PSYC 100 Chapter 3 Flashcards
Define Neuron
Cellular building block of the brain, a specialized kind of nerve cell found in the brain, spinal cord and
peripheral nervous system
Define Neuroscience
Study of how nerves and cells send and receive information from the brain, body, and spinal cord
Two parts of the nervous system
Central and peripheral
Central nervous system
Brain and Spinal cord
Peripheral nervous system
Sensory and motor nerves
Two parts of peripheral
Somatic and Autonomic
Somatic
Voluntary movement
Autonomic
Automatic movement
Two parts of autonomic
Sympathetic and Para-sympathetic
Sympathetic
For exciting/dangerous situations
Life-threatening situations
- Increased heart rate, and breathing
Parasympathetic
For more relaxed situations
-Digesting, salivating, etc
Spinal cord
Part of the central nervous system, it connects the brain to the body
Interneuron
Connects neurons to one another, interprets, stores, and retrieves information about the world, allowing you to make informed decisions before you act
Cerebral cortex
The largest part of the cerebrum, it takes in sensory information and is responsible for higher function like your sense of mind and self
The 5 lobes of the cerebrum
Frontal, Occipital, Parietal, Temporal, Insular
The frontal lobe
Higher cognitive functions, thoughts, etc.
3 parts of the frontal lobe
Pre-Frontal, Broca’s Area, Motor cortex
Pre-frontal
Personality, Planning, Judgement
Broca’s Area
Found in the Left Hemisphere, it is responsible for the production of language.
Damage to Broca’s area can lead to the inability to produce language.
Motor cortex
Initiating motor movements
Premotor is for planning
Parietal lobe
Sensory information and perception
Section of the parietal lobe
Primary somatosensory (detects sensation) cortex
Primary Somatosensory Cortex
Receives sensory information, areas that receive more sensory information are represented by larger areas in the brain
Temporal Lobe
Hearing, Memory, and Language
3 sections of the Temporal lobe
Auditory cortex, Wernicke’s Area, Visual recognition
Auditory cortex
Receives auditory information
Wernicke’s area
The comprehension of language.
Damage to this area may cause someone to be able to produce language but not understand it
Visual recognition
Recognition of faces and objects
Damage to this area may cause facial blindness
Occipital Lobe
Responsible for vision
Cortex of the occipital lobe
Visual cortex
Visual Cortex
Receives visual info
Damage to this area may cause Hallucinations, blindness etc.
Insular lobe
beneath frontal and parietal, taste
The cortex of the Insular lobe
Primary taste cortex
Primary taste cortex
Internal states fo organs, maintaining homeostasis,
Left and right control?
Right and left
Corpus Callosum
Connects Hemispheres
Damage to this area may lead to a split-brain patient which gets their corpus callosum cut. Their hemispheres will not be able to communicate leading to perceptual difficulties.
Limbic system
Processes information about internal states; emotion, memory, motivation
5 parts of the limbic system
Thalamus, Hippocampus, Basal Glangia, Amygdala, and Hypothalamus
Thalamus
Switchboard: Sensory relay station
Damage can lead to sensory problems
Hypothalamus
Maintains internal states, controls the autonomic nervous system and pituitary gland
Damage can cause endocrine disorders such as diabetes, internal
temperature fluctuation
Amygdala
Excitement and fear
Damage can lead to the inability of feeling these and sense danger
Hippocampus
Memory formation
Damage can cause problems with forming new memories (mainly short-term)
Basal Glangia
Control of movement communicates with the spinal cord. Planning of action
Damage linked to Parkinson’s
Brain Stem
collects sensory signals from the
body and sends signals down from the
brain to create movement. It also plays
a role in emotion - related changes
in your body, allowing you to show fear
Damage can be lethal
3 Parts of the brainstem
Pons, Medulla Oblongata and Midbrain
Midbrain
Reflexive eye movements, motivation to move
Damage can lead to movement disorders and difficulties with vision
Pons
Automatic movements like breathing, relays sensations like hearing, taste, balance to cortex and subcortex
Damage can lead to loss of sensation or motor control and difficulties with speech or swallowing
Medulla Oblongata
Controlling autonomic function, critical reflexes
Damage to this area causes problems with heart beat , vomiting,
Cerebellum
Coordination, precision, balance, accurate timing, cognition. Mostly automatic.
Damage will cause no difficultiy initiating movement but instead maintsinting balance and precision.
Endocrine system
A network of glands that produces and releases hormones into the bloodstream to regulate the body’s activities
Hormone
The blood-borne chemicals that travel through the circulatory system enabling the brain to regulate the body’s activities.
