The Brain Flashcards

1
Q

What is a fontanelle?

A

The soft spot on a baby’s head where the plates join together on the crown

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2
Q

What part of the brain is involved with logical thinking?

A

The frontal lobes

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3
Q

How do neurones receive messages from the previous and neighbouring neutrons?

A

Via the dendrites

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4
Q

What is the central nervous system made up of?

A

Brain and spinal cord

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5
Q

What is the CNS main role?

A

Is to process the information delivered to it from the peripheral nervous system

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6
Q

What does the peripheral nervous system consist of?

A

All the nerves

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7
Q

What is the main role of the PNS?

A

Is to connect and deliver messages to and from the CNS

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8
Q

What do sensory neurons do?

A

Carry messages from the sense organs to the CNS

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9
Q

What do motor neurones do?

A

Carry messages from the sense CNS to the body

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10
Q

What do inter neurones do?

A

Connect the motor and sensory neurones

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11
Q

What is a synapse?

A

The gap between the two neurones

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12
Q

What happens at a synapse?

A

Special neurotransmitters are released across the gap, helping to carry nerve impulses

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13
Q

What order do messages travel along a neuron?

A

First the dendrites detect incoming messages from neighbouring neurones and give this information to the soma. The soma then sends the message down the axon to the axon terminal. The axon terminal then passes on the converts the messages into chemical messages to then send to other neurons

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14
Q

What does acetylcholine do?

A

It excited the neruons within voluntary muscle, causing contraction. It assists with memory consolidation in the hippocampus

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15
Q

What does serotonin do?

A

It is involved in sleep, arousal and the experience of emotions

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16
Q

What does GABA do?

A

It is involved in motor control and anxiety

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17
Q

What does Dopamine do?

A

It is involved in voluntary movement, learning, arousal and feelings of pleasure

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18
Q

How can dendrites be cut back or removed?

A

By an un-stimulating environment, boredom or lack of challenge or contact with other people

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19
Q

How can dendrite connection be strengthened or increased?

A

By stimulating our brain through mental activity, exercise, and challenging ourselves

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20
Q

What are frontal lobes associated with?

A

Thinking, decision making, personality, emotional behaviours, self awareness, initiative and planning.

21
Q

What are occipital lobes associated with?

A

Are responsible for making sense of what we see

22
Q

What are parietal lobes associated with?

A

Register information from our skin such as touch, pressure, temperature and muscle movement

23
Q

What are the temporal lobes associated with?

A

Are responsible for auditory information such as talking, sounds, music and conversation

24
Q

What happened to Phineas Gage?

A

An iron rod was shot through his head while he was on a job working on the railway. He didn’t die but it caused damage to his frontal lobes therefore his personality and thinking ability was damaged.

25
Q

What does PNS stand for?

A

Peripheral nervous system

26
Q

What is the left hemisphere of the brain responsible for?

A

Used for controlling the right side of the brain, speaking and writing, logical thought, science and algebraic calculations

27
Q

What is the right hemisphere of the brain responsible for?

A

Controlling the left side of the brain, recognising patterns, solving puzzles, reading maps, arts and music, appreciation and creativity

28
Q

What is the role of the CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) ?

A

Is to supply nutrients to our brain cells, remove waste from the, and cushion our brain tissue from a knock to the head

29
Q

What is the role of the skull?

A

To protect our brain

30
Q

What is the role of he vertebrae?

A

Is to protect our spinal chord

31
Q

What are phantom limbs?

A

Are limbs that people can still feel, or still have perception of, even though the limb has been amputated or is paralysed

32
Q

What is the role of the corpus callosum?

A

Is to connect the left and right hemispheres of the brain.

33
Q

What is the corpus callosum made up of?

A

Over 100 million nerve cells

34
Q

What does the term “use it or lose it” mean?

A

That you need to keep your brain stimulated or your dendrites will be reduced or cut back as a result

35
Q

What factors influence attraction?

A

Proximity, familiarity, similarity, physical attractiveness, psychological attractiveness, reciprocity and many biological factors

36
Q

What are non verbal cues?

A

Tone of voice, length of pause, gestures/body language, fillers (ummm errr)

37
Q

What are the six basic emotions shown through universal facial expressions?

A

Happiness, sadness, anger, disgust, fear, surprise,

38
Q

What are the three components of an emotion?

A
Subjective experience (what we feel) 
Expressive behaviour (what others see)
Physiological arousal (how our bodies respond)
39
Q

Why do opposites attract?

A

Because they complement each other and balance each other out

40
Q

Role of melatonin

A

Helps regulate other hormones and maintains the body’s clock (when we fall asleep and when we wake up)

41
Q

What does the cerebral cortex do?

A

Covers the cerebrum and is the most visible part of the brain, made up of billions of nerve cells called neurons. Responsible for conscious thought

42
Q

What is the role of the cerebellum?

A

Primitive part of the brain responsible for coordination, balance and movement

43
Q

What is the role of the brain stem?

A

Regulates survival functions such as our heartbeat, blood pressure and breathing rates

44
Q

What is the role of the thalamus?

A

Sensory data arrives here and is then relayed to to specific areas of the cortex

45
Q

What is the role of the hypothalamus?

A

Responsible for regulating body temperature, appetite, thirst and hormones

46
Q

What is the role of the pineal gland?

A

Controls our internal body clock, regulates our sleep-wake cycles and releases melatonin

47
Q

What is the role of the hippocampus?

A

Responsible for making new memories, is also our direction finder or navigator

48
Q

What is the role of the amygdala?

A

Associated with the emotions of fear and anger, plays a key role in our emotional responses