 Brain and behaviour.
 Hematoencephalic barrier - function. Cerebrospinal fluid - function. Circumventricular organs and
their functional effects.
 Neuron – morphology, functional components.
 Glial cells in nervous system and their function.
 Resting potential of the neuron (= resting membrane potential).
 Action potential – description, ionic fluxes, places of generation. Propagation of action potential in
myelinated and unmyelinated axon.
 Synapses – structure and function, types according to released transmitters.
 Excitatory and inhibitory postsynaptic potentials, temporal and spatial summation.
 Neurotransmitters - excitatory, inhibitory, modulatory; receptors.
 Hierarchic organization of sensory systems, topographic maps. Sensory receptors – basic
classification and characteristics; adaptation, threshold, receptive field.
 Receptor potential, coding of stimulus intensity, duration and modality.
 Smell and taste – stimuli and transduction mechanisms.
 Optical system of the eye. Common defects of the image-forming mechanism. Accommodation.
Mydriatic and miotic pupillary reflexes.
 Transduction of light signal in photoreceptors. Analysis of shape, colour and movement of visual
stimuli - visual cortical areas.
 Capturing of the sound and its transmission from external environment to the Corti organ.
Functions of the external ear, tympanic membrane and middle ear ossicles.
 Mechanisms of transduction of auditory signal in the hair cells of Corti organ. Auditory cortical
areas.
 Skin sensation - stimuli, submodalities, physiological significance. Somatosensory cortical areas.
 Nociception and pain - stimuli, physiological significance. Referred pain. Modulation of pain
perception.
 Vestibular system - detection of head position due to gravity, detection of angular and linear
acceleration. Mechanism of hair cells activation.
 Hierarchic organization of motor system, classes of movements. General categorization of motor
pathways.
 Reflexes in motor control - monosynaptic and polysynaptic reflexes. Reflex arc. Description of
stretch reflex, its function.
 Locomotion. Spinal pattern generators, basic stepping pattern, afferent information. Main CNS
structures involved in locomotion.
 Voluntary movement – basic characteristic, essential CNS structures.
 Control of posture - main postural muscle groups, essential afferent information and CNS
structures.
 Eye movements - basic types and their function, eliciting stimuli.
 Cerebellum - basic anatomy and function. Effects of cerebellar lesions - examples.
 Basal ganglia - basic anatomy. Role of the basal ganglia in motor control and behaviour. Examples
of the basal ganglia impairments in humans.
 Parasympathetic compartment of the autonomic nervous system - localization of preganglionic and
postganglionic neurons, neurotransmitters and their receptors at parasympathetic junctions.
Responses of effector organs to parasympathetic stimulation.
 Sympathetic compartment of the autonomic nervous system - localization of preganglionic and
postganglionic neurons, neurotransmitters and their receptors at sympathetic junctions. Responses
of effector organs to sympathetic stimulation.
 Sleep-waking periodicity. Sleep cycles (non-REM, REM phases, EEG and vegetative correlates).
 Language and speech, function of hemispheres in different aspects of language. Aphasias.
 Learning and memory – non-declarative and declarative memory, corresponding CNS structures in
humans. Neurophysiological mechanisms of memory storage.
 Functional specialization of the hemispheres.
 Central system of emotion and stress - major structures of limbic forebrain including amygdala.
Information inputs to the limbic forebrain, projections of the limbic forebrain to effector systems.
Components of a defensive response.
 Neurobiological origins of feelings.
 Regulation of emotions. A process model of emotion regulation. Top-down a bottom-up regulation
of emotion. Neuronal systems of cognitive regulations.
 Electroencephalography, functional magnetic resonance imaging – simplified description of
methods and their experimental use.
Basic anatomical terminology of the brain.
Draw the anatomical structures into the scheme of brain:
- in sagittal, coronal or axial sections or
- in medial or lateral aspects of the brain.
frontal gyrus - superior, middle, inferior
temporal gyrus - superior, middle, inferior
precentral and postcentral gyrus
central sulcus, lateral sulcus
parahippocampal gyrus, cingulate gyrus
angular and supramarginal gyrus
frontal, parietal, occipital and temporal lobes
brainstem – midbrain, pons and medulla
hypothalamus, thalamus, basal ganglia, cerebellum
hippocampus, amygdala
insula
dorso-, ventrolateral prefrontal cortex
dorso-, ventromedial prefrontal cortex
orbitofrontal cortex
primary motor cortex, premotor cortex, supplementary motor area,
somatosensory cortex
primary and secondary visual cortex
primary and secondary auditory cortex