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4 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Biology, Behaviour, and Mind |
Early 1880s, German physician Franz Gall proposed that bumps in a person's head read behaviour and traits, this gave rise to "phrenology" - the practice of reading the bumps on someone's head, eventually faded out as it wasn't a science Biological perspective - Interested with the relationship between biology and behaviour |
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Neurons |
Nerve cells which are the building blocks of our nervous system Consists of a cell body and branching fibres, called dendrites which receive information and pass it on to the cell axon, which pass the message onto other neurons or muscles or glands Dendrites listen, axons speak Fatty tissue called a myelin sheath encases some axons, insulating them and speeding up impulses, myelin is laid down up to about age 25, around which time neural efficiency, judgement, and self-control grow, if the myelin sheath degenerates people develop multiple sclerosis, communication to muscles slows, with eventual loss of muscle control Glial cells are nervous system cells which support neurons, they may play a role in learning and memory as well |
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The Neural Impulse |
Action potential - the brief electrical signal fired by a neuron, that travels through its axon, depending on the fibre, an impulse could travel at 2 miles per hour, to more than 200 miles per hour Resting potential is the state where positively charged sodium ion-contained fluid is outside of the axon's membrane, and an axon's negatively charged potassium ion-contained fluid interior is at rest The axon's surface is selectively permeable, it is selective about what it lets through When a neuron fires, the first section of the axon opens its gates, letting in sodium, the loss of inside/outside charge difference is called depolarization, causes a domino like effect, tripping the next axon channel Refractory period - The period just after a neuron fires and sodium ions are pumped out of the axon, allowing the neuron to be able to fire again Threshold - The amount of stimulation required for a neuron to fire All-or-none response - Like firing a gun, neurons either fire or they don't, a more intense stimulus can cause more neurons to fire, and more frequently, but the intensity of a stimulus doesn't affect the action potential's strength or speed e.g. squeezing a trigger doesn't make the bullet go faster |
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Neurotransmitters |
Synapse - The junction between an axon terminal and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron |
