Neurophysiology

Depolarisation by sodium influx, repolarisation by potassium efflux, then hyperpolarisation

A memory aid for the phases of the neuronal action potential.

Sympathetic is thoracolumbar with short pre and long postganglionic fibres; parasympathetic is craniosacral and the reverse

A memory aid for the differences between sympathetic and parasympathetic systems.

The direct pathway facilitates movement; the indirect pathway inhibits it

A memory aid for the direct and indirect basal ganglia pathways.

Tight junctions between endothelial cells, supported by astrocyte foot processes

A memory aid for the structure and significance of the blood-brain barrier.

DANISH: Dysdiadochokinesia, Ataxia, Nystagmus, Intention tremor, Slurred speech, Hypotonia

A mnemonic for the signs of cerebellar dysfunction.

Frontal for motor and executive, parietal for sensation, temporal for hearing and memory, occipital for vision

A memory aid for the main functional areas of the cortex.

Produced by choroid plexus, circulates through the ventricles, absorbed by arachnoid granulations

A memory aid for CSF production, circulation and absorption.

Arousal requires the brainstem reticular formation and at least one functioning hemisphere

A memory aid for the anatomical basis of consciousness.

Body parts are represented in proportion to innervation density, not size

A memory aid for the somatotopic organisation of the cortex.

Some Say Marry Money But My Brother Says Big Brains Matter More

A mnemonic for the twelve cranial nerves and whether each is sensory or motor.

Each reflex pairs a sensory nerve with a motor nerve

A memory aid for the afferent and efferent limbs of the main cranial nerve reflexes.

Outer ear collects, middle ear amplifies, cochlea transduces by place coding

A memory aid for how sound is transduced and conducted.

Block voltage-gated sodium channels from the inside of the axon

A memory aid for how local anaesthetics work and why they fail in infection.

Declarative memory needs the hippocampus; procedural memory does not

A memory aid for the types of memory and their anatomical basis.

Brain, blood and cerebrospinal fluid occupy a fixed volume within a rigid skull

A memory aid for the relationship between intracranial contents and pressure.

Spindles sense length and drive the monosynaptic stretch reflex

A memory aid for the stretch reflex and the role of the muscle spindle.

A alpha fastest, then A beta, A gamma, A delta, B and C slowest

A memory aid for nerve fibre types by diameter and conduction velocity.

Acetylcholine acts on nicotinic receptors and is broken down by acetylcholinesterase

A memory aid for transmission at the neuromuscular junction.

Glutamate excites, GABA inhibits, and the monoamines modulate

A memory aid for the main central neurotransmitters and their roles.

Nicotinic at all ganglia, muscarinic and adrenergic at effector organs

A memory aid for autonomic receptor types and their drugs.

Peripheral nystagmus is unidirectional and fatigable; central nystagmus is not

A memory aid for classifying nystagmus.

Mu receptors give analgesia along with the main side effects

A memory aid for the actions mediated by opioid receptors.

Large fibre input inhibits transmission of small fibre pain signals

A memory aid for the gate control theory of pain.

Transduction, transmission, modulation and perception

A memory aid for the transmission of pain from periphery to cortex.

Reduce brain water, blood volume or cerebrospinal fluid, or increase the space

A memory aid for the physiological measures that lower intracranial pressure.

Potassium permeability dominates, giving about minus 70 millivolts

A memory aid for what sets the resting membrane potential.

Excessive synchronous neuronal discharge from an imbalance of excitation and inhibition

A memory aid for the mechanism of seizures.

Dorsal columns carry fine touch and proprioception; spinothalamic carries pain and temperature

A memory aid for the two main ascending sensory pathways.

Three non-REM stages and REM sleep, cycling about every 90 minutes

A memory aid for the stages of sleep and their EEG features.

Dorsal columns behind, corticospinal laterally, spinothalamic anterolaterally

A memory aid for the location and function of the main spinal tracts.

Depolarisation, calcium entry, vesicle fusion, receptor binding, then termination

A memory aid for the sequence of chemical synaptic transmission.

Five basic tastes carried by three cranial nerves, and smell by the olfactory nerve

A memory aid for the chemical senses and their innervation.

Upper gives spasticity and brisk reflexes; lower gives wasting and absent reflexes

A memory aid for distinguishing upper from lower motor neurone signs.

Semicircular canals sense rotation; otolith organs sense linear acceleration and gravity

A memory aid for how balance is sensed.

Lesion site determines the pattern, from monocular loss to homonymous hemianopia

A memory aid for localising lesions in the visual pathway.