NEUROTRANSMITTERS / HORMONE / NEUROHORMONES / GLUTAMATE (ROLE) / ADRENALINE (ROLE) / FLASHBULB MEMORIES

Question 1

DEFINITION: NEUROTRANSMITTERS

Answer 1

• A chemical messenger
• Found in vesicles in the axon terminal buttons
• Allows the signal to travel across the synapse
• BIND itself to a specific respecter site of the post-synaptic dendrite
• Either EXCITE or INHIBIT action potentials

Question 2

DEFINITION: HORMONE

Answer 2

• Known as stress chemicals
• Produced by the endocrine system
• Hormones operate WITH the Nervous System to control important bodily functions such as regulating growth, sexual development, metabolism and mood.

Question 3

DEFINITION: NEUROHORMONE

Answer 3

• Chemical messengers released by the pre-synaptic neuron into the BLOODSTREAM and carried throughout the body
• Where it can ACT like a hormone
• RELEASED like a neurotransmitter
• ACTS as a hormone

Question 4

ROLE OF GLUTAMATE

• GLUTAMATE
• ROLE

Answer 4

GLUTAMATE: Activates the post-synaptic neuron

• The main EXCITATORY neurotransmitter
• Involved in memory and learning
• RECEPTOR SITES: AMPA and NMDA

ROLE: Activates the post-synaptic neuron. Excites/increases the likelihood for action potentials to occur

Question 5

ROLE OF ADRENALINE IN CONSOLIDATING EMOTIONALLY AROUSING EXPERIENCES

Answer 5

ADRENALINE:

• A stress hormone. Secreted by the adrenal glands. Itv is also involved in the fight-flight response
• Can act as a NEUROHORMONE or a NEUROTRANSMITTER
• Helps strengthen Declarative explicit memories. Causes the activation of the amygdala
• LOW / MODERATE amounts
• play a role in the consolidation of memory
• TOO MUCH: Can be counterproductive

Question 6

ROLE OF ADRENALINE IN EPISODIC MEMORIES

Answer 6

• If the memories are emotional, adrenaline is going to STRENGTHEN the episodic memory
  EXAMPLE: Soldiers experiencing flashbacks of their time in the war (seeing their comrades dying before their eyes). This is because the memory is so STRONG

Question 7

DEFINITION: FLASHBULB MEMORY

• EMOTION: important in FBM
• Emotional shock
• Amygdala
• Triggers them faster than our conscious awareness

FOLLOW UP STUDIES: in the PowerPoint

Answer 7

FLASHBULB MEMORY

• Known as a STRONG detailed and vivid memory
• Memories that are associated with IMPORTANT PERSONAL EVENTS that happened in the past (Death of a family member)
• Important determinants of FBM: Events that are shocking, surprising and often a national tragedy (Martin Luther King Jr, Princess Diana, Michael Jackson)
• They are stored on ONE occasion and RETAINED for a lifetime