Chapter Two

Question 1

Action potential

Answer 1

Propagated electrical potential responsible for transmitting neural information and for communication between neurons.
-typically travel down a neuron’s axon

Question 2

Axon

Answer 2

Part of the neuron that transmits signals from the cell body to the synapse at the end of the axon

Question 3

Brain imaging

Answer 3

Technique such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) that results in images of the brain that represent brain activity.
-in cognitive psychology, activity is measured in response to specific cognitive tasks

Question 4

Cell body

Answer 4

Part of a cell that contains mechanisms that keep the cell alive.
In some neurons, the cell body and the dendrites associated with it receive information from other neurons

Question 5

Cerebral Cortex

Answer 5

The 3-mm-thick outer layer of the brain that contains the mechanisms responsible for higher mental functions such as perception, language, thinking, and problem solving

Question 6

Cognitive neuroscience

Answer 6

Field concerned with studying the neural basis of cognition

Question 7

Dendrites

Answer 7

Structures that branch out from the cell body to receive electrical signals from other neurons

Question 8

Distributed representation

Answer 8

Occurs when a specific cognition activates many area of the brain

Question 9

Double dissociation

Answer 9

A situation in which a single dissociation can be demonstrated in one person and the opposite type of single dissociation can be demonstrated in another person

Question 10

Feature detectors

Answer 10

Neurons that respond to specific visual features, such as orientation, size, or the more complex features that make up environmental stimuli

Question 11

Frontal lobe

Answer 11

The lobe in the front of the brain that serves higher functions such as language, thought, memory, and motor functioning

Question 12

fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging)

Answer 12

A brain imaging technique that measures how blood flow changes in response to cognitive activity

Question 13

Hierarchical Processing

Answer 13

Processing that occurs in a progression from lower to higher areas of the brain

Question 14

Microelectrode

Answer 14

Small wires that are used to record electrical signals from signal neurons

Question 15

Nerve Impulse

Answer 15

An electrical response that is propagated down the length of an axon (nerve fiber)
**also called an action potential

Question 16

Neural circuit

Answer 16

Group of neurons or structure that are connected together

Question 17

Neural network

Answer 17

Groups of neurons or structures that are connected together

Question 18

Neuron

Answer 18

Cell that is specialized to receive and transmit information in the nervous system

Question 19

Neuropsychology

Answer 19

The study of the behavioral effects of brain damage in humans

Question 20

Neurotransmitter

Answer 20

Chemical that is released at the synapse in response to incoming action potentials

Question 21

Occipital lobe

Answer 21

The lobe at the back of the brain that is devoted primarily to analyzing incoming visual information

Question 22

Parietal lobe

Answer 22

The lobe at the top of the brain that contains mechanisms responsible for sensations caused by stimulation of the skin and also some aspects of visual information

Question 23

Resting potential

Answer 23

Difference in charge between the inside and outside of a nerve fiber when the fiber is at rest (no electrical signals are present)

Question 24

Receptors

Answer 24

Specialized neural structures that respond to environmental stimuli such as light, mechanical stimulation, or chemical stimuli

Question 25

Sensory Code

Answer 25

How neural firing represents various characteristics of the environment

Question 26

Sparse coding

Answer 26

Neural coding based on the pattern of activity in small groups of neurons

Question 27

Specificity Coding

Answer 27

The representation of a specific stimulus by the firing of neurons that respond only to that stimulus.
**an example would be the signaling of a person’s face by the firing of a neuron that responds only to that person

Question 28

Synapse

Answer 28

Space between the end of an axon and the cell body or dendrite of the next axon

Question 29

Population coding

Answer 29

Neural representation of a stimulus by the pattern of firing of a large number of neurons

Question 30

Temporal lobe

Answer 30

The lobe on the side of the brain that contains mechanisms responsible for language,memory, hearing, and vision