Chapter 3 Flashcards
What are the two main parts of the nervous system?
Central nervous system (CNS) and Peripheral nervous system (PNS)
What is the function of the sympathetic nervous system?
Responsible for the fight-or-flight reaction
What does the parasympathetic nervous system do?
Reverses the effect of the sympathetic nervous system to return the body to its resting state
What is the role of afferent neurons?
Carry signals from the PNS to the CNS
What is the role of efferent neurons?
Carry signals from the CNS to the PNS muscles and glands
What are interneurons and where are they typically found?
Relay cells between different neuron types; found in the spinal cord between motor and sensory neurons
What is the function of the medulla?
Regulates heartbeat, breathing, sneezing, and coughing
What is the role of the pons?
Acts as a bridge between the medulla and other brain areas
What is the cerebellum important for?
Motor coordination and certain types of learning that involve movement
What is the reticular formation responsible for?
Regulating the sleep/wake cycle
What is the function of the substantia nigra in the midbrain?
Important in the fluidity of movement and inhibiting movements
What does the thalamus do?
Serves as a relay station for incoming sensory information
What is the function of the hypothalamus?
Important for motivation, basic drives, and control of the endocrine system
What is the role of the pituitary gland?
Regulates hormones
What is the limbic system involved in?
Regulation of motivation, emotion, learning, and memory
What is the hippocampus important for?
Certain types of learning and memory
What is the basal ganglia’s role?
Plays a role in cognitive flexibility and voluntary movement control
What does the cerebral cortex control?
Complex functions such as consciousness, language, and thought
What happens when the motor cortex is electrically stimulated?
Specific parts of the body move
What is the parietal lobe responsible for?
Perception and processing of touch stimuli
What are the two main parts of the nervous system?
Central nervous system (CNS) and Peripheral nervous system (PNS)
What is the function of the sympathetic nervous system?
Responsible for the fight-or-flight reaction
What does the parasympathetic nervous system do?
Reverses the effect of the sympathetic nervous system to return the body to its resting state
What is the role of afferent neurons?
Carry signals from the PNS to the CNS
What is the role of efferent neurons?
Carry signals from the CNS to the PNS muscles and glands
What are interneurons and where are they typically found?
Relay cells between different neuron types; found in the spinal cord between motor and sensory neurons
What is the function of the medulla?
Regulates heartbeat, breathing, sneezing, and coughing
What is the role of the pons?
Acts as a bridge between the medulla and other brain areas
What is the cerebellum important for?
Motor coordination and certain types of learning that involve movement
What is the reticular formation responsible for?
Regulating the sleep/wake cycle
What is the function of the substantia nigra in the midbrain?
Important in the fluidity of movement and inhibiting movements
What does the thalamus do?
Serves as a relay station for incoming sensory information
What is the function of the hypothalamus?
Important for motivation, basic drives, and control of the endocrine system
What is the role of the pituitary gland?
Regulates hormones
What is the limbic system involved in?
Regulation of motivation, emotion, learning, and memory
What is the hippocampus important for?
Certain types of learning and memory
What is the basal ganglia’s role?
Plays a role in cognitive flexibility and voluntary movement control
What does the cerebral cortex control?
Complex functions such as consciousness, language, and thought
What happens when the motor cortex is electrically stimulated?
Specific parts of the body move
What is the parietal lobe responsible for?
Perception and processing of touch stimuli
What are Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area responsible for?
Broca’s area: speech production; Wernicke’s area: language comprehension
What are the major types of neurons?
Sensory neurons, motor neurons, and interneurons
What are the major structures of a neuron?
Cell body, axon, and dendrites
What is the function of astrocytes?
Create blood-brain barrier, influence communication between neurons, and help heal brain damage
What do oligodendroglia do?
Provide myelin to speed up transmission of neurons
What is the resting potential of a neuron?
When a neuron is at rest, it is negatively charged inside relative to the outside
What happens during an action potential?
Ion channels open to let charged ions flow into and out of the neuron, making the neuron more positive inside
What is the all-or-none principle?
Either a neuron is sufficiently stimulated to start an action potential or it is not
What triggers the release of neurotransmitters?
An action potential
What are excitatory and inhibitory postsynaptic potentials?
Excitatory postsynaptic potentials depolarize the neuron, increasing the likelihood of an action potential; inhibitory postsynaptic potentials hyperpolarize the neuron, decreasing the likelihood of an action potential
What are the functions of glutamate and GABA?
Glutamate: learning, memory, movement, emotions, cognition; GABA: learning, anxiety regulation
What does the corpus callosum do?
Connects the two brain hemispheres and allows for communication between them
What is the significance of the visual system in split-brain patients?
Visual cues from the temporal part of the visual field are sent to the opposite side of the brain, while those from the medial part are transmitted to the same side of the brain
