What is the piriform cortex responsible for?
What is the piriform cortex responsible for?
The piriform cortex (PC) is a key brain area involved in both processing and coding of olfactory information. It is implicated in various brain disorders, such as epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, and autism.
Why is hippocampus important in epilepsy?
Seizures, especially ones that start in the temporal lobe, can cause a major blow to the hippocampus. The hippocampus is very sensitive to changes in brain activity. If seizures starting here go untreated, the hippocampus starts to harden and shrink. It is as if the librarian has gone on strike.
What part of the brain is most affected by epilepsy?
The temporal lobes are the areas of the brain that most commonly give rise to seizures. The mesial portion (middle) of both temporal lobes is very important in epilepsy — it is frequently the source of seizures and can be prone to damage or scarring.
Where is the piriform cortex?
The piriform cortex is located below the rhinal sulcus and forms the ventrolateral portion of the cerebral hemispheres. It extends nearly 7.4 mm in the rostrocaudal direction, from the anterior olfactory nucleus to the lateral entorhinal cortex.
What is Pyriform lobe?
a pear-shaped region of the rhinencephalon, at the base of the medial temporal lobe of the brain, that contains clumps of stellate cells and pyramidal cells.
What happens if your hippocampus is removed?
In short, the hippocampus orchestrates both the recording and the storage of memories, and without it, this “memory consolidation” cannot occur. After his memory vanished, H.M. lost his job and had no choice but to keep living with his parents.
What happens in the brain of a person who has epilepsy?
During an epileptic seizure, the firing pattern of your neurons changes. This can lead to many neurons generating electrical pulses at the same time, which you experience as a seizure.
What are the two main causes of epilepsy?
When epilepsy is diagnosed in older adults, it’s sometimes from another neurological issue, like a stroke or a brain tumor. Other causes can be related to genetic abnormalities, prior brain infection, prenatal injuries or developmental disorders. But in about half of people with epilepsy, there’s no apparent cause.
What part of the brain is removed to stop seizures?
Hemispherectomy is a procedure to remove one side (hemisphere) of the folded gray matter of the brain (cerebral cortex). This surgery is generally reserved for children who experience seizures that originate from multiple sites in one hemisphere, usually the result of a condition present at birth or in early infancy.
What is the meaning of piriform?
pear-shaped
Piriform, sometimes pyriform, means pear-shaped (from Latin pirum “pear” and forma “shape”).
What is piriform sinus?
The pyriform sinus (also spelled piriform sinus and also known as the pyriform recess, pyriform fossa, and smuggler’s fossa) is the pear-shaped subsite of the hypopharynx located posterolaterally to either side of the laryngeal opening.