Modules 9 & 10 Vocabulary Flashcards
- the scientific study of the links between biological (genetic, neutral, hormonal) and psychological process
Biological Psychology
- a nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system
Neuron
- a neuron’s bushy, branching extensions that receive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body
Dendrites
- the neuron extension that passes messages through its branches to other neurons or to muscle or glands
Axon
- a fatty tissue layer segmentally encasing the axons of some neurons; enables vastly greater transmissions speed as neutral impulses hop from one sausage- like node to the next
Myelin Sheath
- a neutral impiously; a brief electric charge that travels down an axon
Action Potential
- a period of inactivity after a neuron has fired
Refractory Period
a membrane-bound transporter found in nearly all mammalian cells that transports potassium ions into the cytoplasm from the extracellular fluid while simultaneously transporting sodium ions out of the cytoplasm to the extracellular fluid.
Sodium-Potassium Pump
a gap occurring at regular intervals between segments of myelin sheath along a nerve axon.
Nodes of Ranvier
: a class of cells in the brain and spinal cord that form a supporting structure for the neurons and provide them with insulation.
Neuroglia
: 1. the non-neural cells of ectodermal origin forming part of the adventitial structure of the central nervous system. 2. the tissue composed of such cells.
Oligodendroglia
: also called neurilemma cell, any of the cells in the peripheral nervous system that produce the myelin sheath around neuronal axons. Schwann cells are named after German physiologist Theodor Schwann, who discovered them in the 19th century.
Schwann Cells
: get their name because they are “star-shaped”. They are the most abundant glial cells in the brain that are closely associated with neuronal synapses. They regulate the transmission of electrical impulses within the brain.
Astrocytes
- the junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron. The tiny gap at this junction is called the synaptic gap or synaptic cleft
Synapse
- chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gaps between neurons. When released by sending neuron, these travel across the synapse and bind to receptor sites on the receiving neuron, thereby influencing whether that neuron will generate a neutral impulse.
Neurotransmitters
- a neurotransmitter’s reabsorption by the sending neuron
Reuptake
- the level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse
Threshold
- a neuron’s reaction of either firing (with a full-strength response) or not firing
All-or-none response
- “morphine within”- natural, opiate-like neurotransmitters linked to pain control and to pleasure
Endorphins
: a molecule that, by bending to a receptor site, stimulates a response
Agonist
: a molecule that, by binding to a receptor site, inhibits or blocks a response
Antagonist
a filtering mechanism of the capillaries that carry blood to the brain and spinal cord tissue, blocking the passage of certain substances.
Blood-Brain Barrier
: the body’s speedy, electrochemical communication network, consisting of all the nerve cell of the peripheral and central nervous systems
Nervous system
the brain and spinal cord
Central nervous system (CNS):
the sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system (CNS) to the rest of the body
Peripheral nervous system (PNS):
: bundled axons that form neutral “cables” connecting the central nervous system with muscles, glands, and sense organs
Nerves
: neurons that carry incoming information fro the sensory receptors to the brain and spinal cord
Sensory (afferent) neurons
: neurons that carry outgoing information from the brain and spinal cord to the muscle and glands
Motor (efferent) neurons
: neurons within the brain and spinal cord that communicate internally and intervene between the sensory inputs and motor outputs
Interneurons
: the division of the peripheral nervous system that controls the body’s skeletal muscles also called the skeletal nervous system
Somatic nervous system
has two divisions: the sympathetic nervous system, which accelerates the heart rate, constricts blood vessels, and raises blood pressure, and the parasympathetic nervous system, which slows the heart rate, increases intestinal and gland activity, and relaxes sphincter muscles.
Autonomic nervous system (ANS)
: the division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situations.
Sympathetic nervous system
: the division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving energy
Parasympathetic nervous system
: a simple, automatic response to a sensory stimulus, such as the knee-jerk response
Reflex
: the body’s “slow” chemical communication system; a set of glands the secrete hormones into the bloodstream
Endocrine system
: chemicals messengers that are manufactured by the endocrine glands travel through the bloodstream and affect other tissues
Hormones
: a pair of endocrine glands that sit just above the kidneys and secrete hormones (epinephrine and norepinephrine) that help arouse the body in times of stress
Adrenal glands
: the endocrine system’s most influence of the hypothalamus, the pituitary regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands
Pituitary glans
