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What is GABA?
An inhibitory neurotransmitter
gamma-Aminobutyric acid
What is glutamate
An excitory neurotransmitter. The most prevalent neurotransmitter in vertebrates, accounting for 90% of all neurotransmitters found in the human brain. An anion of glutamic acid.
What are peptides
Short chains of amino acids linked by peptide (amide) bonds
What does cutaneous mean?
Also known as ‘dermal’ is anything which is related to the skin. Subcutaneous is below the skin.
What is ATP?
Adenosine triphosphate. A complex organic chemical that provides energy to drive many processes in living cells eg. muscle contraction and nerve impulse propogation. Can be referred to as the molecular unit of currency for energy transfer. ATP production occurs mainly in the mitochondria which comprises nearly 25% of the volume of a single cell.
Visceral
Related to the viscera or organs. Visceral fat is that which encloses the organs and can cause damage to them
Adequate stimulus
The amount and type of energy that is required to stimulate a specific sensory organ
Afferent v Efferent
Afferent neurons are nerve cells that take sensory stimuli from the source to the CNS. Efferent neurons are motor neurons that take motor signals from the CNS out to the muscles to cause movement.
Synapse and Synaptic Cleft
Synapse comes from the Greek ‘synapsis’ or conjunction and is the junction between the pre-synaptic cell and post synaptic cell. The synaptic cleft is the gap between the two cells.
What is a phagocyte?
A type of cell that can ingest and sometimes digest foreign bodies such as bacteria and dead or dying cells.
Large numbers in blood
What is a corpuscle?
Means ‘small body’or particle.
Can be a red blood cell or refer to a nerve ending or a Tacticle Corpuscle such as Meissner’s corpuscles or Pacininian Corpuscles which are a type of nerve ending in the skin that is responsible for sensitivity to light touch.
What is the autonomic nervous system?
The autonomic nervous system (ANS),is a control system that acts largely unconsciously and regulates bodily functions such as the heart rate, digestion, respiratory rate, pupillary response, urination, and sexual arousa
This system is the primary mechanism in control of the fight-or-flight response
What is white matter?
White matter is mainly made up of myelinated axons and glia. The high lipid content in myelin gives white matter its colour. White matter connects neurons and is associated with learning. Prevalent in the inner part of the brain which is surrounded by the grey matter of the cortex.
What is the medulla oblongata?
Control centres for heart and lungs
Located in the lowest part of the brainstem and continues from the spinal cord within the skull.
What is the cerebral cortex?
A cortex is the outer layer of an organ. The cerebral cortex is the outer layer of the cerebrum, also known as grey matter. Plays an important role in consciousness.
Anterior and posterior
Nearer to the front or rear respectively
Gyrus
Ridge or fold between two clefts on the cerebral surface of the brain More….+ picture
Organelles
Structures within cells that have specific functions. Just like organs each organnelle contributes in its own way to help the cell function well as a whole. Organelles include the nucleus, mitochrondria and chloropasts.
What is ganglia and what examples?
Nerve cell clusters