Biological Psychology and Neural Communication Flashcards

Fill-in-the-blank style practice questions covering historical figures, key concepts, and neural processes in biological psychology.

Biological psychology is also known as behavioral neuroscience or __________ psychology.

physiological

A fundamental principle of biological psychology states that everything psychological is simultaneously __________.

biological

The nervous system is considered __________, meaning it can be changed or modeled, especially at early ages of development.

plastic

Rene Descartes believed that the __________ body was the principal seat of the soul and the location where all thoughts are formed.

pineal

Modern science shows that the pineal gland is an endocrine organ that produces the hormone __________ in amounts varying with the time of day.

melatonin

Luigi Galvani pioneered the field of __________, which is concerned with electrical phenomena in the body.

electrophysiology

Experiments by Alessandro Volta following Galvani's work led to the development of an early form of the battery called the __________ pile.

Voltaic

Johannes Muller demonstrated that there are __________ types of sensory nerves, each resulting in its own characteristic sensation.

5

Pierre Flourens reached his brain function theories using ablation and stimulation methods primarily on mammalian species, especially rabbits and __________.

pigeons

People with Broca's aphasia are characterized as having suffered damage to the brain's __________ lobe.

frontal

Gustav Fritsch and Eduard Hitzig provided the first indication that the cortex was electrically excitable by investigating the __________ cortex.

motor

In a neuron, the cell body is also referred to as the __________.

soma

The electrical signal that travels down the axon of a neuron is known as the __________.

action potential

Chemicals emitted by terminal buttons to communicate across synapses are known as __________.

neurotransmitters

The part of the brain where an abnormal electrical disruption starts during a seizure is called the __________ focus.

epileptic

A seizure that affects only a part of the brain is classified as a __________ seizure.

partial

A seizure that spreads to affect the whole brain is known as a __________ seizure.

generalized