Chapter Two: The Start of Life Flashcards
Medulla
Vital in the control of basic functions such as heartbeat and respiration
Part of the brain stem
Nerves that connect spinal cord to higher levels of the brain pass through here
Cerebellum
Helps child maintain balance, control motor behavior, and coordinate eye movements with bodily sensations
Cerebrum
Two hemispheres that become more wrinkled as child develops, coming to show ridges and valleys called fissures
Contributes to human learning, thought, memory, and language
Growth Spurts of the Brain
Formation of neurons completed at birth
1st: during 4th and 5th month of prenatal development; due to formation of neurons
2nd: between 25th week of prenatal development and the end of the 2nd year of life after birth; due to proliferation of dendrites and axon terminals
EEG
Measures brain’s electrical activity
PET
Positron-emission tomography
MRI
Magnetic resonance imaging
Cerebral Cortex
Divided into 2 hemispheres –left/right
Lateralization
Hemispheric specialization
Four Areas of Each Hemisphere
Frontal Lobe
Occipital Lobe
Temporal Lobe
Parietal Lobe
Frontal Lobe
Voluntary thinking and movement
Occipital Libe
Vision functions
Temporal Lobe
Hearing functions
Parietal Lobe
Processing body sensations
Chromosomes
Rod-shaped portions of DNA that are organized in 23 pairs
Genes
The basic unit of genetic information
Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA)
The substance that genes are composed of that determines the nature of every cell in the body and how it will function
Monozygotic Twins (MZ)
Twins who are genetically identical
Dizygotic Twins (DZ)
Twins who are produced when two superstar ova are fertilized by two separate sperm at roughly the same time
Homozygous
Inheriting from parents similar genes for a given trait
Heterozygous
Inheriting from parents different forms of a gene for a given trait
Dominant Trait
The one trait that is expressed when two competing traits are present
Recessive Trait
A trait within an organism that is present, but is not expressed
Down Syndrome
a disorder produced by the presence of an extra chromosome on the 21st pair; once referred to as mongolism
characteristic features: rounded face; protruding tongue; broad, flat nose; sloping fold of skin over inner corners of the eyes
deficits in cognitive development and motor development