Chapter 2 Part 1 Flashcards
A branch of psychology concerned with the links between psychology and behavior.
Biological psychology
A nerve cell; the basic building blocks of the nervous system.
Neuron
the bushy, branching extension of a neuron that receive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body.
Dendrite
the extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers, through which messages pass to other neurons or to muscles or glands.
Axon
A layer of fatty tissue segmentally encasing the fibers of many neurons; enabling vastly greater transmission speed of neutral impulses as the impulse hops from one node to the next.
Myelin sheath
A neutral impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon. The action potential id generated by the atoms in and out of channels in the axon’s membrane.
Action potential
The level of stimulation required to trigger an impulse
Threshold
The junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron.
Synapse
Chemical messengers that traverse the synaptic gaps between neurons. When released by the sending neuron, neurotransmitters travel across synapse and bind to receptor sites on the receiving neutron, thereby influencing whether that neuron will generate a neutral impulse of not.
Neurotransmitter
A neurotransmitter that enables learning and also triggers muscle spasms.
Acetylcholine
“Morphine within,” natural, opiatelike neurotransmitters linked to pain control and to pleasure.
Endorphins
The brain and spinal cord.
Central Nervous system
The sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system (CNS) to the rest of the body.
Peripheral nervous System
neutral “cables” that contain many axons. These bundled axons, which are part of the peripheral nervous system, connect the CNS with muscle glands and sense organs.
Nerves
Neurons that carry incoming information from the sense receptors to the CNS
Sensory neurons
Neurons that carry outgoing information from the CNS to the muscles and glands
Motor neurons
CNS neurons that internally communicate and intervene between the sensory inputs and motor outputs
Interneurons
The division of the peripheral nervous system that controls the body’s skeletal muscles. Also called the skeletal nervous system.
Somatic nervous system
The part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of internal organs.
Automatic nervous system
The division of the automatic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situations.
Sympathetic nervous system
The division of the automatic nervous system that calms the body, conserving energy.
Parasympathetic nervous system
The body’s “slow” chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones in the blood stream.
Endocrine system
Chemical messengers, mostly those manufactured by the endocrine glands, that are produced in one tissue and affect another.
Hormones
a pair of endocrine glands just above the kidneys. The adrenals secrete the hormones epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline), which help to arouse the body in times of stress.
Adrenal glands
the endocrine system’s most influential gland. Under the influence of the hypothalamus, the pituitary regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands.
Pituitary gland
A visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain preforms a given task.
PET scan
A technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer-generated images that distinguish among different types of soft tissue; allows us to see structures within the brain.
MRI
