Textbook Terms Flashcards
Androgen insensitivity syndrome
When an individual is biologically male but is resistant to male hormones (androgens). This can affect the development of male sex characteristics
Crystallized intelligence
An individual’s accumulated knowledge. May increase with age.
Experience-dependent
A neural system that only develops typically if it receives the appropriate input. A variation in input can lead to a variation in function
Experience-expectant
A neural system whose development is critically dependent on inputs that are stable across sources
Neural Plate
A key developmental component of the nervous system. It is composed of primitive neural tissue and eventually develops into the neural tube
Ocular Dominance Columns
Columns of neurons in the visual cortex that respond preferentially to information from one eye or the other
Synaptic Pruning
Changes in neural structures that results in a reduction in the number of synapses
Cuckoldry
A mate is led to believe that another person’s child is their own
Diminishing marginal gains
A decline in the gain a person derives from the consumption of each additional unit of a product
Eusocial
Species with radical reproductive division of labour; a single female or caste produces the offspring and sterile individuals cooperate in caring for the young
Parasympathetic nervous system
Part of the autonomic nervous system; Helps to return the body to normal function after the activation of the sympathetic nervous system.
Temporal summation
A high frequency of EPSPs by a single neuron elicit postsynaptic potentials that overlap and summate with each other to create an action potential
Ablation Studies
Studies that remove part of the brain in order to study the results.
Cerebrospinal Fluid
Clear watery fluid in which the brain floats; fills the space between the arachnoid membrane and the pia mate
Extracelluar Recording
Recording taken from outside the cell to measure the electrical activity adjacent to the electrode tip
