Psych unit 2 Flashcards
What is a neuron
Nerve cells that run through our entire bodies and communicate with each other
Where do neurons transmit impulses
Brain to body, and between brain and spinal cord
What is neuroplasticity
The brains ability to alter connections based on changes in environment
What are the 5 main parts of a neuron? What is the function of each?
Cell body: provide energy
Dendrites: receive messages
Axon: transmits messages from cell body
Axon terminals:
Sends info to other neurons
Myelin:
Insulates axon
What is a synapse
The gap between 2 neurons (terminal and dendrite) which neurotransmitters are sent across
What speed do neural messages travel at?
200mph only in 1 direction though
What are the 3 main neuron types? What are their functions?
Sensory: carry info from senses to CNS
Motor: CNS to muscles + glands
Inter: between, just in CNS
What is a neurotransmitter?
Chemicals stored in sacs in the Axon terminals, converted into electrical impulse when neuron is fired.
What is acetylcholine/ACh
Involved in muscle control, learning, and memory. Too little = altzheimers
What is dopamine
Involved in motor behavior and pleasure, too little = Parkinsons, too much = schizophrenia
What is noradrenaline
Involved in preparing the body for action and concentration, too little = depression
What is serotonin
Involved in emotional arousal and sleep. Too little = depression
what is endorphins
involved in pain relief, feeling “good”
what is Gamma-aminobutyric acid/GABA
involved in “calming down”- reduces neuron activity
What is the CNS
Central Nervous System = Brain and spinal cord
What is the PNS
Penis lol
Peripheral Nervous System = Autonomic and Somatic nervous systems,basically its all nerves outside of brain and spinal cord
what are stimuli
changes in our environment
what does the somatic nervous system do
transmits info to and from CNS; controls voluntary muscles and organs
what does the autonomic nervous system do
controls involuntary vital functions such as heart rate, digestion, breathing
what do the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems do?
S: fight or flight, suppresses digestion, increases heart and respiration rates, elevates blood pressure
P: rest and digest, restores energy, normalize heart/respiration rates + blood pressure after intense activity
What are the 3 major parts of the hindbrain and what are their functions
Cerebellum: coordinates skeletal muscles based on info from cerebral cortex
Brainstem (pons + medulla):
Pons: sends signals between upper and lower parts of the brain, also regulates movement, attention, sleep
Medulla: maintains vital, involuntary actions like breathing, also transfers info to and from brain + spinal cord
What are the 3 stalks that attatch the cerebellum to the brain called?
Pendunculi
What do the ventral areas of the midbrain control
Motor function
What do dorsal areas of the midbrain control
Sensory info, especially vision and hearing
What is the reticular activating system
A system important for alertness and reaction time, also involved in eye movement and sleep
What is the main job of the forebrain
Complex thinking and emotion ‼️‼️‼️
What are the 2 major divisions of the forebrain?
Diencephalon: limbic system, thalamus and hypothalamus
Telencephalon: contains the cerebrum
What does the thalamus do
Relay sensory info
What does the hypothalamus do
Maintains homeostasis-> temperature, thirst, hunger, emotions, controls pituitary gland
What is the limbic system?
Controls behaviors that are necessary for survival, such as memory, emotion, sex, hunger, aggression, only activated when triggered
What is the cerebrum
The largest and most highly developed brain area, used for conscious and intellectual activities, split into 2 hemispheres
What is the outer layer of the cerebrum called? What does it do?
Cerebral cortex is the main thinking part, also deals with memory, language, emotions, complex motor functions, perceptions
What is the highway that connects the 2 hemispheres of the cerebrum
CORPUS CALLOSUM (untapped potential for warhammer character names with all this latin shit)
What are the 4 lobes of each hemisphere? What is the primary function of each?
Frontal: complex thinking, planning, moving, emotions
Pareital: touch, pain, space, some thinking such as body language
Temporal: hearing, observation, memory, some emotion
Occipital: sight
What is the prefrontal cortex?
Top front of frontal lobe, where the highest thinking, feeling, perceiving take place
Where is sensory info from the lobes relayed to?
THALAMUS
What is an association area
An area of the cerebrum that uses information to create meaning
What happens in the frontal association areas?
Problem solving, planning, complex decision-making
What hemisphere are language functions normally based in?
Left for nearly all right-handed people, and about 67% of lefties
What is wernickes area?
An association area in the Temporal lobe that creates meaning from sound and sights in order to help with language skills
What is brocas area
Association area in the frontal lobe that controls muscles in face to physically produce speech
What hemisphere of the brain generally contains math and logical functions?
Same as language, so generally left
What is the right hemisphere generally more used for than the left?
Imagination, art, feelings, spatial relations
What are the 5 main ways of studying the brain? Give a brief description of each
Accidents: location of damage teaches us
Lesions: cutting small parts out of an animal brain and studying change in behavior
Electrical stimulation: testing out different areas of the brain by stimulating them, can help relieve pain in humans, sometimes unreliable as an info source though
EEG (electroencephalogram): reading electric signals from brain with a machine, can diagnose issues
Brain imaging: scanning brain to create an image of it, to diagnose issues
What is the amygdala
Primary centre for emotion
What is the hippocampus
Primary centre for long term memory
What is the endocrine system?
a system of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream
what glands does the pituitary gland control?
adrenals, thyroid, ovaries, testes
what does human growth hormone do
grows humans
what do prolactin and oxytocin do
P: stimulates milk production
O: stimulates labour
what does the thyroid gland do?
produces thyroxine which regulates metabolism
too much = hyperthyroidism = severe weight loss + high energy
too little = hypothyroidism = severe weight gain + low energy
what do the adrenal glands do?
produce adrenaline and noradrenaline, makes the liver release emergency energy sugar, all to prep the body for fight/flight
what do the ovaries and testes do?
make progesterone, estrogen, and testosterone:
-amounts differ in men vs women
-develop and grow primary and secondary sexual characteristics
-progesterone mainly helps with pregnancy
-testosterone is a steroid
what is heredity
the transmission of characteristics from parents to offspring, especially physical traits, only some psychological traits, psychological diseases can also be hereditary
what are genes
sequences of DNA in chromosomes, which determine traits of offspring by pairing up one from each parent
how many chromosomes do most people have?????
46 (michael cook has 47)
