Download Seminar XV: Visual pathway. Sensory and associative cortex of the

Cycle 4:
Physiology of Senses and Central Nervous System.
Seminar XV: Visual pathway. Sensory and associative cortex of the cerebrum (12.03.2013).
1. Photoreceptors: rods, cones.
2. Photoreceptor potential – ionic basis.
3. Rhodopsin, cone pigments.
4. Visual processing in the retina and to the cortex.
5. Visual cortex.
Seminar XVI: Sensory part of the nervous system. Where does the pain come from? (19.03.2013).
1. Division of sense organs:
• Sherington’s division,
• Head’s division,
• Clinical division.
2. Receptors: division, activation, generator potential, phasic, tonic receptors.
3. Afferent pathways:
• Lateral spino-thalamic tract.
• Anterior spino-thalamic tract.
• Gracile and cuneate fasciculi.
4. Sensory cortex.
5. Pain sensation.
Seminar XVII: Regulation of motor activity (09.04.2013).
1. Spinal regulation:
• muscle spindle – myotatic reflex,
• Golgi tendon organ,
• flexor reflex.
2. Supraspinal regulation:
• motor cortex,
• basal ganglia,
• reticular system.
3. Efferent pathways.
Unit 20. Vision (19.03.2013).
1. Mapping of the visual field. Mariotte’s experiment (the presence of the blind spot).
2. Snellen letter chart – determination of visual acuity.
3. Examination of the ocular fundus with the ophthalmoscope.
4. Colour vision.
5. Determination of defects of the visual analyser.
Obligatory terms and problems:

Morphology and function of rods and cones. The photoreceptor mechanism.

Elements of the optical system of the eye. Common defects of the image forming mechanism and their
correction. Accommodation – the near and far point of vision. The range of accommodation.

Innervation of the eyeball. Blind spot. Visual acuity.

Morphology and function of the retina. Visual field.

Dark and light adaptation of the eye.
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Visual pathway. Visual cortex and other cortical areas of the visual analyser.
Unit 21. Audition. Vestibular system and equilibrium (09.04.2013).
1. Clinical examination of the auditory function (with the whisper, loud voice, watch and tuning fork).
2. Weber’s, Rinne’s and Schwabach’s test.
3. Tests for vestibular function – Bàràny’s test, Romberg’s test (sign).
4. Sensory and associative areas of the cortex – discussion.
Obligatory terms and problems:
 The range of sound frequencies audible to humans. The sound transmission and sound conduction.
Auditory centres. Morphology and function of the Corti apparatus.
 Deep sensation – proprioception. Rotational and linear acceleration and deceleration – receptors. The
morphology and function of non–cochlear part of the labyrinth. Nystagmus. Cranial nerve VIII.
 Sensory analyser – definition. Sensory cortex.
 Cutaneous sensation – touch and temperature – receptors and adaptation.
Unit 22. Physiology of the central nervous system part I (16.04.2013).
1. Function of the spinal cord in regulation of motor activity (muscle tone, myotatic reflexes).
2. Observation of the spinal reflexes in frog – film.
 Türck experiment,
 Brondgest experiment,
 Sechenov experiment.
3. Neurological examination - myotatic reflexes in humans.
Obligatory terms and problems:
 Afferent (sensory) and efferent pathways of the spinal cord
 Reflexes - definition, division. Reflex arc. Mono- and polysynaptic reflexes; characteristics and
examples. Physiology of synapses. Muscle spindle. Morphological and functional division of neurones,
nerves and nerve fibers. Mediators in the nervous system. Spinal nerve - constituents. Bell-Magendie
rule.
 Functions of extrapyramidal system in motor control. Motor cortex.
 Characteristics of the neurone centres: convergence, divergence, summation and occlusion,
facilitation.
Unit 23. Physiology of the central nervous system part II (23.04.2013).
1. Symptoms of defects in central nervous system.
2. The cerebellum – its function. The influence of the cerebellum on voluntary movement.
Obligatory terms and problems:
Afferent tracts to the cerebellum. The functional organisation and division of the cerebellum – the cortex,
nuclei and fibers. Efferent pathways from cerebellum. Function of the dentate nucleus. Symptoms of
lesions in cerebellum: ataxia, atonia, and astasia.
Unit 24: Senses/CNS (30.04.2013). Retakes of failed/absent activities in cycle 4.
Credit of the cycle 2 (07.05.2013). Topics discussed on seminars XV – XVII and units 20 – 23.