Ap Psych

Acetylcholine ( ACH)

Excitatory/ Inhibitory

CNS- memory

PNS- Muscle movement

Too much: Muscle cramps/ spasms

Too Little: Alzhemers

Dopamine

Excitatory/ Inhibitory

Function: Movement, Reward System, Pleasure

Too much: Schizophrenia

Too Little: Parkinson, Depression

Serotonin

Inhibitory

Function: Mood, Sleep, Appetite, Digestion

Too Much: Mania

Too Little: Depression

Norepinephrine

Excitatory

Function: Alertness, Stress, and Focus

Too much: High blood pressure, Anxiety, Condition: Pheochromocytoma

Too Little: Low blood pressure, Depression, ADHD

Gamma aminobutyric acid ( GABA)

Excitatory

Function: Inhibits neutral activity and regulates muscle tone

Too Much: Impaired Cognitive functions

Too little: Huntington

Glutamate

Excitatory

Function: Synaptic plasticity and neuro transmission

Too much: Als, Epilepsy, Alzheimer’s

Too Little: Schizophrenia

Endorphins

Inhibitory

Function: Pain relief, euphoria, and stress response

Too much: High intensity athletes condition

Too little: Depression

Substance P

Excitatory

Functions: Helps control pain

Too Much: Anxiety and Depression

Too Little: Lower Substance P- Level

Nature Nurture Issue

Debate is whether genetics or environment has a greater influence on shaping human traits and behaviors.

Natural Selection

The principle that traits aiding survival and reproduction are most likely to be inherited by future generations.

Evolutionary Psychology

The study of how natural shapes behavior and mental processes

Behavior Genetics

The study of how genes and environment work together to influence behavior

Mutation

A random error in gene replication that leads up to a change

Environment

Every nongenetic influence, from prenatal nutrition to our experiences of the people and things around us

Heredity

The passing of traits from parents to their offspring through genes

Genes

the biochemical units of heredity

Genome

the complete instructions for making an organism

Identical ( monozygotic) Twins

Organisms who came from a single fertilized egg that splits, making them genetically identical

Fraternal ( dizygotic) Twins

Siblings from two separate fertilized eggs who share the same prenatal environment but who are no more genetically alike than typical siblings.

Interaction

The interplay that occurs when the effect of one factor ( environment) depends on another factor ( heredity)

Epigenetics

The study how environment factors can affect gene expression without altering the DNA sequence itself.

Nervous System

the body’s fast electrochemical communication network, made up of all the nerve cells in the central and peripheral nervous system

Central Nervous System

The brain and spinal cord

Peripheral Nervous System

The sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system to the entire body

Nerves

Bundles of axons that carry information between the central nervous system and the body’s muscles, glands, and sensory organs

Sensory ( afferent) Neurons

Neurons transmit information from sensory receptors and body tissue to the brain and spinal cord

Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)

Controls involuntary body functions like glands, heart, and internal organs

Sympathetic Nervous System

the division of the autonomic nervous that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy

Motor Neurons

neurons that carry signals from the central nervous system to muscles and glands telling the body how to respond

Interneurons

Neurons that connect sensory neurons and motor neurons within the brain and spinal cord, allowing to the CNS to process information and decide how to respond

Parasympathetic Nervous System

The division of the autonomic nervous system that clams the body, conserving its energy

Reflex

A simple, automatic response to a sensory stimulus, such as the knee jerk response

Neuron

a nerve cell, basic building block of the nervous system

Cell body

the part of a neuron that contains the nucleus, the cell life-support center

Dendrites

the branching extensions of a neuron that receive and transmit signals towards the cell body

Axon

the long segmented extension of a neuron that carries messages to other neurons, muscles, or glands

Myelin Sheath

a fatty layer around some axons that speeds up neural impulse transmission by allowing sigmals to jump between nodes

Glial Cell (Glia)

Cells in the nervous system that support, nourish, and protect neurons, also play a role in learning, thinking, and memory

Action Potential

A neural impulse, a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon

Threshold

The level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse

Refractory Period

The brief resting phase after a neuron fires, during which it cannot generate another action potential until it resets

All or none response

a neuron reaction of either firing with full strength or not firing

Synapses

The junction between two neurons, where the axon terminal of one neuron communicates with the dendrite of cell body of another across the synaptic gap

Neurotransmitter

chemical messengers that cross synapses and influence whether the receiving neuron will fire an impulse

Endorphins

natural opioid like neurotransmitter linked to pain control and to pleasure

Agonist

A molecule that increases a neuron transmitter action

Antagonist

a molecule that inhibits or blocks a neurotransmitter action

Endocrine System

The body slower chemical communication network made up of glands and fat tissue that release hormones into the bloodstream

Hormones

chemical messengers that are manufactured by the endocrine glands, travel through the bloodstream, and affect other tissue

Psychoactive Drug

a chemical substance that alters the brain, causing changes in perceptions and moods

Substance Disorder

A disorder characterized by continued substance use despite significant life disruption

Depressants

drugs that reduce neural activity and slow body functions

Tolerance

The reduced effect of a drug overtime, which leads to needing higher doses to achieve the same effect

Addiction

An everyday term for compulsive substance use that continue despite harmful consequences

Withdrawal

The discomfort and distress that follow discontinuing an addictive drug or behavior

Barbiturates

Drugs that slows down CNS activity, reducing anxiety, and impair memory, judgement, coordination

Opioids

Opium and its derivatives, they depress neural activity, temporarily lessening pain and anxiety

Stimulants

Drugs that excite neural activity and speed up body functions

Hallucinogens

Drugs that distort perceptions and can create sensory experience without actual sensory input

Near Death Experience

An altered state of consciousness reported after a close brush with death