Unit 3: The Brain

Question 1

Motor Cortex

Answer 1

Controls voluntary movements

Question 2

Broca’s Area

Answer 2

Controls speech muscles via motor cortex

Question 3

Temporal Lobe

Answer 3

Part of cerebral cortex that includes auditory areas (each side receives information from the opposite ear)

Question 4

Parietal Lobe

Answer 4

Part of cerebral cortex that receives sensory input for touch and body position

Question 5

Frontal Lobe

Answer 5

Part of cerebral cortex involved in speaking and muscle movements and for making plans/judgments

Question 6

Cerebellum

Answer 6

Processes sensory input and coordinating movement output and balance

Question 7

Thalamus

Answer 7

Brain’s sensory switchboard; direct messages to the sensory receiving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla

Question 8

Hypothalamus

Answer 8

Below the thalamus; directs certain maintenance activities (i.e. eating, drinking, body temperature)

Question 9

Reticular Formation

Answer 9

Nerve network in the brainstem that plays a strong role in controlling arousal

Question 10

Pons

Answer 10

Help coordinate movements and also sleep

Question 11

Amygdala

Answer 11

2 lima bean-sized neutral clusters in the limbic system; linked to emotion and emotional memories

Question 12

Hippocampus

Answer 12

Linked to memory

Question 13

Occipital Lobe

Answer 13

Part of cerebral cortex that receives visual information

Question 14

Pituitary Gland

Answer 14

Master endocrine gland

Question 15

Medulla

Answer 15

Base of the brainstem; controls heartbeat and breathing

Question 16

Spinal Cord

Answer 16

Pathway of neural fibers traveling to/from brain; controls simple reflexes

Question 17

Midbrain

Answer 17

Responsible for initiating smooth motor movements; one structure – substania nigra

Question 18

Corpus Callosum

Answer 18

Nerve fibers connecting the two hemispheres of the brain

Question 19

Neuron

Answer 19

nerve cell that transmit electrical/chemical information throughout the body

Question 20

Dendrites

Answer 20

Receives info. from axons of previous neuron or outside world

Question 21

Soma

Answer 21

cell body; collects info. from dendrites

Question 22

Axon

Answer 22

Carries messages away from nerve cell to the dendrites of the next neuron

Question 23

Axon terminal

Answer 23

At end of axon; stores neurotransmitters

Question 24

Synapse

Answer 24

Space between 2 or more neurons; where messages are passed across

Question 25

Action Potential

Answer 25

When the neuron fires, an electro-chemical impulse is created (called action potential)

Question 26

Neurotransmitters

Answer 26

Chemical messengers in the end of nerve cells that travel across the synapse

Question 27

Hillock

Answer 27

At the end of the soma; controls the firing of the neuron

Question 28

Myelin Sheath

Answer 28

Insulating envelop of myelin that surrounds/protects the axon

Question 29

Nodes of Ranvier

Answer 29

Gaps in myelin that are uninsulated, where sodium is let in

Question 30

Chemical Reaction

Answer 30

As action potential moves along the axon, sodium gates open allowing Na to come in; they polarize the neuron

Question 31

Selectively Permeable

Answer 31

Neurons are this; ONLY allow sodium to enter them

Question 32

Refractory period

Answer 32

Resting period between neurons firing

Question 33

Reuptake

Answer 33

After the neuron fires, the sending neuron reabsorbs excess neurotransmitters

Question 34

Postsynatic Potential

Answer 34

In the refractory period, if there is excitatory postsynatic potentional, then the neuron is likely to fire again (Opposite = inhibiting)