Chapter 2 Flashcards
brain is constantly changing, building new pathways as it adjusts to little mishaps and new experiences
neuroplasticity
receive messages from other cells; carries information TO the cell body
dendrites
passes messages away form the cell body to other neurons
axon
what is multiple sclerosis caused by?
breakdown of the myelin sheath
fatty substance covering the axon, acts as an insulator, making the electrical impulse that is carried across the axon more efficient
meylin sheath
release information into the gap between neurons
terminal branches of axon
the cleft in between the axon of one neuron and the dendrite
synapse
gap between neurons
synaptic cleft
provide stupport and nutrition to neurons
glial cells
a brief electrical charge that travels down its axon
action potential
carry messages form the body’s tissues and sensory receptors inward (afferent)
sensory neurons
carry instructions from the central nervous system outward to the body’s muscles and glands (efferent)
motor neurons
brain and spinal cord; makes decisions
What system?
central nervous system
carries the decisions of the CNS to other parts of the body
peripheral nervous system
influences movement, learning, attention, and emotion
dopamine
olds rat experiment
found that rats would press the lever to provide stimulation to this part of the brain
what is dopamine associated with?
- tremors
- schizophrenia
- smooth muscle
- production of pleasure
allows voluntary muscle contractions, facilitates memory
acetylcholine
add stability to moods; important in sleep regulation
serotonin
what happens when you increase serotonin levels?
can cause drowsiness/ sleep issues
make you feel better when experiencing pain; function like morphine; influence precetption of pain/ pleasure
endorphins
molecules increase a neruotransmitter’s action
agonist
decrease a neurotransmitter’s action by blocking production or release
antagonists
the brainstem, limbic system and remainging parts
old brain
the brain stem is made up of
the pons and medulla
automatic functions like heart rate and breathing
medulla
regulates broad sleeping and waking cycles
pons
takes sensory information and relays it to the appropriate part of the cortex
thalamus
system of arousal; consciousness - a network
reticular activating system/ reticular formation
responsible for smooth motor movement
cerebellum
two lima bean sized enural clusters; enables aggression and fear to stimuli
amygdala
food, fight, flight, fornication; important in hunger thirst, agression, fear and sex drive; maintain homeostasis
hypothalamus
responsible for learning; critical in formation of new memories particularly spatial ones
hippocampus
cerebral cortex; lobes and areas
new brain
what are the 4 lobes of the cerebral cortex
frontal, pariteal, occipital, and temporal
reasoning, speech, decision making, problem solving, motor movements
frontal
part of the frontal lobes, involved in personality, critical in social judgement, decision making, goals setting and planning
prefrontal cortex
interpretation of body sensations; touch, temperature, pain
parietal lobe
hearing and interpretation of auditory
temporal
vision and interpretation of visual information
occipital
what are the 3 functional areas?
sensory, motor, association (SAM)
where are the 3 fucntional areas found?
cerebrum
interpretation of touch, sight, sound
sensory
voluntary movement
motor area
thinking, speech, reasoning; basic functions
association area
making inferences, speech, self awareness; controls the left side of the body
creativity
right hemisphere
quick, literal interpretatins of language; controls the right side of body
methodical thinking
left hemisphere
corpus callosum
severed in split brain patients. allows us to study the function of each hemisphere of the brain
voluntary control of the body movements
somatic nervous system
involuntary; heart rate, blood presure, respiration
autonomic nervous system
rest and digest
parasympathetic
fight or flight, activated under stress
sympathetic
uses magnetic fields to produce images of soft tissue (shows structure)
magnetic resonance imaging
brain areas are externally stimulated and associated responses are studied
transcranial magnetic stimulation
an older techniqe that shows electrical activity of the brain
electroencephalograms
