EXC 7770 Psychoneurological

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EXC 7770 Psychoneurological Medical Issues in
Special Education

• Susan B. Brown, Ph.D.
• Kennesaw State University

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Definitions

• Psychoneurology of, relating to, or concerned
  with psychology and neurology especially in their
  clinical aspects http//www2.merriam-webster.com/
  cgi-bin/mwmednlm?bookMedicalvapsychoneurology
• Neuropsychology a science concerned with the
  integration of psychological observations on
  behavior and the mind with neurological
  observations on the brain and nervous system
  http//www2.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/mwmednlm

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Approaches to study of brain

• animal research
• people with brain damage/mental illness
• lab experiments with primates/humans
• brain-imaging technology
• chemical composition CAT MRI
• electrical transmission EEG SQUID BEAM
• blood-flow patterns PET

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Chapter 1 (Drubach, 2000) Brain

• 3 pints
• 3 pounds

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Brain function

• Receive uses sensory/perceptual processes to
  take in objects/events
• Process draws on memory problem-solving to
  process
• Act translates thought decision into behavior
  language
• Affect controls emotions feelings
• Control controls body systems

The Secret Life of the Brain Mind Illusions
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Drubach (2000) Structure of the Brain

• Neurons
• Neurotransmitters
• Glial Cells
• Brain Structure
• Cerebellum
• Brainstem
• Thalamus
• Basal Ganglia
• Cerebrum
• Hemispheres
• Spinal Cord

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Neurons

• Regulate cognitive activity
• Specialized
• Collaborative

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NeurotransmittersNeuroscience for Kids -
Neurotransmitters)

• Produced by enzymes
• Stored in vesicles
• Communication (autoreceptors feedback)
• Electrochemical
• Excitatory
• Inhibiting
• Depolarize
• Selective
• Synapse
• Receptor
• Enzymes
• Reuptake
• Glial ingestion

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Glial cells glial cells - multiple sclerosis
encyclopaedia

• Support Nourishment (astrocytes)
• Neurotransmitter ingestion
• Remove waste
• Mesh structure
• Insulation (oligodendrocytes, Schwann cell
• Myelin sheath
• Faster conduction

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Alterations in neuronal communication

• Inadequate level of neurotransmitter production
• Decrease in number of presynaptic neurons
• Faulty mechanism for release of neurotransmitters
  
• Enzyme levels in synapse
• Reuptake functions
• Receptors available

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Cerebellum

• Coordination of movement
• Motor learning
• Cognition
• Motor planning
• Rate of information processing
• Memory

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Brain Stem

• Command Center Nuclei
• Muscle movements
• Organ control
• Regulating consciousness
• Information highways
• Axons transmitting information from brain
• Axons transmitting information to brain

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Reticular formation

• Central core of the brain stem
• Regulates attention flow of sensory information
  into a general level of attention
• Fluctuates in 90 minute cycles (chemical net to
  increase/decrease information flow)
• High in AM, drop until below consciousness to
  sleep at night

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Thalamus Hypothalamus

• Censor gatekeeper
• Arousal
• Relay sensory information to brain
• Coordindation of movement
• Sensory motor integration
• Autonomic functions
• Memory

• Homeostasis, or maintaining the body's status quo
  
• Neural signals to the autonomic system
• Endocrine signals to/through the pituitary
• Controls body weight and appetite

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Basal Ganglia

• Movement
• Cognition

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Amygdyla

• Part of the basal ganglia
• Emotional processing
• Emotional memory

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Autonomic Nervous Systemhttp//faculty.washington
.edu/chudler/auto.html

• runs bodily functions without our awareness or
  control
• Sympathetic system "fight-or-flight" response
• Parasympathetic system slowing the heart,
  constricting the pupils, stimulating the gut and
  salivary glands, and other responses that are not
  a priority when being "chased by a tiger
• The state of the body at any given time
  represents a balance between these two systems.

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Cerebrum Hierarchical
Hemispheres Functional lobes Frontal
Parietal Temporal Occipital
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Frontal Lobe

• Initiators command post for movement
• Left frontal lobe motor functions of language
• Personality

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Sensory Lobes

• Occipital Lobe
• Processing visual information

• Temporal Lobe
• Processing auditory information
• Left Meaning of language

• Parietal Lobe
• Processing sensory information

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Brain Connectivity Hemispheres
Left Brain Right Brain
LogicalSequentialRationalAnalyticalObjectiveLooks at parts RandomIntuitiveHolisticSynthesizingSubjectiveLooks at wholes
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Corpus Callosum
Communication between brain hemispheres
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Spinal Cord

• Information from brain to body
• Fibers
• Roots
• Motor neurons
• Carry information in opposite direction
• Information from body to brain
• Sensory receptors
• Roots
• Proprioception
• Reflexes

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The Brain Information Processing System

• Attention
• Perception
• Memory
• Association
• Responses

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Information Processing System
Long-term memory
Sensory Store
Senses
Attention
Perception
S
R
Short-term memory
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Functional Organization
Input
Output

• Receptors
• Electrochemical impulses
• Axons to thalamus gatekeeper forms units
• Primary processing modality specific
• Secondary processing modality specific
• Tertiary processing integrate across modalities
  affective components (limbic)