Chapter Two : Part One

Question 1

a popular but ill-fated theory that claimed bumps on the skull could reveal our mental abilities and our character traits

Answer 1

phrenology

Question 2

a branch of psychology concerned with the links between biology and behavior

Answer 2

biological psychology

Question 3

a nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system

Answer 3

neuron

Question 4

the bushy, branching extensions of a neuron that receive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body

Answer 4

dendrite

Question 5

the extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers, through which messages pass to other neurons or to muscles or glands

Answer 5

axon

Question 6

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

Answer 6

myelin sheath

Question 7

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

Answer 7

action potential

Question 8

the level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse

Answer 8

threshold

Question 9

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

Answer 9

synapse

Question 10

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

Answer 10

neurotransmitters

Question 11

a neurotransmitter that enables learning and memory and also triggers muscle contraction

Answer 11

acetylcholine (ach)

Question 12

influences movement, learning, attention, and emotion

Answer 12

dopamine

Question 13

affects mood, hunger, sleep, and arousal

Answer 13

serotonin

Question 14

“morphine within” natural, opiate-like neurotransmitters linked to pain control and to pleasure

Answer 14

endorphins

Question 15

the body’s speedy, electrochemical communication network, consisting of all the nerve cells of the peripheral and central nervous systems

Answer 15

nervous system

Question 16

the brain and the spinal chord

Answer 16

central nervous system (CNS)

Question 17

the sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system to the rest of the body

Answer 17

peripheral nervous system (PNS)

Question 18

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

Answer 18

nerves

Question 19

neurons that carry incoming information from the sense receptors to the central nervous system

Answer 19

sensory neurons

Question 20

neurons that carry outgoing information from the central nervous system to the muscles and glands

Answer 20

motor neurons

Question 21

central nervous system neurons that internally communicate and intervene between the sensory inputs and motor outputs

Answer 21

interneurons

Question 22

the division of peripheral nervous system that controls the body’s skeletal muscles, also called the skeletal nervous system

Answer 22

somatic nervous system

Question 23

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

Answer 23

autonomic nervous system

Question 24

the division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situations

Answer 24

sympathetic nervous system

Question 25

the division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving its energy

Answer 25

parasympathetic nervous system

Question 26

a simple, automatic, inborn response to a sensory stimulus, such as the knee-jerk response

Answer 26

reflex

Question 27

tissue destruction, a brain lesion is a naturally or experimentally caused destruction of brain tissue

Answer 27

lesion

Question 28

interconnected neural cells, with experience, networks can learn, as feedback strengthens or inhibits connections that produce certain resulsts

Answer 28

neural networks

Question 29

the body’s “slow” chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream

Answer 29

endocrine system

Question 30

chemical messengers, mostly those manufactured by the endocrine glands, that are produced in one tissue and affect another

Answer 30

hormones

Question 31

a pair of endocrine glands just above the kidneys, the adrenals secrete the hormones epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline), which help to arouse the body in times stress

Answer 31

adrenal glands

Question 32

the endocrine system’s most influential gland, under the influence of the hypothalamus, the pituitary regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands

Answer 32

pituitary gland

Question 33

an amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity that sweep across the brain’s surface, these waves are measured by electrodes placed on the scalp

Answer 33

electroencephalogram (EEG)

Question 34

a visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task

Answer 34

position emission tomography (PET)

Question 35

a technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer-generated images that distinguish among different types of soft tissue; allows us to see structures within the brain; show brain anatomy

Answer 35

magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

Question 36

a technique for revealing blood flow and, therefore, brain activity by comparing successive MRI scans; show brain fuction

Answer 36

functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)