4- Detecting And Responding ✅ Flashcards
Action potential
The brief change in electrical charge across a nerve impulse along the neuron
Autocrine hormone
A hormone whose target cell is the secretory cell itself
Axon
The threadlike part of a neuron that carries the nerve impulse away from the cell boys of the neuron to an effector organ or to another neuron
Basal metabolic rate (BMR)
The rate of energy production to maintain a resting animal. It is expressed in kilojoules per square meter of body surface per hour (kJm^-2h^-1) it can be measured by the rate of oxygen consumption per unit time of the organism
Cell body
The main part of a neuron that contains the nucleus
Central nervous system
The brain and spinal cord in vertebrates
The nerve cords and ganglia in invertebrates
Connector/inter neuron
Neurons that connect with other neurons within the central nervous system
Cryptochrome
A set of blue light receptor proteins found in plants that regulate germination, elongation, and photoperiodism
Dendrite
The short, breaching process the cell body of a neuron
Diabetes mellitus
A disease of humans that results in impaired glucose metabolism
Ductless/endocrine glands
Any gland in an animal that manufactures hormones and secretes them directly into the blood stream.
Effector
Describes something, in particular an organ/gland, that carriers out an action
Exteroceptor
A receptor that receives signals from the external environment
Feedback
A process whereby the increased level of output of a biochemical system reduces production of that output.
Goitre
A swelling in the neck (behind the larynx) caused by an enlarged thyroid gland
Growth regulator
A plant ‘hormone’ or chemical that helps to coordinate plant development in response to the environment
Homeostasis
The process by which internal conditions of an organism are maintained despite changes in the external environment
Hormone
A substance produced by cells (of an endocrine gland or special nerve cell) of an organism in response to a specific nervous or chemical stimulus
Hyperglycaemia
Elevated blood sugar
Hyperthyroidism
High levels of the hormone thyroxine
Hypoglycaemia
Low blood sugar levels
Hypothyroidism
Low levels of thyroxine
Interocepter
A receptor that receives signals from the internal environment
Motor neuron
A nerve cell that controls muscle or gland activity
Myelin sheath
The lipid like material that forms an outer covering around axons of neurons
Negative feedback
The process of feedback by which the action nutralises the original stimulus
Neuron
A nerve cell
Neurotransmitter
A chemical compound which includes acetylcholine and noradrenaline(norepinephrine), produced by neurons.
Paracrine hormone
A hormone for which the target cell is close to the signal releasing cell, and the hormone is broken down too quickly to be carried to other parts of the body
Peripheral nervous system (PNS)
All the sensory receptors, nerve tissue and effectors that work in conjunction with, by tare not apart of the CNS
Pheromone
A chemical substance made and released by one organism that acts by means of communication with other organisms usually the same species
Photoprotein
Light receptor protein
positive feedback
The process of feedback by which the action adds to
the original stimulus
postaglandin
A fatty acid hormone that is continually produced and released by the cell membrane of nearly every cell membrane of the body
Receptor
A protein molecule found in cells that is able to detect a stimulus and initiate a response.
Response
The resulting action of a stimulus
Resting poteintial
the electrical potential difference across an unstimulated nerve cells plasma membrane
Secondary messenger
Low-weight diffusible molecules that are used to relay a signal with in the cell
Sensory neuron
a nerve cell that carries information from sensory receptors to the central nervous systems
signal transduction
a process by which a cell converts on kind of signal to another
stimulus
A change in the internal or external environment of an organism that can be detected by receptors
Synapse
The microscopic gap that exists between the axon terminal of one neuron and the dendrites of another neuron or effector cell.
Synaptic cleft
The space between the pre-synaptic cell and post-synaptic cell across which the neurotransmitter diffuses.
Differentiation
The modification of the structure and function of a cell that occurs in the course of its development and that often leads to cell specialisation
Interstitial/tissue fluid
Water, containing cell nutrients and waste products, in the spaces between cells
Stimulus response model
A model that shows the stimulus, detection, co-ordination centre, effector, and response
Apoptosis
Controlled cell death
Target cell
The specific cell that is targeted by a hormone or neurotransmitter/impulse
Target protein
Target proteins are functional biomolecules that are addressed and controlled by biologically active compounds. They are used in the processes of transduction, transformation and conjugation
Amino acid/protein hormone
A hormone base upon proteins or amino acids
Amplification
The act or result of increasing in size or effect
Antagonistic hormones
Hormones that act to return body conditions to within acceptable limits from opposite extremes
Cell membrane receptor
A protein receptor within the cell membrane that detects a certain molecule
Receptor hormone complex
The complex formed upon connection of Hormone and receptor
Receptor protein
A protein molecule found in cells that detects a stimulus and intimates a response
Signal cascade
The event that occurs after a secondary messenger is activated, the cascade is the secondary messenger’s secondary messenger
Steroid hormone
A hormone based upon steroids, it can pass through the phospholipid bilayer
Thyroxin
A hormone that controls basal and cellular metabolic rate
Threshold
The lowest intensity of a stimulus that a receptor can detect and respond to.
