Unit 8 Nervous System And Senses Flashcards
2 divisions of the nervous system
Central nervous system (CNS)
Peripheral nervous system (PNS)
What do neurons do
Generate and transmit nerve signals
Neurotransmitters
Chemical made at the end of axons responsible for transmission across a synapse
3 types of neurons
Sensory
Interneuron
Motor neuron
Refractory period
During action potential the time during which a second stimulus wont cause action potential
Synaptic cleft
Small gap between knob on one neuron and the dendrite on another
What are the 3 meninges
Dura mater
Arachnoid mater
Pia mater
Thalamus
Mass of gray matter located at the base of the cerebelum in the wall of the third ventricle
Hippocampus
Part of limbic system; involved in forming, storing and processing memory
Medulla oblongata
Lowest portion of the brain; concerned with control of the internal organs
Reflexes
Automatic involuntary response of an organism to stimulus
Action potential
Change in potential propagated along the membrane of a neuron; the nerve impulse
Resting potential
Potential energy of a resting neuron, created by separating unlike charges across the neuron cell membrane
Stimulus
In nerve physiology energy needed to cause a neuron to respond
Broca’s area
Brain center associated with the motor control and speech and usuallylocated in the left frontal gyrus
Electroencephalogram
Graphic recording of the brains electrical activity
Primary somatosensory
Area posterior to the central sulcus where sensory information arrives from the skin and skeletal muscles
Hypothalamus
region of the brain; the floor of the third ventricle that helps maintain homeostasis
wernicke’s area
area located in the posterior part of the temporal lobe; plays an important role in the comprehension of language
somatic sensory sytem
portion of the peripheral nervous system containing motor neurons that control skeletal muscle
