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• Brain tumors
• Cerebrovascular
disorders
• Closed-head injuries
• Neurotoxins
• Genetic factors
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Pearson Education 2011
Brain Tumors
• A tumor (neoplasm) is a mass of
cells that grows independently of
the rest of the body – a cancer
• 20% of brain tumors are
meningiomas – encased in
meninges
• Encapsulated, growing within
their own membranes
• Usually benign, surgically
removable
• Stroke – A sudden-onset
cerebrovascular event that
causes brain damage
– Cerebral hemorrhage
(bleeding in the brain)
– Cerebral ischemia
(disruption of blood
supply)
• Third leading cause of death
in the U.S. and most common
cause of adult disability
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Cerebrovascular Disorders
• Cerebral hemorrhage (bleeding in the
brain)
– Aneurysm – a weakened point
in a blood vessel that makes a
stroke more likely; may be
congenital (present at birth) or
due to poison or infection
• Cerebral ischemia (disruption of blood
supply)
– Thrombosis – a plug forms in
the brain
– Embolism – a plug forms
elsewhere and moves to the
brain
– Arteriosclerosis – wall of blood
vessels thicken, usually due to
fat deposits
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Damage Due to Cerebral Ischemia
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Damage Due to Cerebral Ischemia
• Ischemia-induced
brain damage:
• takes time
• does not occur
equally in all parts of
the brain
• mechanisms of
damage vary with
the brain structure
affected
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Closed-Head Injuries
• Brain injuries due to blows that do not
penetrate the skull – the brain collides
with the skull
• Contrecoup injuries – contusions
are often on the side of the brain
opposite to the blow
• Contusions – closed-head injuries that
involve damage to the cerebral circulatory
system; hematoma (bruise) forms
• Concussions – when there is disturbance
of consciousness following a blow to the
head and no evidence of structural
damage
•While there is no apparent brain damage
with a single concussion, multiple
concussions may result in a dementia
referred to as “punch-drunk syndrome” Copyright ©
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Infections of the Brain
• Encephalitis – the resulting
inflammation of the brain by an
invasion of microorganisms
• Bacterial infections
• Often lead to abscesses, pockets
of puss
• May inflame meninges, creating
meningitis
• Treatwith penicillin and other
antibiotics
• Viral infections
• Some preferentially attack neural
tissues
• Some can lie dormant for years
eurotoxins
• Most neuropsychological
diseases of genetic origin are
associated with recessive
genes--why?
• Down syndrome:
• 0.15% of births, probability
increases with advancing
maternal age
• Extra chromosome 21
created during ovulation
• Characteristic disfigurement,
mental retardation, other
health problems
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Programmed Cell Death
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Neuropsychological Diseases
• Epilepsy
• Parkinson’s disease
• Huntington’s disease
• Multiple sclerosis
• Alzheimer’s disease
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Epilepsy
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Epilepsy
• Types of seizures
• Convulsions – motor seizures
• Some are merely subtle changes of thought,
mood, or behavior
• Causes
• Brain damage
• Genes – over 70 known so far
• Faults at inhibitory synapses
• Diagnosis
• EEG – electroencephalogram
• Seizures associated with high amplitude
spikes
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Epilepsy
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Partial Seizures
Simple Complex
• Symptoms are primarily • Often restricted to the
sensory or motor or temporal lobes
both (Jacksonian (temporal lobe epilepsy)
seizures) • Patient engages in
• Symptoms spread as compulsive and
epileptic discharge repetitive simple
spreads behaviors
(automatisms)
• More complex behaviors
seem normal
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Generalized Seizures
• Grand mal
• Loss of consciousness and
equilibrium
• Tonic-clonic convulsions
• Rigidity (tonus)
• Tremors (clonus)
• Petit mal
• Not associated with convulsions
• A disruption of consciousness
associated with a cessation of
ongoing behavior
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Parkinson’s Disease
•AAlmost no dopamine
movement disorderin ofthe
substantia
middle and nigra
old ageof affecting
Parkinson’s
about .5% of patients
the population
•Tremor
Autopsies often
at rest is reveal
the mostLewy
bodies (protein
common symptom clumps)
of thein
the substantia
full-blown nigra
disorder
