Neurons & Neurotransmitters: Exam 1 Flashcards
The more we learn about the brain, the more we appreciate these physical or “ _________ “ problems.
Hardware
We also know that certain patterns or modes of thinking can contribute to mental illness. Perhaps the family or environment you grew up in contributed to these maladaptive thoughts and beliefs. Sometimes addressing these “___________” problems through psychotherapy can have a profound impact.
Software
The brain is sort of like a tree. If you slice through a brain, there’s a dark, outer ring. Neuroanatomists called this the cortex which is Latin for _________. Cortex is a dark wing within the brain.
bark
___ ___________ _______ is responsible for our human intellect, and we have lots of it. If you were to dissect all the cerebral cortex from a human brain and lay it flat on a table, it would be about the size of a baby blanket (Medina, 2014). In order to fit such a large cerebral cortex into our smallish skulls (and to make the birthing process possible), our brains have a folded appearance.
The Cerebral Cortex
The cerebral cortex is divided into four areas: what are the 4 lobes?
Frontal lobe
Temporal lobe
Parietal lobe
Occipital lobe
The lobe we’ll discuss most in this class is the frontal lobe. It’s responsible for executive function. I like to think of the frontal lobe as the ________ of the brain. It helps us act in responsible, well-regulated ways.
CEO
___ ________ ____ plays an important role in several mental disorders. Two examples are substance abuse disorder and ADHD.
The Frontal Lobe
Buried deeper in the brain is a complex system of neurons called the limbic system. It controls learning, memory, ____________ (fear, anger, pleasure) and basic drives (hunger and sex.)
Emotions
You have about ____ ___________ neurons in your brain (Herculano-Houzel, 2009). Interestingly, none of them actually touch. Instead they “communicate” with each other by sending chemicals called neurotransmitters.
86 Billion
__________ have receptors that are triggered by neurotransmitters. Each time a receptor is triggered, it causes voltage changes inside the cell body. Once a certain threshold is crossed, an electrical charge suddenly fires down the axon. This electrical discharge is called an ______ __________.
Dendrites
Action Potential
The ______ ________ travels down the axon until it reaches the axon terminal. Inside the terminal are vesicles that contain neurotransmitters. The action potential causes vesicles to empty their neurotransmitters into the minuscule gap called the _________. As these neurotransmitters diffuse into the synapse, they find their way to postsynaptic terminals.
Action Potential
Synapse
There are over 50 neurotransmitters in the brain. Fortunately, we only need to know ______ of them for psychopharmacology.
6
is used in brain areas that regulate attention, concentration, pleasure, energy, motivation, mood, and muscle movements.
Dopamine
It’s often helpful to ___________ dopamine activity for clients who have depression or ADHD. Schizophrenia is more complicated. We would like to increase dopamine activity in some areas, but not in others.
Increase
is used in brain areas that regulate mood, alertness, concentration, and energy. Once again, it’s helpful to increase norepinephrine levels if a client has depression or ADHD.
Norepinephrine
Norepinephrine also activates the “fight or flight” response. Thus, excessive amounts of norepinephrine can lead to ____________ and agitation. Anxious patients we want to NOT give the norepinephrine.
Anxiety
is a relatively rare neurotransmitter in the brain; about 90% of your body’s serotonin is in the lining of your intestines. Inside the brain, serotonin is produced by a very small region in the brainstem called the Raphe nuclei. Neurons in this region project outward to many other brain areas. As a result, serotonin helps regulate mood, anxiety, sexual desire, and appetite.
Serotonin
____________ is the main excitatory neurotransmitter. It acts like the brain’s _____ pedal. When clients are withdrawing from CNS depressants like alcohol, there is often an imbalance between glutamate and the next neurotransmitter. Getting off alcohol can cause too much glutamate, person could have anger or seizures.
Glutamate
Gas
___________ is the main inhibitor neurotransmitter. It acts like the brain’s ________ pedal. Several medications increase the activity of GABA. This can reduce anxiety, help induce sleep, and stop or prevent seizures.
Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA)
Break
_____________ is used in brain areas that regulate attention and __________. It’s helpful to increase acetylcholine levels if a client has Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease.
Acetylcholine
Memory
Once neurotransmitters enter the synapse, they will eventually _________ away into the surrounding cerebrospinal fluid, where they can no longer activate postsynaptic receptors. What is this called?
Float
Diffusion
The brain makes enzymes that break apart neurotransmitters. Of course, you can recognize such enzymes since they end with the letters ______. I like imagine these enzymes as little Pac-Men that enjoy chomping up neurotransmitters (instead of power pellets). (End with -ASE = enzyme) What is this called?
-ASE
Enzymatic Degradation
The presynaptic terminal has pumps that can suck neurotransmitters back inside the presynaptic terminal where they can be _______________ for future use. What is this called?
Recycled
Reuptake
