Chapter 2

Question 1

Neuron

Answer 1

Also known as nerve cell, it’s key function is to transmit information through the body. The inside is negatively charged and the outside is positively charged.

Question 2

Nerve

Answer 2

Fiber made up of neurons that transmit impulses throughout the body.

Question 3

Anatomy of a Neuron

Answer 3

Dendrites: receive information
Body: processes and integrates information
Axon: carries information from one part to the other
Axon terminal: transmits information to the nerve.

Question 4

Glial cells

Answer 4

Any of the cells that hold nerve cells in place and help them work the way they should. Provides support and nutrition.

Question 5

Action Potential

Answer 5

A jump in activity that allows neurons to communicate.

Question 6

Depolarization

Answer 6

When the neuron starts to loose it’s negative charge by taking in sodium (+), which causes the cell to “wake up.”

Question 7

Hyperpolarization

Answer 7

When the neuron takes in negative charge and calms the cell.

Question 8

Synapse

Answer 8

The space between the neurons that allow them to communicate. Pre and post-synaptic membrane.

Question 9

Auto receptors

Answer 9

Found on the presynaptic membrane, it recycles neurochemicals.

Question 10

Lock and Key phenomenon

Answer 10

The relationship between neurotransmitters/neurochemicals and receptors. The neurotransmitters are useless until they fit into a receptor.

Question 11

Types of Neurotransmitters

Answer 11

• Acetylcholine (formulates new memories)
• Dopamine (learning and pleasure)
• Serotonin (turns neurons off)
• Norepinephrine (nor-adrenalin, stress hormone)
• GABA (calming)
• Glutamate (motor activity/muscle simulation)
• Endorphins (pain control)

Question 12

Central Nervous System

Answer 12

Brain and Spinal Cord

Question 13

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

Answer 13

Somatic NS - voluntary movements

Autonomic NS - involuntary movements
- Sympathetic NS - arousing (fear)
- Parasympathetic NS - calming

Question 14

Brain - Cortical anatomy

Answer 14

• Frontal lobe: makes us who we are, HOG (thinking, planning, humor), Impulse control, mood, personality, and motor strip (chosen action and movement, right controls left and left controls right).
• Temporal lobe: language functions, memory, and emotional processing.
• Occipital lobe: primitive visual processing (color, angles, and motion)
• Parietal lobe: puts primitive visual processing into wholes (visuospatial).

Question 15

Brain - Sub-cortical

Answer 15

• Thalamus: Manages messages to and from your body to your brain.
• Hypo-thalamus: Regulation of body systems and hormones.
• Pons: Regulates sleep (paralyses us when we are asleep).
• Medulla: Regulates heart rate and respiration.
• Colliculi: Unconscious fast visual and audio processing.
• Corpus Collosum: Makes right and left brain function as one.

Question 16

Brain - Limbic System

Answer 16

Primitive reactions regulate memory and emotion.
- Hippocampus: Goes into right and left. Is the primary aspect in storing new memories.
- Mamillary bodies: Creations of new memories.
- Amygdala: Emotional function, taste and fear based memories.
- Cingulate: Attaches emotional labels to experiences.
- Olfactory bulb: Scent based memory and highly intense memory. PTSD triggered by smell is often a result of this.

Question 17

Basal Ganglia

Answer 17

Allows us to have smooth flowing motions (dam metaphor).

Question 18

Endocrine System

Answer 18

Glands that produce hormones that regulate bodily functions (mood, energy, emotion, sleep). Moves through the bloodstream. Lasts longer than neurotransmitters.

Question 19

Endocrine System - Master Gland

Answer 19

The pituitary gland is a master gland (whose own master is the hypothalamus) that releases a number of hormones.

Question 20

Brain plasticity

Answer 20

The brain’s ability to change its structure and function in response to injury or sensory impairments.

Question 21

Baby Neurons

Answer 21

The neurons in a newborn. In the first few years of life, more than 1 million new neural connections are formed every second.

Question 22

Divided Brain

Answer 22

Left hemisphere: Recognizes words and letters, interpreting spoken language, process verbal memory, speech, reading, writing, arithmetic.

Right hemisphere: Recognizing faces, emotions, and geometrical patterns, music and sounds, nonverbal memory, spatial reasoning, distance and direction.

Question 23

Divided Brain - Contralateral Control

Answer 23

Left hemisphere of the brain controls the right, and right controls the left.

Question 24

Focalization

Answer 24

Narration is what’s told; focalization is what’s perceived.
- External Focalizer: pov external to the story.
- Internal Focalizer: pov involved in the story.

Question 25

Consciousness - fMRI

Answer 25

Functional magnetic resonance imaging. Non-invasive brain imaging tech that measures brain activity by tracking blood flow.

Question 26

Consciousness - Sequential Processing

Answer 26

Giving full attention to one thing at a time.

Question 27

Consciousness - Parallel Processing

Answer 27

Keeping the body working (heart function, balance, etc.) while sequential processing is happening.

Question 28

Attention - Perceptual

Answer 28

How information is acquired from the environment through sensory organs.

Question 29

Attention - Cognitive

Answer 29

Storage, manipulation, and retrieval of information.

Question 30

Inattentional Blindness

Answer 30

When someone doesn’t notice something obvious because they are focusing on something else.