Chapter 3 - The Biology Of Behavior - Terms And Concepts pt. 2

Question 1

Caudate Nucleus

Answer 1

A component of the basal ganglia involved with the control and initiation of motor movement - an area of the brain affected by Huntington’s disease, which is located adjacent to the putamen

Question 2

Putamen

Answer 2

A component of the basal ganglia involved with the control and initiation of motor movement - an area of the brain affected by Huntington’s disease, which is located adjacent to the caudate nucleus

Question 3

Substantia Nigra

Answer 3

A region of dark colored neurons in the upper brainstem that sends axons to the caudate nuclues and to the putamen - an area of the brain affected by Parkinson’s disease

Question 4

Cerebral Cortex

Answer 4

This outer layer of the brain’s cerebrum (sometimes called gray matter) that is responsible for movement, perception, thinking, and memory

Question 5

Sensory Cortex

Answer 5

Region of the cerebral cortex that is involved in receiving sensory messages

Question 6

Motor Cortex

Answer 6

Region of the cerebral cortex that transmits messages to muscles and controls virtually all intentional body movements

Question 7

Association Cortex

Answer 7

The largest portion of the cerebral cortex (about 75%), involved in integrating sensory and motor messages as well as processing higher functions such as thinking, interpreting, and remembering

Question 8

Frontal Lobe

Answer 8

Largest, foremost lobe in the cerebral cortex; an important region for movement, emotion, and memory

Question 9

Broca’s Area

Answer 9

Region of the left frontal love that is the primary brain center for controlling speech

Question 10

Broca’s Aphasia

Answer 10

The loss of the ability to speak or understand spoken or written language, also called expressive aphasia

Question 11

Parietal Lobe

Answer 11

Region of the cerebral cortex located just behind the central fissure and above the lateral fissure, contains the somatosensory cortex as well as association areas that process sensory information received by the somatosensory cortex

Question 12

Somatosensory Cortex

Answer 12

Area of the parietal lobe, directly across from the motor cortex in the frontal lobe, which receives sensory information about touch, pressure, pain, temperature, and body position

Question 13

Occipital Lobe

Answer 13

Region at the rear of cerebral cortex that consists of primarily the visual cortex

Question 14

Visual Cortex

Answer 14

Portion of the occipital lobe that integrates sensory information received from the eyes into electrical patterns that the brain translates into vision

Question 15

Temporal Lobe

Answer 15

Region of the cerebral cortex located below the lateral fissure that contains the auditory cortex

Question 16

Auditory Cortex

Answer 16

Region of the temporal lobe located just below the lateral fissure that is involved in responding to auditory signals, particularly the sound of human speech

Question 17

Wernicke’s Area

Answer 17

Area of the left temporal lobe that is the brain’s primary area for understanding speech

Question 18

Wernicke’s Aphasia

Answer 18

A loss of the ability to comprehend spoken or written language, also called receptive aphasia

Question 19

Agnosias

Answer 19

An inability to know or recognize objects through the senses usually caused by brain injury or disease resulting in the failure to recognize or identify objects visually even though they can be seen

Question 20

Prosopagnosia

Answer 20

An inability to visually recognize particular faces usually caused by brain disease or injury (patients with prosopagnosia can see a face but may not be able to recognize it as familiar)

Question 21

Lesion Production

Answer 21

Technique for studying the brain that involves surgical damage to a precise region of the brain (most commonly done with experimental animals)

Question 22

Brain Stimulation

Answer 22

Technique for studying the brain that involves stimulating precise regions with a weak electric current

Question 23

Electric Recording

Answer 23

Technique for studying the brain in which tiny wires implanted in the brain are used to record neural electrical activity

Question 24

Electroencephalography (EEG)

Answer 24

Technique used to measure and record electrical activity of the cortex

Question 25

Computerized Axial Tomography (CAT)

Answer 25

A procedure used to locate brain abnormalities that involves rotating an X-ray scanner around the skull to produce an accurate image of the living brain

