Unit 3 (neurobiology) Flashcards
central nervous system
brain and spinal cord
what does the brain do?
processes and relays information
converging
impulses from several neurons group together to form a summation
diverging
an impulse from one neuron go into several neurons e.g fine motor movement (writing)
the brain is composed of…
many interconnecting neurons
parts of the brain
- medulla oblongata
- cerebrum
- cerebellum
- hypothalamus
medulla oblongata
The medulla oblongata is responsible for regulating several basic functions of the autonomic nervous system, including respiration, cardiac function, vasodilation, and reflexes like vomiting, coughing, sneezing, and swallowing
cerebellum
Coordination of voluntary movements. Most movements are composed of a number of different muscle groups acting together in a temporally coordinated fashion.
cerebrum
The cerebrum (front of brain) is composed of the right and left hemispheres, which are joined by the corpus callosum.
what is the outer layer of the cerebrum called?
the cerebral cortex
what is the cerebral cortex
it is the outer layer of the cerebrum
what do the left and right hemispheres of the brain do?
the left hemisphere processes information from the right side visual field and controls the right hand side of the body and the right hemisphere is for the right hemisphere processes information from the left visual field and controls the left of the body
corpus collosum
the large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages between them
cerebral cortex functions
sensory
motor
association
higher mental processes
intelligence, language, processing, personality, creativity, imagination and conscience
3 levels of memory
sensory, short term and long term
glieal cells
they produce mylin sheaths and physically support neurons, they are usually found surrounding a neuron
myelin sheath function
the presence of the mylin sheath is to increase the speed at which impulses can be transmitted from node to node along the axon of a neuron. they develop around axon fibres of individual neurons.
myelination
the development of mylin. mylination lasts from birth to adolescence this means that in the first two years of life you’re not as coordinated as an older child would be
Synapse
gap between neurons
what does dopamine do?
it is produced in several regions of the brain when a survival related urge is satisfied e.g hunger, thirst and sexual needs
where are endorphins produced?
in the hypothalamus
what do neurotransmitters bind with?
receptors
what are the two types of receptors?
inhibitory and excitatory
short term memory (STM)
short term memory can only hold a limited amount of information — usually about 7 items at one time (memory span) and the items are only held for a short time.
what happens when information in short term memory isn’t needed?
it is either:
- transferred to LTM
- displaced (pushed out bu new info)
- decays
how do you improve short term memory?
rehearsal - repeating information over and over again
chunking - several units are pushed together to make one meaningful unit e.g 2341 could be remembered as 1234 which is easier to remember
Acetylcholine
A neurotransmitter that enables learning and memory and also triggers muscle contraction
what can recreational drugs do to someones neurochemistry and what is the effect of thus?
the alteration in someone’s neurochemistry may lead to changes in:
- mood
- cognitive thinking
- perception
- behaviour
what effect do recreational drugs have on neurotransmitters?
they can:
- stimulate the release of a natural neurotransmitters
- act as an agonist by initiating the action of a neurotransmitter
- act as a antagonist by binding with receptors and blocking the action of a neurotransmitter
- inhibit the reuptake of a neurotransmitter
- inhibit the breakdown of a neurotransmitter by an enzyme