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GRE Psychology > CNS/PNS > Flashcards

CNS/PNS Flashcards

Basic neuroscience anatomy

1
Q

Sensory neurons

A

afferent; from sensory receptors to CNS

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2
Q

Motor neurons

A

efferent; from CNS to muscle

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3
Q

Interneurons

A

most numerous; predominantly located in CNS and are linked to reflexive behavior

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4
Q

Reflex arcs

A

neural circuits controlling reflexive behavior

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5
Q

PNS division

A

PNS –> somatic and ANS

ANS –> sympathetic/parasympathetic

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6
Q

ANS

A

regulates heartbeat, respiration, digestion, & glandular secretions; involuntary muscular activity (mainly associated with internal organs and glands)

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7
Q

ANS subdivision

A

sympathetic/parasympathetic; often act antagonistically

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8
Q

Parasympathetic NS

A

conserves energy; associated with resting/sleeping; manages digestion; ACh

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9
Q

Sympathetic NS

A

stress –> “fight or flight”
Heart rate increases, blood-sugar level and respiration increase, digestion decreases, eyes dilate; EPI (adrenaline) released to increase energy

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10
Q

phylogeny

A

evolutionary development

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11
Q

H. M.

A

Famous patient, hippocampus removed to control epileptic seizures; suffered from anterograde amnesia (couldn’t form new long-term memories)

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12
Q

Retrograde amnesia

A

Memory loss of events that transpired before brain injury

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13
Q

Association vs. projection areas

A

Association: combines input from diverse brain regions; ex. Planning or decision-making
Projection: receive sensory information or send out motor-impulse commands; ex. Motor cortex or visual cortex

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14
Q

Striate cortex

A

Visual cortex appears striped under microscope

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15
Q

Ipsilateral communication

A

Olfactory system communicates within same side of body and hemisphere rather than contralaterally

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16
Q

Hemisphere dominance

A

97% estimated left hemisphere dominant

Dominant side plays more prominent side in language (B’s and W’s areas associated with dominant hemisphere)

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17
Q

Roger Sperry and Michael Gazzaniga

A

Studied effects of severing corpus callosum

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18
Q

Glial cells

A

Nonneural cells of the nervous system; insulate axon with myelin sheath for faster conduction

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19
Q

Dendrites versus axons

A

Dendrites’ branching patterns can change significantly whereas axons tend to remain contestant throughout aging

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20
Q

Hindbrain (structures)

A

Cerebellum, Medulla, Reticular formation

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21
Q

Midbrain (structures)

A

Inferior and superior colliculi

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22
Q

Forebrain (structures)

A

Cerebral cortex, basal ganglia, limbic system, thalamus, hypothalamus

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23
Q

Medulla

A

lower structure, regulates vital functions (breathing, heartbeat, blood pressure)

