Final Exam Flashcards
Dopamine Hypothesis of Schizophrenia
Idea that excess activity of the neurotransmitter dopamine causes symptoms of schizophrenia.
First Generation Antipsychotics
Blocking the D2 receptor
Second Generation Antipsychotics
Blocks the D2 and 5-HT2 (serotonin) receptors.
Monoamine Oxidose (MAO) Inhibitor
Antidepressant drug that blocks the enzyme monoamine oxidase from degrading neurotransmitters such as dopamine noradrenaline and serotonin.
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI)
Tricyclic antidepressant drug that blocks the reuptake of serotonin into the presynaptic terminal.
Tricyclic Antidepressant
First generation antidepressant drug with a chemical structure characterized by three rings that blocks serotonin reuptake transporter proteins.
Second Generation Antidepressant
Drug whose action is similar to that of tricyclics but more selective in it’s action on the serotonin reuptake transporter proteins.
Also called atypical antidepressant.
Bipolar Disorder
Mood disorder characterized by periods of depression alternating with normal periods of intense excitation or mania.
Mood Stabilizer
Drug for treatment of bipolar disorder that mutes the intensity of one pole of the disorder thus making the other pole less likely to recur.
Opioid Analgesic
Drug like morphine with sleep inducing pain relieving properties.
Endorphin
Peptide hormone that acts as a neurotransmitter and may be associated with feelings of pain or pleasure.
Mimicked by opioid drugs such as morphine, heroine, opium, and codeine.
Competitive Inhibitor
Drug such as nalorphine and naloxone that acts quickly to block the actions of opioids by competing with them for binding sites.
Used to treat opioid addiction.
Amphetamine
Drug that releases the neurotransmitter dopamine into it’s synapse and, like cocaine, blocks the dopamine receptors.
Psychedelic Drug
Drug that can alter sensation and perception and can produce hallucinations.
Anti-anxiety Agents and Sedative Hypnotics
At low doses - reduce anxiety
At medium doses - sedation effects
At high doses - can kill
Antipsychotic Agents
Used to manage psychosis behavioural disorders.
Disinhibition Theory
Explanation holding that alcohol has a selective depressant effect on the cortex, the region of the brain that controls judgement, while sparing subcortical structures responsible for more primitive instincts such as desire.
Alcohol Myopia
Nearsighted behaviour displayed under the influence of alcohol.
Local and immediate cues become prominent and remote cues and consequences are ignored.
Substance Abuse
Use of a drug for the psychological and behavioural changes it produces aside from it;s therapeutic effects.
Addiction
Desire for a drug manifested by the frequent use of the drug leading to the development of physical dependence in addiction to abuse.
Often associated with tolerance an unpleasant withdrawal symptoms on cessation of drug use.
Withdrawal Symptom
Physical and psychological behaviour displayed by an addict when drug use ends.
Psychomotor Activation
Increased behavioural and cognitive activity.
At certain levels of consumption the drug user feels energetic and in control.
Wanting and Liking Theory
When a drug is associated with certain cues, the cues themselves elicit desire for the drug.
Also called incentive-sensitization theory.
Testosterone
Sex hormone secreted by the tested and responsible for the distinguishing characteristics of the male.
Steroid Hormone
Fat soluble chemical messenger synthesized from cholesterol
Peptide Hormone
Chemical messenger synthesized by cellular DNA that acts to affect the target cells physiology.
Homeostatic Hormone
One of a group of hormones that maintain internal metabolic balance and regulate physiological systems in an organism.
Gonadal Hormone
One of a group of hormones, such as testosterone, that control reproductive functions and bestow sexual appearance and identity as make or female.
Glucocorticoid
One of a group of steroid hormones such as cortisol, secreted in times of stress.
Important in protein and carbohydrate metabolism.
