Honma Modules 9-10 Vocab Quiz

Honma's quizlet

Phrenology

Phrenology

Franz Gull's method of studying bumps on ones head to reveal their mental abilities and character traits.

Neurons

A nerve cell; the basic building blocks of the nervous system.

Dendrites

A neurons bushy, branching extensions that receive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body.

Axon

Neuron extension that passes messages through its branches to other neurons or to muscles or glands.

Myelin Sheath

Fatty tissue layer encasing the axons of some neurons; enables faster transmission speed.

Action Potential

Neural Impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon.

Ion

Electrically charged atoms which are exchanged in the neurons chemistry to electricity process.

Resting Potential

Positive-outside/negative-inside state.

Selectively Permeable

The axons surface is particular about what it lets in.

Refractory Period

Period of inactivity after a neuron is fired.

Threshold

Level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse.

All-or-none-response

A neurons reaction of either firing (with a full strength response) or not firing.

Synapse

Junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron.

Neurotransmitters

Chemical messages that cross the synaptic gaps between neurons. When released by the sending neuron they travel across the synapse and bind to receptor sites on the receiving neuron, influencing whether that neuron will generate a neural impulse.

Reuptake

A neurotransmitters reabsorption by the sending neuron.

Acetylcholine

Enables muscle action, learning, and memory. Tweaks with alzheimer's disease when ACh-producing neurons deteriorate.

Dopamine

Influences movement, learning, attention, and emotion. Oversupply linked to schizophrenia. Undersupply linked to remorse and decreased mobility in Parkinson's.

Serotonin

Affects mood, hunger, sleep, and arousal. Undersupply linked to depression. Some antidepressant drugs raise serotonin levels.

Norepinephrine

Helps control alertness and arousal. Undersupply can depress mood.

Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid

A major inhibitory neurotransmitter. Undersupply linked to seizures, tremors, and insomnia.

Glutamate

Major excitatory neurotransmitter; involved in memory. Oversupply can overstimulate the brain, producing migraine or seizures.

Endorphins

Natural opiate-like neurotransmitters linked to pain control and disease.

Agonist

Molecule that by binding to a receptor site, stimulates a response.

Antagonists

Molecule that, by binding to a receptor site, inhibits or blocks a response.

Nervous System

Body's speedy, electrochemical communication network, consisting of all nerve cells or the peripheral and central nervous systems.

Central Nervous System

The body's decision maker which consists of the brain and spinal chord.

Peripheral Nervous System

The sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system to the rest of the body.

Nerves

Bundled axons that form neural cables connecting the central nervous system with muscles, glands, and sense organs.

Sensory Neurons

Carry incoming information from the sensory receptors to the brain and spinal chord.

Motor Neurons

Carry outgoing information from the brain and spinal chord to muscles and glands.

Interneurons

Neurons within the brain and spinal chord that communicate internally and intervene between the sensory inputs and motor outputs.

Somatic Nervous System

Controls our glands and the muscles of our internal organs, influencing such functions as glandular activity, heartbeat, and digestion . The system may be consciously overridden but usually acts on its own.

Sympathetic Nervous System

Division of the automatic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situations.

Parasympathetic Nervous System

Division of the autonomic system that calms the body; conserving its energy.

Spinal Chord

Two way information highway connecting the peripheral nervous system and the brain.

Reflex

Simple, automatic response to a sensory stimulus, such as the knee-jerk response.

Endocrine System

The body's slow chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream.

Hormones

Chemical messengers that are manufactured by the endocrine glands travel through the bloodstream and affect other tissues.

Adrenal Glands

Pair of endocrine glands that sit above the kidney and secrete hormones that help arouse the body in times of stress.

Pituitary Glands

Endocrines most influential gland. Pea sized structure in core of brain, under the influence of the hypothalamus, it regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands.

Feedback System

Brain - pituitary - other glands - hormones - body and brain.