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| 253664651 | Hypothalamus | A neural structure lying below (hypo) 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. | |
| 253664652 | Lesion | Tissue destruction. A brain lesion is a naturally or experimentally cuased destruction of brain tissue. | |
| 253664653 | EEG | 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. | |
| 253664654 | fMRI | A technique for revealing blood flow and, therefore, brain activity by comparing successive MRI scans. MRI scans show brain anatomy. fMRI scans show brain function. | |
| 253664655 | Reticular formation | A nerve network in the brainstem that plays an important role in controlling arousal. | |
| 253664656 | MRI | A technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer-generated images that distinguish among different types of soft tissue; allows us to see structures within the brain. | |
| 253664657 | Thalamus | The brain's sensory switchboard, located on top of the brainstem; it directs messages to the sensory receiving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla. | |
| 253664658 | Corpus Callosum | The large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages between them. | |
| 253664659 | Cerebellum | The "little brain" attached to the rear of the brainstem; its functions include processing sensory input and coordinating movement output and balance. | |
| 253664660 | Amygdala | Two lima bean-sized neural clusters that are components of the limbic system and are linked to emotion. | |
| 253664661 | Medulla | The base of the brainstem; controls heartbeat and breathing. | |
| 253664662 | Right hemisphere | Specializes in spatial relations. | |
| 253664663 | Brainstem | The oldest part and central core of the brain, beginning where the spinal cord swells as it enters the skull; the brainstem is responsible for automatic survival functions. | |
| 253664664 | Glial cells | Cells in the nervous system that support, nourish, and protect neurons. | |
| 253664665 | Aphasia | Impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca's area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke's area (impairing understanding). | |
| 253664666 | Plasticity | The brain's capacity for modification, as evident in brain reorganization following damage (especially in children) and in experiments on the effects of experience on brain development. | |
| 253664667 | Broca's area | Controls language expression - an area of the frontal lobe, usually in the left hemisphere, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech. | |
| 253664668 | Wernicke's area | Controls language reception - a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression; usually in the left tempral lobe. | |
| 253664669 | Limbic system | A doughnut-shaped system of neural structures at the border of the brainstem and cerebral hemispheres; associated with emotions such as fear and aggression and drives such as those for food and sex. Includes the hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamus. | |
| 253664670 | Association areas | Areas 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. | |
| 253664671 | Left hemisphere | Specializes in rationalizing reactions. | |
| 253664672 | Angular Gyrus | Translates writing into speech. | |
| 253664673 | Dendrites | The bushy, branching extensions of a neuron that reveive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body. | |
| 253664674 | Axon | The extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers, through which messages pass to other neurons or to muscles or glands. | |
| 253664675 | Myelin Sheath | A layer of fatty tissue segmentally encasing the fibers of many neurons; enables vastly greater transmission speed of neural impulses as the impulse hops from one node to the next. | |
| 253664676 | Action Potential | A neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon. The action potential is generated by the movement of positively charged atoms in and out of channels in the axon's membrane. | |
| 253664677 | Synapse | 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 "cleft". | |
| 253664678 | Resting potential | the potential difference between the two sides of the membrane of a nerve cell when the cell is not conducting an impulse | |
| 253664679 | Refractory period | (neurology) the time after a neuron fires or a muscle fiber contracts during which a stimulus will not evoke a response | |
| 253664680 | Excitatory signals | depolarize the cell membrane, increasing the likelihood that the neuron will fire | |
| 253664681 | Inhibitory signals | hyperpolarize the cell, decreasing the likelihood that the neuron will fire | |
| 253664682 | Threshold | the level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse | |
| 253664683 | Pineal gland | Secretes Melatonin. | |
| 253664684 | Neurotransmitters | Chemical messengers that traverse the synaptic gaps between neurons. When released by the sending neuron, neurotransmitters travel across the synapse and bind to receptor sites on the receiving neuron, thereby influencing whether that neuron will generate a neural impulse. | |