•Dementia
Treated temporarily with L-
is not typically
dopa
seen
• No
Linked to cause
single about 10 different
gene mutations
• Associated with
•degeneration
Deep brain stimulation
of the of
subthalamic
substantia nucleus
nigra; these
reduces symptoms,
neurons but
release dopamine
effectiveness
to the striatumslowly
of the basal
declines over months or
ganglia
years
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Multiple Sclerosis
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Multiple Sclerosis
• Epidemiological studies
find that incidence of MS
is increased in those
who spend childhood in
a cool climate
• MS is rare among
Africans and Asians
• Only some genetic
predisposition and only
one chromosomal locus
linked to MS with any
certainty
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Alzheimer’s Disease
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Alzheimer’s Disease
• Several genes associated with
early-onset AD synthesize
amyloid or tau, a protein found
in the tangles
• Which comes first, amyloid
plaques or neuro-fibrillary
tangles? Genetic research on
early-onset AD supports
amyloid hypothesis (amyloid
first)
• Decline in acetylcholine levels
is one of the earliest signs of
AD
• Effective treatments not yet
available
• Immunotherapy is
promising in animal models
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Animal Models of Human Neuropsychological
Diseases
• Experiments regarding
neuropathology are not usually
possible with human subjects
• Animal models are often utilized, for
example:
• Kindling model of epilepsy
– Experimentally induced
seizure activity
• Transgenic mouse model of
Alzheimer’s
– Mice producing human
amyloid
• MPTP model of Parkinson’s
– Drug-induced damage
comparable to that seen in PD
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Kindling Model of Epilepsy
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Transgenic Mouse Model of Alzheimer’s Disease
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MPTP Model of Parkinson’s Disease
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Neuroplastic Responses to Nervous System Damage
• Degeneration – deterioration
• Regeneration – regrowth of
damaged neurons
• Reorganization
• Recovery
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Neural Degeneration
• Anterograde: degeneration
of the distal segment –
between the cut and
synaptic terminals
• Retrograde: degeneration
of the proximal segment –
between the cut and cell
body
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Neural Regeneration
• Regeneration is virtually
nonexistent in the CNS of
adult mammals and unlikely,
but possible, in the PNS
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Neural Regeneration in the PNS
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Neural Reorganization
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Cortical Reorganization Following Damage in
Humans
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Mechanisms of Neural Reorganization
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Recovery of Function after Brain Damage
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Neuroplasticity and the Treatment of Nervous
System Damage
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Reducing Brain Damage by Blocking
Neurodegeneration
• Various neurochemicals
can block or limit
neurodegeneration
• Neuroprotective molecules
tend to also promote
regeneration
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Promoting CNS Recovery by Promoting Regeneration
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Promoting Recovery by Neurotransplantation
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Promoting Recovery by Rehabilitative Training
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Phantom Limbs: Neuroplastic Phenomena
• Ramachandran’s hypothesis:
phantom limb caused by
reorganization of the somato-sensory
cortex following amputation
• Amputee feels a touch on his face
and also on his phantom limb (due to
their proximity on somatosensory
cortex)
• Amputee with chronic phantom limb
pain gets relief through visual
feedback: view in mirror of his intact
hand unclenching as seen in mirror
box
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Watch: My Tumor and Welcome to It
Watch: Genetic Counseling
Watch: Alzheimer’s and Dementia
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Acknowledgments
Slide Image Description Image Source
28 notebook ©istockphoto.com/stockcam
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Acknowledgments
Slide Image Description Image Source
35 neuron ©istockphoto.com/ktsimage
43 laptop ©istockphoto.com/CostinT
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Pearson Education 2011