Biological Bases of Behavior (Unit 2) Review Flashcards
What are the different lobes of the brain?
Frontal, Parietal, occipital, and temporal
what does the Frontal lobe do?
carries out executive function and higher level cognition
what does the parietal lobe do?
processes sensory information
what does the occipital love do?
processes visual information
what does the temporal lobe do?
processes the sense of hearing and meaningful speech
what are the different structures of the brain?
corpus callosum, medulla, cerebellum, hypothalamus, hippocampus, and amygdala
what does the corpus callosum do?
connects the two hemispheres of the brain
what does the medulla do?
carries out life sustaining functions like breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure
what does the cerebellum do?
controls coordination, balance, and voluntary movements
what does the hypothalamus do?
releases hormones that regulate homeostasis in the body
what does the hippocampus do?
forms memories for the brain
what does the amygdala do?
(fear center) processes emotions and survival responses
what is plasticity?
the brains ability to constantly change both the structure and function of many cells in the brain
what is split brain?
the two hemispheres of the brain cannot communicate (so a man can draw with both hands or not know another task that maybe the other half is performing. (Sperry and Gazzaniga)
what is the brocas area?
allows speech production
what is the wernickes area?
allows for the comprehension of speech
what is the motor cortex?
controls voluntary movement
what is the somatosensory cortex?
receives and processes sensory information
what makes up the central nervous system?
made up of the brain and spine
what makes up the Peripheral nervous system
sensory nerves, outside of the brain and spinal chord
what does the somatic nervous system do?
controls voluntary movement from your brain to your muscles
what does the autonomic nervous system do?
involuntary and unconscious actions (breathing, pumping blood, etc)
what does the Sympathetic nervous system do?
emergency response system (fight or flight) (hint: yours is broken, and it is that way because you are very “sympathetic”)
what does the parasympathetic nervous system do?
calms a person “rest and digest”
what are dendrites?
the small little nerve looking things that hand off the end of a neuron,, they receive messages (they are a catcher in baseball)
what is the myelin sheath?
the protect the nerve and they speed up the communication of messages (they are the cutoffs in baseball,, they protect the runner from getting extra bases and they speed up the ball getting from point a to point b)
what is the soma?
the soma is the wide part of the neuron, and it protects the neuron and keeps it working (it is the catchers gear)
what is the axon?
the axon actually carries the message (the axon is like the ball in baseball)
what is the axon terminal?
are located at the other end of the neuron,, they send messages to other neurons, they are like a pitcher in baseball
what is a neural transmission?
neural transmission is when information travels through a neuron electrochemically
what is action potential firing?
neuron sends information
what is resting potential?
neuron is charged and ready to fire but has not yet
what is the all or none principle?
neuron fires at full strength or not at all no in between
what are neurotransmitters?
chemical messengers
what are exitatory transmitters?
they cause the neurons to fire
what are inhibitory transmitters?
they prevent transmitters from firing
what is acetylcholine?
helps movement and memory
what is serotonin
helps control mood
what is dopamine?
pleasure chemical of the brain
what is norepinephrine?
the response chemical to danger (fight or flight)
what is GABA?
the chemical that calms the central nervous system
what is glutamate?
chemical that regulates thinking, memory, and learning
what are endorphins?
chemical that helps relieve pain and stress, fealings of pleasure and euphoria
what is an afferent neuron?
sensory neuron, sensory input to spinal chord and into the brain
what is an efferent neuron?
motor neurons carry signals away from the central nervous system to initiate an action
what is an interneuron?
the middle man between the afferent and efferent neuron
what is the endocrine systems?
glands that secrete chemical messengers called hormones
what is the pituitary gland (Master Gland)
controlled by the hypothalamus
nature
genetics
nuture
environment
what is heritability?
the extent to which differences in the appearance of a trait can be accounted for by the differences in their genes.
what is circadian rhythm
24 hour cycle, body’s internal biological clock
what is electroencephalography
(EEG) test recording electrical activity in the brain
what is REM sleep?
dream sleep, because brain waves are very active but muscles are paralyzed
what are different types of psychoactive drugs
agonists, antagonists, depressants, and alcohol
what are agonist drugs?
mimics neurotransmitters
what are antagonist drugs?
block neurotransmitters
what are depressants?
slow the activity of the central nervous system
what does alcohol do to the brain?
depresses the areas of the brain that control judgement and inhibition
