Chpater 2: Mind And Consciousness

Question 0

How do neurons communicate?

Answer 0

1) All-Or-None Response: If excitatory signals minus inhibitory signals exceed the threshold, action potential is triggered. It will happen or won’t. No inbetween
2) When action potential reaches the axon’s end, electrical impulse converts into chemical message
3) At synapse, neurotransmitters (chemical messages) are sent to next neuron

Question 1

What are the parts of a neuron?

7 parts

Answer 1

Dendrite fibers
Cell body
Axon
Myelin sheath
Terminal branches of axon
Neural impulse (action potential)
Synapse

Question 2

Describe function of serotonin

Answer 2

Affects mood, hunger, sleep, and arousal

Question 3

Describe function of dopamine

Answer 3

In reward circuit. Influences movement, learning, attention and emotion

Question 4

Describe the function of norepinephrine

Answer 4

Helps control alertness and arousal

Also known as noradrenaline

Question 5

Describe the function of GABA

Answer 5

Major inhibitory neurotransmitter

Involved in relaxation

Question 6

Describe the function of glutamate

Answer 6

A major excitatory neurotransmitter

Involved in memory

Question 7

What are the two major parts of our nervous system?

Answer 7

Central nervous system

Peripheral nervous system

Question 8

Describe purpose of central nervous system (CNS)

Answer 8

Body’s decision maker

Brain and spine

Question 9

Describe the purpose of the peripheral nervous system

Answer 9

Sends CNS decisions to other body parts

Question 10

What are the three types of neurons?

What are their functions?

Answer 10

Sensory neurons (sends messages from body to brain)

Motor neurons (sends messages from brain to body)

Interneurons (processes info. Between the sensory input and motor output)

Question 11

What are the two parts of the peripheral nervous system?

What are their functions?

Answer 11

Autonomic NS (controls self-regulated actions like breathing, blood circulation, etc.)

Somatic NS (controls voluntary movement of skeletal muscles)

Question 12

How does the autonomic NS help us cope with challenges?

What are the two nervous systems it’s comprised of?

Answer 12

Sympathetic NS (arouses the body, mobilizing energy during stressful situations (flight or fight))

Parasympathetic NS (calms the body, conserving energy)

Question 13

How does the brain work? Five word or less

Answer 13

“Brain cells fire in patterns”

Riding a skateboard fires certain patterns of neurons, the more times it is fired, the stronger that connection is

Question 14

What is the endocrine system?

Answer 14

The body’s “slow” chemical communication system

A set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream

Question 15

What are hormones?

Answer 15

Chemical messengers sent from the endocrine glands through the bloodstream that affect other tissues

Question 16

What is the cell body of the neuron?

Answer 16

It is the power house

Question 17

What is the “old brain”

Answer 17

Brainstem

Medulla (controls heartbeat and breathing)

Question 18

What are the functions of the thalamus?

Answer 18

“Command center” of brain

Processes and relays sensory info.

Question 19

What are the functions of the limbic system?

Answer 19

Emotions and drive

Question 20

What are the functions of the amygdala?

Answer 20

Emotions (especially fear and aggression)

Question 21

Function(s) of the hippocampus?

Answer 21

Memory

Question 22

Function(s) of the hypothalamus?

Answer 22

Controls maintenance functions, like eating

Helps govern endocrine system

Linked to emotion and reward

Question 23

Function(s) of association areas in the brain?

Answer 23

Recognizing faces
Humor
Inhibition
Planning
Math
Understanding others' intentions
Reading & writing

Question 24

What is Broca's area?

Answer 24

Controls language EXPRESSION Left hemisphere

Question 25

What is wernick's area?

Answer 25

Controls language RECEPTION Right hemisphere

Question 26

Explain the brain's plasticity

Answer 26

The brain's ability to change by reorganizing after damage or by building new pathways based on experience

Question 27

What is neurogenesis?

Answer 27

Formation of new neuron pathways Like a generally angry person trying to build the pathway of being happy

Question 28

What is the corpus callosum?

Answer 28

Connects both hemispheres and sends each other messages

Question 29

What is inattentional blindness?

Answer 29

Failure to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere

Question 30

Explain laterality | Right-left differences in intact brains

Answer 30

Left brain is more logical and calculative Right brain is more creative and perceptual

Question 31

What does an EEG do? Electroencephalograph

Answer 31

Place electrodes to the scalp to record waves of electrical activity

Question 32

What does a PET scan do? | Positron emission tomography

Answer 32

A view of brain activity showing where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task

Question 33

What does an fMRI do? | Functional magnetic resonance imaging

Answer 33

A technique for revealing blood flow and, therefore, brain activity by comparing successive MRI scans fMRI scans show brain function

Question 34

What are the two glands of the endocrine system? What are their functions?

Answer 34

Adrenal glands (helps arouse the body in times of stress; releases epinephrine and norepinephrine) Pituitary gland (located in the core of the brain; controls and regulates growth of other endocrine glands)