Neuropsychological Flashcards
What was neuropsychology before it became a new separate discipline?
An area of clinical psychology
What does neuropsychology focus on?
The relationship between brain functioning and behaviour
What is a neuron?
a nerve cell
What is the central nervous system (CNS)?
The brain and the spinal cord
What is the peripheral nervous system (PNS)?
The neurons that convey messages to and from the rest of the body
What are the different sides of the brain called?
The cerebral hemispheres
What is it called when one side of the brain controls motor responses on the opposite side of the body?
Contralateral control
What is contralateral control?
When one side of the brain controls motor responses on the opposite side of the body
What is the rubbery casing around the axon called?
The myelin sheath
Is the resting potential of a cell negative or positive?
Slightly negative
When is the electrical voltage of a cell absent of a disturbance or stimulant?
When it is in resting potential
What does Na+ stand for?
Sodium
What does K+ stand for?
Potassium
What is the state of Na and K when in resting potential state?
Na+ gates are closed
K+ gates are nearly closed
What maintains an electrical gradient (a difference in electrical charge)?
The neuron membrane
What it hyperpolarisation?
When the electrical signal drops until the charge inside is considerably less than the outside
What is depolarisation?
Na+ flowing into the cell to make the electrical signal very positive
When do the Na+ gates fly open?
When the cell threshold is reached (after some Na+ has seeped in)
When do the Na+ gates snap shut?
When the cell is depolarised completed (full of Na+)
When do the K+ gates fly open?
When Na+ gates snap shut (when depolarised and cell is more positive than the outside)
What happens when the K+ gates fly open?
K+ can move out of the cell because its more positive inside than outside
What does the sodium potassium pump do?
Remove sodium and bring back potassium to restore back to resting potential
When does the sodium pump kick in?
When hyperpolarised
What are the specialised junctions between neurons called?
Synapses
When does synaptic transmission begin?
When the nerve impulse reaches the presynaptic axon terminal
What initiates the sequence of events that lead to the transmitter release and activation of receptors on the post synaptic membrane?
Depolarisation of the presynaptic membrane
What is an example of a neurotransmitter?
acetylcholine serotonin dopamine melatonin oxytocin glutamate
What do neurotransmitters do?
transmit signals from a neuron to a target cell across a synaptic cleft
Neurotransmitters can be classified based on whether they are:
Excitatory or inhibitory (some can be both depending on the receptor type)