The Brain - Module 9 - Neurons & Neurotransmitters

Question 1

Phrenology

Answer 1

Study bumps on the skull

Question 2

Localization of Function

Answer 2

The idea that various brain regions have particular functions

Question 3

Biological Psychology

Answer 3

The scientific stud of the links between biological (genetic, neural, hormonal) and psychological processes

Question 4

Neuron

Answer 4

A nerve cell, basic building block of nervous system

Question 5

Dendrites

Answer 5

A neuron’s busy, branching extensions that receive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body

Question 6

Axon

Answer 6

The neuron extension that passes through its branches to other neurons or to muscles or glands

Question 7

Myelin Sheath

Answer 7

A fatty tissue layer segmentally encasing the axons of some neurons, enables vastly greater transmission speed as neural impulses hop from one nod to the next

Question 8

Multiple Sclerosis

Answer 8

Communication with muscles slows, with eventual loss of muscle control

Question 9

Action Potential

Answer 9

A neural impulse, a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon

Question 10

Ions

Answer 10

Electrically charged atoms

Question 11

Resting Potential

Answer 11

Positive outside, negative inside

Question 12

Selectively Permeable

Answer 12

Axon’s surface is very selective about what it allows through its gates

Question 13

Refractory Period

Answer 13

A period of inactivity after a neuron has fired

Question 14

Excitatory

Answer 14

Like pushing a neuron;s accelerator

Question 15

Inhibitory

Answer 15

Like pushing a neuron’s brakes

Question 16

Threshold

Answer 16

The level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse

Question 17

All-or-None Response

Answer 17

A neuron’s reaction of either firing with a full-strength response or not firing at all

Question 18

Synapse

Answer 18

The junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron

Question 19

Synaptic Gap

Answer 19

Tiny gap between axon tip and dendrite

Question 20

Neurotransmitters

Answer 20

Chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gaps between neurons, when released by the sending neuron, neurotransmitters travel across the synapse and bind to receptor sites on the receiving neuron

Question 21

Reuptake

Answer 21

A neurotransmitter’s re-absorption by the sending neuron

Question 22

Acetylcholine (ACh)

Answer 22

Plays a role in learning and memory, messenger at every junction between motor neurons and skeletal muscles

Question 23

ACh Released

Answer 23

Muscle contracts

Question 24

ACh Blocked

Answer 24

Muscles can’t contract, we are paralyzed

Question 25

Dopamine

Answer 25

Influences voluntary movement, learning, attention, reward and emotion

Question 26

Serotonin

Answer 26

Affects mood, hunger, sleep and arousal

Question 27

Nor epinephrine

Answer 27

Helps control alertness and arousal, mood and sleep

Question 28

GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid)

Answer 28

A major inhibitory neurotransmitter, blocks/inhibits certain brain signals and decrease activity in nervous system, relaxation and sleep

Question 29

Glutamate

Answer 29

A major excitatory neurotransmitter, involved in memory and learning, sends signals between nerve cells

Question 30

Endorphins

Answer 30

“Morphine within”, natural, oplate-like neurotransmitters links to pain control and pleasure

Question 31

Agonist

Answer 31

A molecule that, by binding to a receptor site, stimulates a response

Question 32

Antagonist

Answer 32

A molecule that, by binding to a receptor site, inhibits or blocks a response