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60 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
- 3rd side (hint)
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Neuron |
a nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system |
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Dendrites |
receives messages and conduct impilses toward the cell body |
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Axons |
sends messages to other neurons or to muscles or glands |
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Cell Body (Soma) |
keeps the body alive |
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Nucleus |
brain of the cell |
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Myelin Sheath |
enables vastly greater transmission speed as messages hop from one node to the next speeds up message |
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Multiple sclerosis |
a disease involving deterioration of the myelin sheath; less control of body; slows down message being sent |
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Action Potential |
a neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon message being sent |
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Resting Potential |
neuron is ready to send a message |
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Refractory Period |
a period of inactivity after a neuron has fireed |
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Threshold |
the minimum amount of stimulus needed for an action potential |
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"All or nothing" |
neurons either fire or they don't; a strong stimulus can trigger more neurons to fire, but it does not affect the action potential's strength or speed (e.g. Squeezing a trigger harder won't make a bullet go faster) |
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Vesicle |
tiny pods that hold neurotransmitters |
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neurotransmitter
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a chemical messenger that cross the synaptic gaps between neurons the message being sent |
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synapse |
the junction (joint) between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron |
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synaptic gap (or synaptic cleft) |
tiny gap between the neurons in which messages are passed |
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reuptake |
a neurotransmitter's re-absorption by sending the neuron the recycling of neurotransmitters |
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Acetycholine (ACh) |
a neurotransmitter that enables muscle action, learning, and memory |
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Dopamine |
a neurotransmitter that influences movement, learning, attention, and emotion |
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Serotonin |
a neurotransmitter that affects mood, hunger, sleep, and arousal |
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Norepinephrine |
a neurotransmitter that helps control alertness and arousal |
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GABA (gammaaminobutyric acid) |
a major inhibitory neurotransmitter |
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Glutamate |
A major excitatory neurotransmitter; involved in memory |
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endorphin |
"morphine within" – natural, opiate-like neurotransmitters linked to pain control and pleasure |
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agonist |
a molecule that increases a neurotransmitter's action |
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antagonist |
a molecule that inhibits or blocks a neurotransmitter's action
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Phrenology |
the idea that studying the bumps on the skull could reveal a person's mental abilities and character traits; proposed by Franz Joseph Gall |
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Phineas Cage |
a railroad worker that changed and became a completely different person after an accident that cause him to lose part of his brain |
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EEG |
measures electrical activity along the surface of the brain; inexpensive and noninvasive, but limited |
electroencephalogram |
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CT [Scan] |
takes x-rays of different parts of the brain; good at picking up tumors and other abnormalities |
Computed Tomography |
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PET [Scan] |
after injected w/ a radioactive glucose, this detects where it goes while the brain performs a certain task |
Positron Emission Tomography |
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MRI |
uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer-generated images of soft tissue; shows brain anatomy; takes a lot of time |
Magnetic Resonance Imaging |
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fMRI |
uses successive scans to reveal bloodflow; helps show brains function as well as structure |
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging |
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MEG |
imaging technique used to measure the magnetic fields produced by electrical activity in the brain; mostly used to pinpoint the cause of disease or damage |
Magnetoencephalography
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nervous system |
consists of all the nerve cells of the PNS & CNS |
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Central Nervous System (CNS) |
the brain & spinal cord the body's decision maker |
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Peripheral Nervous System (PNS) |
sensory and motor neurons that connect the CNS to the rest of the body |
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nerves |
bundled axons that form neural cables that connect the CNS with muscles, glands, and sense organs |
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sensory (afferent) neurons |
neurons that carry incoming information from the sensory receptors to the brain & spinal cord |
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motor (efferent) neurons |
neurons that carry outgoing information from the brain & spinal cord to the muscles and glands |
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interneurons |
neurons within the brain and spinal cord; communicate internally and process information |
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somatic nervous system |
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autonomic nervous system |
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sympathetic nervous system |
the division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy arouses and expends energy |
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parasympathetic nervous system |
the division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving its energy |
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Brainstem |
the oldest part and central core of the brain; responsible for basic (involuntary) survival functions keeps you alive |
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Medulla [Oblongata] |
part of the brainstem that controls vomiting, respiration, breathing, heart rate, blood pressure |
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Pons |
part of the brainstem that controls respiration, swallowing, bladder control, equilibrium, eye movement, facial expression, sensation, posture |
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reflex |
. |
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endocrine |
. |
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adrenal glands |
. |
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pituitary gland |
. |
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thalamus |
. |
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cerebellum |
. |
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reticular formation |
. |
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limbic system |
. |
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amygdala |
. |
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hypothalamus |
. |
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hippocampus |
. |
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cerebral cortex |
ultimate control and information-processing center |
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