Nervous System

Question 1

What is another name for sensory neurons?

Answer 1

Affector neurons: they carry information from the senses to the CNS

Question 2

2 parts of PNS

Answer 2

Somatic and Autonomic Nervous System (SNS and ANS)

Question 3

What is the SNS responsible for?

Answer 3

voluntary movement

Question 4

How does the CNS communicate with the rest of the body?

Answer 4

Motor (efferent) neurons: from CNS to muscles

Question 5

What is the ANS responsible for?

Answer 5

Communication of information between the CNS and non-skeletal muscles

Parasympathetic and Sympathetic division

Question 6

Contrast parasympathetic and sympathetic

Answer 6

parasympathetic decreases bodily actions (e.g. constricts pupils, slows heart rate) whereas sympathetic does the opposite

Question 7

Role of parasympathetic division

Answer 7

Responsible for maintaining day-to-day functioning and automatic actions (breathing, digesting)

Homeostasis

Question 8

Role of sympathetic division

Answer 8

Fight-flight-freeze,

Question 9

What’s the point of a spinal reflex?

Answer 9

Safety and survival - allows us to respond to stimuli faster than if it were sent to brain

Question 10

What is a reflex arc?

Answer 10

the process of receiving a sensation and responding to it reflexively

Question 11

2 forms of reflex arcs

Answer 11

Monosynaptic
Polysynaptic

Question 12

Monosynaptic reflex arc

Answer 12

one synapse - one sensory, one motor
Affector neuron brings sensation from receptor to spine and then motor neuron sends signal from spine to body

Question 13

Polysynaptic reflex arc

Answer 13

multiple neurons - at least two synapses

interneurons connecting affector and effector neurons

Question 14

Long route for emotions

Answer 14

Thalamus to Sensory cortex to hippocampus to amygdala to emotional response

Question 15

Short route for emotions

Answer 15

Stimulus to thalamus to amygdala

Question 16

How is the hippocampus related to emotion?

Answer 16

It is used for appraisal of a situation - we recall information relevant to the situation and thus apply that

Question 17

Role of hypothalamus

Answer 17

fight-flight-freeze: involved in physiological responses to fear-induced stimuli

Question 18

GABA

Answer 18

Gamma-amino butyric acid

Inhibitory neurotransmitter

Calms people

Question 19

Glutamate

Answer 19

excitatory
used in memory and learning

Question 20

Acetycholine

Answer 20

Excitatory Neurotransmitter

involved in muscle contractions, learning and memory and REM sleep

linked with Alzheimer’s - patients with this condition have a deficit in acetycholine

Question 21

Epinephrine

Answer 21

Can be a hormone or neurotransmitter
Adrenaline
Key role in fight-flight-freeze

Question 22

Norepinephrine

Answer 22

involved in stress responses, alertness, arousal, emotional emotional regulation and attention

Excitatory so it increases heart rate for example

Question 23

Dopamine

Answer 23

thoughts, feelings, motivation and behaviours

emotional arousal - pleasure

Parkinson’s is linked with a deficiency in dopamine

Addiction and depression is also linked

Question 24

Serotonin

Answer 24

“feel good chemical”

regulation of mood, sleep eating, arousal and pain

Depression is linked to serotonin

inhibitory - affects neural circuits involved in aggression and antisocial behaviour