Biological Psychology and Vision Lecture

Vocabulary-style flashcards covering biological psychology, neuroanatomy, chemical signaling, genetics, and the anatomy of the eye based on the lecture notes.

Biological psychology

The study of the influence of biological systems on behavior.

Santiago Ramon y Cajal

A scientist best known for demonstrating that neurons generate electrical signals.

Brain Pathway Analysis

The pathways of the brain can be studied using either myelin stains or horseradish peroxidase.

Brain Activity Investigation

Activity in the brain can be investigated using positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Microdialysis

A technique used to assess the chemicals present in a very small area of the brain.

Parasympathetic Division

A division of the autonomic nervous system where neurons are located in the brain and sacral divisions of the spinal cord.

Caudal

An anatomical direction that refers to being away from the body's head or toward the tail.

Ventral

An anatomical term referring to the front of the body (belly side).

Rostral

Towards the nose, oral, or nasal region.

Oligodendrocytes (OLs)

The glial-subtype responsible for myelin production in the central nervous system (CNS), where a single cell may myelinate axons from an average of $30$ different neurons.

Schwann cells

Glial cells responsible for forming myelin in the peripheral nervous system (PNS) and guiding the regrowth of axons following injury; a single cell myelinates the axon of only one neuron.

Microglia

A type of glia whose primary function is to remove waste, damaged cells, and pathogens through phagocytosis.

Neuropeptide Release

A process that requires high-frequency stimulation and a large influx of calcium ($Ca^{2+}$).

Neuropeptides

Stored in large dense-core vesicles farther from the membrane, these produce slower, longer-lasting effects than small-molecule transmitters and are often released after repeated stimulation.

Small-molecule transmitters

Neurochemicals stored in small synaptic vesicles near the membrane.

Acetylcholine (ACh)

The neurochemical used in the vertebrate neuromuscular junction, synthesized from Choline + $Acetyl-CoA$.

ChAT

An enzyme found only in neurons that produce Acetylcholine (ACh).

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE)

An enzyme that deactivates Acetylcholine (ACh) in the synaptic gap by breaking it down into choline and acetate.

Codon

A sequence of three nucleotides that specifies an amino acid.

Huntington disease

A disease caused by the expansion of $CAG$ repeats in the huntingtin gene.

Mutations

Differences resulting from the deletion, insertion, or duplication of sections of DNA.

Partial dominance

A genetic condition where a heterozygous offspring of two homozygous parents will have an intermediate phenotype.

Genetic Combinations

A single human can produce eggs or sperm with more than $8 \times 10^6$ ($2^{23} = 8,388,608$) different combinations of their chromosomes.

Linkage

The principle that genes located close together on the same chromosome tend to be inherited together.

Crossing over

The exchange of DNA between homologous chromosomes during meiosis.

Blind spot

An area in each eye caused by the optic disk, where the optic nerve exits the eye and there are no photoreceptors.

Macula

The area of the eye where light from an object is projected when an individual stares directly at it.

Fovea

A small pit within the macula specialized for detailed vision which contains only cones.

Retinal pigment epithelium (RPE)

The layer of pigmented cells that supports the photoreceptors in the retina and absorbs random light.

Red eye

An effect in flash photography caused by the flash reflecting from blood vessels in the retina.

Ganglion Cells

Common retinal cells whose axons form the optic nerve.

Inner nuclear layer

The layer of the retina where the cell bodies of bipolar, amacrine, and horizontal cells are located.

Inner plexiform layer

The retinal layer where the dendrites of ganglion cells form connections with amacrine and bipolar cells.