| 253664685 | Agonists | chemical substances that mimic or enhance the effects of a neurotransmitter on the receptor sites of the next cell, increasing or decreasing the activity of that cell | |
| 253664686 | Antagonists | chemical substances that block or reduce a cell's response to the action of other chemicals or neurotransmitters | |
| 253664687 | Reuptake | A neurotransmitter's reabsorption by the sending neuron | |
| 253664688 | Neurons | A nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system. | |
| 253664689 | Nervous system | The body's speedy, electrochemical communication network, consisting of all the nerve cells of the peripheral and central nervous systems. | |
| 253664690 | Nerves | Neural "cables" containing many axons. These bundled axons, which are part of the peripheral nervous system, connect the central nervous system with muscles, glands, and sense organs. | |
| 253664691 | Sensory neurons | Neurons that carry incoming information from the sense receptors to the central nervous system. | |
| 253664692 | Interneurons | Central nervous system neurons that internally communicate and intervene between the sensory inputs and motor outputs. | |
| 253664693 | Motor neurons | Neurons that carry outgoing information from the central nervous system to the muscles and glands. | |
| 253664694 | Peripheral nervous system (PNS) | The sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system (CNS) to the rest of the body. | |
| 253664695 | Somatic nervous system | The division of the peripheral nervous system that controls the body's skeletal muscles. Also called the skeletal nervous system. | |
| 253664696 | Autonomic nervous system | The part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs (such as the heart). Its sympathetic division arouses; its parasympathetic division calms. | |
| 253664697 | Sympathetic nervous system | The division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situations. | |
| 253664698 | Parasympathetic nervous system | The division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving its energy. | |
| 253664699 | Central nervous system (CNS) | The brain and spinal chord. | |
| 253664700 | Spinal cord | a major part of the central nervous system which conducts sensory and motor nerve impulses to and from the brain | |
| 253664701 | Reflex | A simple, automatic, inborn response to a sensory stimulus, such as the knee-jerk response. | |
| 253664702 | Neural networks | Interconnected neural cels. With experience, networks can learn, as feedback stregthens or inhibits connections that produce certain results. Computer simulations of neural networks show analogous learning. | |
| 253664703 | Thalamus | Sensory switchboard | |
| 253664704 | Hippocampus | a neural center that is located in the limbic system and helps process explicit memories for storage | |
| 253664705 | Pons | The sensory "bridge". The dream center. | |
| 253664706 | PET scan | A visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task. | |
| 253664707 | Cerebral cortex | The intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells that covers the cerebral hemispheres; the body's ultimate control and information processing center. | |
| 253664708 | Frontal lobe | The portion of the cerebral cortex lying just behind the forehead; involved in speaking and muscle movements and in making plans and judgements. | |
| 253664709 | Parietal lobe | The portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the top of the head and toward the rear; receives sensory input for touch and body position. | |
| 253664710 | Occipital lobe | The portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the back of the head; includes the visual areas, which reveive visual information from the opposite visual field. | |
| 253664711 | Temporal lobe | The portion of the cerebral cortex lying roughly above the ears; includes the auditory areas, each of which receives auditory information primarily from the opposite ear. | |
| 253664712 | Motor cortex | An area at the rear of the frontal loves that controls voluntary movements. | |
| 253664713 | Sensory cortex | The are at the front of the parietal lobes that registers and processes body touch and movement sensations. | |
| 253664714 | Endocrine system | The body's "slow" chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream. | |
| 253664715 | Hormones | Chemical messengers, mostly those manufactured by the endocrine glands, that are produced in one tissue and affect another. | |
| 253664716 | Adrenal glands | A pair of endocrine glands just above the kidneys. The adrenals secrete the hormones epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (nonadrenaline), which help to arouse the body in times of stress. | |
| 253664717 | Pituitary gland | The endocrine system's most influential gland. Under the influence of the hypothalamus, the pituitary regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands. | |
| 253664718 | Endorphins | "Morphine within" - natural, opiatelike neurotransmitters linked to pain control and to pleasure. |
