SHSC2031

Neurology and Neuroscience

Instructor: Dr Guang Ouyang
Faculty of Education
Email: ouyangg@hku.hk
 A fun fact about brain size differences across species
Cerebrum

Kolb, B., Whishaw, I. Q., & Teskey, G. C. (2001). An

introduction to brain and behavior (pp. 1986-1990). New
York: Worth.
Cerebrum Today’s outline

- External layers and environment

- Important cerebral landmarks and
organizations
- Functional map
- Cerebral disorders
External layers and environment
- Protection
- Provide cushion
External layers and environment
Blood–brain barrier (BBB)
- In general, it blocks large-size substances (e.g., bacteria, hormones, antibodies);
allows small-size ones to pass (e.g., oxygen molecules); actively transport needed
larger-size substances (e.g., glucose).
- BBB in fetus is not well formed (so, don’t drink alcohol during pregnancy)
Important cerebral landmarks and organizations
Gray matter: neuronal bodies

White matter: axons (neural fibers)

Important cerebral landmarks and organizations
• *Mainly consist of dendrites from deeper
lays, and very few cell bodies

• Mainly consist of stellate cells, small

pyramidal cells
• Intracortical connections, association
fibers

• Mainly consist of pyramidal cells

• Association fibers, callosal fibers
(commissural fibers)

• Mainly consist of stellate cells

• Receive sensory input from thalamus

• Mainly consist of large pyramidal cells

• Output to basal ganglia, brainstem and
spinal cord

• Mainly consist of fusiform cells

• Output to thalamus
*if there are discrepancies between Textbook and
slides, please refer to the slides.
Important cerebral landmarks and organizations
 Lobe Major functions
Functional map Frontal lobe Motor function, Active
cognitive control
Parietal lobe Somatosensory,
multisensory integration
Temporal lobe Auditory, language, long-
term memory
Occipital lobe Visual

*This table only lists major functions. In fact,

different lobes are engaged in plenty of subtle
cognitive functions, and many cognitive functions
(e.g., language, mathematics cognition) require
integration of multiple areas in the brain.

*There is some discrepancy with the textbook.

Please refer to the table in this slide.
Functional map
Hemispheric Specialization, a controversial topic

- In neuroscience, the ‘left-brain, right-brain’ theories are widely

considered to be a neuromyth
- But functional lateralization exists. Example of functional lateralization:

Left Lateralized:
- Most language processing functions

Right Lateralized:
- Visuospatial attention

Either-or:
- Handedness

Changing:
- Color processing. Infant: right; adult: left

Bi-hemisphere:
- Most cognitive processes
 Drawing
Major Major
function function
engaged? engaged?

Major Major
function function
engaged? engaged?

Major
function
engaged?
Functional map
Brodmann map (Brodmann areas)

What is it?
Division of the cortex into different
areas based on the cell structure
(observed by Nissl method), 52 in total

Use with caution

It does not mean that a particular
cognitive function is implemented only
by a single area.
Frontal lobe
Functional map
Frontal Lobe
Prefrontal Cortex (BA 9, 10, 11, 12, 46, and 47)

• Cognitive control/Executive function

• (attentional control, cognitive inhibition, working
memory, and cognitive flexibility)
• Goal-directed behavior, planning
• Personality
• Complex cognition (e.g., reflection, creative
thinking)
• Emotion regulation

• Humans have much more enlarged prefrontal

cortex

Wunsch, S. (2017). Phylogenesis of mammal sexuality. Analysis of the

evolution of proximal factors. Sexologies, 26(1), e1-e10.
Examples of tasks for testing executive function and working memory

Executive function:

Stroop task:
measuring the reaction time from
seeing the word and verbally
reporting the ink color of the word

Working memory:

N-back task:
Push a button when the letter is
the same as the n last one (here n
= 2)
Functional map
Frontal Lobe
Frontal Eye Fields (BA 8)

• Controls eye movements

• Electrical stimulation in the FEF elicits saccadic
eye movements.
Functional map
Frontal Lobe
Broca’s Area (BA 44 and 45)

• Speech production
• Speech comprehension (phonology, syntax)

Regarding its role in speech production, Broca’s area is

responsible for coordinating the sub-processes involved in
spoken word production.
Flinker, A., Korzeniewska, A., Shestyuk, A. Y., Franaszczuk, P. J., Dronkers, N. F., Knight,
R. T., & Crone, N. E. (2015). Redefining the role of Broca’s area in speech. Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(9), 2871-2875.

Agnosia:
deficit in recognition
Aphasia:
deficit in understanding/formulating
Apraxia:
deficit in motor planning
Dysarthria:
deficit in execution
Functional map
Frontal Lobe
Premotor Cortex (BA 6)

• Motor planning for the opposite side of the

body

Supplementary motor area (BA 6)

• Coordinating and sequencing of motor movements for the

opposite side of the body
Functional map
Frontal Lobe
Primary Motor Cortex (BA 4)

• Execution of motor plan

• Directly control muscles
Parietal lobe
Functional map
Parietal Lobe
Primary Sensory Cortex (BA1, 2, and 3)

• Receives and perceives sensory information

from the opposite side of the body (touch,
temperature, vibration, proprioception)
Functional map
Parietal Lobe
Somatosensory Association Cortex (BA 5 and 7)
• Integrates different sources of somatosensory signal
and makes higher-level processing and inferences

