Question Answer Hint Dendrites *Recieve Information *Branching, bushy fibers Axon *Fibers that pass on information along to other neurons or to muscle glands *Surrounded by Myelin sheath which helps insulate and speed up reactions Action Potential *Impulse *Brief electrical charge that travels down the axon, rather like a line of dominos falling, each on tripping the next. Autonomic Nervous System *The part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs. *Sympathetic=arouses *Parasympathetic=calms Interneurons *Central nervous system neurons that internally communicate and intervene between the sensory inputs and motor inputs Sensory Neurons *Neurons that carry incoming information from the sense receptors to the central nervous system Nerves *Neural cables containing many axons which are part of the peripheral nervous system, connect the CNS with the muscles, glands, and sense organ Nervous System *The body's speedy communication system consisting of all the nerve cells of the peripheral and Central Nervous System Central Nervous System *CNS *The brain and the spinal cord *Connected to sense organ by nerves Peripheral Nervous System *The sensory and motor neurons that connect the CNS to the rest of the body *Information recieved by Sensory Neurons *Contain nerves Endorphins *"Morphine Within" *Natural opiate like neurotransmitters linked up to pain control and to pleasure *In response to pain and vigorous exercise. Acetylcholine *ACH *Works on neurons involved in muscle action, learning, and memory *Not enough =alzheimers GABA *Serves Inhibitory functions *Implicated sometimes in eating and sleep disorders *Produced in the Caudate Nucleus in the Forebrain Dopamine *Influences movement, learning, attention and emotion *Excess=Schizophrenia *Produced in Caudate Nucleus in the Forebrain Serotonin *Affects mood, hunger, sleep and arousal. *Antidepressents raise serotonin Norepinephrine *Helps control alertness and arousal Neurotransmitters *Chemical Messengers that traverse the synaptic gap btwn neurons. *Agonist=Attracts neurotransmitters *Antagonist: Blocks/repels *Travel across snyapse and bind to receptor sites influenceing whether or not it will generate an impulse Somatic Nervous System *The division of the peripheral nervous system that controls the body's skeletol muscles. *Also called Skeletal Nervous System Threshold *Combination of excitatory(push) and inhibitory(stop) signals *If exc minus inhib is more than the minimum exc=fire *All or nothing Motor Neurons *The neurons that carry outgoing information from the central nervous system to the muscles and glands Synapse *A gap less than a millionth of an inch wide of which the axon terminal is sperated from the recieving neuron *Also called "cleft" or "synaptic gap" Myelin Sheath *A layer of fatty tissue that insulates the axons of some neurons and helps speed up the impulses *Made up of glial cells Neurons *Nerve cells *Building blocks *Made up of axons and dendrites *Send and recieve messages Biological Psychology *Studying the links btwn biological activity and psychological events, to get a better understanding of sleep and drams, depression and schizophrenia, hunger and sex, stress and disease. Parasympathetic Nervous System *The division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving it's energy Neural Networks *Interconnected neural cells. *With experience, networks can learn, as feedback strengthens or inhibits connections that produce certain results. *The more complicated the task, the more neuronetworks needed. Sympathetic Nervous System *The division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body mobilizing it's energy in stressful situations. Reflexes *A simple, automatic, inborn response to a sensory stimulus, such as the knee jerk response. Lesion *Tissue destruction. *A brain lesion is a naturally or experimentally caused destruction of brain tissue. *Used to study the brain Electroencephalogram *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 Computed Tomography Scan *CT scan *A series of x-ray photographs taken from different angles and combined by computer into a composite representation of a slice through the body. *Also called CAT scan *Can reveal brain damagage Positron Emission Tomography Scan *PET scan *A visual display of brain activity that detects where a a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task *Which parts of the brain are most active during a certain activity. Magnetic Resonance Imaging *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. *Helps show when brains are working, when. Brain Stem *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 *ie Heartbeat and Breathing. Medulla *The base of the brainstem. *Controls heartbeat and breathing. *Involuntary response, keeps us alive *Connects spinal cord and brain Reticular Information *A nerve network in the brainstem that plays an important role in controlling arousal. *Relays important information to other parts of the brain *Stretches from brainstem to thalamus. *If damaged=unconsciousness to death *Ascending=wake up *Descending=sleep Thalamus *The brain's sensory switchboard, located on top of the brainstem; it directs messages to the sensory recieving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla *Sends signals from body to brain Cerebellum *The "little brain" *Attatched to the rear of the brainstem; it helps coordinate voluntary movement and balance *Injury=can't do any movement with coordination (compromised writing) Limbic System *A doughnut shaped system of neural structures at the border of the brainstem and cerebral hemisphere. *Associated with emotions such as fear and aggression and drives such as those for food and sex. *Includes the hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamusm and Cingulate Gyrus. Amygdala *Two almond shaped neural clusters that are components of the limbic system and are linked to emotion. *Integrates coordinates and directs emotional activities. *Affects memory by attatching emotional significants. *High Activity=Offensive and Agressive behavior. Hypothalamus *A neural structure lying below the thalamus *Directs several maintenance activities (eating, drinking...) *Helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland, and is linked to emotion *Releases chemicals to pituitary gland Cerebral Cortex *The intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells that covers the cerebral hemispheres. *The body's ultimate control and information processing center. *80% of brain's weight *Higher and broader range of functioning Glial Cells *Cells in the nervous system that are not neurons but that support, nourish, and protect neurons. *Make up the myelin sheath on axons *Repair and rebuild 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. *Contains Broca's Area (L.F.L) *Reasoning, motor cortex Parietal Lobe *The portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the top of the head and toward the rear. *Includes sensory cortex *Sumato sensory, facial recognition, spacial orginization *Damage=Apraxia: don't understand what your doing. Occipital Lobe *The portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the back of the head *Includes the visual areas, which recieve visual information from the opposite visual field *Perception, recognition and memory Temporal Lobe *The portion of the cerebral cortex lying roughly above the ears *Includes the auditory areas, each of which recieves auditory information primarily from the opposite ear *Wernicke's Area. (L.H) Motor Cortex *An area at the rear of the frontal lobes that controls voluntary movements. Sensory Cortex * The area at the front of the parietal lobe that registers and process body sensations Association Areas *Areas of the cerebral cortex that are not involved in primary motor or sensory functions *Involved in higher mental functions such as learning, remembering, thinking, and speaking. Aphasia *Impariment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca's area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke's area (Impairing understand) Broca's Area * An area of the frontal lobe, usually in the left hemisphere, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech. *Damage= Aphasia: Impaired speaking, can understand but can't use it. Wernicke's Area * A brain area involved in language comprehension and expression, usually in the left temporal lobe *Damage= can speak but can't understand 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 *Molding of the brain Corpus Callosum *The large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages btwn them. *Transmition of information *Right to left hem and vise versa Split Brain *A condition in which the two hemispheres of the brain are isolated by cutting the connecting fibers (corpus callosum) between them *Helps to relieve siezures Endocrine System *The body's "slow" chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream Hormones *Chemical Messengers. *Mostly those manufactured by the endocrine glands, that are produced in one tissue and affect another Adrenal Glands * A pair of endocrine glands just above the kidneys. *The adrenals secrete the hormones epinephrine (adrenaline), and norepinephrine (noradrenaline), which help to arouse the body in times of stress Pituitary Gland *The endocrine system's most influential gland. Under the influence of the hypothalamus, the pituitary regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands.