Chapter 2 Flashcards
What is Neuroplasticity?
The brain changes throughout life by reorganizing
after damage or by building new pathways based on
experience.
New neural pathways reflect personal experiences.
The human brain is designed to change.
True or False: Everything Psychological is Biological
True
What are Neurons?
The elementary components of the nervous
system—the body’s speedy electrochemical system.
A neuron receives signals through branching _______ and
sends signals through its ________
- Dendrites
- Axons
Some axons are encased in a _________, which enables.
faster transmission of the signal.
myelin sheath
________ provide myelin and support, nourish, and protect neurons. They also play a role in thinking and learning.
Glial cells
True or false
If a combined signal received by a neuron exceeds a
minimum threshold, the neuron fires, transmitting an electrical
impulse down its axon through a chemical-to-electricity
process.
True
True or false; The neuron’s reaction is an all or none process.
True
Neurotransmitter Acetylcholine (ACh) affects
muscle action, learning,
and memory
Neurotransmitter endorphins are natural _______ released in response
to pain and exercise
opiates
Neurotransmitter Dopamine
Influences movement, learning,
attention, and emotion
Neurotransmitter Seratonin
Affects mood, hunger, sleep, and
arousal
Undersupply linked to depression.
Neurotransmitter Norepinephrine (adrenaline)
Helps control alertness and
arousal
Undersupply can depress mood.
GABA (gamma-aminobutyric
acid)
A major inhibitory neurotransmitter Undersupply linked to seizures,
tremors, and insomnia.
Glutamate
A major excitatory
neurotransmitter; involved in
memory
Oversupply can overstimulate the
brain, producing migraines or
seizures.
Endorphins
Neurotransmitters that influence
the perception of pain or pleasure
Oversupply with opiate drugs
can suppress the body’s natural
endorphin supply.
Agonist
Agonist: Molecule that increases a
neurotransmitter’s action
(example LSD and Seratonin, Morphine and endorphins)
Antagonist:
Molecule that inhibits or blocks a
neurotransmitter’s action
(example nalaxone for opiod receptor)
Central nervous system (CNS)
The brain and the spinal cord are the body’s decision makers
Peripheral Nervous System
Sensory and motor neurons connect the CNS to the rest of
the body for gathering and transmitting information
Sensory neurons
Carry messages from the body’s tissues and sensory
receptors inward to the spinal cord and brain for processing
Motor neurons
Carry instructions from the central nervous system out to the
body’s muscles
Interneurons within the brain and spinal cord
Communicate with one another and process information
between the sensory input and the motor output
Sympathetic
subdivision:
arouses
and expends energy
and enables voluntary
control of skeletal
muscles.
Parasympathetic
subdivision
calms and
conserves energy, allowing routine maintenance activity,
and controls involuntary
muscles and glands
True or False: The brain accounts for 2 percent of body weight
and uses 20 percent of the body’s energy
True
The adult brain has approximately __ billion
neurons.
86 billion
Endocrine system:
A set of glands that secrete
hormones into the bloodstream
The pituitary is the
master gland that influences
hormone release by other glands, including the
adrenal glands
In an intricate feedback system, the brain’s
_________ influences the pituitary gland, which
influences other glands that release hormones and
influence the brain.
Hypothalamus
EEG (Electroencephalogram)
Electrodes placed on the scalp measure
electrical activity in neurons.
Symptoms of depression and anxiety correlate
with increased activity in the right frontal lobe, a
brain area associated with behavioral
withdrawal and negative emotion (Thibodeau et
al., 2006).
MEG (Magnetoencephalography)
A head coil records magnetic fields from
the brain’s natural electrical currents.
Soldiers with posttraumatic stress disorder
(PTSD), compared with soldiers who do not
have PTSD, show stronger magnetic fields in
the visual cortex when they view trauma-related
images (Todd et al., 2015).
Positron emission tomography
(PET)
Tracks where in the brain a temporarily
radioactive form of glucose goes while
the person given it performs a task.
Monkeys with an anxious temperament have
brains that use more glucose in regions related
to fear, memory, and expectations of reward
and punishment (Fox et al., 2015).
Magnetic resonance imaging
(MRI)
People sit or lie down in a chamber that
uses magnetic fields and radio waves to
provide a map of brain structure.
People with a history of violence tend to have
smaller frontal lobes, especially in regions that
aid moral judgment and self-control
(Glenn & Raine, 2014).
Functional magnetic resonance
imaging (fMRI)
Measures blood flow to brain regions by
comparing continuous MRI scans.
Years after surviving a near plane crash,
passengers who viewed material related to
their trauma showed greater activation in the
brain’s fear, memory, and visual centers than
when they watched footage related to the 9/11
terrorist attacks (Palombo et al., 2015).
Medulla:
Located at the base of the brainstem;
controls heartbeat and breathing
Pons:
Sits above the medulla and helps
coordinate movement
Thalamus
The area at the top of the brainstem
Directs sensory messages to the cortex and transmits
replies to the cerebellum and medulla
influences multitasking
Reticular formation
A nerve network running through the brainstem and
thalamus
Plays an important role in controlling arousal
The Cerebellum
Aids in judgment of
time, sound and
texture discrimination,
and emotional control
Coordinates voluntary
movement and life-
sustaining functions
Helps process and
store information
outside of awareness
The Limbic System
sits between the brain’s older parts and its
cerebral hemispheres
Neural centers include the hippocampus,
amygdala, and hypothalamus
Is linked to emotions, memory, and drives
Controls the nearby pituitary gland
Amygdala
Two lima bean–sized neural clusters in the limbic
system
Linked to emotion
Hypothalamus
Neural structure lying below the thalamus
Directs several maintenance activities
Helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary
gland and is linked to emotion and reward
Hippocampus
Processes conscious,
explicit memories
Decreases in size and
function with age
The Cerebral Cortex
Two hemispheres
* Each hemisphere has
four lobes: frontal,
parietal, occipital, and
temporal
Motor cortex
Fritsch and Hitzig: Discovered the motor cortex at the
rear of the frontal lobes
Foerster and Penfield: Mapped the motor cortex;
discovered that body areas requiring precise control
(e.g., fingers, mouth) occupied the largest part of the
cortical space
Function in the cortex:
Sensory functions
The somatosensory
cortex processes
information from skin
senses and body part
movement.
The visual cortex of the occipital lobes,
located at
the rear of the brain, receives input from your eyes.
The auditory cortex of the temporal lobes,
located
above the ears, receives information from the ears.
Constraint-induced therapy
aims to rewire the
brain and improve the dexterity of brain-
damaged people.
Blindness or deafness makes unused brain areas
available for other uses
Split-brain hemisphere
Hemispheres are isolated by cutting the fibers (mainly
those of the corpus callosum) connecting them
Intact brain
Data received by either hemisphere are quickly
transmitted to the other side across the corpus
callosum.
Severed corpus callosum brain
This information sharing does not take place
The left hemisphere
is good at making quick, exact
interpretations of language. (Left hemisphere controls the right side of the body)
The right hemisphere
excels in making inferences,
modulating speech, and facilitating self-awareness
(controls the left side of the body)
