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60 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Dendrites
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*Recieve Information
*Branching, bushy fibers |
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Axon
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*Fibers that pass on information along to other neurons or to muscle glands
*Surrounded by Myelin sheath which helps insulate and speed up reactions |
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Action Potential
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*Impulse
*Brief electrical charge that travels down the axon, rather like a line of dominos falling, each on tripping the next. |
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Autonomic Nervous System
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*The part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs.
*Sympathetic=arouses *Parasympathetic=calms |
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Interneurons
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*Central nervous system neurons that internally communicate and intervene between the sensory inputs and motor inputs
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Sensory Neurons
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*Neurons that carry incoming information from the sense receptors to the central nervous system
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Nerves
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*Neural cables containing many axons which are part of the peripheral nervous system, connect the CNS with the muscles, glands, and sense organ
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Nervous System
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*The body's speedy communication system consisting of all the nerve cells of the peripheral and Central Nervous System
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Central Nervous System
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*CNS
*The brain and the spinal cord *Connected to sense organ by nerves |
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Peripheral Nervous System
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*The sensory and motor neurons that connect the CNS to the rest of the body
*Information recieved by Sensory Neurons *Contain nerves |
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Endorphins
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*"Morphine Within"
*Natural opiate like neurotransmitters linked up to pain control and to pleasure *In response to pain and vigorous exercise. |
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Acetylcholine
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*ACH
*Works on neurons involved in muscle action, learning, and memory *Not enough =alzheimers |
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GABA
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*Serves Inhibitory functions
*Implicated sometimes in eating and sleep disorders *Produced in the Caudate Nucleus in the Forebrain |
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Dopamine
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*Influences movement, learning, attention and emotion
*Excess=Schizophrenia *Produced in Caudate Nucleus in the Forebrain |
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Serotonin
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*Affects mood, hunger, sleep and arousal.
*Antidepressents raise serotonin |
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Norepinephrine
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*Helps control alertness and arousal
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Neurotransmitters
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*Chemical Messengers that traverse the synaptic gap btwn neurons.
*Agonist=Attracts neurotransmitters *Antagonist: Blocks/repels *Travel across snyapse and bind to receptor sites influenceing whether or not it will generate an impulse |
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Somatic Nervous System
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*The division of the peripheral nervous system that controls the body's skeletol muscles.
*Also called Skeletal Nervous System |
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Threshold
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*Combination of excitatory(push) and inhibitory(stop) signals
*If exc minus inhib is more than the minimum exc=fire *All or nothing |
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Motor Neurons
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*The neurons that carry outgoing information from the central nervous system to the muscles and glands
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Synapse
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*A gap less than a millionth of an inch wide of which the axon terminal is sperated from the recieving neuron
*Also called "cleft" or "synaptic gap" |
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Myelin Sheath
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*A layer of fatty tissue that insulates the axons of some neurons and helps speed up the impulses
*Made up of glial cells |
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Neurons
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*Nerve cells
*Building blocks *Made up of axons and dendrites *Send and recieve messages |
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Biological Psychology
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*Studying the links btwn biological activity and psychological events, to get a better understanding of sleep and drams, depression and schizophrenia, hunger and sex, stress and disease.
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Parasympathetic Nervous System
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*The division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving it's energy
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Neural Networks
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*Interconnected neural cells.
*With experience, networks can learn, as feedback strengthens or inhibits connections that produce certain results. *The more complicated the task, the more neuronetworks needed. |
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Sympathetic Nervous System
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*The division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body mobilizing it's energy in stressful situations.
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Reflexes
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*A simple, automatic, inborn response to a sensory stimulus, such as the knee jerk response.
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Lesion
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*Tissue destruction.
*A brain lesion is a naturally or experimentally caused destruction of brain tissue. *Used to study the brain |
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Electroencephalogram
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*EEG
*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 |
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Computed Tomography Scan
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*CT scan
*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 *Can reveal brain damagage |
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Positron Emission Tomography Scan
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*PET scan
*A visual display of brain activity that detects where a a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task *Which parts of the brain are most active during a certain activity. |
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Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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*MRI
*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. *Helps show when brains are working, when. |
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Brain Stem
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*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
*ie Heartbeat and Breathing. |
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Medulla
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*The base of the brainstem.
