Biological Bases Of Behaviour Flashcards
Dendrites?
Rootlike parts of the cell that stretch out from the cell body. Dendrites grow to make synaptic connections with other neurons.
Cell body (soma)?
Contains the nucleus and other parts of the cell needed to sustain its life.
Axon?
Wirelike structure ending in the terminal buttons that extends from the cell body.
Myelin sheath?
A fatty covering around the axon of some neurons that speeds neural impulses.
Terminal buttons?
The branches end of the axon that contains neurotransmitters.
Synapse?
The space between the terminal buttons of one neuron and the dendrites of the next neuron.
How a neuron fires?
In its resting state a neuron has an overall negative charge because mostly negative ions are within the cell and mostly positive ions are surrounding it. The reactions begins when the terminal buttons of neuron A are stimulated and release neurotransmitters into the synapse. These neurotransmitters fit into receptor sites on the dendrites of neuron B if enough neurotransmitters are received (this is called the threshold) the cell membrane of neuron Bbecomes permeable and positive ions rush in. The change in charge spreads through the neuron. This electric message firing id called action potential.
All-or-none principle
A neuron either fires complete,y or it does not fire.
Afferent neurons?
Take information from the senses to the brain.
Interneurons?
Interneurons take information that reaches the brain or spinal cord and sends them elsewhere in the brain or on to efferent neurons
Efferent (motor) neurons?
Takes information from the brain to the rest of the body
The central nervous system?
Consists of the brain and spinal cord
The peripheral nervous system?
Consists of all other nerves in your body-all nerves not incased in bones
Somatic nervous system?
Controls all voluntary muscle movements
Autonomic nervous system?
Controls the automatic functions of our body —heart,lungs,internal organs ,glands and so on—control our response to stress.
Sympathetic nervous system?
Mobilizes our body to respond to stress. Activates ‘fight or flight’ response.
Parasympathetic nervous system?
Responsible for slowing down our body after a stress response.
Who is phineas gage?
Had and iron rod shot through his skull and still functioned normally,eventually he started to become more emotional than before the accident
Lesions?
The removal or destruction or a part of the brain
EEG?
Detects brain waves
CAT or CT scan?
Uses X-ray cameras that rotate around the bran and combine all the pictures into a 3D picture of the brains structure.
MRI?
Creates detailed pictures of the brain. Uses magnetic fields to measure the density and location of brain material.
PET?
Shows what areas of the brain are more active during certain tasks.
fMRI?
Shows details of brain structure brain structure with information about blood flow.
Hindbrain?
Consists of medulla,pons,cerebellum
Medulla?
The control of our blood pressure,heart rate,and breathing
Pons?
Control of facial expressions
Cerebellum?
Coordinates habitual muscle movements
Midbrain?
Reticular formation
Reticular formation?
Responsible for consciousness. General body arousal and ability to focus our attention.
Forebrain?
Consists of the thalamus,amygdala ,and hippocampus.
Thalamus?
Responsible for receiving the sensory signals coming up the spinal cord and sending them to the appropriate areas in the rest of the forebrain.
Hypothalamus?
Controls several metabolic functions,including body temperature,sexual arousal,hunger,thirst,and the endocrine system.
Amygdala?
Experiences of emotion
Hippocampus?
Vital to our memory system
Cerebral cortex?
The layers that covers the rest of the brain. Responsible for the higher-level processes of the human brain, including language, memory, reasoning, thought, learning, decision-making, emotion, intelligence and personality.
Left hemisphere?
Gets sensory messages and controls the motor function of the right half of the body.
Right hemisphere?
Gets sensory messages and controls the motor functions of the left half of the body.
Frontal lobe?
Thought to play a critical role in directing thought process. Important in predicting consequences,pursuing goals,maintaining emotional control and abstract thought.
Broca’s area
Controls muscles involved with producing speech. Damage to this area might leave us unable to make the the muscle movements needed for speech. Located in the frontal lobe.
Wernicke’s area?
Located in the temporal lobe. It interprets bot written s and spoken speech. Damage to this area would affect our ability to understand language.
Parietal lobes?
Behind frontal but still on top of the brain. Contains the sensory cortex. processes your sense of touch and assembles input from your other senses into a form you can use.
Temporal lobes?
Sound waves are processed by the ears and turned into neural impulses, and interpreted in out auditory cortices
Occipital lobes?
At the very back of the brain. Interpret messages from our eyes in our visual cortex
