Chapter 3 Psychology 175.102 Flashcards
Sensory neurons
Transmit information from the sensory cells called receptors to the brain.
Neurons
Basic units of the nervous system
Interneurons
Nerve cells that connect other neurons with one another.
Motor neurons
Transmit commands from interneurons to the glands and muscles of the body.
Anatomy of a neuron
Dendrites Cell body Axon Myelin sheath Terminal buttons Synapses
Glutamate
Neurotransmitter that can excite nearly every neuron in the nervous system
GABA
Neurotransmitter that play an inhibitory role.
Dopamine
Neurotransmitter involved in thought, feeling, motivation, and behaviour
Serotonin
Neurotransmitter involved in regulation of mood, sleep, eating, arousal and pain.
Acetylcholine
Neurotransmitter involved in learning and memory.
Endorphins
Neurotransmitter that elevates mood and reduces pain.
Endocrine system
A collection of glands that secrete chemicals, called hormones, directly into the bloodstream.
Pituitary gland
An oval structure in the brain often called the master gland because it stimulates and regulates other glands
Thyroid gland
Located in the neck, releases hormones that control growth and metabolism
Adrenal gland
Located in the kidneys. Secretes adrenaline and other hormones during emergencies.
Pancreas
Located near the stomach, produces hormones that control blood-sugar levels
Gonads
Glands that influence sexual development and behaviour.
Testosterone
Male hormone of the gonads
Estrogens
Female hormone of the gonads
Central nervous system
Consists of brain and spinal cord
Peripheral nervous system
Consists of neurons that convey messages to and from the CNS.
Somatic nervous system & Autonomic nervous system
Somatic nervous system
Transmits sensory information to the central nervous system and carries out its commands
Autonomic nervous system
Conveys information to and from internal bodily structures that carry out basic life support such as digestion and respiration.
Includes Sympathetic nervous system & Parasympathetic nervous system.
Sympathetic nervous system
Activated in response to threats.
Parasympathetic nervous system
Supports the more mundane activities such as regulating blood-sugar, saliva, and eliminating wastes.
Three parts of the Brain
- Hindbrain
- Midbrain
- Forebrain
Hindbrain
Medulla oblongata (medulla)
Cerebellum
Parts of reticular formation
Pons
Medulla
The extension of the spinal cord to the brain. Essential to life, controlling vital functions such as heartbeat, circulation and respiration
Cerebellum
Large structure at back of brain involved in movement as well as other functions.
Reticular formation
Major function is to control consciousness, regulate arousal levels and modulate the activity of neurons throughout the CNS
Pons
Involved in respiration, movement, sleep, waking and dreaming
Midbrain
Helps coordinate movement patterns, sleep and arousal
Tectum
Includes structures involved in vision and hearing
Tegmentum
Includes parts of the reticular formation and other neural structures. Related to movement.
Forebrain
Involved in complex sensory, emotional, cognitive and behavioural processes. Consists of the hypothalamus thalamus, and cerebrum.
Hypothalamus
Help regulate behaviours ranging from eating and sleeping to sexual activity emotional experience
Thalamus
Processes sensory information as it arrives and transmits this information to the higher brain centres.
Limbic system
Diverse functions including emotion, motivation, learning and memory
Amygdala
Involved in many emotional processes especially learning and remembering emotionally significant events
Hippocampus
Particularly important for storing new information in memory so that the person can later consciously remember it.
Basal ganglia
Includes the putem and caudate nucleus involved in movement and judgement that require conscious thought
Cerebral cortex includes …
Frontal lobes
Association areas, which are involved in complex mental processes such as perception and thinking
Temporal lobes
Primary areas, which usually process raw sensory data
Occipital lobes
Parietal lobes
Occipital lobes
Specialised for vision
Parietal lobes
Involved in several functions including the sense of touch, detecting movement in the environment, locating objects in space and experiencing one’s own body as it moves through space
Somatosensory cortex
Different sections of the somatosensory cortex receive information from different parts of the body
Frontal lobes
Involved in a number of functions including movement, attention, planning, social skills, abstract thinking, memory and some aspects of personality
Motor cortex
Through its projections to the basal ganglia, cerebellum and spinal cord, the motor cortex initiates voluntary movement
Broca’s area
Located in the left frontal lobe at the base of the motor cortex, is specialised for movement of the mouth and tongue necessary for speech production. It also plays a pivotal role in the use and understanding of grammar
Temporal lobes
Particularly important in audition and language, although they have other functions as well
Wernicke’s area
Located in the left temporal lobe, is important in language comprehension. Damage to Wernick’s area may produce Wernick’s aphasia, characterised by difficulty understanding what words and sentences mean
Corpus callosum
Joins the two hemispheres of the brain.
Left hemisphere
The left hemisphere is more verbal and analytic
Right hemisphere
The right hemisphere is specialised for non-linguistic functions
Gene
The gene is the unit of hereditary transmission
Chromosomes
Strands of paired DNA that spiral around each other. Human cells have 46 chromosomes, except sperm cells in males and egg cells in females, each of which has 23.
Degree of the relatedness
The probability of sharing genes among relatives
Monozygotic twins
Monozygotic twins developed from the union of the same sperm and egg. They share the same genetic make up so the degree of genetic relatedness is 1.0.
Dizygotic twins
Dizygotic twins develop from the union of two sperm with two separate eggs. Like other siblings the degree of relatedness is .5
Heritability coefficient
Quantifies the extent to which variation in the trait across individuals can be accounted for by genetic variation.
