Nervous System Flashcards
What are the parts of neurons?
Dendrites, soma, axon, myelin sheath, terminal buttons, and synapse
What is the soma?
Cell body
What is the axon?
Transmitting end, transmits electrical pulses to other neurons
What are dendrites?
Receiving end, receives incoming messages from other neurons
What is myeline sheath?
a fatty substance surrounding the axon that makes the nerve impulses travel faster and more efficiently
What are terminal buttons?
The little knobs at the end of the axon that contains tiny sacs of neurotransmitters
What is the synapse?
The space between an axon and an adjacent neuron, where information is transmitted from one neuron to another
How is an action potential generated?
1, Starts at resting potential (-70 mV)
2. A signal from another neuron comes (triggers at -55 mV)
3. Depolarization - voltage change (50 mV)
- Sodium channels open causing the inside of the cell to become positive
4. Repolarization /hyperpolarization
- Potassium channels open causing too much potassium to leave the inside of the cell (overshoots)
5. Back to resting potential
- The sodium and potassium pump turns back on to restore resting potential
What is a neurotransmitter?
A chemical messenger that carries signals between neurons, muscles, and glands
How is communication between neurons accomplished?
The action potential causes the terminal buttons to release neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft to fuse to the next neuron
What are the 6 basic neurotransmitters?
Acetylcholine, dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, GABA, and glutamate
What does acetylcholine do?
Learning and memory, motor movements
What does dopamine do?
Sensations and pleasure, voluntary movement
What does serotonin do?
Regulation of mood, control dreaming
What does norepinephrine do?
control of voluntary reponses
What does GABA do?
sleep, inhibits movement
What does glutamate do?
Learning and memory, excitatory neurotransmitter
What is the structure of the nervous system?
Nervous system → peripheral nervous system and central nervous system (CNS)
Peripheral Nervous system → autonomic nervous system and somatic nervous system
Autonomic Nervous system → sympathetic nervous system and parasympathetic nervous system
What are the three parts of the brain?
Forebrain, Midbrain, and Hindbrain
Where is the hindbrain? What does it do? What’s in it?
Location: Directly connected to the spinal cord
Job: regulate heart rate, arousal, and other basic functions of survival
Parts: Medulla, Pons, Cerebellum
What does the medulla do?
regulate BP, breathing, and HR
involuntary, reflective responses
What does the pons do?
regulate BP, breathing, and HR
involuntary, reflective response
body movements
What does the cerebellum do?
body movement, balance, coordination, fine-tuning motor skills, and cognitive activities
What is the forebrain composed of?
Limbic system and cerebral cortex
What is in the limbic system? What do they do?
- Hippocampus - formation of memories and short-term memory
- Amygdala - process emotion information
What are the 4 lobes?
Frontal, temporal, occipital, and parietal
What does the frontal lobe do? What cortexes are in it?
Function: planning and strategizing
Cortexes: primary motor and gustatory
Broca’s area - production of speech
What does the temporal lobe do? What cortexes are in it?
Primary auditory cortex and primary olfactory cortex
Wernicke’s area → language comprehension
Fusiform gyrus → face recognition
What does the occipital lobe do? What cortex is in it?
Function: vision
Cortex: primary visual
What does the parietal lobe do? What cortex is in it?
Function: attention
Cortex: primary somatosensory (touch)
What is the split-brain experiment show?
Left-hemisphere: verbal processing
Right-hemisphere: creative processing
What is the blank slate theory? Who created it?
Creator: John Locke
You come to the world as a blank slate and gain knowledge and personality from experience
What is the ghost in the machine theory? Who created it?
Creator: Rene Descartes
Our body is a machine with a soul in it
What is the noble savage theory? Who created it?
Creator: John Jacques Rousseau
Human beings are born good but we are born into a corrupt society that can ruin us
