"animal Physiology" By Hill, Wyse & Anderson - Chapter 10 Vocabulary

Front 1

effector

Back 1

a tissue or organ that carries out functions as directed by the nervous system (or endocrine system)

Front 2

integration

Back 2

the coordination of input signals, as by summing, to provide a harmonious control of output. (Cellular integration refers to the integration of signals within a cell, and physiological integration refrers to the integration of sensory, central nervous system, and endocrine signals for harmonious control of effectors in the body

Front 3

control system

Back 3

sets a level of a particular variable (temperature, blood pressure, muscle force and so on) that is being controlled, they are often but not always stabilizing

Front 4

neuron

Back 4

a nerve cell; the fundamental signaling unit of the nervous system, like other organ systems, is composed of discrete cellular elements (neurons) that are its fundamental signaling elements

Front 5

synapse

Back 5

a specialized site of communication between two neurons, between a neuron and an effector, or between a non-neural sensory cell and a neuron

Front 6

dendrites

Back 6

The receptive element of most neurons, which receives synaptic input from other neurons. Most neurons have many, multiple branching dendrites, in contrast to one sparsely branching axon

Front 7

neurotransmitter

Back 7

a molecule that is used as a chemical signal in synaptic transmission

Front 8

cell body

Back 8

the portion of a neuron that contains the cell nucleus, also called the soma or perikaryon

Front 9

axon

Back 9

A process of a neuron specialized for conveying action potentials (usually) away from the cell body. An axon may be myelinated (ensheathed in myelin) or unmyelinated.