Exam 2 the brain Flashcards
Why do we need to study the brain?
- everything happens because of activity in the brian
- helps us better understand and predict people’s behavior
What is the basic description of how the brain works?
The brain consists of neurons that activate and communicate with each other.
Specific groups of neurons in the brain specialize in things like perception, memory, body regulation, emotion, movement…
Do you use only 10% of your brain?
No we use all parts throughout the day but not all at the same time
Is it true that some people are right-brained or left-brained?
No, we use all our brain equally.
What is a neuron?
elementary components of the nervous system—the body’s speedy electrochemical communication system
What are the major parts of a neuron
Cell body, Dendrites, and Axon
What does the cell body of a neuron do
contains the nucleus and keeps the cell alive.
What does dendrites do
connect to the cell body and receive signals from other neurons.
What does an axon do
single connction to other neurons or muscles and glands.
What does a myelin sheath do
covers the axon on some neurons which enables faster transmission of the signal.
What does glial cells do
provide myelin and support, nourish, and protect neurons.
What is an action potential
a electrochemical impulse that travels down the axon.
how does action potential work?
A neuron receives enough activation from other neurons to start the action potential
Fluid outside the axon is positively charged and the inside is negatively charged.
A chemical transfer occurs across membranes that causes the charges to shift and then return to normal.
This causes the inversion of the charges to travel down the axon and activate the connected neuron.
What are the parts of the neuron involved in communication
axon terminal, synapse, receptor sites
What does an axon terminal do
It’s the end of an axon that releases a neurotransmitter into the synapse to activate receptor sites on nearby nuerons then reabsourbs the neurotramsimitters
What does a synapse do
The small gap between neurons that allow neurotransmitters to be sent
What do receptor sites do
they receve neurotransmitters from nearby nuerons
What are neurotransmitters?
a chemical signal in the brain
How do neurotransmitters work
They attactch to receptor sites on nearby nerons and signals the neuron to do something
What is an agonist,
a drug that increases neurotransmitter activity
How does an agonist increase neurotransmitter activity?
prevent reuptake, keeping neurotransmitters in the synapse longer.
What is an antagonist
a drug that decreases neurotransmitter activity
How does an antagonist decrease neurotransmitter activity?
Can block neurotransmitter production or release.
Can attach to receptor sites to prevent neurotransmitters from reaching them.
What is the peripheral nervous system?
nerves that connect the central nervous system to the rest of the body.
What is the central nervous system?
the brain and spinal cord, the central highway for nerve communication.
What is the somatic nervous system?
controls our muscles and receives sensory input
What is the autonomic nervous system?
controls our glands and organs.
Sympathetic
Apart of the autonomic nervous system
nervous system increases physiological aroual and energy, often as a result of a stressor.
Parasympathetic
Apart o the autonomic nervous system
nervous system calms you down after the sympathetic nervous system gets you worked up.
What’s the difference between sympathetic and parasympathetic activation?
sympathetic gives us energy, while parasympathetic calms you down after
What is the Subcortical region
The region at the base of the brain that connects with the spinal cord.
What is in the subcortical region
Brain stem, The reward center, Thalamus, and Cerebellum
Thalamus
sensory input to and from the body.
Shuts down when sleeping
Subcortical Region
Cerebellum
movment, balance, attention, memory
Subcortical Region
What is the Limbic System
A region between the cortical and subcortical regions.
Not a region of itself, a part of the subcortical region
What is in the Limbic system
Amygdala, Hippocampus, and Hypothalamus
Hippocampus
learning and memory
Apart of the Limbic system
The Cerebral Cortex
the visible, wrinkled exterior of the brain that is easily visible.
What is in the Cerebral Cortex
Frontal lobe, Parietal lobe, Occital lobe, and Temporal Lobe
Brain Stem
heart and breathing; bodily sensations
Subcortical Region
Frontal lobe
Has the prefrontal cortex* (personality and planning) and motor cortex* (movement).
Pariental lobe
AKA the somatosensory cortex* (physical perception).
Input from hands and what your feeling
Occipiital lobe
visual cortex* and image processing.
Temporal lobe
auditory cortex* and language.
The reward center
seeking out rewarding experiences.
Part of brain with dopamine.
