Unit 2A- Neuroscience & Behavior Flashcards
Biological psychologists
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.
Phrenology
Invented by Franz Gall, inspects skull and bumps on skull to indicate character and abilities. Everything psychological is simultaneously biological.
Neuron
A nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system.
Dendrite
The bushy, branching extensions of a neuron that receive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body.
Axon hillock
Junction between cell body and the axon itself.
Axon
The extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers, through which messages pass to other neurons or to muscles or glands.
Myelin sheath
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.
Nodes of Ranvier
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.
Terminal buttons
Small knobs at the end of an axon that release chemicals(neurotransmitters). Guide these neurotransmitters throughout the neuron.
Neuron firing
When the neuron is stimulated by things like pressure, heat, light, if chemical messages from the adjacent neurons. Positive=outside, negative=inside.
Threshold
Minimum intensity: level of stimulation required for action potential.
Action potential
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.
Synapse
The junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron.
Neurotransmitters
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)
Acetylcholine
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.
Norepinephrine
Deals with alertness and arousal.
Too much can cause schizophrenia.
Too little can cause depression.
Agonist drugs
Mimic neurotransmitters or block their reuptake.
Antagonist drugs
They inhibit it block the effects of neurotransmitters.
Endorphins
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.
Dopamine
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.
Seratonin
A compound that affects mood, appetite, sleep, and arousal. Too much causes addiction and can people impulsive. Too little causes depression.
GABA
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.
Glutamate
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.
Nervous system
The body’s speedy, electrochemical communication system consisting of all the nerve cells of the PNS and CNS
*allows us to sense the world.
Central nervous system - CNS
The brain and spinal cord; housed in bone and covered in cerebrospinal fluid. Works as a shock absorber.
Peripheral nervous system - PNS
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.
Nerves
“Neural cables” containing many axons. They are bundled like electric wires.
Sensory neurons
Aka afferent neurons- carry incoming information from the sense receptors to the CNS
Inter neurons
The brain and spinal cords way of processing information. Intervene between sensory inputs and motor outputs.
Motor neurons
Carry outgoing information from the CNS to the muscles and glands.
Also called efferent neurons.
Somatic nervous system
Controls the body’s skeletal muscles. Controls voluntary movement of those muscles.
Autonomic nervous system
Controls smooth muscles (heart, intestines, etc). Is the dual self regulating system.
Sympathetic nervous system
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.
Parasympathetic nervous system
Division of ANS that calms the body, conserving it’s energy. Rest & digest. Slows down heart beat and breathing.
Reflex
A simple, autonomic, inborn response to a sensory stimulus
Neural network
Interconnected neural cells. Neurons in the brain that cluster into work groups.
