Ch. 2 Key Terms and Concepts

Question 1

Amygdala

Answer 1

a collection of brain nuclei lying at the anterior tip of each hippocampus, critical for learning and expressing emotional responses as well as mediating the emotional modulation of memory formation.

Question 2

Sagittal Plane

Answer 2

Question 3

Horizontal Plane

Answer 3

Question 4

Coronal Plane

Answer 4

Question 5

Answer 5

a group of brain structures, including the dorsal striatum and nucleus accumbens, that are important in learning voluntary responses.

Question 6

Answer 6

a group of structures that connects the rest of the brain to the spinal cord and plays key roles in regulating automatic functions such as breathing and body temperature.

• Pons
• Medulla
• Reticular Activating System
• (PMS)

Question 7

Answer 7

the central part of the neuron that contains the nucleus and integrates signals from all the dendrites (a.k.a. the soma).

Question 8

Central Nervous System (CNS)

Answer 8

the part of the vertebrate nervous system consisting of the brain and spinal cord.

• processes information and generates behavioral plan.

Question 9

(hint: litle brain)

Answer 9

a brain region lying below the cerebral cortex in the back of the head.

It is responsible for the regulation and coordination of complex voluntary muscular movement, including classical conditioning of motor-reflex responses.

Question 10

Answer 10

the brain tissue covering the top and sides of the brain.

involved in storage and processing of sensory inputs and motor outputs.

Question 11

Answer 11

extension of a neuron that is specialized to receive signals from other neurons.

Question 12

Experience-Dependent Plasticity

Answer 12

• Two principal regions within the adult brain have been identified where progenitor cells are able to give rise to new neurons in adulthood:
  
  • 1. Sub-granular zone of the dentate gyrus within the hippocampal formation
  • 2. Sub-ventricular zone lining the walls of the lateral ventricles within the forebrain
• Example(s):
  
  • Enriched Environment
  • Physical Activity/Learning
  • Stress

Question 13

Answer 13

the part of the cerebral cortex lying at the front of the brain.

enables a person to plan and perform actions.

Question 14

Hippocampus

(hint: seahorse shape)

Answer 14

a brain structure located in the medial temporal lobe that is important for new memory formation.

Question 15

Karl Wernicke & Paul Broca

Answer 15

Studied brain injuries and how they affect behavior.

• Simple mental functions are discretely localized to single cortical areas.
• The areas for these simple functions are interconnected.
• Complex mental functions (e.g., speech production & comprehension) arise from interactions among several of these areas.

Question 16

Lesion

Answer 16

damage caused by injury or illness.

Question 17

Long-Term Depression (LTD)

(hint: out of sync, lose link)

Answer 17

a process in which synaptic transmission becomes less effective as a result of recent activity; with long-term potentiation, widely believed to represent a form of synaptic plasticity that could be the neural mechanism for learning.

Question 18

Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)

(hint: fire together, wire together)

Answer 18

a process in which synaptic transmission becomes more effective as a result of recent activity; with LTD, widely believed to represent a form of synaptic plasticity that could be the neural mechanism for learning.

Question 19

Motor Pathways

Answer 19

• All voluntary motor output is sent down to the spine via M1, primary motor cortex, in the frontal lobe.
• Many inputs to M1 help form behavioral plan:
  
  • Frontal lobes – planning and logical thinking.
  • Cerebellum, basal ganglia – refinements of motor program.

Question 20

Myelin

Answer 20

• Fatty insulation that may surround the axon of a neuron.
• Prevents signals in adjacent cells from interfering with each other.
• Speeds up the conduction of neural impulses.
• In peripheral nervous system, the sheath is formed from the cell membrane of the Schwann cell and, in the central nervous system, from oligodendrocytes.

Question 21

Nervous System

Answer 21

an organism’s system of tissues specialized for distributing and processing information.

Question 22

Neural Plasticity

Answer 22

the brain’s ability to change and adapt in response to experience, through neurogenesis, or by reorganizing or growing new neural connections.

Question 23

Neurogenesis

Answer 23

creation of new neurons in the brain.

Question 24

Neuromodulator

Answer 24

a neurotransmitter that acts to modulate activity in a large number of neurons rather than in a single synapse.

Question 25

Neuron

Answer 25

a type of cell that is specialized for information processing.

Question 26

Neurophysiology

Answer 26

the study of the activity and function of neurons.

Question 27

Neuropsychology

Answer 27

the branch of psychology that deals with the relation between brain function and behavior.

Question 28

Neurotransmitter

Answer 28

one of several classes of molecule released by neurons to carry chemical messages to other neurons.

Question 29

Occipital Lobe

(hint: eyes)

Answer 29

the part of the cerebral cortex lying at the rear of the brain.

important for visual processing.

Question 30

Parietal Lobe

(hint: iTouch)

Answer 30

the part of the cerebral cortex lying at the top of the brain.

important for processing somatosensory (touch) information and motor outputs.

Question 31

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

Answer 31

the part of the NS that carries information from sensory receptors to the CNS and carries commands from the CNS to muscles.

Question 32

Phrenology

(hint: are you as smart as the size of your head?)

Answer 32

a field of study that attempted to determine mental abilities by measuring head shape and size.

Question 33

Postsynaptic & Presynaptic

Answer 33

• on the receiving side of a synapse.
• on the sending side of a synapse.

Question 34

Receptor

Answer 34

a specialized molecule, located on the surface of a neuron, to which one or more particular neurotransmitters can bind; when a neurotransmitter activates a receptor, effects may be initiated in the neuron.

Question 35

Reflex

Answer 35

an involuntary and automatic (unlearned) response; also, a pathway from sensory stimulus to motor response.

Question 36

Sensory Pathways

Answer 36

• Incoming sensory information is passed to specialized sensory cortex in the temporal lobe (A1, auditory), occipital lobe (V1, visual), parietal lobe (S1, touch), and frontal lobe (olfaction).

sensory organs -> thalamus -> primary sensory cortex

• Ex: eyes -> thalamus -> V1 occipital

Each primary sensory cortex is specialized for initial processing, then relays on to other cortical areas.

Question 37

Single-Cell Recording

Answer 37

use of an implanted electrode to detect electrical activity (spiking) in a single cell (e.g. neuron).

Question 38

Soma

Answer 38

the central part of the neuron that contains the nucleus and integrates signals from all the dendrites (a.k.a. cell body).

Question 39

Structural Neuroimaging

Answer 39

techniques (e.g. MRI and CT) for creating images of anatomical structures within the living brain.

Question 40

Synapse

Answer 40

a narrow gap between two neurons across which chemical messages can be transmitted.

Question 41

Synaptic Plasticity

Answer 41

the ability of synapses to change as a result of experience.

Question 42

Temporal Lobe

Answer 42

the part of the cerebral cortex lying at the sides of the brain.

important for language and auditory processing, for learning new facts and forming new memories of events.

Question 43

Thalamus

(hint: egg shape)

Answer 43

relays sensory messages to the brain.

includes all sensory messages except those from olfactory bulb.