Chapter 2 - The Biological Perspective Flashcards
What is the nervous system?
A network of cells that carries information to and from all parts of the body.
What is neuroscience?
A branch of the life sciences that deals with the structure and functioning of the brain and the neurons, nerves, and nervous tissue that form the nervous system.
What is biological psychology?
Also called behavioral neuroscience. It is the branch of neuroscience that focuses on the biological bases of the psychological processes, behavior, and learning, and it is the primary areas associated with the biological perspective in psychology.
What is a neuron?
A specialized cell in the nervous system that receives and send messages with that system. They are one of the messengers of the body.
What is a dendrite?
A branch attached to the cell body that is responsible for receiving messages.
What is the soma?
The body of the cell and is responsible for keeping the entire cell alive.
What is the axon?
Is a fiber that is attached to the soma, and is responsible for carrying messages out to other cells.
What is the axon terminal?
The tip of the axon responsible for communication with other nerve cells.
What is a glial cell?
Some serve as a sort of structure on which the neurons develop and work and that hold the neurons in place.
What is myelin?
Created from a special type of glial cell called oligodendrocyte. Is a layer of fatty substance that surrounds the shaft of the axons forming an insulating and protective barrier.
What is a tract?
Bundles of myelin coated axons travel together as cables in the central nervous system.
What is a nerve?
In the peripheral nervous system, bundles of axons are called nerves.
What is diffusion?
The process of ions moving from areas of high concentration to areas of low concentration.
What is multiple sclerosis?
The myelin sheath is destroyed wich leads to complete loss of nervous system.
What is electrostatic pressure?
The relative electrical charg when the ions are at rest.
What is semipermeable?
Some substances that are outside the cell can enter through tiny protein openings, or channels, in the membrane, while other substances can go outside.
What is resting potential?
When the cell is resting, the electrical potential is in a state called resting potential, because the cell is at rest.
What is action potential?
An electrical charge reversal, because the electrical potential is now in action rather than at rest.
How do neurons fire?
All or none fashion. They are either firing at full strength or not at all.
What is the synaptic vesicles?
The little sac like structures in an axon terminal.
What is a neurotransmitter?
The chemicals used to transmit a message.
What is the synapse, or synaptic gap?
The fluid filled space between the dendrite of one neuron and the axon of another neuron.
What are receptor sites?
Proteins that allow only particular molecules of a certain shape to fit into it, just as only a particular key will fit into a keyhole.
How does the synapse work?
The nerve impulse reaches the axon terminal, triggering the release of neurotransmitters from the synaptic vesicles. The molecules of the neurotransmitter cross the synaptic gap to fit into the receptor sites that fit the shape of the molecule, opening the ion channel and allowing sodium ions to rush in.