*Controls heartbeat and breathing. *Involuntary response, keeps us alive *Connects spinal cord and brain |
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Reticular Information
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*A nerve network in the brainstem that plays an important role in controlling arousal.
*Relays important information to other parts of the brain *Stretches from brainstem to thalamus. *If damaged=unconsciousness to death *Ascending=wake up *Descending=sleep |
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Thalamus
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*The brain's sensory switchboard, located on top of the brainstem; it directs messages to the sensory recieving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla
*Sends signals from body to brain |
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Cerebellum
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*The "little brain"
*Attatched to the rear of the brainstem; it helps coordinate voluntary movement and balance *Injury=can't do any movement with coordination (compromised writing) |
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Limbic System
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*A doughnut shaped system of neural structures at the border of the brainstem and cerebral hemisphere.
*Associated with emotions such as fear and aggression and drives such as those for food and sex. *Includes the hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamusm and Cingulate Gyrus. |
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Amygdala
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*Two almond shaped neural clusters that are components of the limbic system and are linked to emotion.
*Integrates coordinates and directs emotional activities. *Affects memory by attatching emotional significants. *High Activity=Offensive and Agressive behavior. |
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Hypothalamus
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*A neural structure lying below the thalamus
*Directs several maintenance activities (eating, drinking...) *Helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland, and is linked to emotion *Releases chemicals to pituitary gland |
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Cerebral Cortex
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*The intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells that covers the cerebral hemispheres.
*The body's ultimate control and information processing center. *80% of brain's weight *Higher and broader range of functioning |
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Glial Cells
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*Cells in the nervous system that are not neurons but that support, nourish, and protect neurons.
*Make up the myelin sheath on axons *Repair and rebuild |
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Frontal Lobe
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* The portion of the cerebral cortex lying just behind the forehead.
*Involved in speaking and muscle movements and in making plans and judgements. *Contains Broca's Area (L.F.L) *Reasoning, motor cortex |
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Parietal Lobe
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*The portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the top of the head and toward the rear.
*Includes sensory cortex *Sumato sensory, facial recognition, spacial orginization *Damage=Apraxia: don't understand what your doing. |
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Occipital Lobe
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*The portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the back of the head
*Includes the visual areas, which recieve visual information from the opposite visual field *Perception, recognition and memory |
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Temporal Lobe
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*The portion of the cerebral cortex lying roughly above the ears
*Includes the auditory areas, each of which recieves auditory information primarily from the opposite ear *Wernicke's Area. (L.H) |
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Motor Cortex
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*An area at the rear of the frontal lobes that controls voluntary movements.
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Sensory Cortex
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* The area at the front of the parietal lobe that registers and process body sensations
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Association Areas
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*Areas of the cerebral cortex that are not involved in primary motor or sensory functions
*Involved in higher mental functions such as learning, remembering, thinking, and speaking. |
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Aphasia
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*Impariment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca's area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke's area (Impairing understand)
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Broca's Area
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* An area of the frontal lobe, usually in the left hemisphere, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech.
*Damage= Aphasia: Impaired speaking, can understand but can't use it. |
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Wernicke's Area
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* A brain area involved in language comprehension and expression, usually in the left temporal lobe
*Damage= can speak but can't understand |
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Plasticity
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* 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 development *Molding of the brain |
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Corpus Callosum
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*The large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages btwn them.
*Transmition of information *Right to left hem and vise versa |
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Split Brain
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*A condition in which the two hemispheres of the brain are isolated by cutting the connecting fibers (corpus callosum) between them
*Helps to relieve siezures |
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Endocrine System
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*The body's "slow" chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream
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Hormones
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*Chemical Messengers.
*Mostly those manufactured by the endocrine glands, that are produced in one tissue and affect another |
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Adrenal Glands
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* 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 |
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Pituitary Gland
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*The endocrine system's most influential gland. Under the influence of the hypothalamus, the pituitary regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands.
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