Neuroscience and Behavior
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| 309066001 | biological psychology | branch of psychology concerned with the links between biology and behavior | |
| 309066002 | neuron | nerve cell, basic building block of the nervous system | |
| 309066003 | dendrite | bushy, branching extensions of a neuron that recieve messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body (listen) | |
| 309066004 | axon | extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers, through which messages pass to other neurons, muscles, or glands (talk) | |
| 309066005 | myelin sheath | layer of fatty tissue segmentally increasing the fibers of many neurons; enables vastly greater transmission speed of neural impulses as the impulse hops from one node to the next | |
| 309066006 | action potential | a neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon. generated by movement of "+" charged atoms in/out of channels in membrane | |
| 309066007 | threshold | level of stimulation required to trigger a neural response | |
| 309066008 | synapse | junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and dendrite or cell body of the recieving neuron, the tiny gap is called a synaptic gap or cleft | |
| 309066009 | neurotransmitters | chemical messages that traverse the synaptic gaps between neurons. when realeased by the sending neuron, ______ travel across the synapes and bind to receptor sites on the recieving neuron, thereby influencing whether that neuron will generate a neural impulse | |
| 309066010 | acetylcholine (ACh) | neurotransmitter that enables muscle action, learning, and memory. malfunctioning? alzheimer's disease | |
| 309066011 | endorphins | "morphine within" - natural, opiate like neurotransmitters linked to pain control and pleasure. Released in response to pain and vigorous exercise | |
| 309066012 | nervous system | body's speedy, electrochemical communication network consisting of all the nerve cells of the peripherial and central nervous systems | |
| 309066013 | central nervous system (CNS) | brain and spinal cord | |
| 309066014 | peripheral nervous system (PNS) | the sensory and mootor neurons that connect the CNS to the rest of the body | |
| 309066015 | nerves | neural "cables" containing many axons. These bundled axons, part of PNS, connect the CNS w/muscles, glands and sense organs | |
| 309066016 | sensory neurons | neurons that carry incoming info from the sense receptors to the CNS | |
| 309066017 | motor neurons | neurons that carry outgoing info from CNS to muscles and glands | |
| 309066018 | interneurons | CNS neurons that internnaly communicate and intervene between sensory inputs and motor outputs | |
| 309066019 | somatic nervous system | division of the PNS tha controls the body's skeletal muscles - aka skeletal nervous system | |
| 309066020 | autonomic nervous system | part of PNS that controls glands and muscles of internal organs (heart) 2 divisions, sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system | |
| 309066021 | reflex | simple, automatic, inborn repsonse to a sensory stimulus, such as the knee-jerk response | |
| 309066022 | neural networks | interconnected neural cells. With experience, networks can learn as feeback strengthens or inhibits connections that produce certain results | |
| 309066023 | endocrine system | the body's "slow" chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the blood stream | |
| 309066024 | hormones | glands secrete these chemical messengers, produced in one tissue to affect another | |
| 309066025 | adrenal glands | pair of endocrine glands just about kidneys, secrete adrenaline and noradrendaline which help arouse body in times of stress | |
| 309066026 | pituitary gland | endocrine system's most influential gland. influenced by hypothalamus, it regulates growth and influences/controls other endocrine glands (master gland) | |
| 309066027 | lesion | tissue destruction, brain lesion = natural or experimental destruction of brain tissue | |
| 309066028 | Electroencephalogram EEG | amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity that sweep across the brain's surface - measured by electrodes placed on scalp | |
| 309066029 | Positron Emission Tomography PET scan | visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task | |
| 309066030 | MRI Magnetic Resonance Imaging | technique using magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer generated images that distinguish amound different types of soft tissues; allows us to see structures within the brain | |
| 309066031 | fMRI Functional MRI | technique for revealing blood flow and therefore brain activity by comparing successive MRI scans. shows brain function NOT anatomy | |
| 309066032 | brainstem | oldest part and central core of the brain, beginning where the spinal cord swells as it enters the skull' in charge of automatic survival functions | |
| 309066033 | medulla | base of brainstem; controls heartbeat and breathing | |
| 309066034 | reticular formation | nerve network in brainstem that plays an important role in controlling arousal - coma = harmed | |
| 309066035 | thalmus | brain's sensory switchboard, located atop the brainstem; directs messages to sensory receiving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla -recieves info from all senses EXCEPT smell and routes to corresponding brain region | |
| 309066036 | cerrebellum | the "little brain" attached to the rear of the brainstem; its functions include processing sensory input and coordinating movement output and balance -nonverbal learning and memory -judgement, modulate emotions, discriminate sound and textures -COORDINATES VOLUNTARY MOVEMENT | |
| 309066037 | limbic system | doughtnut shaped system of neural structures at the border of the brainstem and cerebral hemispheres; associated with emotions such as fear and agression and drives such as those for food and sex. -includes hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamus | |
| 309066038 | amygdala | two lima bean sized neural clusters that are components of the limbic system and linked to emotion | |
| 309066039 | hypothalamus | a neural structure lying below the thalamus; directs several maintence activities (eating, drinking, body temp.) helps govern endocrine system via pituitary gland and is linked to emotion | |
| 309066040 | cerebral cortex | intricate fabric fo interconnected neural cells that covers the cerebal hemispheres; the body's ultimate control and info processing center | |
| 309066041 | gilial cells | cells in nervous system that support, nourish, and protect neurons | |
| 309066042 | frontal lobes | portion of cerebral cortex lying just behind forehead; involved in speaking and muscles movements and making plans/judgements | |
| 309066043 | parietal lobes | portion of c. cortex lying at top of the head and toward the rear; recieves sensory input for touch and body position | |
| 309066044 | temporal lobes | portion of c. cortex lying roughly about the ears; includes the auditory areas, each of which recieves auditory info primarily from opposite ear | |
| 309066045 | occipital lobes | portion of c. cortex lying at back of the head; includes visual areas, which recieve visual info primarily from opposite eye | |
| 309066046 | motor cortex | area at rear of frontal lobes that controls voluntary movements (outputs) | |
| 309066047 | sensory cortex | area at front of parietal lobes that registers and processes body touch and movement sensations (input) | |
| 309066048 | association areas | areas of cerabral cortex that are NOT involved in primary motor/sensory functions; rather involved in higher mental functions such as learning, remembering, thinking, and speaking | |
| 309066049 | aphasia | impariement of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca's area (imparing speaking) or Wernicke's area (imparing understanding) | |
| 309066050 | Broca's Area | controls language espression - area of frontal lobe usuall in left hemisphere that directs muscle movements involved in speech | |
| 309066051 | Wernicke's Area | controls language reception - a brain area involved in language comphrehension and expression; usually in left temporal lobe | |
| 309066052 | plasticity | brain's capacity for modification, as evident in brain reorganization follow damage (esp. in children) and in experiments on the effects of experience on brain development | |
| 309066053 | corpus callosum | 200 million nerve fibers capable of transfering >1billion bits of info/second between hemispheres | |
| 309066054 | split brain | a brain that has been severed down the corpus callosum, essentially a person with two brains, two minds | |
| 309794161 | sympathetic nervous system | the division of the autonoic nervous system that calms the body mobilizing its energy | |
| 309794162 | parasymphatetic nervous system | the division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body conserving its energy |
