7 week
Cerebral hemispheres and its cytoarchitecture.
Subcortical fiber types;
Functional areas of the cortex;
Language;
Aphasias;
Mirror neuron systems
Sex differences in the cerebral cortex.
Ref: Chapter 13, Lippincott illustrated review of Neuroscience.
 8 Week
Thalamus.
Medial and lateral nuclei, their functions;
Inputs and outputs; Sensory rely nuclei, motor rely nuclei,
association nuclei, intralaminar and thalamic reticular
nucleus.
Ref: Chapter 14, Lippincott illustrated review of Neuroscience.
 9 Week
Motor control systems:
Basal ganglia: Components, tracts, direct and indirect
pathways, their neurotransmitters.
Parkinson, Ballismus, Huntington disease.
Integration of motor control - upper and lower moto-neuron
systems and their lesions.
Cerebellum. lobes, nuclei, peduncles and cortex.
Cerebellar tracts; functional relationship with other brain and
spinal structures.
Ref: Chapter 16,17, 18 Lippincott illustrated review of Neuroscience.
 10 Week
Hypothalamus.
Its location, components afferents and efferents. The
Different Functions of the Anterior, Middle, and
Posterior Areas,
Basic functions: Regulation of endocrine functions;
Regulation of viscera; Functions;
Regulation of homeostatic functions, Regulation of
circadian rhythms and the sleep-wake cycles,
Melatonin role.
Hypothalamic damage and its consequences.
Ref: Chapter 19, Lippincott illustrated review of Neuroscience.
 11 Week
Limbic system:
limbic system components and functions.
Rewards system, Addiction, Withdrawal, VTA and
nucleus Accumbens importance.
Dopamine role in the development of addiction.
Ref: Chapter 20, Lippincott illustrated review of Neuroscience.
 12 Week
Sleep, Brain Waves, Epilepsy, and Dementia:
Sleep types and stages NREM and REM and their
characteristics.
Brain waves: alfa, beta, theta and delta with their specificities
on the EEG.
Sleep theories, Neural centers, Neuro-humoral substances and
mechanisms that can cause sleep. Serotonin, Adenosine and
Orexins.
Seizures and Epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease.
Ref: Chapter 60, Guyton and Hall textbook of medical physiology.
 13 Week
Pain and Sensation:
Tactile and Thermal sensation.
Pain, Nociceptors, Pain Processing in the spinal cord, pain
pathways, pain modulation, gate theory, acute, referred
and chronic pain,
Endogenous opioid system role in pain management.
Ref: Chapter 22, Lippincott illustrated review of Neuroscience;
Chapter 49, Guyton and Hall textbook of medical physiology
 14 Week
Visual system: Eye, cornea, pupil, layers of retina,
photoreceptor cells;
Photo-transduction, Visual pathway and its lesions:
Bipolar and Ganglion cells, optic chiasm and optic tract,
lateral geniculate nuclei, optic radiation.
Cortical processing of vision, Color vision, Optic reflexes:
Pupillary light reflex;
Pupillo-dilator reflex;
Accommodation;
Corneal blink reflex.
Ref: Chapter 15, Lippincott illustrated review of Neuroscience.
 15 Week
Smell and taste: Olfactory system:
Olfactory epithelium, olfactory bulb,
Central projections of the olfactory pathway.
Anosmia.
Gustatory system, Taste buds, Signal transduction for taste,
Neuronal pathways for taste, Trigeminal chemoreception.
Hearing and balance: Structures involved in hearing;
Physiology of sound perception In the Inner ear;
Central auditory pathways, Structures involved in balance,
Physiology of balance, acceleration types, Central vestibular
pathways. BPPV- Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo.
Ref: Chapter 11, Lippincott illustrated review of Neuroscience.