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70 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Define action |
Motor activities such as moving the head or the eyes, and locomoting through the environment. Action is one of the major outcomes of the perceptual process |
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Define action potential |
Rapid increase in positive charge in a nerve fiber (axon) that travels down the fiber. Also called nerve impulse or spike |
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Define afferent neurons |
Neurons that carry nerve impulses from receptors in the sensory organs towards the central nervous system |
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Define auditory perception |
The sense of “hearing”, one of the five traditional senses. |
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Define bottom-up processing |
Processing that is based on stimulation of the receptors. Also called data- based processing |
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What is the central nervous system? |
The brain and the spinal cord |
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What are efferent neurons? |
Neurons that carry nerve impulses away from the central nervous system to effectors such as muscles. |
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What is an environmental stimulus? |
Neurons that carry nerve impulses away from the central nervous system to effectors such as muscles. |
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What is an environmental stimulus? |
The stimulus “out there”, in the external environment |
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What is dualism? |
A major philosophical approach stating that the mind has an existence separate from the material world of the body. Dualists argue that mind and brain are two separate phenomena. |
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What is gustatory perception? |
The sense of “tasting”, one of the five traditional senses. |
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What is a homunculus? |
A map-like representation of regions of the body in the brain. |
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What is materialism? |
A major philosophical approach stating that the only thing that exists is matter, and that all things, including the mind and consciousness, are the result of interaction between bits of matter. Materialists argue that mind and brain are both physical mediums. |
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What is a neuron? |
One of two cell types (along with the glial cells) in the nervous system. Neurons are responsible for processing sensory, motor, cognitive, and affective information. |
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What is olfactory perception? |
The sense of “smelling”, one of the five traditional senses. |
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What is perception? |
The organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent, understand, and interact with the environment. |
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What is the peripheral nervous system? |
The part of the nervous system outside the brain and spinal cord. |
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What is the peripheral nervous system? |
The part of the nervous system outside the brain and spinal cord. |
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What are primary receiving areas? |
Areas of the cerebral cortex that first receive most of the signals initiated by a sense’s receptors. For example, the occipital cortex is the site of the primary receiving area for vision, and the temporal lobe is the site of the primary receiving area for hearing. |
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What is a neuron's receptive field? |
A neuron’s receptive field is the area on the receptor surface (e.g., the retina for vision or the skin for touch) that, when stimulated, affects the firing of that neuron. |
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What is a sensory receptor? |
A sensory receptor is a cell sensitive to environmental energy and that changes this energy into electrical signals in the nervous system. |
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What is recognition? 😉 |
The ability to place an object in a category that gives it meaning – for example, recognizing a particular red object as a tomato or giving a physical sound a semantic meaning. |
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What are sensory organs? |
Specialized organs that interact with environmental stimuli and that contain receptors that transduce a specific type of stimulus energy into nerve activity (e.g., the eye in vision or the skin in touch). |
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What are sensory systems? |
The parts of the nervous system, which are responsible for processing sensory information (e.g., the somatosensory system is a sensory system). |
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What is tactile perception? |
The sense of “touching”, one of the five traditional senses. |
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What is top-down processing? |
Processing that starts with the analysis of high-level information, such as knowledge a person brings to a situation. Also called knowledge-based processing. Distinguished from bottom-up, or data-based processing, which is based on incoming data. |
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What are topographic maps? |
The ordered projection of a sensory surface (e.g., the retina or the skin) or an effector system (e.g., the musculature) to one or more structures of the central nervous system. Topographic maps can be found in all sensory systems and in many motor systems. |
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What is a transducer? |
A “device” that converts a signal in one form of energy to another form of energy. |
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What is transduction? |
In the senses, the transformation of environmental energy into electrical energy. For example, receptors in the eye transduce light energy into electrical energy. |
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What is visual perception? |
The sense of “seeing”, one of the five traditional senses. |
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What is meant by 'anterior'? |
Toward the front end |
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What is meant by 'anterior'? |
Toward the front end |
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What is the autonomic nervous system (ANS)? |
The part of the PNS that influences the function of internal organs. The ANS acts largely unconsciously and regulates the heart rate, digestion, respiratory rate, pupillary response, urination, and sexual arousal. |
