Nervous system Flashcards
Nerves that carry messages to the brain or spinal cord.
Afferent nerves
Due to damage of Wernicke’s area. An inability to recognize objects, words, or faces.
Agnosia
An area in the frontal lobe of the left hemisphere. Implicated in language production.
Broca’s area
Due to damage of the Broca’s area. An inability to produce or understand words.
Aphasia
A fiber tract that connects Wernicke’s and Broca’s speech areas
Arcuate Fasciculus
Consists of left and right hemispheres that sit at the top of the nervous system and engages
in a variety of higher-order functions.
Cerebrum
A part of the peripheral nervous system that connects to glands and smooth muscles. Consists
of sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions.
Autonomic nervous system
The major fissure that divides the frontal and the parietal lobes.
Central sulcus
A medial cortical portion of the nervous tissue that is a part of the limbic system.
Cingulate gyrus
A nervous system structure behind and below the cerebrum. Controls motor movement
coordination, balance, equilibrium, and muscle tone.
Cerebellum
A noninvasive brain-scanning procedure that uses X-ray absorption around the head.
Computerized axial tomography
The outermost layer of a developing fetus.
Ectoderm
Nerves that carry messages from the brain to glands and organs in the periphery.
Efferent nerves
A technique that is used to measure gross electrical activity of the brain by placing electrodes
on the scalp.
Electroencenphalography
A physiological measure of large electrical change in the brain produced by sensory stimulation
or motor responses.
Event related potentials
A part of the nervous system that contains the cerebral hemispheres, thalamus, and
hypothalamus.
Forebrain
(plural form, fornices) A nerve fiber tract that connects the hippocampus to mammillary
bodies.
Fornix
The most forward region (close to forehead) of the cerebral hemispheres.
Frontal lobe
Composes the bark or the cortex of the cerebrum and consists of the cell bodies of the neurons
(see also white matter).
Gray matter
(plural form, gyri) A bulge that is raised between or among fissures of the convoluted brain.
Gyrus
(or fMRI) A noninvasive brain-imaging technique that registers changes in blood flow in the
brain during a given task (also see magnetic resonance imaging).
Functional magnetic resonance imaging
plural form, hippocampi) A nucleus inside (medial) the temporal lobe implicated in learning
and memory.
Hippocampus
A nucleus of the basal ganglia.
Globus pallidus
A human ancestor, handy man, that lived two million years ago.
Homo habilis
Modern man, the only surviving form of the genus Homo.
Homo sapiens
Part of the diencephalon. Regulates biological drives with pituitary gland.
Hypothalamus
A method of staining tissue including the brain, using antibodies.
Immunocytochemistry
(or LGN) A nucleus in the thalamus that is innervated by the optic nerves and sends signals
to the visual cortex in the occipital lobe.
Lateral geniculate nucleus
The major fissure that delineates the temporal lobe below the frontal and the parietal lobes.
Lateral sulcus
A surgical method in which a part of the animal brain is removed to study its effects on behavior
or function
Lesion studies
A loosely defined network of nuclei in the brain involved with learning and emotion.
Limbic system
Or MRI is a brain imaging noninvasive technique that uses magnetic energy to generate brain
images
Magnetic resonance imaging
Cortical space projected by an area of sensory input (e.g., mm of cortex per degree of visual
field).
Magnification factor
An area just above the spinal cord that processes breathing, digestion, heart and blood vessel
function, swallowing, and sneezing.
Medulla oblongata
A strip of cortex just in front of the central sulcus that is involved with motor control.
Motor strip
A set of primordial neurons that migrate outside the neural tube and give rise to sensory and
autonomic neurons in the peripheral nervous system.
Neural crest
A process that causes the formation of the neural tube.
Neural induction
Brain progenitor cells that asymmetrically divide into other neuroblasts or nerve cells.
Neuroblasts
The lining of the neural tube.
Neuroepithelium
The back part of the cerebrum, which houses the visual areas.
Occipital lobe
A division of the autonomic nervous system that is slower than its counterpart—that is, the
sympathetic nervous system—and works in opposition to it. Generally engaged in “rest and
digest” functions
Parasympathetic nervous system
An area of the cerebrum just behind the central sulcus that is engaged with somatosensory
and gustatory sensation.
Parietal lobe
A bridge that connects the cerebral cortex with the medulla, and reciprocally transfers
information back and forth between the brain and the spinal cord
Pons
An invasive procedure that captures brain images with positron emissions from the
brain after the individual has been injected with radio-labeled isotopes.
Positron emission topography
A front-back plane used to identify anatomical structures in the body and the brain.
Rostrocaudal
part of the peripheral nervous system that uses cranial and spinal nerves in volitional actions.
Somatic nervous system
A strip of cerebral tissue just behind the central sulcus engaged in sensory reception of bodily
sensations
Somatosensory strip
A developmental disease of the spinal cord, where the neural tube does not close caudally.
Spina bifida
(plural form, sulci) The crevices or fissures formed by convolutions in the brain.
Sulcus
A division of the autonomic nervous system, that is faster than its counterpart that is the
parasympathetic nervous system and works in opposition to it. Generally engaged in “fight
or flight” functions.
Sympathetic nervous system
An area of the cerebrum that lies below the lateral sulcus; it contains auditory and olfactory
(smell) projection regions.
Temporal lobe
A part of the diencephalon that works as a gateway for incoming and outgoing information.
Thalamus
A process in which physical energy converts into neural energy.
Transduction
A language area in the temporal lobe where linguistic information is comprehended
Wernicke’s area
Regions of the nervous system that represent the axons of the nerve cells; whitish in color
because of myelination of the nerve cells.
White matter
Short transitory memory processed in the hippocampus.
Working memory
