Vocab Flashcards
(149 cards)
1
Q
Motor Neurons
A
A nerve cell that transmits motor messages, stimulating a muscle or gland; CNS to muscles and glands (efferent(exits CNS))
2
Q
Sensory Neurons
A
Neuron that is affected by changes in the environment such as light, odor, or touch; Sensory organs to CNS (afferent(into CNS))
3
Q
Somatic NS
A
Controls voluntary movements
4
Q
Autonomic NS
A
controls involuntary movements; 2 divisions
5
Q
Sympathetic Division
A
Fight or flight
6
Q
Parasympathetic Division
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Rest or digest
7
Q
Cerebral cortex
A
outer covering of cerebral hemispheres, part of the telencephalon; has gray and white matter
8
Q
Gyrus
A
bumps in brain
9
Q
Sulcus
A
grooves in brain
10
Q
Broca’s area
A
language production; located in the frontal lobe; damage makes it hard to say things and speak
11
Q
Frontal lobe
A
primary motor cortex (precentral gyrus), Broca’s area; olfactory bulbs; emotional expression, memory, language, judgement, sexual behaviors
12
Q
Parietal lobe
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primary somatosensory cortex; primary gustatory cortex; involved in attention, working memory, spacial navigation
13
Q
Temporal lobe
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auditory cortex; object recognition, facial recognition
14
Q
Wernicke’s area
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language comprehension; damage causes words to make no sense
15
Q
Occipital lobe
A
primary visual cortex
16
Q
Limbic system
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critical for emotion and learning; contains hippocampus and amygdala
17
Q
Hippocampus
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important for emotion and learning
18
Q
Amygdala
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in temporal lobe; emotional regulation and odor perception
19
Q
Thalamus
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directs almost all incoming sensory information; everything except smell goes to
20
Q
Hypothalamus
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involves hunger, thirst, temperature regulation, sex drive; pituitary gland
21
Q
Superior colliculi
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visual reflexes; gray matter
22
Q
Inferior colliculi
A
auditory reflexes; gray matter
23
Q
Substantia nigra
A
series of cell bodies in midbrain; brainstem structure that innervates the basal ganglia
24
Q
Reticular formation
A
extensive region of the brainstem that is involved in arousal (walking)
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Medulla
breathing and reflexes
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Pons
regulates sleep
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Cerebellum
fine motor movement, balance, learning skills; central regulation of movement
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Meninges
3 protective sheets of tissue - dura matter (outermost), pia matter (innermost), and arachnoid (between)
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Ventricular system
System of fluid-filled cavities in the brain; filled with cerebrospinal fluid
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Anterior
Front of the brain (rostral (nostril))
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Posterior
Back of the brain (caudal)
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Afferent
An axon or nerve carries information into a region
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Efferent
An axon or nerve carries information away from region
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Sylvian fissure
aka lateral sulcus; divides temporal lobe from other regions of hemisphere
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Central sulcus
fissure that divides frontal lobe from parietal lobe
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Longitudinal fissure
separates the two hemispheres
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Stroke
Loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain; face drooping, arm weakness, speech difficulty
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Tumor
abnormal cells destroy or displace healthy cells
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Epilepsy
abnormal discharge of electrical activity from the neurons in the cerebral cortex
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Spatial resolution
how detailed across space
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Temporal resolution
how often over time
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Spatial coverage
how much space
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Ionotropic receptor
fast; receptor protein that includes an ion channel that is opened when receptor is bound by an agonist
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Metabotropic receptor
slow; receptor protein that doesn't contain an ion channel, but may, when activated use a G protein
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Receptor subtype
any type of receptor having functional characteristics that distinguish it from other types of receptors for the same NT
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Agonist
drug that binds a receptor molecule and initiates a response
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Antagonist
drug that interferes with or prevents action of a neurotransmitter
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Competitive ligand
directly competes with endogenous ligand for same binding site on a receptor molecule
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Noncompetitive ligand
alters response to an endogenous ligand without interacting with endogenous ligand's recognition site
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Affinity
natural tendency of molecules of a drug to bind to receptors; how likely and how long it binds
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Efficacy
extent to which a drug activates a response when it binds to a receptor; how well does it actually work
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down-regulation
decrease of available receptors to which the drug can bind
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up-regulation
increase in number of receptors at synapses of neurons
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cholinergic
cells that use acetylcholine as their synaptic transmitter
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nicotinic
cholinergic receptors that respond to nicotine and acetylcholine
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mesostriatal pathway
set of dopaminergic axons arising from the midbrain and innervating the basal ganglia, substantia nigra, and striatum
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mesolimbocortical pathway
set of dopaminergic axons arising from the midbrain and innervating the limbic system and cortex
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Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA)
portion of midbrain that projects dopaminergic fibers to the nucleus accumbens
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Divergent thinking
one stimulus, many responses (Alternative Uses Task)
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Convergent thinking
finding one response (Remote Association Task)
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Doctrine of Specific Nerve Energies
The nature of a sensation depends on which sensory fibers are stimulated, not on how fibers are stimulated
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Vitalism
theory that the origin and phenomena of life are dependent on a force distinct from purely chemical or physical forces.