Subcortical Region
Where is the reward center located?
Subcortical Region
Explain why dopamine has been mislabeled as a pleasure neurotransmitter.
Becuase it gives you a good feeling when you do somthing good, but thats not only the case
What does dopamine do
It gives you the motivation to do things or do things again
What causes dopamine to be released in the reward center?
You have an experience that produces rewarding feelings
Dopamine is also released whenever you encounter a situation that produced a rewarding experience in the past.
What does the release of dopamine in the reward center do?
generate the motivation to seek out the rewarding event again. Creates the drive to repeat the experience.
create memories of the rewarding event so that we’ll be able to seek it out again in the future.
How do we know that social media is not the same as a drug?
It gives off normal dopamine amount (50%-100%) as oppose to coane that gives off 350%
Amygdala
recongizes rewards and threats
Apart of the Limbic system
Where is the amygdala located?
Limbric system
What does the amygdala do?
Helps you generate emotional responses and memories of emotional events.
How does the amygdala inspire fear or attraction?
“intercept” sensory input to analyze it.
If the amygdala detects a threat or reward, it will “notify” other relevant parts of the brain.
hard if not impossible to control
Hypothalamus
regulating physicological needs
Apart of the Limbic system
Where is the hypothalamus located?
Limbic system
What does the hypothalamus do?
regulating homeostasis (maintaining balance in the body, like
Can stimulate the autonomic nervous system to produce a flight-or-fight response to threats.
Can cause the release of several chemical messengers (hormones) through the pituitary gland, including cortisol and oxytocin.
How does the hypothalamus cause a “fight-or-flight” response?
by stimulateing the autonomic nervous system and releasing chemicals through the body
What is cortisol, and what does it do?
Stress hormone
When under stress, the hypothalamus signals the pituitary gland which signals the adrenal gland to release cortisol.
Helps your body generate more energy to deal with physical threats
What is oxytocin, and what does it do?
Love homone
Produced in the hypothalamus
Motivates social connection and bonding with others.
Where is the prefrontal cortex in the cerebral cortex? What does it do, and why is it important?
Just behind the forehead
It does cognitive control (self-control, Goal-setting and planning, and decison making) and antipate the future. It’s also involved in determining your personality
Where is the motor cortex in the cerebral cortex? What does it do, and why is it important?
rear of the frontal lobes
Controils bodily movemnet (control, ect)
Where is the somatosensory cortex in the cerebral cortex? What does it do, and why is it important?
the front of the parietal lobe
Processes information from skin senses and body part movement
Somatic sensations include touch, pain, temperature, and body location
(thalamus to somatosensory cortex)
Where is the visual cortex in the cerebral cortex?
occipital lobe (back of the head
Receives and processes sensory input from your eyes to create vision.
What is the optic chiasm?
Location where The optic nerves from the eyes crossover between the two hemispheres
Where is the auditory cortex in the cerebral cortex?
Located in the temporal lobes.
The auditory cortex receives sensory input from the ears that we turn into the perception of sound.
Where are the language centers of the brain located?
The verbal centers are involved in understanding and producing language. They are in the left temporal lobes.
What is the corpus callosum and what does it do for the cerebral cortex?
These are the fibers that connect the two hemispheres and allows for informatiuon to be shared between the two sides of the brain
What is lateralization?
the right and left hemispheres of the brain can perform different functions, typically serving the opposite side of the body.
How are language, vision, and motor control lateralized?
The left can
Sees the right visual field.
Controls the right hand.
can communicate verbally.
The right can
Sees the left visual field.
Controls the left hand.
Cannot communicate verbally.
What happens if someone has their corpus callosum cut?
They recover but have some changes
What is the consequence of being split-brained?
One part of your brain doesnt always know whats going on
What is neuroplasticity
The brains ability to change by reogranizing after damage of building new pathways
What is the endocrine system?
the body’s “slow” chemical communication system; glands and fat tissue that secrete hormones into the bloodstream.
What is an EEG? What does it do
electroenephalogram is an amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity sweeping across the brain’s surface.
What is an fMRI? What does it do
Functional Mri, a technique for revealing blood flow and, therefore, brain activity (where more blood goes, the brain is more active)
What is neurogenesis?
formation of new neurons
