Psych Chapter 5 Flashcards
What is a neuron?
Cells that receive, integrate and transmit info in the nervous system.
What are the three major parts of a neuron.
The Soma, Dendrite and Axon.
What is a Soma?
Its the cell body- contains the nucleus of the cell and keeps the cell alive.
What is the dendrite?
Branching tree like fiber- collects info from other cells and sends the info to the soma.
What is the Axon?
Long, segmented fiber- transmits info away from the cell body towards other neurons, muscles or glands.
What is a Myelin Sheath?
A layer of fatty tissue surrounding the axon of a neuron that both acts as an insulator and allows faster transmission of the electrical signal.
Axons branch out toward their ends, and at the tip of each branch is a ——
terminal button.
What is a Glial Cell?
Supply nourishments, remove waste, and provide insulation.
What is the electrochemical process?
An electrical charge moves through the neuron and chemicals transmit info between neurons.
What is a resting potential?
a state in which the interior of the neuron contains a greater number of negatively charged ions than does the area outside the cell
What is an action potential?
Change in electrical charge that occurs in a neuron when a nerve impulse is transmitted.
What happens when the action potential happens?
The number of positive ions exceeds the number of negative ions in the segment, and the neuron becomes positively charged.
What are the nodes of Ranvier?
Series of breaks between the sausage like segments of the myelin sheath.
What is the Refractory period?
A brief time after the firing of the axon in which the axon cannot fire again because the neuron has not yet returned to its resting potential.
What is a synapse?
Spaces between the cells
What are neurotransmitters?
Chemicals that communicate with other neurons.
When neurotransmitters are accepted by the receptors on the receiving neurons, their effect may be either:
Excitatory, and inhibitory
What are Excitatory and inhibitory?
Excitatory is when the neurotransmitters make he cell less likely to fire
Inhibitory is when the neurotransmitters make a cell less likely to fire
The same amount of inhibition and excitation =?
neuron stays at resting state
What is the process of neurotransmitters not being accepted?
- Breakdown of neurotransmitters by enzymes
2. Reuptake - neurotransmitters are reabsorbed into the terminal buttons, ready to be used again after the neuron fires.
what is Acetylcholine?
A common neurotransmitter used in the spinal cord and motor neurons to stimulate muscle contractions.
Alzheimer’s disease is associated with an undersupply of acetylcholine and nicotine acts like acetylcholine.
What is Dopamine?
Involved in movement, motivation and emotion. Produces feelings of pleasure when released by the brains reward system, and its also involved in learning.
what neurotransmitter is schizophrenia linked to?
Dopamine
What is released in response to behaviors such as vigorous exercise, orgasm, and eating spicy foods?
Endorphins
What is Glutamate
he most common neurotransmitter, it’s released in more than 90% of the brain’s synapses. Glutamate is found in the food additive MSG (monosodium glutamate).
what is serotonin
Involved in many functions, including mood, appetite, sleep, and aggression.
what is GABA
The major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain.
What is the medulla
Controls heart rate, breathing. Is the most basic structure needed to live. Are able to survive with just the Medulla.
What is the pons
Helps control balance, movements, walking.
what is the Reticular Formation
long narrow network of neurons that acts as a switch board. Filters stimuli and relays info to the right areas of the brain. Important in eating, sleeping and sexual activity. If electrocuted you live, if severed, you’ll fall into a coma.
what is the cerebellum
Receives sensory info from the body and the brain and is responsible for balance, coordination and speech. Alcohol effects the cerebellum in which we lose balance. Makes up 10% of the body’s weight. But has almost half of the brains neurons.
what is the limbic system
a brain area, located between the brain stem and the two cerebral hemispheres, that governs motion and memory.
what is the thalamus
filters sensory information that is coming up from the spinal cord and through the reticular formation. Egg-shaped structure above the brain stem
what is the Amygdala:
primarily responsible for regulating our perceptions of, and reactions to, aggression and fear. Two “almond-shaped” clusters
What is the Hippocampus
important in storing information in long-term memory. Two “horns” that curve back from the amygdala