586748
Description
Flashcards by HannahMalcolm, updated more than 1 year ago
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Created by HannahMalcolm
almost 11 years ago
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| Question | Answer |
| branch of psychology that analyzes how the brain and neurotransmitters influence our behaviors, thoughts and feelings. | Biological Psychologists |
| a cell that works to carry messages throughout the body | neurons |
| nerve cells within the nervous system responsible for converting external stimuli from the organism's environment into internal electrical impulses. | Sensory Neurons |
| Neurons in the central nervous system that project their axons | Motor Neurons |
| Neurons within the brain and spinal cord that communicate internally and intervene between the sensory inputs and motor outputs | Interneurons |
| neuron that fires both when an animal acts and when the animal observes the same action performed by another. (found in the premotor cortex of humans) | Mirror Neurons |
| Contains the nucleus (brain) of the cell. Tells the cell to fire or not to fire. | Soma (Cell Body) |
| Wire like structure that extends from the soma to the axon terminal buttons. It is like a highway in which the messages will travel down the neuron. | Axon |
| The somewhat enlarged, often club-shaped endings by which axons make synaptic contacts with other nerve cells or with effector cells | Axon Terminals (aka buttons synaptic knobs) |
| The branchy, root like part of the cell that stretches out from the cell body. Dendrites will receive messages from other neurons by grabbing on to neurotransmitters | dendrites |
| A fatty layer of tissue that surrounds the axon. It helps speed up neural impulses. | myelin sheath |
| A neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon. | Action Potential |
| principle stating if a neuron fires, then it always fires at the same intensity, either all energy or none at all. no in between. | "all-or-none- principle" |
| When a neuron is not sending a signal | Resting Potential |
| Threshold The level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse. | Threshold |
| The junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron. The tiny gap at this junction is called the synaptic gap or synaptic cleft. | Synapse |
| Chemicals contained in the terminal buttons that enable neurons to communicate. Neurotransmitters fit into receptor cells on the dendrites on other neurons like a key in a lock. | Nerotransmitters |
| Neurotransmitters that stimulate the brain | Excitatory Nerotransmitters |
| Transmitters that calm the brain and help create balance | Inhibitory Neurotransmitters |
| A neurotransmitter's reabsorption by the sending neuron. | Reuptake |
| Acetylcholine | organic molecule that acts as a neurotransmitter in many organisms, including humans |
| a neurotransmitter that helps control the brain's reward and pleasure centers | Dopamine |
| important for managing mood, appetite, sleep, and dreaming | Serotonin |
| a neurotransmitter, a chemical used by the human nervous system to send messages and modulate its own function; acts in an inhibitory manner, tending to cause nerves to “calm down” | gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) |
| "morphine within" - natural, opiate like neurotransmitters linked to pain control and to pleasure | Endorphins |
| the brain and spinal cord | Central Nervous System |
| the sensory and motor neurons that conetc the central nervous system to the rest of the body | Peripheral Nervous System |
| the division of the peripheral nervous system that controls the body's skeletal muscles aka skeletal nervous system | Somatic Nervous System |
| the part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs; it's sympathetic division arouses; it's parasympathetic division calms | Autonomic Nervous System |
| the division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing it's energy in stressful situations | Sympathetic Nervous System |
| The division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving it's energy | Parasympathetic Nervous System |
| a simple, automatic response to a sensory stimulus such as the knee-jerk response | reflexes |
| the body's "slow" chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream | Endocrine System |
| chemical messengers that are manufactured by the endocrine glands, travel through the bloodstream , and affect other tissues | Hormones |
| a pair of endocrine glands that sit just about the kidneys and help secrete hormones that help arouse the body in times of stress | Adrenal Glands |
| the endocrine system's most influential gland; under the influence of the hypothalamus, the pituitary regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands | Pituitary Gland |
| tissue destruction; a brain lesion is a naturally or experimentally caused destruction of the brain tissue | Lesion |
| an amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity that sweep across the brain's surface; these waves are measured by electrodes placed on the scalp. | Electroencephalogram (EEG) |
| A series of X-ray photographs taken from different angles and combined by a computer into a composite representation of a slice through the body | Computed Tomography Scan (CT Scan) |
| an imaging test that can help reveal how your tissues and organs are functioning | Positron Emission Tomography Scan (PET Scan) |
