3. Biology and Behavior 2/2

Question 1

Neurons

Answer 1

Cells specialized for sending and receiving messages between the brain and all parts of the body, as well as within the brain itself.

Question 2

What are the three main components a neuron consists of?

Answer 2

Cell body, dendrites and axon.

Question 3

Cell body

Answer 3

A component of the neuron that contains the basic biological material that keeps the neuron functioning.

Question 4

Dendrites

Answer 4

Neural fibers that receive input from other cells and conduct it towards the cell body in the form of electrical impulses.

Question 5

Axons

Answer 5

Neural fibers that conduct electrical signals away from the cell body to connections with other neurons.

Question 6

Synapses

Answer 6

Microscopic junctions between the axon terminal of one neuron and the dendritic branches or cell body of another.

Question 7

What happens at the synapse between two neurons?

Answer 7

Neurons communicate at synapses. Electrical and chemical messages cross the synapses and cause the receiving neurons either to fire, sending a signal on to other neurons, or to be inhibited from firing.

Question 8

Glial cells

Answer 8

Cells in the brain that provide a variety of critical supportive functions, such as the formation of a myelin sheet around axons.

Question 9

Myelin Sheath (myelination)

Answer 9

A fatty sheath that forms around certain axons in the body.

Question 10

What is the function of the myelin sheath around the axons?

Answer 10

It increases the speed an efficiency of information transmission.

Question 11

Cerebral cortex

Answer 11

The “grey matter” of the brain, consisting of four distinct lobes. Each lobe is associated with a specific set of behavioral characteristics.

Question 12

What are the names of these four lobes?

Answer 12

Occipital lobe
Temporal lobe
Parietal lobe
Frontal lobe

Question 13

Association areas

Answer 13

Parts of the brain that lie between the major sensory and motor areas and that process and integrate input from those areas.

Question 14

Cerebral hemispheres

Answer 14

The two halves of the cortex.

Question 15

Corpus callosum

Answer 15

A dense tract of nerve fibers that enable the two hemispheres of the brain to communicate.

Question 16

Cerebral lateralization

Answer 16

The specialization of the hemispheres of the brain for different modes of processing.

Question 17

Neurogenesis

Answer 17

The proliferation of neurons through cell division.

Question 18

Arborization

Answer 18

Formation of new dendritic trees and branches - leads to an increase in the size and complexity of the dendritic tree that results from growth, branching and the formation of spines on the branches.

Question 19

Spines

Answer 19

Formations on the dendrites of neurons that increase the dendrites capacity to form connections with other neurons.

Question 20

What is the relation between myelination and the term “white matter”?

Answer 20

The myelinated portions of axons are white (white matter) and lie below the grey matter (cell bodies) at the surface of the cortex. Myelination begins deep in the brain and moves upward and outward into the cortex.

Question 21

Synaptogenesis

Answer 21

The process by which neurons form synapses with other neurons, resulting in trillions of connections.

Question 22

Synaptic pruning

Answer 22

The normal developmental process through which synapses that are rarely activated are eliminated.

Question 23

Plasticity

Answer 23

The capacity of the brain to be affected by experience.

Question 24

Experience-expectant plasticity

Answer 24

The process through which the normal wiring of the brain occurs in part as a result of species-typical experiences.

Question 25

Experience-dependent plasticity

Answer 25

The process through which neural connections are created and reorganized throughout life as a function of an individuals experiences.

Question 26

Secular trends

Answer 26

Marked changes in physical development that have occurred over generations.