Unit 8 Vocabulary Flashcards
Progressive destruction of the nerve cells. The destruction starts with the brain’s long-term memory manager, the dentate nucleus of the hippocampus. It is hereditary with some environmental inputs.
Alzheimer disease
A group of early humans with smaller brains in proportion to body size than most of the Homo group. There is no evidence that these people could use tools. They did walk just as we do and had nearly identical pelvises as a result. The fossil called Lucy was one of these.
Australopithecus
Usually the longest part of the nerve cell and is the section which synapses onto the next cell.
axon
This is the gap between a nerve and the next cell. The space is very narrow and can most easily be seen with an electron microscope.
synapse
These are the parts of the cerebrum. The cerebrum is the largest part of the mammal brain. They are frontal, temporal, parietal, occipital, and insula. Most is not conscious but is used for a vast array of things fine muscle control and memory management are two of the most important. The long-term memory manager or file clerk is a part of the dentate nucleus of the hippocampus. This is the section where Alzheimer Disease first start killing brain cells.
cerebral lobes
The outer layer of the brain where conscious though takes place. About the area and thickness of a handkerchief.
Cortex
Planning, control of emotions, and overall conscious control of voluntary muscle actions
Frontal
Auditory association, higher reasoning
Temporal
All of what we usually call touch, taste
Parietal
Visual association centers
Occipital
Unknown function (lobe)
Insula
These are short pieces of the nerve cell that receive in-coming messages. New long-term memories seem to cause more connections in this area.
dendrite
More properly called trisomy 21. This will result in an ensemble of symptoms which are listed in the book by Volpe some degree of mental retardation, epicentral fold, short stature, etc.
Down syndrome
The recording device of the brain. An example in another context would be the arrangement of iron oxide particles on a tape from a tape recording. There is no evidence that they exist outside of the body. Scientists have found that the brain is one of the fastest parts of the body to be destroyed during the dying process.
Engram
The group of humans that includes the modern species of people. Homo species have had a history of increasing brain size. This trend seems to have halted about 2,000 years ago based on interred skulls over that period. It appears that our brains are getting smaller.
Homo
