Unit 2A- Neuroscience & Behavior

Question 0

Biological psychologists

Answer 0

Study links between biological activity and psychological events. In other words, they study why we do what we do. Sleep, dreams, depression, schizophrenia, hunger, sex, stress, and disease.

Question 1

Phrenology

Answer 1

Invented by Franz Gall, inspects skull and bumps on skull to indicate character and abilities. Everything psychological is simultaneously biological.

Question 2

Neuron

Answer 2

A nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system.

Question 3

Dendrite

Answer 3

The bushy, branching extensions of a neuron that receive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body.

Question 4

Axon hillock

Answer 4

Junction between cell body and the axon itself.

Question 5

Axon

Answer 5

The extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers, through which messages pass to other neurons or to muscles or glands.

Question 6

Myelin sheath

Answer 6

A layer of fatty tissue (around neurons) that enables vastly greater transmission speed of neural impulses as the impulse from one node to the next. It surrounds the axon and insulated the fibers and it speeds it up.

Question 7

Nodes of Ranvier

Answer 7

A gal between the myelin sheath of a nerve. Helps speed up the process. Deterioration of this sheath is the cause of MS. It also slows it stops neural communication.

Question 8

Terminal buttons

Answer 8

Small knobs at the end of an axon that release chemicals(neurotransmitters). Guide these neurotransmitters throughout the neuron.

Question 9

Neuron firing

Answer 9

When the neuron is stimulated by things like pressure, heat, light, if chemical messages from the adjacent neurons. Positive=outside, negative=inside.

Question 10

Threshold

Answer 10

Minimum intensity: level of stimulation required for action potential.

Question 11

Action potential

Answer 11

A neural impulse or brief electrical charge that travels down the axon. Generates by the movement of positively charged atoms in and out of channels of the membrane. 120m/s. Refractory period: when everything starts to go back to normal.

Question 12

Synapse

Answer 12

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

Question 13

Neurotransmitters

Answer 13

Chemical messengers that traverse the synaptic gaps between neurons. They bind to receptor sites on the receiving neuron. They excite/inhibit cells. Leftovers are eaten by enzymes(reuptake)

Question 14

Acetylcholine

Answer 14

ACH a neurotransmitter that enables learning and memory and triggers muscle contraction. Too much can cauE convulsions while too little causes no muscle contraction of stiffness and leads to Alzheimer’s.

Question 15

Norepinephrine

Answer 15

Deals with alertness and arousal.
Too much can cause schizophrenia.
Too little can cause depression.

Question 16

Agonist drugs

Answer 16

Mimic neurotransmitters or block their reuptake.

Question 17

Antagonist drugs

Answer 17

They inhibit it block the effects of neurotransmitters.

Question 18

Endorphins

Answer 18

Or “morphine within”- natural, opiate-like neurotransmitters linked to pain control and pleasure. Helps unintensify initial pain. Too much causes euphoria or dependence, too little causes depression and elongates pain.

Question 19

Dopamine

Answer 19

Helps regulate emotion, learning and movement. Allows fluidity in movement. Is a pleasure and reward center. Too much can cause hallucinations and delusions while too little can cause Parkinson’s disease.

Question 20

Seratonin

Answer 20

A compound that affects mood, appetite, sleep, and arousal. Too much causes addiction and can people impulsive. Too little causes depression.

Question 21

GABA

Answer 21

A neurotransmitter of the CNS that inhibits excitatory responses. Inhibitory=calms down anxiety after initial signs. Too much = sedate or very calm faze. Not enough= insomnia, seizures, & anxiety disorders.

Question 22

Glutamate

Answer 22

An excitatory neurotransmitter that helps with fight or flight and deals with memory. Too much can cause seizures, migraines, and overstimulation while not enough caused listlessness.

Question 23

Nervous system

Answer 23

The body’s speedy, electrochemical communication system consisting of all the nerve cells of the PNS and CNS
*allows us to sense the world.

Question 24

Central nervous system - CNS

Answer 24

The brain and spinal cord; housed in bone and covered in cerebrospinal fluid. Works as a shock absorber.

Question 25

Peripheral nervous system - PNS

Answer 25

The sensory and motor neurons that connect the CNS to the test of the body. Is connected to sense receptors, muscles, and glands. It is made of nerves.

Question 26

Nerves

Answer 26

“Neural cables” containing many axons. They are bundled like electric wires.

Question 27

Sensory neurons

Answer 27

Aka afferent neurons- carry incoming information from the sense receptors to the CNS

Question 28

Inter neurons

Answer 28

The brain and spinal cords way of processing information. Intervene between sensory inputs and motor outputs.

Question 29

Motor neurons

Answer 29

Carry outgoing information from the CNS to the muscles and glands.
Also called efferent neurons.

Question 30

Somatic nervous system

Answer 30

Controls the body’s skeletal muscles. Controls voluntary movement of those muscles.

Question 31

Autonomic nervous system

Answer 31

Controls smooth muscles (heart, intestines, etc). Is the dual self regulating system.

Question 32

Sympathetic nervous system

Answer 32

The division of the ANS that arouses the body, mobilizing it’s energy in stressful situations. Fight it flight. Burns energy, stops digestion and speeds heart beat.

Question 33

Parasympathetic nervous system

Answer 33

Division of ANS that calms the body, conserving it’s energy. Rest & digest. Slows down heart beat and breathing.

Question 34

Reflex

Answer 34

A simple, autonomic, inborn response to a sensory stimulus

Question 35

Neural network

Answer 35

Interconnected neural cells. Neurons in the brain that cluster into work groups.