psyc week 4

Question 1

nervous system first breaks down into

Answer 1

central nervous system & peripheral nervous system

Question 2

the peripheral nervous system breaks into

Answer 2

the somatic nervous system and autonomic nervous system

Question 3

somatic nervous system

Answer 3

oversees processing of sensory information and functions permitting voluntary action

Question 4

autonomic nervous system

Answer 4

oversees functions our bodies do naturally or automatically - blood vessels, glans, organs

Question 5

autonomic nervous system breaks into

Answer 5

the sympathetic nervous system and parasympathetic nervous system

Question 6

sympathetic nervous system

Answer 6

mobilizes body for action and energy output - “fight or flight”

Question 7

parasympathetic nervous system

Answer 7

helps body conserve and store energy - “rest or digest”

Question 8

phrenology

Answer 8

18th-19th century practice of localizing psychological qualities to regions of the brain

Question 9

CAT and MRI

Answer 9

capture pictures of detailed structures in the brain using X-rays or magnetic energy

Question 10

PET

Question 11

fMRI

Question 12

Medulla

Answer 12

controls life-sustaining functions (heartbeat, breathing)

Question 13

Pons

Answer 13

connects the cortex to the cerebellum - influences the sleep-wake cycle, REM sleep, and dreaming

Question 14

Reticular formation

Answer 14

runs through the pons and medulla (band of nerves) - allows us to selectively attend to and ignore unchanging info (crying baby, parent wakes up but would ignore certain noises like fans, and TV during sleep)

Question 15

cerebellum

Answer 15

“little brain” - dominant role in balance and coordination of movement - learning motor skills

Question 16

thalamus

Answer 16

relay station for incoming sensory information: sends it on to the somatosensory cortices

Question 17

hypothalamus

Answer 17

regulates hormones and hunger, thirst, temperature, sleep, and sex

Question 18

hippocampus

Answer 18

long-term memory formation and storage - spatial memory (physical layout of the environment)

Question 19

amygdala

Answer 19

involved in excitement, arousal, and fear and aggression perceptions and reactions

Question 20

fear connditioning

Answer 20

learning to predict when something scary is about to happen

Question 21

the corpus callosum

Answer 21

band of connecting fibers - allows left and right hemispheres to communicate

Question 22

lobes of the brain

Answer 22

occipital, parietal, temporal, frontal

Question 23

occipital lobe

Answer 23

processes and interprets visual information (reading, taking notes, visual data, visual memory)

Question 24

parietal lobe

Answer 24

spatial awareness; processes info from skin and receptors for touch, temp, and body position

Question 25

temporal lobe

Answer 25

processes and interprets auditory and olfactory information (listening to lectures, language comprehension)

Question 26

frontal lobe

Answer 26

higher mental functions: planning, memory, decision making, language, impulse control (critical thinking, academic planning, time management, memory strategies)

Question 27

the case of Phineas gage

Answer 27

railroad accident drove a steel rod through gages skull (frontal lobe) - survived brain damage but had major personality and behavior changes

Question 28

neurons

Answer 28

central building blocks of the nervous system - neural communication underlies all behavior

Question 29

how neurons communicate

Answer 29

a neuron receives input from another neuron

Question 30

threshold of excitation

Answer 30

membrane potential that must be reached to trigger an action potential

Question 31

action potential

Answer 31

1-2 milliseconds long - brief change in electrical voltage when neuron is stimulated

Question 32

what happens after a neuron fires

Answer 32

release of neurotransmitters

Question 33

neurotrasmitters

Answer 33

chemical messengers that either excite of inhibit the nervous system