Ap Psych-Ch2-Myers

Front 1

Medulla

Back 1

The base of the brainstem; controls heartbeat and breathing

Front 2

Reticular Formation

Back 2

A nerve network in the brainstem that plays an important role in controlling arousal.

Front 3

Thalamus

Back 3

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 to the cerebellum and medulla.

Front 4

Cerebellum

Back 4

The "little brain" attached to the rear of the brainstem; it helps coordinate voluntary movement and balance.

Front 5

Limbic System

Back 5

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 though for food and sex, and it includes the hippocampus, the amygdala, and the hypothalamus.

Front 6

Amygdala

Back 6

Two almond-shaped neural clusters that are components of the limbic system and are linked to emotion

Front 7

Hypothalamus

Back 7

The neural structure lying below the thalamus; It directs several maintenance activities, helps govern the endocrine system via the Pituitary gland, and is linked to emotion

Front 8

Cerebral Cortex

Back 8

Intricate fabric with interconnected neural cells that covers the cerebral hemispheres; the body's ultimate control and information processing system

Front 9

Glial Cells

Back 9

Cells in the nervous system that support nourish and protect neurons.

Front 10

Frontal Lobes

Back 10

The portion of the cerebral cortex lying just behind the forehead; involved in speaking, and muscle movements, and in making plans and judgements

Front 11

Biological Psychology

Back 11

a branch of psychology concerned with the links between biology and behavior

Front 12

Neuron

Back 12

nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system

Front 13

Dendrite

Back 13

the bushy branching extentions of a neuron that recieves messages and conducts impulses toward the cell body

Front 14

Axon

Back 14

the extention of a neuron ending in branching terminal fibers through which messages pass to other neurons or to muscles or glands

Front 15

Myelin Sheath

Back 15

a layer of fatty tissue segmentally incasing the fibers of many neurons; enables vastly greater transmission speed of neural impulses as the impulse hops from one node to the next

Front 16

Action Potential

Back 16

a neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon

Front 17

Threshold

Back 17

the level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse

Front 18

Synapse

Back 18

the junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the recieving neuron

Front 19

Neurotransmitters

Back 19

chemical messengers that traverse the synaptic gaps between neurons

Front 20

Acetylcholine (ACh)

Back 20

a neurotransmitter that, among its functions, triggers muscle contraction

Front 21

Endorphins

Back 21

"morphine within"--natural opiatelike transmitters linked to pain control and to pleasure

Front 22

Nervous System

Back 22

the body's speedy electrical communicating system consisting of all the nerve cells of the peripheral and central nervous system

Front 23

Central Nervous System (CNS)

Back 23

the brain and spinal cord

Front 24

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

Back 24

the sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system to the rest of the body

Front 25

Nerves

Back 25

bundled axons part of the peripheral nervous system that connects the central nervous system with the muscles, glands, and sense organs- "cables"

Front 26

Parietal Lobes

Back 26

The portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the top of the head and toward the rear; includes the sensory cortex.

Front 27

Occipital Lobes

Back 27

The portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the back of the head; includes the visual areas which receive visual information from the opposite visual field

Front 28

Temporal Lobes

Back 28

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.

Front 29

Motor Cortex

Back 29

An area at the rear of the frontal lobes that controls voluntary movements

Front 30

Sensory Cortex

Back 30

The area at the front of the parietal lobes that registers and processes body sensations

Front 31

Association Areas

Back 31

Areas of the cerebral cortex that are not involved in primary motor or sensory functions; rather they are involved in higher mental functions which is learning, remembering, thinking, and speaking.

Front 32

Aphasia

Back 32

Impairment of language usually caused by left hemisphere damage, either to the Broca's area or to the Wernicke's area.

Front 33

Broca's Area

Back 33

Controls language expression- an area of the frontal lobe usually in the left hemisphere that directs the muscle movements involved in speech.

Front 34

Wernicke's Area

Back 34

Controls language reception- a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression, usually in the left temporal lobe

Front 35

Plasticity

Back 35

The brain's capacity for modification, as evident in brain reorganization following damage and in experiments on the effects of experience on brain development

Front 36

Sensory Neurons

Back 36

neurons that carry incoming information from the sense recptors to the central nervous system

Front 37

Interneurons

Back 37

central nervous system neurons that internally communicate and intervene between the sensory input and motor output

Front 38

Motor Neurons

Back 38

neurons that carry outgoinog information from the central nervous system to the muscles and glands

Front 39

Somatic Nervous System

Back 39

the division of the peripheral nervous system that controls the body's skeletal muscles; also called the skeletal nervous system

Front 40

Autonomic Nervous System

Back 40

part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs

Front 41

Corpus Collosum

Back 41

The large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages between them.

Front 42

Split Brain

Back 42

A condition in which the two hemispheres of the brain are iscolated by cutting the connecting fibers between them

Front 43

Endocrine System

Back 43

The body's "slow" chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the blood stream

Front 44

Hormones

Back 44

Chemical messengers mostly those manufactured by endocrine glands that are produced in one tissue and affect another.

Front 45

Adrenal Glands

Back 45

A pair of endocrine glands just above the kidneys. The adrenals secrete the hormones epinephrine and norepinephirne which help to arouse the body in times of stress.

Front 46

Pituitary Glands

Back 46

The endocrine system's most influential gland. Under the influence of the hypothalamus; the pituitary regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands

Front 47

Sympathetic Nervous System

Back 47

division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body mobilizing its energy in stressful situations

Front 48

Parasympathetic Nervous System

Back 48

the division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving its energy

Front 49

Reflex

Back 49

a simple automatic inborn response to a sensory stimulus such as a knee jerk response

Front 50

Neural Networks

Back 50

interconnected neural cells that can learn as feedback strengthens or inhibits connections that produce certain results

Front 51

Lesion

Back 51

tissue destruction; naturally or experimentally caused, usually in the brain

Front 52

Electroencephalogram (EEG)

Back 52

an amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity that sweep across the brain surface measured by electrodes placed on scalp

Front 53

CT Scan (computed tomography)

Back 53

a series of x-ray photos taken from different angles and combined by comupter into a composite representation of a slice through the body

Front 54

PET Scan (positron emission tomography)

Back 54

a visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task

Front 55

MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)

Back 55

technique that uses magnetic fields and radiowaves to produce computer generated images that distinguish among different types of soft tissue allowing us to see structures within the brain

Front 56

Brainstem

Back 56

the oldest part and central core of the brain beginning where the spinal cord swells as it enters into the skull; responsible for automatic survival functions