Neurons and Synapses - BIOPSYCHOLOGY

Question 1

three main types of neuron

Answer 1

sensory, motor, relay

Question 2

function of sensory neuron

Answer 2

RECEIVING information

Question 3

function of motor neuron

Answer 3

TRANSMITTING information

Question 4

function of relay neuron

Answer 4

for controlling muscles to respond

Question 5

how do neurons carry information throughout the body

Answer 5

in electrical impulses

Question 6

how is information received by neurons

Answer 6

by terminals and dendrites (parts of a nerve cell)

Question 7

what does synaptic transmission mean

Answer 7

communication between neurons

Question 8

where does synaptic transmission occur

Answer 8

at sites called synapses

Question 9

what is the name of electrical messages used

Answer 9

action potentials

Question 10

what is the name of chemical messages used

Answer 10

neurotransmitters

Question 11

what are action potentials translated into

Answer 11

neurotransmitters

Question 12

where are neurotransmitter messages interpreted

Answer 12

at receptors

Question 13

what happens after the neurotransmitter message is interpreted

Answer 13

they’re added up to decide what the next neuron does

Question 14

what is at the end of each dendrite

Answer 14

a presynaptic terminal (or axon terminal)

Question 15

how is a synaptic gap ‘created’

Answer 15

the cell meets another dendrite or neuron cell

Question 16

how is information passed across the synaptic gap

Answer 16

in the form of neurotransmitter diffusion

Question 17

what is the process of information passing from neuron to neuron this way called

Answer 17

synaptic transmission

Question 18

what are the two types of messages hormones carry

Answer 18

excitatory or inhibitory

Question 19

what is the message that’s passed on after a synapse called

Answer 19

a postsynaptic potential

Question 20

two types of postsynaptic potential

Answer 20

excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) or inhibitory postsynaptic potential (IPSP)

Question 21

what happens if a neuron receives both excitatory and inhibitory signals

Answer 21

summation - the total number of each are added and the most powerful signal wins

Question 22

what two types of summation are there

Answer 22

temporal or spatial

Question 23

in what two forms are powerful signals for a neuron in

Answer 23

either lots of small signals happening at different synapses, or very quick firing of one presynaptic neuron

Question 24

what is depolarisation

Answer 24

making the inside of the cell more similar to the environment (outside of cell)

Question 25

what is repolarization

Answer 25

making the inside of the cell more different to the environment (outside of cell)