Key words

Question 1

Gland

Answer 1

An organ in the body that synthesises substances such as hormones

Question 2

Hormones

Answer 2

Chemical substances that circulate in the bloodstream and only affect target organs. They are produced in large quantities but disappear quickly. Their effects are very powerful

Question 3

Fight or flight response

Answer 3

The way an animal responds when stressed. The body becomes physiologically aroused in readiness to fight an aggressor or, flee

Question 4

Adrenaline

Answer 4

A hormone produced by the adrenal glands which is part of the human body’s immediate stress response system. Adrenaline has a strong effect on the cells of the cardiovascular system - stimulating the heart rate, contracting blood vessels and dilating air passages

Question 5

Neuron

Answer 5

The basic building blocks of the nervous system, neurons are nerve cells that process and transmit messages through electrical and chemical signals

Question 6

Neurotransmitter

Answer 6

Brain chemicals released from synaptic vesicles that relay signals across the synapse from one neuron to another. Neurotransmitters can be broadly divided into those that perform an excitatory function and those that perform an inhibitory function

Question 7

Synaptic transmission

Answer 7

The process by which neighbouring neurons communicate with each other by sending chemical messages across the synaptic cleft (the gap that separates them)

Question 8

Excitation

Answer 8

When a neurotransmitter, such as adrenaline, increases the positive charge of the postsynaptic neuron

Question 9

Inhibition

Answer 9

When a neurotransmitter, such as serotonin, makes the charge of the postsynaptic neuron more negative. This decreases the likelihood that the neuron will fire and pass on the electrical impulse

Question 10

Nervous system

Answer 10

Consists of the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system

Question 11

Endocrine system

Answer 11

One of the body’s major information systems that instructs glands to release hormones directly into the bloodstream. These hormones are carried towards target organs in the body

Question 12

Localisation of function

Answer 12

The theory that different areas of the brain are responsible for different behaviours, processes or activities

Question 13

Plasticity

Question 14

Functional recovery

Question 15

Hemisphreic lateralisation

Question 16

Split-brain research