Question 26

Positron Emission Tomography (PET)

Answer 26

Technique for studying the brain that involves injecting a subject with a glucose-like sugar tagged with a radioactive isotope that accumulates in brain cells in direct proportion to their activity level

Question 27

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

Answer 27

Procedure for studying the brain that uses radio waves to excite hydrogen protons in the brain tissue, creating a magnetic field charge

Question 28

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

Answer 28

A method of magnetic resonance imaging that measures energy released by brain cells that are active during a specific task

Question 29

Endocrine system

Answer 29

System of ductless glands, including the pituitary, thyroid, parathyroids, adrenals, pancreas, and gonads that secrete hormones directly into the bloodstream or lymph fluids

Question 30

Hormones

Answer 30

Chemical messengers secreted by the endocrine glands that act to regulate the functioning of specific body organs

Question 31

Pituitary Gland

Answer 31

Gland in the endocrine system located directly below and connected to the hypothalamus, produces a number of hormones many of which trigger other endocrine glands to release hormones

Question 32

Thyroid Gland

Answer 32

Endocrine gland located in the neck that influences metabolism, growth, and maturation, which produces the hormone thyroxine

Question 33

Thyroxine

Answer 33

The major hormone produced by thyroid gland that regulates metabolism

Question 34

Adrenal glands

Answer 34

Glands within the endocrine system, located just above the kidneys, that influence emotional state, energy levels, and responses to stress by releasing hormones

Question 35

Gonads

Answer 35

Glands within the endocrine system (ovaries in females and testes in males) that produce sex hormones that influence development of sexual system and secondary sex characteristics as well as sexual motivation

Question 36

Tolerance

Answer 36

A decrease in the effectiveness of a drug observed after repeated administration

Question 37

Dependence

Answer 37

Physiological adaptation to repeated drug administration that can lead to withdrawal symptoms upon cessation of drug use

Question 38

Addiction

Answer 38

A brain disease caused by repeated administration of drugs that rapidly increase dopamine activity resulting in structural and functional changes to the mesolimbic system and frontal cortex (not all drugs that cause dependence necessarily cause addiction)

Question 39

Depressants

Answer 39

Psychoactive drugs, including opiates, sedatives, and alcohol, that have the effect of slowing down or depressing central nervous system activity

Question 40

Sedatives

Answer 40

Class of depressant drugs including tranquilizers, barbiturates, and benzodiazepines that induce relaxation, calmness, and sleep

Question 41

Narcotics (opiates)

Answer 41

Also known as opiates, a class of depressant drugs that includes opium, morphine, codeine, and heroin

Question 42

Stimulants

Answer 42

Psychoactive drugs, including caffeine, nicotine, amphetamines, and cocaine, that stimulate the central nervous system by increasing the transmission of neural impulses

Question 43

Amphetamines

Answer 43

A group of powerful stimulants, including Benzedrine, Dexedrine, and Ritalin, that dramatically increase alertness and promote feeling of euphoria

Question 44

LSD (Lysergic Acid Diethylamide)

Answer 44

Hallucinogenic drug derived from a fungus that grows on rye grass that produces profound distortions of sensations, feelings, time, and thought

Question 45

Hallucinogens

Answer 45

Class of psychoactive drugs, including LSD and ecstasy, that alter sensory perceptions, thinking processes and emotions, often causing delusions, hallucinations, and altered sense of time and space

Question 46

Marijuana

Answer 46

Drug derived from the hemp plant Cannabis sativa, containing the chemical THC (delta 9-tetrahydrocannbinol)

Question 47

Anandamide

Answer 47

A naturally occurring substance that binds to THC receptors in the brain. Marijuana contains THC, which also binds to these receptors

Question 48

Lateralization of Function

Answer 48

Degree to which a particular function, such as the understanding of speech, is controlled by one rather than both cerebral hemispheres

Question 49

Corpus Callosum

Answer 49

Broad band of nerve fibers that connects the left and right hemispheres of the cerebral cortex