9.22 Notes Flashcards
Chemical precursors
The substances in your food that is sent to the neuron to produce neurotransmitters
Precursor for serotonin
Tryptophan-found in carbohydrates and turkey
Precursor for dopamine
Tyrosine
Precursor for acetylcholine
Choline-found in eggs
Excitatory neurotransmitters
Makes a neuron more positive
Inhibitory neurotransmitters
Makes a neuron more negative
Fast-acting neurotransmitter
The effect is immediate; Used for sensory information and muscles
Glutamate
Immediately open sodium gates, rushing sodium into the cell; Fast-acting neurotransmitter
GABA
Fast-acting neurotransmitter; immediately opens chloride channels, hyperpolarizing the cell
Acetylcholine
Immediately opens sodium channels, rushing sodium into the cell; fast-acting neurotransmitter
Benzodiazepines
Xanax; increase effectiveness of GABA
Curare
Inhibits acetylcholine
Why do we use rats to study neuroscience?
There’s lots of them; we can breed them selectively; they’re similar enough to all mammal brains to generalize findings to humans
Microelectrodes
Can be used to stimulate neurons or record their firing; used this technique to find place cells in the hippocampus, which fire only when an animal is in a certain location
The only thing we cannot study in animals
Language
Wilder Penfield
Discovered sensory and motor cortex by using microelectrodes
Lesion
Destruction of the brain area
Ablation
Removal of the brain area
Microdialysis
Identifies what neurotransmitters are located in various parts of the brain; extracted cerebral spinal fluid out of that part of the brain
CT/cat scan
Computerized axial tomography; x-ray of the brain; uses an injection of dye; structural technique; images are not high resolution; cheap; use for diagnosis and research (tumors and ventricles)
MRI
Magnetic resonance imaging; high resolution; structural; expensive; 30,000 times stronger than the magnetism of the earth; changes the way that hydrogen molecules spin in your body; when the magnet is shut off, it readjusts and that’s when they take a picture
EEG
Electroencephalogram; measures electrical brain activity; electrical charge of the cerebral spinal fluid; used in sleep studies, epilepsy, consciousness
Evoked potential procedure
Uses electrodes; does something externally to look at the change
Histamine
Neurotransmitter that keeps you awake