Pituary gland
The master endocrine gland, located at the base of the brain, regulates hormone production in other
glands.
Adrenal glands
located on top of the kidneys; produce ~50 hormones, active in stressful situations
-Adrenaline and cortisol
-Boost energy and increase heart rate,
blood pressure, and blood-sugar
levels
-Central to the stress response
Parts of the neuron
Axon, Dendrite, Terminal Branch, Cell body/Soma
Axon
Located between cell body and Terminal branches, it transports signals to other cells
Myelin Sheath
Made up of glial cells, insulates the axon
Glial Cells (glia)
insulate and support neurons, and serve as cellular glue between neurons, also contributing to brain development.
-Greater Myelination associated with positive differences in brain activities
Myelin shrinks with normal aging
Degredation of Myelin (Demyelination)- neurodegenerative disease
Dendrite
Receives signals from other cells
Cell body/Soma
Creates proteins and new cell components
Terminal branch
converts electrical signals into chemical messages to other neurons
Action Potential:
Rapid sequence of changes in the voltage across a membrane, occurs when a neuron sends information down an axon, away from the cell body.
Resting potential
Rises to threshold
Rapidly depolarizes
Rapidly repolarizes then Hyperpolarizes-Refractory period
Returns to resting potential
Resting state (polarized state)
negative intercellular environment
+positive extracellular environment
Depolarization
positively charged ions flood into the neuron, setting a chain reaction as
they spread down the axon, causing more channels to open
Repolarization
positive ions out, returning to the resting potential.
Synapse
the space between
the terminal branches of the
sending neuron and the
dendrites of the receiving
neuron.
Neurotransmission
converting the electrical
signal into a chemical one and pass to the next neuron. Occurs at the Terminal branch
Refractory period
The period of time required for a neuron to return to its resting state before it can fire another action potential
Receptors
recognize and bind with specific
neurotransmitters
Removal mechanisms for leftover neurotransmitters
Diffusion, Degredation, Reuptake
Diffusion
Drift out the snyapse
Degredation
Chemical reaction that breaks down the neurotransmitters
Reuptake
neurotransmitters are reabsorbed
into the presynaptic terminal (a selective process)
Amino Acids trigger?
Glutamate, GABA, etc
Monoamines trigger?
Dopamine, Serotonin
Acetylcholine
an inhibitory and an excitatory signal, supporting heart, skeletal muscle, and cognitive function
Agonist
A chemical that mimics the action of a neurotransmitter
Antagonist
block these effects, competing with both naturally occurring neurotransmitters and agonists for
target receptors
Neural Plasticity
refers to the brain’s ability to change, even into adulthood
can be in response to learning or disease/injury
4 basic processes of Neural Plasticity
axon and dendrite growth
synaptogenesis
pruning (apoptosis)
myelination
How is learning done?
through synapse formation, long term potentiation or changes in dendritic shape
Neurogenesis
The process by which new brain cells are born in adult brains.
EEG
Electrodes placed on the scalp measure
electrical activity in the brain
-high temporal resolution (milliseconds)
-non invasive
-affordable
-low spatial resolution
fMRI
Strong magnetic fields used to visualize neural activity in the brain (using blood flow as an indicator of activity)
-High spatial resolution (1-5 mm^3)
-Non invasive
-Low temporal resolution (1-2 seconds)
-Expensive
PET
Neuroimaging, can be used to diagnose Alzheimers disease
-Good spatial resolution
-Poor temporal resolution
MEG
-Good temporal resolution
-Bad spatial resolution
CT
X-ray images of brain from different angles to make 3D structure
Exposes patients to dangerous radiation
Single cell recording
Insert a microelectrode inside the
brain to study electrical activity of a single neuron or a small area.
-mostly on animals
-ok temporal resolution
-ok spatial resolution
Brain scans
Image= Experimental-Control
Good spatial resolution
MRI, fMRI, Single-Cell recording, PET
Good temporal resolution
EEG/ERP, MEG, Single-Cell recording
Heritability
Percentage of the variability in a trait across a group of individuals that is due to genes, tells us nothing about how
changeable a trait is
Genotype
Genetic Makeup
Phenotype
Observable traits
Natural Selection
Populations change gradually over time
Some individuals have adaptations making them better suited for the environment
allele
A variant form of a gene; humans have two alleles per gene, one inherited from each parent
family studies
Extent to which the trait “runs in the family”
Similar genes and environment
Monozygotic
2 twins share 100% same genes
Dizygotic
2 twins share 50% of their genes
Twin studies
Same environment
50-100% shared genes
Adoption studies
Shared genes with biological family
Shared environment with adopted family
