Psychology Chapter 2

Front 1

biological psychology

Back 1

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

Front 2

neuron

Back 2

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

Front 3

dendrite

Back 3

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

Front 4

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

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

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 charged atoms in and out of channels in the axon's membrane.

Front 7

threshold

Back 7

the level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse.

Front 8

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

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

acetylcholine

Back 10

a neurotrnasmitter that triggers muscle contraction. Enables muscle action, learning, and memory. Undersupply, as ACh-producing neurons deteriorate, marks Alzhemer's disease.

Front 11

endorphins

Back 11

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

Front 12

nervous system

Back 12

the body's speedy, electrochmeical communication system, consisting of all the nerve cells of the peripheral and central nervous systems.

Front 13

central nervous system (CNS)

Back 13

the brain and spinal cord.

Front 14

peripheral nervous system (PNS)

Back 14

the sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system (CNS) to the rest of the body.

Front 15

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

sensory neurons

Back 16

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

Front 17

interneurons

Back 17

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

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motor neurons

Back 18

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

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somatic nervous system

Back 19

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

Front 20

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 clams.

Front 21

sympathetic nervous system

Back 21

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

Front 22

parasympathetic nervous system

Back 22

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

Front 23

reflex

Back 23

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

Front 24

neural networks

Back 24

interconnected neural cells. With experience, networks can learn, as feedbck strengthens or inhibits connections that produce certain results. Computer simulations of neural networks show analogous learning.

Front 25

lesion

Back 25

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

Front 26

CT(computed tomography) scan

Back 26

a series of x-ray photographs taken from different angles and combined by computer into a composite representation of a slice through the body. Also called CAT scan.

Front 27

PET (position emission tomography) scan

Back 27

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

Front 28

MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)

Back 28

a technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computergenerated images that distinguish among different types of soft tissue; allows us to see structures within the brain.

Front 29

brainstem

Back 29

the oldest part and central core of the brain, begining where the spinal cord swells as it enters the skull; the brainstem is responsible for automatic survival functions.

Front 30

medulla

Back 30

the base of the brainstem; controls heartbeat and breathing

Front 31

reticular formation

Back 31

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

Front 32

thalamus

Back 32

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 33

cerebellum

Back 33

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

Front 34

limbic system

Back 34

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

Front 35

amygdala

Back 35

two almond-shaped neural clusters that rae compontents of the limbic system and are linked to emotion

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hypothalamus

Back 36

a neural structure lying below (hypo) the thalamus; it directs several maintenance activities (eating, drinking, body temperature), helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland, and is linked to emotion.

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cereral cortex

Back 37

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

Front 38

glial cells

Back 38

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

Front 39

frontal lobes

Back 39

the portion of the cerebral cortex lying just behind the forehead; involved in speaking and muscle movements and in making plans and judgments.

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parietal lobes

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

Front 41

occipital lobes

Back 41

the portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the bck of the head; includes the visual areas, which receive visual information from the opposite visual field.

Front 42

temporal lobes

Back 42

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 43

motor cortex

Back 43

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

Front 44

sensory cortex

Back 44

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

Front 45

association areas

Back 45

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 46

aphasia

Back 46

impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca's area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke's area (impairing understanding).

Front 47

Broca's area

Back 47

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

Front 48

Wernicke's area

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

Front 49

plasticity

Back 49

the brain's capacity for modification, as evident in brain reorganization following damage (especially in children) and in experiments on the effects of experience on brain developments.

Front 50

corpus callosum

Back 50

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

Front 51

split brain

Back 51

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.

Front 52

endocrine system

Back 52

the body's "slow" chemical communication sytem; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodsream.

Front 53

hormones

Back 53

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

Front 54

adrenal glands

Back 54

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

Front 55

pituitary gland

Back 55

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