O16 Brain Matter Flashcards
What makes up the majority of the brain?
Gray matter.
What does gray matter consist of?
Unmyelinated fibers (neuron cell bodies)
What does a neuron consist of?
Cell body, dendrites, and a single axon.
Neurons communicate through _________.
Synapses
What is an axon?
The structure that interacts at the synapse.
What do axons synapse with?
DENDRITES! (Never with other axons)
What does the cell body consist of?
Nucleus, cytoplasm, and organelles.
What do dendrites receive?
INCOMING (afferent) information.
T/F: gray matter moves information faster.
FALSE - white matter moves information faster because it is made up of myelinated fibers and is a more direct path.
What are the branches of a dendrite?
Dendritic spines
What is white matter?
pathways made up of mostly myelinated neurons, which move information faster.
What is located at the end of the axon?
A terminal bouton (axon sends messages with this)
What are neurotransmitters?
The chemicals that travel from the axon to the receiving cell; the chemical soup that is governed by our genetics that determines everything that we do.
The brain is a ________ _________.
Pattern seeker
T/F - neurons live as long as the person does.
True.
What are glia cells?
support structures/scaffolding that hold the neurons together in the brain.
What are glial cells, such as astrocytes and oligodendrocytes, made up of?
Lipid content (fat)
What are white matter pathways?
bundles of fibers that travel in the CNS that carry electrical impulses.
What are the three white matter pathways?
Fascicle - individual fiber
Fasciculus - bundle of fibers
Funiculus - bundle of fasciculi
What are six BIG white matter pathways?
capsule brachium column tract peduncle lemniscus
