Biology And Behavior Flashcards
What are the three different types of neurons in the nervous system? What are their functions?
Sensory(afferent) neurons, motor(efferent) neurons, and interneurons. Afferent delievers sensory signals from sensory receptors to brain, Efferent delivers signal from brain to particular muscles to act accordingly, and interneurons send signals to brain while also to the source of stimuli
What is the function of Reflex arcs?
use interneurons in spinal cord to send signal to brain while also to the source of stimuli
What does Central nervous system consist of?
Brain and Spinal cord
Peripheral nervous system consists of?
Most cranial and spinal nerves
List the organization of the nervous system starting from CNS and PNS
CNS: brain, spinal cord
PNS: Somatic system(Voluntary) and Autonomic system(Involuntary) -> Sympathetic and Parasympathetic
What are the three subdivisions of the brain? How are they organized in position? How is the organization related to their function?
Hindbrain, Midbrain, Forebrain
low mid high
lowest - vital functions, high - complex functions
What does Hindbrain consist of? how are these subdivisions organized in position? what are their function?
Cerebellum, Pons, and Medulla oblongata.
Medulla oblongata: lowest, closes to spinal cord
- breathing, heart rate, blood pressure
Pons: directly above Medulla oblongata
- contains sensory and motor pathways between cortex and medulla
Cerebellum: across from Pons
- maintain posture, balance, coordinate body movement(alcohol affects here)
What does the Midbrain consist of? what is its main function?
Inferior and Superior colliculi.
- Receives sensory and motor information from the rest of the body; reflexes to auditory and visual stimuli
What does Forebrain consist of? what is its main function?
Thalamus, Hypothalamus, Basal ganglia, Limbic system, and Cerebral cortex
- Complex perceptual, cognitive, and behavioral processes; emotion and memory
What is Hindbrain’s main function?
Balance, motor coordination, breathing, digestion, general arousal processes(sleeping and waking); vital functioning
Which ones are part of Forebrain? Inferior colliculi Pons Cerebellum Thalamus Hypothalamus medulla oblongata Basal ganglia Limbic system Crerebral cortex
Thalamus Hypothalamus Basal ganglia Limbic system Cerebral cortex
What are the functions of Thalamus, Hypothalamus, Basal ganglia, Limbic system(Septal nuclei, Hippocampus, Amygdala), and Cerebral cortex(Frontal, Parietal, Occipital, and Temporal lobe) which are all part of Forebrain?
Thalamus: Relay station for sensory information
Hypothalamus: maintains homeostasis and integrates with the endocrine system through the hypophyseal portal system that connects it to the anterior pituitary
Basal ganglia: smoothen movements and help maintain postural stability
Limbic system: includes Septal nuclei, Amygdala, and
Hippocampus, which control emotion and memory
- Septal nuclei: feelings of pleausre, pleasure-seeking behavior, addiction
- Amygdala: controls fear and aggression
- Hippocampus: memories, communicates with other parts of the limbic system
Cerebral cortex:
- Frontal lobe: executive function, impulse control, long-term planning, motor function, and speech production
- Parietal lobe: sensations of touch, pressure, temperature, and pain; spatial processing; orientation; and manipulation
- Occipital lobe: visual processing
- Temporal lobe: sound processing, speech perception, memory, and emotion
What are cerebral hemispheres and which one is generally the dominant one?
The brain is divided into two cerebral hemispheres: left and right. Usually left is the dominant one for language, regardless of the handedness.
What is the difference between Neurotransmitters and Neuromodulators(neuropeptides)?
NTs: fast acting, short living
NPs: slow acting, long living
What is Acetylcholine and where is it found? what is its main function in its location?
Neurotransmitter found in both CNS and PNS. in CNS: arousal and attention; In PNS: transmit nerve impulses to the muscles(somatic NS) and Parasympathetic NS.
What are the three main Catecholamines? What are their functions? Where are they released/found?
Epinephrine, Norepinephrine, Dopamine
Epinephrine: Hormone, from adrenal medulla
Norepinephrine: Neurotransmitter, from Adrenal medulla
Both act to maintain alertness, wakefulness, and mediate fight or flight responses
Dopamine: found in Basal ganglia; helps maintain smooth movements and steady posture
What are the effects of low and high concentration of Norepinephrine? Dopamine?
Low NE: Depression
High NE: Anxiety and Mania
Low Dopamine: Parkinson’s disease(tremor)
High Dopamine: Schizophrenia(too much/oversensitive)
What is the function of Serotonin? what are the effects when it’s low and high?
Regulate mood, eating, sleeping, and dreaming.
Low: Depression
High: Anxiety, Mania
What is the function of GABA and Glycine?
Brain stabilizers via hyperpolarization
What is the function of Glutamate?
excitatory NTs
What is the function of Endorphin and Enkephalins?
natural pain killers
What is Cortisol and where is it released from?
Stress hormone released by Adrenal cortex
What are Testosterone and Estrogen and where are they released?
Male and female sex hormones; released from Adrenal cortex; mediate libido
Where are E and NE released from? Which nervous system do they work with?
Adrenal Medulla; Sympathetic nervous system for fight or flight response.
What are the three studies of nature vs nurture and how are they utilized?
Family studies: compare frequency of a trait within a family to general population
Twin studies: compare between monozygotic and dizygotic twins
Adoption studies: compare adopted children with adoptive parents and biological parents
Explain how Nervous system is developed. Which one become what?
Develops through neurulation.
Notochord stimulates Ectoderm to fold over, creating a Neural tube topped with Neural crest cells
Neural tube becomes CNS
Neural crest cells spread throughout the body and differentiate into many different tissues
What are the four primitive reflexes?
Rooting reflex: turn cheek to brush
Moro reflex: arm extended then retracts to sensation of falling
Babinski reflex: big toe is extended and toes fan up to brush of sole of foot
Grasping reflex: grabs anything in hand
What are developmental milestones?
table that gives an indication of what skills and abilities a child should have at a given age.
What are gross and fine motor skills? How do they progress in a child?
Gross: big muscle group control ex crawl, walk, sit
Fine: small muscle group control ex draw, catch, wave
They progress head to toe and core to periphery
What is stranger anxiety?
What is separation anxiety?
what is parallel play?
fear of unfamiliar individuals
fear of being separated from the parental figure
children will play alongside each other without influencing each other’s behavior
