Chapter Two : Part One Flashcards
a popular but ill-fated theory that claimed bumps on the skull could reveal our mental abilities and our character traits
phrenology
a branch of psychology concerned with the links between biology and behavior
biological psychology
a nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system
neuron
the bushy, branching extensions of a neuron that receive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body
dendrite
the extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers, through which messages pass to other neurons or to muscles or glands
axon
a layer of fatty tissue segmentally encasing he fibers of many neurons; enables vastly greater transmission speed of neural impulses as the impulse hops from one node to the next
myelin sheath
a neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon, the action potential is generated by the movement of positively charged atoms in and out of channels in the axon’s membrane
action potential
the level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse
threshold
the junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron, the tiny gap at this junction is called the synaptic gap or cleft
synapse
chemical messengers that traverse the synaptic gaps between neurons, when released by the sending neuron, neurotransmitters travel across the synapse and bind to receptor sites on the receiving neuron, thereby influencing whether that neuron will generate a neural impulse
neurotransmitters
a neurotransmitter that enables learning and memory and also triggers muscle contraction
acetylcholine (ach)
influences movement, learning, attention, and emotion
dopamine
affects mood, hunger, sleep, and arousal
serotonin
“morphine within” natural, opiate-like neurotransmitters linked to pain control and to pleasure
endorphins
the body’s speedy, electrochemical communication network, consisting of all the nerve cells of the peripheral and central nervous systems
nervous system
the brain and the spinal chord
central nervous system (CNS)
the sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system to the rest of the body
peripheral nervous system (PNS)
neural “cables” containing many axons, these bundled axons, which are part of the peripheral nervous system, connect the central nervous system with muscles, glands, and sense organs
nerves
neurons that carry incoming information from the sense receptors to the central nervous system
sensory neurons
neurons that carry outgoing information from the central nervous system to the muscles and glands
motor neurons
central nervous system neurons that internally communicate and intervene between the sensory inputs and motor outputs
interneurons
the division of peripheral nervous system that controls the body’s skeletal muscles, also called the skeletal nervous system
somatic nervous system
the part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs, its sympathetic division arouses; its parasympathetic division clams
autonomic nervous system
the division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situations
sympathetic nervous system
