Unit 3- Brain Flashcards
Interneuron
Communicate between motor and sensory neurons
- in brain and spinal chord
Axon
Where the electrical method takes place
- connects soma to axon terminal
Action potential
Where positive ions rush into the axon
Refractory period
Positive ions get kicked out
Motor neuron
Movement
Dendrite
Where a message enters the cell
Threshold
N
Reuptake
Neurotransmitter goes back into the axon terminal where it came from
Sensory neuron
Senses
Soma
Contains all cell parts
-cell body
All-or-None
Neuron can not partially fire, it completely fires or doesn’t fire at all
Glial cells
Cells that protect and nourish the neurons
Myelin sheath
Protects axon and helps message travel faster
Synapse
Gap/space between neurons
-dendrite of one and axon terminal of another
Resting potential
Negative ions are inside axon, positive ions are outside, no movement
Endorphins
Pain killing, make you happy, exercise
Glutamate
Excitatory- send messages forward
-if injured, can have seizures, migraines, sensitivity to light/sound
Epinephrine
Emergency (flight or fight), allergic reaction
-can get in depressed mood or have fatigue if injured
Dopamine
Movement, attention, learning, emotion
-if injured can cause parkinsons (shaking) disease or schizophrenia (delusions/paranoia)
Acetylcholine
Memory, muscle contraction
-if injures may cause Alzheimer’s disease or muscle paralysis
Serotonin
Mood, sleep, hunger, attention
-if injured, can cause depression or ADD/ADHD
GABA
Inhibitory -stops messages
-if injured, can cause seizures, tremor, or insomnia
Central NS
Info from body to brain
-brain and spine
Sympathetic NS
Stress response
-part of peripheral NS and autonomic
Peripheral NS
Off to side
-includes autonomic and somatic
Somatic NS
Body, voluntary motions
Autonomic NS
Automatic/involuntary body functions
Parasympathetic NS
Peace
Reflex
Automatic responses to stimuli
Hormones
Chemical messengers
Parathyroid gland
In neck, regulates calcium levels
Pituitary gland
In brain, controls growth and is master gland
Adrenal gland
In kidneys and back, controls adrenalin -emergency response
Pineal gland
In brain, controls circadian rhythms and melatonin
Melatonin
Z
Thyroid gland
In neck, controls metabolism
Lesion
Destroy
EEG
Measures brainwaves/activity
-seizures, sleep, epilepsy
CT/CAT Scan
X-ray image of brain
-concussion, stroke, tumor
PET scan
Injected with dye that shows scan active areas in brain
MRI
More detailed images of soft tissue in brain
-muscle, ligaments, stroke
FMRI
Active areas AND soft tissue detail
Split-brain procedure
Cut the corpus callosum
-done to stop spread of seizures (2 sides can’t communicate)
Brainstem
Connect brain and body and controls autonomic functions
-if injured, can cause coma or death
Limbic system
Collection of brain parts that control emotion and our body’s emergency response
Parietal lobe
Top side
-touch, pain, temperature
Left hemisphere
Language, verbal, organization, problem solving, math, science, reading, order/sequence, analyze
Motor cortex
Movements
Plasticity
Brain has ability to adapt, change, and reorganize if damaged
Medulla
Connect brain and body and controls autonomic functions
-if injured, can cause coma or death
SAME AS BRAINSTEM
Amygdala
Controls extreme emotions
- more active when younger
- if injured, can cause depression, bipolar, anxiety
Cerebrum
Top portion made of 4 lobes -controls higher level thinking, personality, and senses
Temporal lobe
Below parietal lobe -Hearing, memory and some speech
-temples
Wernicke’s area
Controls ability to understand language or speak in a meaningful way
Sensory cortex
Part of parietal lobe
-highly concentrated area of sensory neurons
Neurogenesis
Forming new neurons
Pons
Bridge/connector between the brainstem, cerebellum, and cerebrum
-if injured, there will be a problem with coordinating basic body movements
Cerebellum
Controls balance, coordination, muscle control, and muscle memory
-if injured, can cause lack of balance and coordination
Frontal lobe
Controls higher level thinking, planning, judgement, decision making, personality, mood, and voluntary movements
-includes frontal association area which controls all (above) but movement which is also called the prefrontal cortex
Occipital lobe
Vision
Broca’s area
Part of brain that controls physical ability to speak
Association area
Integrate information
Hippocampus
Short term to long term memory
-if injured, remembers nothing beyond short term
Hypothalamus
Maintains temperature and stable emotions or hunger and feelings
-if injured, can cause difficulty maintaining body temperature or appetite changes
Reticular formation (RAS)
Same as pineal; in control or circadian rhythms and level of alertness or arousal
-if injured, can cause insomnia, excessive fatigue
Frontal association area
Part of frontal lobe and controls all that frontal lobe does but movement
Right hemisphere
Controls emotions, music, visual, creativity, photographic, feeling/gut
Angular gyrus
Ability to read out loud
Corpus callosum
Part of brain that connects the right and left hemisphere
Cognitive neuroscience
Study of the brain activity linked with our mental process
Chromosomes
46 in body and half from mom and dad
Identical twins
X
Natural selection
X
Dual processing
Perception, memory, thinking, language all operate on two different levels
-conscious “high road” and unconscious automatic “low road”
DNA
Coiled chain of the molecule DNA
Fraternal twins
X
Mutation
X
Behavior genetics
People who study our differences and weigh the effects and interplay of heredity and enviornment
Genes
Small parts of the DNA molecules
Heritability
X
Genome
X
Interaction
X