Organizational Hypothesis
Proposal that actions of hormones in the development alter tissue differentiation
Anabolic Steroid
Belongs to a class of synthetic hormones related to testosterone that have both muscle building (anabolic) and masculinizing (androgenic) effects
Also called anabolic-androgenic steroid.
Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS)
Noninvasive technique that gathers light transmitted through cortical tissue to image blood oxygen consumption.
Form of optical tomography.
Akinesia
Slowness or absence of movement
Stereotaxic Apparatus
Surgical instument that permits the researcher to target a specific part of the brain.
Deep-Brain Stimulation (DBS)
Neurosurgery in which electrodes implanted in the brain stimulate a targeted area with a low voltage electrical current to facilitate behaviour.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
Procedure in which a magnetic coil is placed over the skill to stimulate the underlying brain.
Used either to induce behaviour or disrupt ongoing behaviour.
Optogenetics
Transgenic technique that combines genetics and light to control targeted cells in living tissue.
Electrocortcography
Graded potentials recorded with electrodes placed directly on the brains surface.
Alpha Rythms
Regular wave pattern in an electroencephalogram.
Found in most people when they are relaxed with closed eyes.
Event-Related Potentials (ERPs)
Complex electroencephalographic waveforms related in time to a specific sensory event.
Magnetoencephalogram
Magnetic potentials recorded from detectors are placed outside the skull
Place Cells
Neurons maximally responsive to specific locations in the world
EEG measures ____
Graded potentials on the cell membrane.
Single Cell recording measures ____
Action potentials from a single neuron.
Computerized Tomography (CT)
X-ray technique that produces a static three dimensional image of the brain in cross section.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
Technique that produces a static 3D brain image by passing a strong magnetic field through the brain, followed by a radio wave, then measuring the radiation emitted from hydrogen atoms.
Diffusion Tensor Imaging
Magnetic resonance imaging method that, by detecting the directional movement of water molecules can image fibre pathways in the brain.
Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS)
Magnetic resonance imaging method uses the hydrogen proton signal to determine the concentration of brain metabolites.
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
Magnetic resonance imagine in which changes in elements such as or oxygen are measures during the performance of a specific behaviour.
Used to measure cerebral blood flow during behaviour or resting.
Resting-State fMRI
Magnetic resonance imaging method that measures changes in elements such as iron or oxygen when the individual is resting.
Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
Imaging technique that detects changes in blood flow by measuring changes in the uptake of compounds such as oxygen or glucose.
Used to analyze the metabolic activity of neurons.
Microdialysis
Technique used to determine the chemical constituents of extracellular fluid
Cerebral Voltammetry
Technique used to identify the concentration of specific chemicals in the brain as animals behave freely.
Sound Wave
Undulating displacement of molecules caused by changing pressure.
Frequency
Number of cycles that a wave completed in a given amount of time.
Hertz (Hz)
Measure of frequency of a sound wave.
1 hertz is equal to 1 cycle or second.
Lower sounds have ___ wave frequencies while higher sounds have ___ wave frequencies.
Slower, faster.
Amplitude
Intensity of a stimulus.
Roughly equivalent to loudness, graphed by increasing the height of a sound wave.
Decibel (dB)
Unit for measuring the relative physical intensity of a sound.
Prosody
Melodical tone of the spoken voice.
Sound waves have what three physical attributes?
Frequency, amplitude, complexity.
Ossicles
Bones of the middle ear.
Malleus (hammer), incus (anvil), and stapes (stirrup)
Cochlea
Inner ear structure that contains the auditory receptor cells.
Basilar Membrane
Receptor surface in the cochlea that transduces sound waves into neural activity.
Hair Cells
Sensory neurons in the cochlea tipped by cilia.
When stimulated by waves in the cochlear fluid outer hair cells generate graded potentials in inner hair cells which act as the auditory receptor cells.
Medial Geniculate Nucleus
Major thalamic region concerned with audition.
