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Psychology 1A > Neuroscience > Flashcards

Neuroscience Flashcards

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1
Q

What are neurons?

A

Cells in the nervous system that communicate with one another to perform information processing tasks

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2
Q

What are the three main parts of a neuron?

A

Dendrites, cell body, axon

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3
Q

What is another name for the cell body?

A

Soma

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4
Q

What is the function of the cell body?

A

To coordinate the information-processing tasks and keep the cell alive

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5
Q

What does the cell body contain?

A

Nucleus

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6
Q

What is the function of dendrites?

A

To receive information from other neurons and relay it to the cell body

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7
Q

What is the function of the axon?

A

To transmit information to other neurons, muscles or glands

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8
Q

What is the axon covered by?

A

Myelin sheath

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9
Q

What is the function of the myelin sheath?

A

To insulate the axon, thereby increasing efficiency of signal transmission

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10
Q

What is the myelin sheath made of?

A

Glial cells

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11
Q

What are glial cells?

A

Cells that support the functionality of neurons

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12
Q

How do glial cells support functionality of neurons?

A

Provide physical support, supply nutrients and enhance neuronal communication

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13
Q

What is a synapse?

A

Junction or region between axon of one neuron and dendrites/cell body of another

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14
Q

How many synapses is an adult thought to have?

A

Between 100 and 500 trillion

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15
Q

What type of signal is transmitted across a synapse?

A

Chemical

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16
Q

What are the three types of neuron?

A

Sensory, motor, interneuron

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17
Q

What is the function of a sensory neuron?

A

To receive information from the external world and convey it to the brain via the spinal cord

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18
Q

What is the function of a motor neuron?

A

To carry signals from the spinal cord to the muscles to produce movement

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19
Q

What is the function of an interneuron?

A

To connect sensory neurons, motor neurons, or other interneurons

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20
Q

What are three types of neuron structure?

A

Purkinje, Pyramidal, Bipolar

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21
Q

What is significant about Purkinje neurons?

A

Elaborate tree-like assemblage of dendrites

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22
Q

Example of Purkinje neuron

A

Purkinje cells of cerebellum

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23
Q

What is significant about Pyramidal neurons?

A

Triangular cell body and a single, long dendrite with many smaller dendrites

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24
Q

Example of Pyramidal neuron

A

Hippocampal pyramidal cell

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25
Q

What is significant about Bipolar neurons?

A

A few dendrites and a single axon

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26
Q

What type of signal is transmitted along a neuron?

A

Electrical

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27
Q

In what direction does the electrical signal travel along the neuron?

A

Dendrite - cell body - axon

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28
Q

What is resting potential?

A

The difference in electric charge between the inside and outside of a neuron’s cell membrane

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29
Q

What causes resting potential?

A

K+ ion concentration

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30
Q

What is action potential?

A

An electric signal/impulse that is conducted along the length of a neuron’s axon to the synapse

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31
Q

What causes action potential?

A

Opening of sodium channels and closing of potassium channels, allowing Na+ ions to flow inside the axon

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32
Q

What happens when action potential reaches its maximum?

A

Sodium channels close and potassium channels open, returning neuron to resting potential

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33
Q

What are breaks in the myelin sheath called?

A

Nodes of Ranvier

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34
Q

What happens to the electric signal when it passes along a myelinated axon?

A

Salatory conduction

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35
Q

What is salatory conduction?

A

Electrical impulse jumps from node to node

36
Q

What is the benefit of salatory conduction?

A

Increases speed of conduction

37
Q

What is the refractory period?

A

The time following an action potential during which a new action potential cannot be initiated

38
Q

What does the action potential trigger?

A

Release of neurotransmitters

39
Q

What does the release of neurotransmitters initiate?

A

Transmission of signal across synapse

40
Q

Where are neurotransmitters released from?

A

Terminal buttons

41
Q

What are terminal buttons?

A

Knoblike structures that branch out from an axon

42
Q

What are neurotransmitters?

A

Chemicals that transmit information across the synapse to a receiving neuron’s dendrites

43
Q

What do the dendrites of a receiving neuron contain?

A

Receptors

44
Q

What are receptors?

A

Parts of the cell membrane that receive neurotransmitters and initiate a new electric signal

45
Q

What is significant about receptors?