24
Q

Pons

A

above medulla, contains sensory and motor tracts between cortex and medulla

25
cerebellum
Posture/balance, coordinated body movements | Damage to cerebellum --> clumsiness, slurred speech, loss of balance
26
Reticular Formation
extends from hindbrain into midbrain; composed to intricate network of nerve fibers Regulates arousal and alertness (sleeping and waking); anesthetics depress activity of RF
27
Midbrain (Function)
associated with involuntary reflex responses triggered by visual/auditory stimuli
28
Superior colliculus
Receives visual sensory input
29
Inferior Colliculus
Receives auditory sensory input; reflex reactions to sudden noises
30
Thalamus
Relay station for incoming sensory information (all but smell); sensory switchboard (receives sensory information, "sorts" it, then sends it to appropriate area of cortex)
31
Lateral, Ventromedial, and Anterior Hypothalamus
Homeostatic functions; key in emotional experience during high arousal states, aggressive behavior, and sexual behavior Drive behaviors: hunger, thirst, sexual behavior Also related to controlling endocrine functions, as well as ANS
32
Homeostatic Regulation of Hypothalamus
self-regulatory processes regulating metabolism, temp, and water balance; hypothalamus detects imbalance & sends signal to correct it Osmoregulation performed by osmoreceptors in hypothalamus
33
Walter Cannon
developed conceptualization of homeostasis
34
Lateral Hypothalamus (LH)
"Hunger center" helps body detect when more food/fluids are needed; damage to LH results in aphagia (refusal to eat/drink, rats starve to death if not force fed) LH also related to rage & aggressive fighting
35
Ventromedial Hypothalamus (VMH)
"Satiety center"; brain lesion in this area may lead to obesity due to hyperphagia (excessive eating)
36
Hypothalamus and arousal
manages sympathetic activation (fight/flight); also induces rage that may be inhibited by prefrontal cortex (kitties exhibited spontaneous/non-directed rage when cortex was removed but hypothalamus left intact)
37
Anterior Hypothalamus
Stimulates seual behavior (esp. aggressive sexual behavior); lesion --> inhibition of sexual activity
38
Four F's in Functioning of Hypothalamus
Feeding, fighting, fleeing, fucking
39
Basal Ganglia
coordinates muscle movement; receives info from cortex and relays to brain and spinal cord via extrapyramidal motor system Related to Parkinson's and schizophrenia
40
Extrapyramidal Motor System
gathers information about body position/proprioception in basal ganglia and carries the information to brain/spinal cord making movement smooth and steady
41
Parkinson's disease
associated with substantia nigra in basal ganglia
42
Ventricles
fluid-filled cavities in the middle of the brain that link up with the spinal canal that runs down the middle spinal cord; filled with same cerebrospinal fluid Enlarged ventricles have been linked with schizophrenia
43
Limbic system structures
Septum, amygdala, hippocampus
44
Septum
one of the primary pleasure centers; stimulation results in intense pleasure and sexual arousal; inhibits aggression Damage to septal region --> septal rage (lack of inhibition of aggression)
45
Olds & Milner (1950s)
Discovered that mild stimulation of septum is reported to be intensely pleasurable and sexually arousing; demonstrated that when rats could sitmulate their septal regions at will, they preferred it to eating, even after having gone 24 hours without food
46
Amygdala
Role in defense and aggressive behaviors; damage results in marked reduction of aggression and fear reactions, lesions also lead to docility and hypersexual states
47
Klüver and Bucy
Performed studies that linked amygdala with defensive and aggressive behavior in monkeys; bilateral removal of amygdala leads to changes identified as Klüver-Bucy syndrome
48
Hippocampus
Learning and memory; discovered hippocampus relationship to memory by experience of H.M.
49
Polarized neuron
Resting potential is net negative charge inside the neuron
50
Sodium-Potassium pump
Higher concentration of K+ inside cell and Na+ outside cell; Na+ flows into the cell and K+ flows out. In order to maintain neg. charge, Na+ is actively pumped out of the cell.
51
Four stages of action potential
Resting potential, depolarization, action potential, hyperpolarization
52
Action Potential Spike
Na+ rushes into cell, then K+ rushes out
53
Refractory period (Absolute and Relative)
Absolute: depolarization of action potential; cell is completely unresponsive to any additional stimulation Relative: corresponds to repolarization/hyperpolarization; stronger stimulation is required to reach threshold potential than when cell is at normal resting potential
54
Saltatory Conduction
Conduction along a myelinated axon
55
nodes of Ranvier
unmyelinated gaps along myelinated axon; AP is regenerated at each node
56
EPSPs and IPSPs
excitatory and inhibitory postsynaptic potentials; are graded and weaken as they travel
57
Eric Kandel
Demonstrated that changes in synaptic transmission underlie changes in behavior; as sea snail experienced habituation and stopped withdrawing their gills, the neurons governing this reflex released smaller amounts of neurotransmitter than before.

GRE Psychology (32 decks)

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