Primary Auditory Cortex (area A1)
Asymmetrical structures sound within Heschl’s gyrus in the temporal loves that receive input from the ventral region of the medial geniculate nucleus.
Wernicke’s Area
Secondary auditory cortex lying behind Heschl’s gyrus at the rear of the left temporal lobe that regulates language comprehension.
Also called posterior speech zone.
Lateralization
Process whereby functions become localized primarily on one side of the brain.
Insula
Located within the lateral fissure that contains regions related to language, the perception of taste, and neural structures underlying social cognition.
The motion of the cochlear fluid causes the displacement of the ____ and ___ membranes
Basilar
Tectorial
Tonotopic Representation
Property of audition in which sound waves are process in a systemmatic fashion from lower to higher frequencies.
Primary Auditory Cortex
Larger in right hemisphere.
Analyzing music.
Secondary Cortical Areas
Larger on left side of the brain.
Wernicke’s area - speech zone.
Language comprehension.
What are the three functional groupings of hormones?
Homeostatic hormones
Gonadal hormones
Glucocorticoids
In the primary auditory cortex the anterior detects ___ frequencies and the posterior detects ___ frequencies.
Low; High
The apex of the cochlea detects ___ frequencies and the base detects high frequencies.
Low; High
Mirror Neurons
Cell in the primate premotor cortex that fires when an individual observes a specific action taken by another indivdual.
What role does the prefrontal cortex play in motor movement?
Plans complex behaviour and specifies the goal.
What role does the promotor cortex play in motor movement?
Produces appropriate complex movement sequences.
What role does the primary motor cortex play in motor movement?
Specifies how each movement in a sequence must be carries out and executes the movements.
What part of the brain is responsible for “species typical behaviour”?
The brainstem.
Locked-In Syndrome
Condition in which a patient is aware and awake but cannot move or communicate verbally due to complete paralysis of nearly all voluntary muscles except the eyes.
Homunculus
Representation of the human body in the sensory or motor cortex.
Also any topographical representation of the body by a neural area.
Topographic Organization
Neural spatial representation of the body or areas of the sensory world perceived by a sensory organ.
Restraint-Induced Therapy
Procedure in which restraint of a healthy limb forces a patient to use an impaired limb to enhance recover or function.
Corticospinal Tract
Bundle of nerve fibres directly connecting the cerebral cortex to the spinal cord, branching at the brainstem into an opposite side lateral tract that informs movement of limbs and digits and a same side central tract that informs movement of the trunk.
Hyperkinetic Symptom
Symptom of brain damage that results in excessive involuntary movement.
Hypokinetic Symptoms
Symptom of brain damage that results in a paucity of movement.
The basil ganglia is responsible for movement ___.
Force
The cerebellum is responsible for movement ___
Skill.
The three groups of somatosensory receptors
Nocioception, hapsis, proprioception
Nocioception
Irritation, pain, temperature, itch.
Hapsis
Pressure and ability to discriminate objects based on touch.
Movement
Perception of body location and movement.
Rapidly Adapting Receptor
Body sensory receptors that responds briefly to the onset of a stimulus on the body.
Slowly Adapting Receptor
Body sensory receptor that responds as long as a sensory stimulus is on the body.
Deafferentation
Loss of incoming sensory input usually die to damage to sensory fibres.
Also loss of any afferent input to a structure.
Dorsal Spinothalamic Tract
Pathway that carries fine touch and pressure fibres
Ventrolateral Thalamus
Part of the thalamus that carries information about body senses to the somatosensory cortex.
Ventral Spinothalamic Tract
Pathway from the spinal cord to the thalamus that carries information about pain and temperature.
Monosynaptic Reflex
Reflex requiring one synapse between sensory input and movement.
What are the four homunculus in the somatosensory cortex is organized into?
Muscles, skin (slow), skin (fast), joints
Apraxia
Inability to make voluntary movements in the absence of paralysis or other motor or sensory impairment, especially an inability to make proper use of an object.
