Chapter 2 Flashcards
Neuroscience
The study of the brain and the rest of the nervous system
Nervous system
An organism’s system of tissues specialized for monitoring sensations, generating movements, and maintaining the function of most internal organs
Neuron
A special type of cell that is one of the main components of the nervous system
Central nervous system (CNS)
= brain + spinal cord
Peripheral nervous system (PNS)
Motor and sensory neurons that connect the brain and the spinal cord to the rest of the body
Cerebral cortex
The tissue covering the top and sides of the brain in most vertebrates, involved in storage and processing of sensory inputs and motor outputs
Frontal lobe
Part of the CB, at the front of the brain; enables a person to plan and perform actions
Parietal lobe
Part of CB, lying at the top; important for processing somatosensory (touch) inputs
Temporal lobe
Part of CB, lying at the sides; important for language and auditory processing and for learning new facts and forming new memories of events
Occipital lobe
Part of CB, lying at the rear; important for visual processing
Cerebellum
A brain region below the cerebral cortex in the back of the head; Responsible for the regulation and coordination of complex voluntary muscular movement, including classical conditioning and motor-reflex responses
Brainstem
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
Phrenology
An obsolete field of study that attempted to determine mental abilities by measuring head shape and size
Structural neuroimaging
Techniques (such as MRI) for creating images of anatomical structures within the living brain
Lesion 病变
Damage caused by injury or illness
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI, 核磁共振成像）
Method of structural neuroimaging based on recording changes in magnetic fields
Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI; 扩散张量成像）
A type of MRI that measures connections between brain regions
Dendrite
On a neuron, an extension that is specialized to receive signals from other neurons
Cell body (Soma)
Central part of the prototypical neuron; contains the nucleus and integrates signals from all the dendrites.
Axon
Output extension of a neuron, specialized for transmitting signals to other neurons or to muscles
Glia
Cells of various types that provide functional or structural support to neurons; some contribute to changes in connections between neurons
Plasticity
The capacity of brain structure to change over time
Enriched environment
An environment that provides sensory stimulation and opportunities to explore and learn; for a rat, this may mean housing in a large cage with many toys to play with and other rates to socialize with
Rats raised in an ____ environment have cortical neurons with ____ and ____ dendrites than ____-____ control groups
Enriched; more; longer; experience-impoverished
Neural connectivity
The connections between neurons through which brain systems interact
____ that ____ together, wire together!
Neurons; fire
Hebbian learning
The principle that learning involves strengthening the connections of conceive neurons; often stated as, “Neurons that fire together, wire together”
Reflex
Involuntary and automatic response that is “hardwired” into an organism.
In the spinal cord, ____ fibers are separate from ____ fibers
Sensory; Motor
Most sensory inputs enter the brain through the ____
Thalamus
Primary ____ cortex (A1), primary ____ cortex (S1), and the primary ____ cortex (V1) are called primary ____ cortices because they are involved in the ____ stage of cortical processing for each type of sensation.
Auditory; somatosensory; visual; sensory; first
Functional neuroimaging (fMRI)
Techniques (such as fMRI) for observing the activity or function of a living brain
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
A method of functional neuroimaging based on comparing an MRI of the brain during performance of a task with an MRI of the brain at rest
Electroencephalography (EEG)
A method of measuring electrical activity in the brain by means of electrodes placed on the scalp; the resulting image is an electroencephalogram (EEG)
