Chapter 2

Question 0

Biological psychology

Answer 0

A branch of psychology concerned with the links between biology & behavior.

Question 1

Phrenology

Answer 1

The detailed study of the shape & size of the cranium as a supposed indication of character & mental abilities.

Question 2

Neuron

Answer 2

A nerve cell. The basic building block of the nervous system.

Question 3

Dendrite

Answer 3

Receives messages from other cells.

Question 4

Axon

Answer 4

Passes messages away from the cell body to other neurons, muscles or glands.

Question 5

Myelin sheath

Answer 5

Covers the axon of some neurons & helps speed natural impulses.

Question 6

Action Potential

Answer 6

A neural impulse. A brief electrical charge that travels down an axon. Generated by the movement of positively charged atoms in & out of channels in the axon’s membrane.

Question 7

Threshold

Answer 7

The level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse

Question 8

Synapse

Answer 8

A junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron & the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron. This tiny gap called the synaptic gap or cleft.

Question 9

Neurotransmitters

Answer 9

Chemicals released from the sending neuron travel across the synapse & bind to receptor sites on the receiving neuron, thereby influencing it to generate an action potential.

Question 10

Acetylcholine, ACh

Answer 10

Enables muscle action, learning & memory. (Deteriorates: Alzheimer’s)

Question 11

Dopamine

Answer 11

Influences movement, learning, attention & emotion. (High levels=schizophrenia, low levels=Parkinson’s)

Question 12

Serotonin

Answer 12

Affects mood, hunger, sleep & arousal. (Low levels=depression)

Question 13

Endorphins

Answer 13

“Endorphins within” controls pain control & pleasure.

Question 14

Nervous system

Answer 14

The body’s speedy, electrochemical communication network, consisting of all the nerve cells of the peripheral & central nervous systems.

Question 15

Central Nervous System

Answer 15

The Brain & spinal cord

Question 16

Peripheral Nervous System

Answer 16

The sensory & motor neurons that connect the central nervous system to the rest of the body

Question 17

Nerves

Answer 17

Neural “cables” containing many axon’s. These bundled axons, which are part of the peripheral nervous system with muscles, glands & sense organs.

Question 18

Sensory neurons

Answer 18

Neurons that carry incoming info from the sense receptors to the central nervous system, connect the central nervous system with muscles, glands & sense organs.

Question 19

Motor Neurons

Answer 19

Neurons that carry outgoing info from the central nervous system to the muscles and glands.

Question 20

Interneurons

Answer 20

Central nervous system neurons that internally communicate & intervene between the sensory inputs & motor outputs.

Question 21

Somatic Nervous System

Answer 21

The division of the peripheral nervous system that controls the body’s skeletal muscles. (Aka skeletal nervous system)

Question 22

Autonomic Nervous System

Answer 22

The part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs. It’s sympathetic division arouses; it’s parasympathetic division cells.

Question 23

Sympathetic Nervous System

Answer 23

The division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situations

Question 24

Parasympathetic Nervous System

Answer 24

The division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving its energy.

Question 25

Reflex

Answer 25

A simple, automatic, inborn response to a sensory stimulus, such as the knee-jerk response

Question 26

Lesions

Answer 26

Tissue destruction

Question 27

Neural Networks

Answer 27

Interconnected neural cells……

Question 28

Endocrine system

Answer 28

The body’s “slow” chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream.

Question 29

Hormones

Answer 29

Chemical messengers, mostly those manufactured by the endocrine glands, that are produced in one tissue & affect another.