Angular Gyrus (BA 39)

• Semantic Processing
• Reading and Comprehension
• The Default Network
• Number Processing
• Attention and Spatial Cognition
• Memory Retrieval
• Conflict Resolution
• Theory-of-Mind and Social Cognition
• Cross-Modal Integrative Hub
Seghier, M. L. (2013). The angular gyrus: multiple functions
and multiple subdivisions. The Neuroscientist, 19(1), 43-61.
Functional map
Parietal Lobe
Supramarginal Gyrus (BA 40)

• Phonological processing, segmentation

• Auditory short-term memory
• Pitch and rhythm processing and memory
• Gestural production, tool use, manipulation
knowledge (long-term memory)
• Lesourd, M., Osiurak, F., Navarro, J., & Reynaud, E. (2017). Involvement of the left
supramarginal gyrus in manipulation judgment tasks: contributions to theories of
tool use. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society: JINS, 23(8), 685.
• Schaal, N. K., Pollok, B., & Banissy, M. J. (2017). Hemispheric differences between
left and right supramarginal gyrus for pitch and rhythm memory. Scientific
Reports, 7(1), 1-6.
Occipital lobe
Functional map
Occipital Lobe
The Visual Cortex (BA 17, 18, and 19)

• BA 17: primary visual cortex (V1), directly receive

information from visual input. BA 18 and 19:
associative visual cortex
• Dorsal stream (where it is)
• Ventral stream (what it is: shapes, textures, forms,
colors, facial details, other details, etc)
Temporal lobe
Functional map
Temporal Lobe
Parahippocampal Gyrus (BA 27, 28, 34, 35, and 36)
Olfaction
• Episodic memory
• associative memory, source memory, and recollection
• Visuospatial processing
• scene perception, spatial representation, and Aminoff, E. M., Kveraga, K., & Bar, M.
(2013). The role of the parahippocampal
navigation cortex in cognition. Trends in cognitive
sciences, 17(8), 379-390.
• Olfaction
Hippocampal formation
• Encoding, formation, storing, retrieval of long-term
memory
• Memory consolidation (from short-term to long-term)
• Spatial memory
Memory

Sensory memory

Short-term memory
Working memory
Long-term memory

Non-declarative memory (implicit)

Declarative memory Semantic memory

Episodic memory
 Functional map
Temporal Lobe
Inferior temporal areas
• Inferior Temporal Cortex (BA 20 and 21)
• Fusiform Gyrus (Brodmann Area 37)
• Lingual gyrus (medial occipitotemporal gyrus)
• Processing of complex features of visual information:

e.g., face, word, letter, expression, complex shapes and features

(categorization), texture, image details, object, visual schema,
sceneries, etc.

fusiform gyrus; inferior temporal gyrus; parahippocampal

gyrus; lingual gyrus; inferior occipital gyrus.
Functional map
Temporal Lobe
The Temporal Pole (BA 38)

• Semantic processing
• Social cognition, emotion
• Theory of mind, empathy

Olson, I. R., Plotzker, A., & Ezzyat, Y. (2007). The enigmatic

temporal pole: a review of findings on social and emotional
processing. Brain, 130(7), 1718-1731.

Binder, J. R., & Desai, R. H. (2011). The neurobiology of

semantic memory. Trends in cognitive sciences, 15(11), 527-536.
Functional map
Temporal Lobe
Auditory Cortex (BA 41 42)

• Receive and process auditory

information

Wernicke’s Area (Brodmann Area 22)

• High level auditory processing

(e.g., extracting language Broka’s Area
information)
Wernicke’s Area
• It is directly connected to
Broca’s area
Functional map
Cingulate Cortex
(BA 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, and 33)

• Cognitive control (linked to pre-frontal cortex)

• Long-term memory (posterior part)
• Emotion (part of the limbic system)
Functional map
Insular Cortex

• Functional role: very heterogeneous; evidences have

been shown that it is engaged in emotion, language
processing, empathy, uncertainty processing, decision
making, addiction, etc
• Taste is processed here

https://www.kenhub.com/en/library/anatomy/insula-en
The Limbic System

• Includes a set of cortical and sub-cortical structures:

e.g., cingulate cortex, orbitofrontal cortex,
hypothalamus, the amygdala, the thalamus, and the
hippocampus, and so on.
• It was originally proposed to be the system that
generates emotion.
• However, the theory is highly controversial.
• The current view about the limbic system is that it
involves the function of emotion, olfaction, memory
and homeostasis and others.
• In general, the conceptualization and theory of ‘Limbic
System’ have not reached consensus despite its
popularity.
Cerebral disorders
• Cerebral vascular accident (stroke)
• Traumatic Brain Injury
• Cerebral Palsy
• Stuttering
Cerebral disorders
• Cerebral Vascular Accident (stroke)

Ischemic CVA
Blockage of blood flow in the vessel
Hemorrhagic CVA
Leakage of blood due to a ruptured blood vessel

Problems in the blood flow lead to malfunctions in the brain

Cerebral disorders
• Traumatic Brain Injury

Brain injury due to external force

Cerebral disorders
• Cerebral Palsy

Movement disorders due to abnormal

brain development

• Stuttering

Abnormal disfluency in speech production

Cause unknown, but evidences show its

association with the brain