Mod 3 (Sec 1) Flashcards
1
Q
When does brain undergo intense period of dev. ?
A
- ages of 16-25
2
Q
The Nervous System
A
- body’s control and communication system
- consists of brain, spinal cord, sensory organs, all nerves within body
- controls all bodily functions, voluntary/involuntary
3
Q
PNS
A
- contains all the nerve fibers outside CNS
3
Q
CNS
A
- consists of brain and spinal cord
4
Q
Neurons
A
- functional unit of brain and are capable of generating and transmitting electrical signals
- communicate via synaptic transmission or neurotransmission
5
Q
Structure of Brain
A
- divided into four lobes
- frontal lobe
- parietal lobe
- temporal lobe
- occipital lobe
6
Q
Frontal lobe
A
- responsible for higher level cognitive functions and control of voluntary movement
7
Q
Parietal lobe
A
- processes info about temp., taste, touch, movement
8
Q
Temporal lobe
A
- processes memories, integrating w/ sensations of taste, sound, sight, touch
9
Q
Occipital lobe
A
- primarily responsible for vision
10
Q
Brain Dev. : The frontal lobe
A
- the most important area that undergoes major dev. in early adulthood is front portion of the frontal lobe (problem solving, decision making)
11
Q
Risk-taking in adolescence
A
- risk taking can result in dangers or mortality
- adolescents more likely to take risks when w/ friends
12
Q
Grey matter
A
- mostly found within the cortex of the brain
- contains neuronal cell bodies and synapses
13
Q
White matter
A
- mostly found under the cortex and within the cerebrum
- contains myelinated axons
14
Q
Cortical grey matter
A
- grey matter V decreases during adolescence
15
Q
Brain Dev. during early adulthood
A
- brain dev. peaks in early to middle adulthood
- amount of grey matter decreases w/ age while amount of white matter increases
16
Q
Why do changes in brain matter V change?
A
- due to myelination and axonal growth
17
Q
Changes in brain during early adulthood
A
- increased synaptic pruning
- increased myelination
- improved connectivity
18
Q
Synaptic pruning
A
- process where extra neurons and synaptic connections are eliminated in order to increase efficiency of neuronal transmission
19
Q
Myelination
A
- myelination occurs throughout childhood and into period of accelerated growth
20
Q
Improved connectivity
A
- results in larger and more widely distributed neural networks, which is critical for a variety of higher level functions such as learning new complex info, integrating new learning, applying it