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Somatosensation
body sensation; particularly touch and pain sensation
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Mechanoreception
touch; mechanical displacement of skin
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Thermoception
temp
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Nociception
pain
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Proprioception
perception or awareness of the position and movement of the body
68
Receptive field
the stimulus region of the sensory space in which a stimulus will trigger the firing of that neuron
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Primary sensory cortex
receives the most of the info about that modality from the thalamus or nonprimary sensory neurons
70
Nonprimary sensory cortex
cortical regions receiving direct projections from primary sensory cortex
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Primary somatosensory cortex
primary cortex for receiving touch and pain info; where sensory receptors on body surface are mapped
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Lateral inhibition
Phenomenon by which interconnected neurons inhibit their neighbors
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Dermatome
strip of skin innervated by a particular spinal nerve
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Intensity
the amount of sound energy falling on a unit area (decibel)
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Frequency
the number of times per second that a pattern of pressure repeats (hertz)
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Pure tone
tone with single frequency of vibration
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Complex sound
summation of pure tones; most sounds in the world
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Loudness
perceptual aspect of sound related to perceived intensity or magnitude (amplitude)
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Pitch
our perception of frequency; allows ordering of sounds on a frequency-related scale
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Timbre
listener can judge that 2 sounds that have the same loudness and pitch are dissimilar; determined by harmonic structure of sounds
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Pinna
external part of the ear
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Ear canal
tube from the pinna to middle of the ear
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Middle ear
consists of tympanic membrane, sealing the end of auditory canal and ossicles
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Tympanic membrane
eardrum; partition between external and middle ear
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Ossicles
3 small bones that transmit sound across middle ear- incus (anvil), malleus (hammer), stapes (stirrup)
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Inner ear
cochlea and vestibular
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Cochlea
snail-shaped structure that contains primary receptor cells for hearing
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Hair cells
transduce sound energy to neural impulses and send them along to the primary auditory cortex
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Vestibulocochlear nerve
cranial nerve which runs from cochlea to brainstem auditory nuclei
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Primary auditory cortex
region of superior temporal cortex where auditory processing occurs
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Inferior colliculi
Paired gray matter structures of dorsal midbrain that receive auditory info
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Vestibular system
inner ear system that encodes orientation and acceleration of head in 3 axes; crucial for sense of balance
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Tonotopic Organization
major organizational feature in auditory systems where neurons are arranged as an orderly map of stimulus frequency, with cells responsive to high frequencies located at a distance from those responsive to low frequencies
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The Spins
alcohol causes cupula to become lighter than surrounding endolymph; causes system to become sensitive to gravity
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Olfactory cleft
narrow space at back of nose into which air flows; where main olfactory epithelium is located
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Olfactory epithelium
in human nose with primary function to detect odorants in inspired air
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Olfactory sensory neurons (OSNS)
main cell type in olfactory epithelium
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Cilia
hair-like protrusions on dendrites of OSNs
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Olfactory bulb
blue-berry sized extension of brain above nose where olfactory info is first processed
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Primary olfactory cortex
related to sniffing and smelling
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Orbitofrontal cortex
related to smell but NOT sniffing
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Retronasal olfactory sensation
odor sensations perceived as originating from the mouth; perceived when chewing and swallowing
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Sensory transduction
process of converting that sensory signal to an electrical signal in the sensory neuron.
