Terms : Hide Images
| Cells in the nervous system that communicate with one another to perform information-processing tasks | ||
| The part of a neuron that coordinates information-processing tasks and keeps the cell alive | ||
| The part of a neuron that receives information from other neurons and relays it to the cell body |  | |
| The part of a neuron that transmits information to other neurons, muscles, or glands |  | |
| A Spanish physician who discovered the structure of neurons by staining them. He recieved the Nobel peace prize in physiology in 1906. | ||
| An insulating layer of fatty material that often covers the axon | ||
| Support cells found in the nervous system; these cells compose the myelin sheath | ||
| The junction or region between the axon of one neuron and the dendrites or cell body of another |  | |
| Neurons that recieve information from the external world and convey this information to the brain via the spinal cord. | ||
| Neurons that carry signals from the spinal cord to the muscles to produce movement | ||
| Neurons that connect sensory neurons, motor neurons, or other neurons of the same type | ||
| The difference in electric charge between the inside and outside of a neuron's cell membrane |  | |
| An electric signal that is conducted along the length of a neuron's axon to the synapse |  | |
| The time following an action potential during which a new action potential cannot be initiated | ||
| knoblike structures that branch out from an axon; Contain neurotransmitters | ||
| chemicals that transmit information across the synapse to a receiving neuron's dendrites; located inside vesicles on the terminal buttons | ||
| Parts of the cell membrane that receive neurotransmitters and initiate a new electric signal | ||
| A neurotransmitter involved in a number of functions, including voluntary motor control; activates muscles, contributes to regulation of attention, sleeping, learning, dreaming, and memory | ||
| A neurotransmitter that regulates motor behavior, motivation, pleasure, and emotional arousal |  | |
| A major excitatory neurotransmitter involved in information transmission throughout the brain | ||
| The primary inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain; stops the firing of neurons |  | |
| A neurotransmitter that influences mood and arousal | ||
| A Neurotransmitter involved in the regulation of sleep and wakefulness, eating, and aggressive behavior |  | |
| Chemicals that act within the pain pathways and emotion centers of the brain | ||
| Drugs that increase the action of a neurotransmitter |  | |
| Drugs that block the function of a neurotransmitter |  | |
| An interacting network of neurons that conveys electrochemical information throughout the body |  | |
| Composed of the brain and spinal cord |  | |
| Connects the central nervous system to the body's organs and muscles | ||
| A set of nerves that conveys information into and out of the central nervous system; humans have CONSCIOUS CONTROL over this system | ||
| A set of nerves that carries involuntary and automatic commands that control blood vessels, body organs, and glands | ||
| A set of nerves that prepares the body for action in threatening situations (prepares us for "fight or flight") |  | |
| A set of nerves that helps the body return to a normal resting state (ie constricts pupils, slows heart rate, etc) | ||
| Simple pathways in the nervous system that rapidly generate muscle contractions (ie what happens when you touch a hot stove) | ||
| An area of the brain that coordinates information coming into and out of the spinal cord; also called the "brain stem" (most primitive area of the brain, performs important tasks to keep us alive) | ||
| An extension of the spinal cord into the skull that coordinates heart rate, circulation, and respiration | ||
| A cluster of neurons inside the medulla which regulates sleep, wakefulness, and levels of arousal | ||
| A large structure of the hindbrain that controls fine motor skills | ||
| A structure that relays information from the cerebellum to the rest of the brain; means "bridge" in Latin | ||
| A brain structure located in the midbrain that orients an organism in the environment | ||
| A part of the midbrain that is involved in movement and arousal | ||
| The outermost layer of the brain, visible to the naked eye and divided into two hemispheres | ||
| Areas of the forebrain housed under the cerebral cortex near the very center of the brain | ||
| A subcortical structure that relays and filters information from the senses and transmits the information to the cerebral cortex | ||
| A subcortical structure that regulates body temperature, hunger, thirst, and sexual behavior (fighting, fleeing, feeding, and... mating) | ||
| The highest level of the brain which controls complex cognitive, emotional, sensory, and motor functions | ||
| the "master gland" of the body's hormone-producing system, which releases hormones that direct the functions of many other glands in the body | ||
| A group of forebrain structures including the hypothalamus, the amygdala, and the hippocampus, which are involved in motivation, emotion, learning, and memory | ||
| A limbic system structure critical for creating new memories and integrating them into a network of knowledge so that they can be stored indefinitely in other parts of the cerebral cortex | ||
| A part of the limbic system; plays a central role in many emotional processes, particularly in the formation of emotional memories (attaches significance to previously neutral events that are associated with fear, punishment, or reward) | ||
| A set of subcortical structures that directs internal movements | ||
| A thick band of nerve fibers that connects large areas of the cerebral cortex on each side of the brain and supports communication of information across the hemispheres | ||
| A region of the cerebral cortex that processes visual information (located at the back) | ||
| A region of the cerebral cortex whose functions include processing information about touch (located in front of the occipital lobe) | ||
| A region of the cerebral cortex responsible for hearing language (located on the lower side of each hemisphere) | ||
| A region of the cerebral cortex that has specialized areas for movement, abstract thinking, planning, memory, and judgement; contains the motor cortex (located behind the forehead) | ||
| Areas of the cerebral cortex that are composed of neurons that help provide sense and meaning to information registered in the cortex; provide a meaningful understanding of what is being registered in the brain | ||
| The quality the brain has that allows it to adapt to changes in sensory inputs | ||
| How the brain develops within a given individual |  | |
| How the brain developed within a particular species; very slow process |  | |
| The unit of hereditary transmission; determine traits | ||
| Strands of DNA wound around each other in a double-helix configuration; humans have 23 pairs in each cell |  | |
| A measure of the variability of behavioral traits among individuals that can be accounted for by genetic factors (things to remember: abstract concept, tells only about the population, NOT the individual, and it is NOT fate) | ||
| A device used to record electrical activity in the brain | ||
| Nobel laureates who performed experiments using EEGs on cats- discovered that different neurons fire when the cat looked at lines in different directions, faces, etc | ||
| A neuroimaging technique in which x-ray photographs are taken from many different angles to get a picture of the brain |  | |
| A neuroimaging technique in which brief but powerful magnetic pulses to the head and recording how these pulses are absorbed throughout the brain |  | |
| A harmless radioactive substance is injected into the bloodstream. Then, the brain is scanned by radiation detectors as a person performs perceptual or cognitive tasks | ||
| The most widely used and functional brain imaging tool available- can localize changes in brain activity across shorter periods of time |