| an imaging test that uses powerful magnets and radio waves to create pictures of the body | Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) |
| a technique for revealing blood flow and, therefore, brain activity by comparing successive MRI scans; fMRI scans show brain function. | fMRI (functional MRI) |
| a developmental categorization of portions of the central nervous system in vertebrates. It includes the medulla, pons, and cerebellum | Hindbrain |
| the base of the brain stem; controls heart-beat and breathing | Medulla |
| a portion of the hindbrain that connects the cerebral cortex with the medulla oblongata | pons |
| the "little-brain" at the rear of the brain stem; functions include processing sensory input and coordinating movement output and balance. | Cerebellum |
| the smallest region of the brain, but it plays a vital role in how the brain functions | Midbrain |
| a nerve network in the brain stem that plays an important role in controlling arousal | Reticular Formation |
| responsible for a variety of functions including receiving and processing sensory information, thinking, perceiving, producing and understanding | Forebrain |
| the brain's sensory switchboard, located on the top of the brain stem; it directs messages to the sensory receiving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla | Thalamus |
| a neural structure lying below the thalamus; it directs several maintenance activities (eating, drinking, body temperature), helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland, and is linked to emotion and reward | hypothalamus |
| two Lima-bean sized neurual clusters in the limbic system; linked to emotion | Amygdala |
| a neural center that is located in the limbic system; helps process explicit memories for storage | hippocampus |
| doughnut-shaped neural system (Including the hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamus) located below the cerebral hemispheres; associated with emotions and drives | Limbic System |
| the intricate fabric of interconnected neural cell covering the cerebral hemispheres; the body's ultimate control and information-processing center. | Cerebral Cortex |
| controls activities on the right side of the body, and in humans, usually controls speech and language functions | Left Hemisphere |
| the cerebral hemisphere to the right of the corpus callosum that controls the left half of the body | Right Hemisphere |
| functional specialization of the brain, with some skills, as language, occurring primarily in the left hemisphere and others, as the perception of visual and spatial relationships, occurring primarily in the right hemisphere. | Brain Lateralization |
| the large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages between them | Corpus Callosum |
| different parts of the brain related to different brain functions | Lobes |
| ares of the cerebral cortex that are not involved in primary motor or sensory functions; rather they are involved in higher mental functions such as learning, remembering, thinking, and speaking | Association Areas |
| portion of the cerebral cortex lying just behind the forehead; involved in speaking and muscle movements and in making plans and judgments | Frontal Lobe |
| controls language- an area, usually in the left frontal lobe, that directs the muscle movements | Broca's Area |
| controls language reception- a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression; usually in the left temporal lobe | Wernicke's Area |
| impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage to either Broca's area (impairing speaking) or to Wernick's Area (impairing understanding) | Aphasia |
| an area at the rear of the frontal lobes that controls voluntary movements | Motor Cortex |
| area at the front of the parietal lobes that registers and processes body touch and movement and sensations | Sensory Cortex |
| portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the top of the head and toward the rear; receives sensory input for touch and body position | Parietal Lobe |
| portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the back of the head; includes areas that receive information from the visual fields. | Occupital Lobe |
| portion of the cerebral cortex lying roughly above the ears; includes the auditory areas, each receiving information primarily from the opposite ear | Temporal Lobe |
| refers to the brain's ability to change as a result of experience. These changes can occur as a result of learning new things or because of damage to the brain. | Brain Plasticity |
| Neuropsychologist and Neurobiologist who was best known for his studies of patients with "split brains" | Roger Sperry |
| also called face blindness, is an impairment in the recognition of faces | Prosopagnosia |
| a disorder of the brain that leads to shaking (tremors) and difficulty with walking, movement, and coordination. | Parkinson's Disease |
| a mental disorder that makes it hard to: Tell the difference between what is real and not real; Think clearly; Have normal emotional responses; Act normally in social situations. | Schizophrenia |
| an autoimmune disease that affects the brain and spinal cord | Multiple Sclerosis |
| progressive mental deterioration that can occur in middle or old age, due to generalized degeneration of the brain. It is the most common cause of premature senility. | Alzheimer's Disease |
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