The Brain Flashcards
The type of neurons:
Sensory Neurons
The feeling of heat.
The type of neurons:
Motor Neurons
Moving the hand away from the heat
The type of neuron:
Interneurons
“Ah that’s hot!”
Parts of the neuron
Dendrites, axon, cell body, nucleus, myelin sheath, synaptic vesicles
Make a picture and compare to study guide.
Synapse
Junction between axon tip and the dendrite/cell body of receiving neuron.
Multiple Sclerosis (M.S)
Damage to brain and spinal cord: Disrupts communication between brain and body.
All or None Law
Either it is all or nothing in the neuron.
Either a neuron is sufficiently stimulated and an action potential occurs or a neuron is not sufficiently stimulated and an action potential does not occur.
Neurotransmitters:
Acetylcholine (Ach)
Enables muscle action learning and memory
Causes Alzheimer’s due to the lack of Acetylcholine (Ach)
Neurotransmitters:
Dopamine
Movement, though process and reward.
Causes Parkinson’s due to lack of dopamine and to much causes schizophrenia.
Neurotransmitters:
Endorphins
Releases in response to pain and stress. Natural opiates.
Neurotransmitters:
Serotonin
Involved in sleep, sensory perception, mood and emotional stress.
Causes depression if there is too little.
Neurotransmitters:
Norepinephrine
Physical arousal, controls alertness, learning, and memory retrieval. “fight or flight”
Little amount causes a depressed mood.
Stress stimulates the release of norepinephrine.
Neurotransmitters:
GABA
Major inhibitor, keeps neurons from firing.
Undersupply linked to tremors and insomnia.
Nervous System:
Central
Spinal cord and brain
Nervous System:
Peripheral
Rest of body
Nervous System:
Somatic
Controls voluntary skeletal movements.
Somo=skeletal
Nervous System:
Autonomic
Controls internal organs
Auto=automatic check in’s on insides
Nervous System:
Sympathetic
Arousing, “Fight or Flight”
Sympathetic= Alertness, need to be around, awaking.
Nervous System:
Parasympathetic
Calming, sleep
Paralysis=sleep and calm, not moving
Neuroplasticity:
Functional
Ability to transfers functions from damaged part of the brain to the undamaged parts of the brain.
Neuroplasticity:
Structural
Ability to change physical structure of the brain in response to learning or environmental stimulation.
Broca’s area
Produces words and speech. Articulates/refines message. Grammar.
Wernicke’s area
Comprehension of written and spoken language. Content words.
Aphasia
Is an impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage to either Broca’s (lack of speech) or Wernicke’s areas (lack of understanding/lack of comprehension.
Parts of the Brain:
Medulla
Base of the spinal cord.
Controls basic life functions, such as breathing and heartbeat.
Parts of the Brain:
Reticular Formation
Nerve network in the brainstem that controls arousal.
Plays role in alertness and attention. Filters out incoming stimulation in order to focus on task at hand.
Parts of the Brain:
Cerebellum
The “little brain” attached to the rear of the brainstem.
Helps control our highly practiced motor movements. Helps in conditioning. Maybe assonated with ADHD. Involved with implict (unconscious) memory.
Parts of the Brain:
Hypothalamus
Lies below the (hypo) the thalamus. It directs several maintenance activities like eating, drinking, body temp and control of emotions.
Parts of the Brain:
Amygdala
Consists of two lima-bean sized neural clusters. found in temporal lobe.
Processing emotional reactions. (Stress, anxiety)
Parts of the Brain:
Hippocampus
Found in temporal lobe.
Plays role in processing long-term explicit (conscious) memory of facts and experiences. Also in charge of spatial memory with navigation.
Parts of the Brain:
Corpus callosum
A large band of neural fibers connecting the two hemispheres and carrying out messages between them.
Parts of the Brain:
Frontal
Associated with reward, attention, long term memory, planning, and drive.
Speech production.
Parts of the Brain:
Parietal
Integrates sensory information from different regions oft he brain, spatial sense and navigation.
Parts of the Brain:
Occipital
Visual processing center. Specialized for different visual tasks, such as visual spatial processing, color discrimination and motor perception.
Parts of the Brain:
Temporal
Auditory perception; hearing. Processes sematic in both speech and vision.
Parts of the Brain:
Thalamus
Located on top of the brainstem. Major relay station. Receives input from all sensory systems expect smell. It passes that information to the proper areas of the cortex for processing.
Parts of the Brain:
Pons
Helps in basic life functions. But mainly play in a role in sleeping and dreaming. Helps coordination and well practiced body movements.
