Ap Psychology Chapter 2

Front 1

What is biological psychology?

Back 1

A branch of psychology concerned with the links between biology and behavior. (Some biological psychologists call themselves behavioral neuroscientists, neuropsychologists, behavior geneticists, psychological psychologists or biopsychologists.)

Front 2

What is a neuron?

Back 2

A nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system.

Front 3

What is a dendrite?

Back 3

The bushy, branching extensions of a neuron that receive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body.

Front 4

What is an axon?

Back 4

The extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers, through which messages pass to other neurons or to muscles or glands.

Front 5

What is myelin sheath?

Back 5

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.

Front 6

What is action potential?

Back 6

A neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon. The action potential is generated by the movement of positively charges atoms in and out of channels in the axon's membrane.

Front 7

What is a threshold?

Back 7

The level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse.

Front 8

What is a synapse?

Back 8

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.

Front 9

What are neurotransmitters?

Back 9

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.

Front 10

What is acetylcholine?

Back 10

A neurotransmitter that enables learning and memory and also triggers muscle contraction.

Front 11

What are endorphins?

Back 11

"Morphine within"-natural, opiatelike neurotransmitters linked to pain control and to pleasure.

Front 12

What is the nervous system?

Back 12

The body's speedy, electrochemical communication network, consisting of all the nerve cells of the peripheral and central nervous systems.

Front 13

What is the central nervous system?

Back 13

The brain and the spinal cord.

Front 14

What is the peripheral nervous system?

Back 14

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

Front 15

What are nerves?

Back 15

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.

Front 16

What are sensory neurons?

Back 16

Neurons that carry incoming information from the sense receptors to the central nervous system.

Front 17

What are motor neurons?

Back 17

Neurons that carry outgoing information from the central nervous system to the muscles and the glands.

Front 18

What are interneurons?

Back 18

Central nervous system neurons that internally communicate and intervene between the sensory inputs and motor outputs.

Front 19

What is the somatic nervous system?

Back 19

The division of the peripheral nervous system that contains the body's skeletal muscles. Also called the skeletal nervous system.

Front 20

What is the autonomic nervous system?

Back 20

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.

Front 21

What is sympathetic nervous system?

Back 21

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

Front 22

What is the parasympathetic nervous system?

Back 22

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

Front 23

What is a reflex?

Back 23

A simple, automatic, inborn response to a sensory stimulus, such as the knee-jerk response.

Front 24

What are neural networks?

Back 24

Interconnected neural cells. With experience, networks can learn, as feedback strengthens or inhibits connections that produce certain results. Computer simulations of neural networks show analagous learning.

Front 25

What is the endocrine system?

Back 25

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

Front 26

What are hormones?

Back 26

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

Front 27

What are adrenal glands?

Back 27

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

Front 28

What is the pituitary gland?

Back 28

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

Front 29

What are lesions?

Back 29

Tissue destruction. A brain lesion is a naturally or experimentally caused destruction of brain tissue.

Front 30

What is an electroencephalogram (EEG)?

Back 30

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.

Front 31

What is a PET scan?

Back 31

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

Front 32

What is an MRI?

Back 32

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.

Front 33

What is an fMRI?

Back 33

A technique for revealing blood flow and, therefore, brain activity by comparing successive MRI scans. MRI scans show brain anatomy; fMRI scans show brain functions.

Front 34

What is a brainstem?

Back 34

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.

Front 35

What is the medulla?

Back 35

The base of the brainstem; it controls the heartbeat and breathing.

Front 36

What is reticular formation?

Back 36

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

Front 37

What is the thalamus?

Back 37

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.

Front 38

What is the cerebellum?

Back 38

The "little brain" attached to the rear of the brainstem; its functions include processing sensory input and coordinating movement output and balance.

Front 39

What is the limbic system?

Back 39

A doughnut-shaped system of neural structures at the border of the brainstem and cerebral hemisphere; associated with emotions such as fear and aggresssion and drives such as those for food and sex. Includes the hippocampus, amygdala and hypothalamus.

Front 40

What is the amygdala?

Back 40

Two lima bean sized neural clusters that are components of the limbic system and are linked to emotion.

Front 41

What is the hypothalamus?

Back 41

A 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 42

What is the cerebral cortex?

Back 42

The intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells that covers the cerebral hemispheres; the body's ultimate control and information-processing center.

Front 43

What are glial cells?

Back 43

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

Front 44

What are frontal lobes?

Back 44

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

Front 45

What are parietal lobes?

Back 45

The portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the top of the head and toward the rear; recieves sensory input for touch and body position.

Front 46

What are occipital lobes?

Back 46

The portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the back of the head; includes the visual aread, which recieve visual information from the opposite visual field.

Front 47

What are temporal lobes?

Back 47

The portion of the cerebral cortex lying roughly above the ears; includes the auditory areas, each of which recieves auditory informatin primarily from the opposite ear.

Front 48

What is the motor cortex?

Back 48

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

Front 49

What is the sensory cortex?

Back 49

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

Front 50

What are association areas?

Back 50

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.

Front 51

What is aphasia?

Back 51

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

Front 52

What is Broca's area?

Back 52

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

Front 53

What is Wernicke's area?

Back 53

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

Front 54

What is plasticity?

Back 54

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

Front 55

What is the corpus callosum?

Back 55

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

Front 56

What is split brain?

Back 56

A condition in which the two hemispheres of the brain are isolated by cutting the connecting fibers (mainly those of the corpus callosum) between them.