A

They are specific to a particular neurotransmitter - they fit like a lock and key

46
Q

What are three ways neurotransmitters leave the synapse after transmission?

A

Reuptake by presynaptic cell, destroyed by enzymes or bind to autoreceptors

47
Q

Where are autoreceptors located?

A

Presynaptic cell

48
Q

What is the function of autoreceptors?

A

Feedback inhibition of neurotransmitter release

49
Q

What are 7 neurotransmitters?

A

Acetylcholine, Dopamine, Glutamate, GABA, Noradrenaline, Serotonin, Endorphins

50
Q

What is a mneumonic to remember the 7 neurotransmitters?

A

AceDoGluGaNoSE

51
Q

What is Acetylcholine involved in?

A

Motor control

52
Q

What is Dopamine involved in?

A

Movement, motivation, emotional pleasure and arousal

53
Q

What is Glutamate involved in?

A

Learning and memory

54
Q

What is GABA?

A

Primary inhibitory neurotransmitter

55
Q

What is Noradrenaline involved in?

A

Control of mood and arousal

56
Q

What is Serotonin involved in?

A

Regulation of hunger, sleep, arousal and aggressive behaviour

57
Q

What are Endorphins involved in?

A

Pain pathways and emotion centres of brain

58
Q

What is the name for cells in the nervous system that communicate with each other to perform information-processing tasks?

A

Neurons

59
Q

Which type of neurons carry signals out to voluntary muscles in order for them to contract or expand?

A

Motor neurons

60
Q

What is the difference in electrical charge between the inside and the outside of a neuron’s cell membrane called?

A

Resting potential

61
Q

At rest, there is a higher concentration of which ion inside the cell membrane of the neuron?

A

K+ (Potassium)

62
Q

At rest, there is a higher concentration of which ion outside the cell membrane of the neuron?

A

Na+ (Sodium)

63
Q

What does the end of a neuron contain?

A

Many vesicles

64
Q

What do vesicles at the end of neurons contain?

A

Neurotransmitters

65
Q

What neurotransmitter is most closely associated with pleasure and motivation?

A

Dopamine (due to “reward circuit”)

66
Q

What is the primary excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain?

A

Glutamate

67
Q

What is the primary inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain?

A

GABA

68
Q

Both glutamate and GABA are which type of neurotransmitters?

A

Amino acid neurotransmitters

69
Q

What is the CNS made up of?

A

Brain and spinal cord

70
Q

What subdivision of the autonomic nervous system would be most associated with the phrase “fight or flight”?

A

The sympathetic nervous system

71
Q

What part of the brain is dubbed as the brain’s “relay station”?

A

Thalamus

72
Q

What does the thalamus do?

A

Sends sensory information to be processed in other regions of the brain - particularly the cerebral cortex

73
Q

What part of the brain attaches significance to previously neutral events that are associated with fear, punishment or reward?

A

Amygdala

74
Q

What are the smooth raised surfaces of the cerebral cortex called?

A

Gyri

75
Q

What are the indentations or fissures of the cerebral cortex called?

A

Sulci

76
Q

Which part of the brain helps to provide sense and meaning to information registered in the cortex?

A

Association areas

77
Q

Which part of the brain shows a great deal of plasticity to learning and memory, particularly relative to spatial navigation?

A

Hippocampus

78
Q

London taxi drivers may have an overdeveloped what due to plasticity?

A

Hippocampus

79
Q

The “phantom limb syndrome” can be explained by brain plasticity in which region of the cortex?

A

Somatosensory cortex

80
Q

What are chromosomes?

A

Strands of DNA wound around each other in a double-helix configuration

81
Q

What extra chromosome from the father determines maleness?

A

Y chromosome

82
Q

What is severed in the split-brain procedure?

A

Corpus collosum

83
Q

What was the medical purpose of the split-brain procedure?

A

Reduce seizure activity

84
Q

What are two functional neuroimaging techniques?

A

PET and fMRI

85
Q

What was the name of the man who had an iron rod in his frontal lobe?

A

Phineas Gage

86
Q

What was the significance of Phineas Gage?

A

Gave scientists the first clues into the role of the frontal lobes in emotion and personality

87
Q
A

Psychology 1A (5 decks)

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