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Synesthesia
production of a sense impression relating to one sense or part of the body by stimulation of another sense or part of the body
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White meat
fast twitch fibers; high protein, low fat
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Dark meat
slow twitch fibers; low protein, high fat
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Closed-loop control mechanisms
maximize accuracy
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Open-loop control mechanisms
maximize speed
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Ballistic movements
rapid muscular movements completed no matter what sensory feedback is received
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Golgi tendon organ
detects tension; found in tendon
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Muscle spindle
detects stretch or change in amount of stretch; found in muscle
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Central Pattern Generators
neural circuitry that is responsible for generating the rhythmic pattern of a behavior (patterned and non-patterned output)
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Primary motor cortex
executive region for the initiation of movement
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Non-primary motor cortex
made up of supplementary motor area and premotor cortex; anterior to M1
115
Supplementary motor area (SMA)
initiates sequences of movements
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Premotor cortex
contains neurons that fire when motor sequences are guided externally by stimuli
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Mirror neuron
active both when an individual makes a particular movement and when that individual sees another make that same movement
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Basal ganglia
group of forebrain nuclei, including caudate nucleus, globus pallidus and putamen
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Striatum
caudate nucleus and putamen
120
Cerebellum
structure located at the back of the brain that is involved with central regulation of movement
121
Direct pathway
net excitation of motor cortex; initiate movement
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Indirect pathway
net inhibition of motor cortex; inhibit unwanted movements
123
Parkinson's Disease
degenerative neurological disorder; causes tremors, loss of muscle tone and difficulty in initiating motor movements
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Huntington's Disease
progressive genetic disorder with abrupt involuntary movements and profound changes in mental functioning
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Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
degeneration of motoneurons and subsequent loss of their target muscles
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Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
localized, noninvasive stimulation of cortical neurons through application of strong magnetic fields (not good spatial res, high temporal res, pretty good spatial coverage)
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Angiograms
image of circulatory system; involve injection into blood vessels
128
Single-cell recordings
great spatial and temporal res; not good spatial coverage
129
CT scans
series of X-rays; creates 3-D scan of brain; doesn't differentiate brain matter
130
Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
injected radioactive; measures blood flow, oxygen use and sugar metabolism (good spatial res and low temporal)
131
Electroencephalography (EEG)
recording of electrical activity of brain recorded from electrodes placed on scalp (excellent temporal, bad spatial res)
132
Event Related Potentials (ERP)
averaged EEG recordings (good temporal; bad spatial)
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Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
noninvasive technique using magnetic energy to generate images that reveal structural details (good temporal and spatial res)
134
Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI)
viewing white matter tracts with MRI scans
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Function MRI (fMRI)
indirect measure of neural activity; cheaper than PET (high spatial res, low temporal)
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interneuron
receives input from neurons and sends out output to other neurons; not sensory nor motor
137
Glial cells
directly affect neuronal functioning by providing neurons with raw materials; communicate with each other and with neurons
138
Resting membrane potential
difference in electrical potential across the membrane of a neuron during an inactive period
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Diffusion
when particles move from areas of high concentration to areas of low concentration; move down their concentration gradient
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Sodium-potassium pump
energetically expensive mechanism that pushes sodium ions out and pulls potassium ions in (3Na out for every 2K in)
141
Electrostatic pressure
propensity of charged ions to move toward areas with opposite charge
142
Equilibrium potential
voltage difference across permeable membrane to counterbalance the diffusion force pushing an ion from one side of membrane with high concentration to side with low concentration
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Action potential
propagated electrical message of a neuron that travels along the axon to presynaptic axon terminals
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Absolute refractory
immediately following AP and no amount of stimulus can induce another AP
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Relative refractory
only a very strong stimulation can produce another AP
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Neurotransmitter
chemical released from presynaptic axon terminal that serves as basis of communication between neurons
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Postsynaptic potential
when NTs are absorbed by the dendrites or soma
148
Spatial summation
when you have AP from multiple arriving at the same time
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Temporal summation
multiple EPSPs that are summing over time and arriving at different times