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What is the brainstem? |
The posterior part of the brain, adjoining and structurally continuous with the spinal cord. In humans, it is usually described as including the medulla oblongata, pons, and midbrain. |
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What is the bromann area? |
A region of the cerebral cortex that is defined by its cytoarchitecture, or histological structure and organization of cells. |
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What is the cerebellum? |
A large, highly convoluted (in-folded) structure located dorsal to the brainstem at the level of the pons. Also known as “little cerebrum”. |
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What is the cerebral cortex? |
The layered sheet of neurons that covers the surface of the brain and contains the machinery for creating perception, as well other functions, such as language, memory, and thinking. It is divided in two (lateral) hemispheres, each containing four major lobes. |
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What are the 4 major loves of the cerebral cortex? |
Frontal, occipital, parietal and temporal |
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What are the 4 major loves of the cerebral cortex? |
Frontal, occipital, parietal and temporal |
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What does contralateral mean? |
On the opposite side of the body |
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What are the 4 major loves of the cerebral cortex? |
Frontal, occipital, parietal and temporal |
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What does contralateral mean? |
On the opposite side of the body |
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What is the coronal plane? |
A plane that shows brain structures as seen from the front. Also called frontal plane. |
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What are the 4 major loves of the cerebral cortex? |
Frontal, occipital, parietal and temporal |
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What does contralateral mean? |
On the opposite side of the body |
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What is the coronal plane? |
A plane that shows brain structures as seen from the front. Also called frontal plane. |
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What does distal mean? |
Located more distant from the point of origin or attachment |
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What are the 4 major loves of the cerebral cortex? |
Frontal, occipital, parietal and temporal |
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What does contralateral mean? |
On the opposite side of the body |
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What is the coronal plane? |
A plane that shows brain structures as seen from the front. Also called frontal plane. |
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What does distal mean? |
Located more distant from the point of origin or attachment |
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What does dorsal mean? |
Toward the back, away from the ventral (stomach) side. The top of the brain is considered dorsal because it has this position in four-legged animals (antonym of ventral). |
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What is the frontal lobe? |
One of the four major lobes of the cerebral cortex |
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What is gray matter? |
A major component of the central nervous system that contains primarily neuronal cell bodies |
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What does inferior mean (in terms of body part position)? |
Below another part |
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What does ipsilateral mean in terms of the body? |
On the same side of the body (such as two parts on the left, antonym of contralateral). |
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In terms of the body, what does lateral and medial mean? |
Lateral: Toward the side, away from the midline (antonym of medial). Medial: Toward the midline, away from the side (antonym of lateral). |
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What is the occipital lobe and what does it do? |
One of the four major lobes of the cerebral cortex, which holds amongst others the primary visual cortex |
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What is the parietal lobe and what does it do? |
One of the four major lobes of the cerebral cortex, which holds amongst others the primary somatosensory cortex. |
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What does posterior and proximal mean? |
Posterior: Toward the rear end (antonym of anterior).Proximal: Located close (approximate) to the point of origin or attachment (antonym of distal). |
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What is a sagittal plane? |
A plane that shows brain structures as seen from the side. |
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What is the somatic nervous system? |
The part of the PNS that is associated with body movements through the control of skeletal (voluntary) muscles and with the reception of external stimuli. |
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In terms of body parts, what does superior mean? |
Above another part |
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What is the temporal lobe and what does it do? |
One of the four major lobes of the cerebral cortex, which holds amongst others the primary auditory cortex |
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What is the temporal lobe and what does it do? |
One of the four major lobes of the cerebral cortex, which holds amongst others the primary auditory cortex |
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What is the thalamus? |
A group of nuclei, which provide primary sensory relay for somatosensory, gustatory, auditory, visual, and vestibular sensory inputs to the cerebral cortex. |
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What is a transverse plane? |
A plane that shows brain structures as seen from above. Also called horizontal plane. |
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In terms of the body, what does ventral mean? |
Toward the stomach, away from the dorsal (back) side (antonym of dorsal). |
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In terms of the body, what does ventral mean? |
Toward the stomach, away from the dorsal (back) side (antonym of dorsal). |
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What is white matter? |
A major component of the central nervous system that contains millions myelinated axons (i.e., the wires between neuronal cell bodies). |
