Psychology Chapter 3 Flashcards
What do dendrites do
collect messahes from other neurons and send them to the cell body
What do axons do
Sends electrical impulses to other neurons, muscles, glands. They generate “action potential”
What do the Glial Cells do
Hold neurons in place, make food for them
What is the Myelin Sheath
Insualtion layer derived from glial cells that cover some axons. Makes action potential travel down the axon faster. Broken up into nodes of ranvier
What do neurons communicate through
Action Potential
What is resting potential
When ther is no communication happening, the charge inside the neuron is negative and is surrounded by positvely charged Na
What is synapse
The space between the axon of one neuron and the dendrite of the connection neuron
What is Glutamic Acid
- Excitatory
- Involved in all behaviour, learning, and memory
What is Dopamine
- Motivation, reward, pleasure
- Voluntary motor control
- Thought process
- Too much causes Schizophrenia
What is GABA
- Inhibitor
- > > Anxiety, motor control
- Alcohol makes the brain more sensitive to it
What are Endorphins
- Reduce pain
- Bind to same receptors as opiates
- Act as relievers in severe injury
What is Acetycholine
- Memory and muscle activity
- Lack of it causes Alzheimer’s
- Botulism blocks its release from axon, causing paralysis
What are Neuromodulators
- Circulate brain and decrease/increase sensitivity of neuron’s
- Involved in eating/sleep/stress
What is Norepinephrine
- involved in arousal and eating
- inhibitory and also excitatory depending on receptor
What is Serotonin
- Mood, eating, sleep, sex
- Depression, sleep/eating disorders are treated by blocking reuptake, deactivation of Serotonin
Antagonist VS. Agonisst
Antagonist: drug that inhibits activity of a neurotransmitter
Agnostic: drug that increases activity of a neurotransmitter
What does alcohol do to the body
It stimulates GABA, inhibits glutamic acid, and cases slowing of neural activity
What does caffeine do to the body
Antagonistic for adenosine, a chemical that inhibits excitatory transmitters (causes tiredness)
What does Rohypnol and GHB do to the body
Date rape and powerful sedative that enhance GABA
What does Amphetamines do to the body
- Increase dopamine and norepinephrine activity
- Does this by increasing production and preventing reuptake
What does Nicotine do to the body
- Mimics ACh and stimulates dopamine
- The feeling recieved from dopamine is what causes the addiction
What does Cocaine do to the body
- Stimulates release of dopamine
- Prevents its reuptake
What are sensory neurons
Neurons that send messages from sense organs to the brain
What are Interneurons
The most abundant neurons, have a connective function
What is the Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)
Neurons that connect muscles, glands, and sensory receptors
What is the Somatic Nervous System
- voluntary movements
- consists of sensory and motor neurons
What is the Autonomic Nervous System
- made up of glands and the involuntary muscles of organs
- also involved in motivation, emotional behaviour and stress response
Types of ANS and their functions
- ) Sympathetic Nervous System
- responsible for “fight-or-flight”
- Ex. speeds up heart, dilates pupils, increases oxygen - ) Parasympathetic Nervous System
- slows down the body, returns you to rest
- both work together to maintain “homeostasis”
What is the CNS
Central Nervous System and consists of neurons only in brain and spinal cord
Part function of the spinal cord
- a path of travel for nerves that leave the CNS
- Vertebrae protects the nerves
What are spinal reflexes
It is when your body can react to certain situations before the signal even reaches your brain
- Ex.) touching a hot stove
Components of Hindbrain
- ) Medulla
- ) Pons
- ) Cerebellum
Function of the Medulla
- right off of spinal cord
- regulates heart rate and respiration
Function of Pons
- bridge between the nerve impulses of the higher and lower levels of the nervous system
- involved in sleep/dreaming
Function of the Cerebellum
- Muscular movement coordination, learning, and memories
- Regulates movements that require timing
- Alcohol affects this and makes you uncoordinated
Function of Midbrain
- cluster of sensory, motor nuerons, and fibre tracts
- relay centre for visual/auditory system
- control eye movements
Components of the Forebrain
- ) Thalamus
- ) Basal Ganglia
- ) Hypothalamus
Function of the Thalamus
- sensory relay station/switchboard
- fromhere, sensations go to higher brain regions
Function of the Basal Ganglia
- controls voluntary motor control
- In Parkinson’s the neurons that supply it with dopamine die
Function of the Hypothalamus
- controls biological drives (sex drive, temperature regulation, hunger, eating, drinking, aggression)
- controls hormone secretions
What is the job of the Limbic System
- help satisfy motivation and emotional urges caused by the hypothalamus
- responsive for goal directed sequences
Function of Hippocampus
- forms and retrieves memories
- damage can prevent long term memory
Function of the Amygdala
- organizes emotional response patterns (aggression, fear)
- can produce unconscious emotional responses
What are the parts of the Cerebral Cortex
- ) Frontal Lobe
- ) Parietal Lobe
- ) Occipital Lobe
- ) Temporal Lobe
Components of the Frontal Lobe
- Motor Cortex
- Prefrontal Cortex
- Broca’s Area
Function of the Motor Cortex
- each part of it controls a part of the body’s voluntary movements
- right controls left side of the body, and vice versa
Functions of Prefrontal Cortex
- “executive function” is a goal setting and judgement
- murderers lack this function
Function of Broca’s Area
- controls speech, motor movements of speech and grammar/word choice
- damage still lets you understand speech but you cannot speak it yourself
