AP psychology Unit 1

Brain bases

Central nervous system

brain and spinal cord

Peripheral nervous system

rest of the nervous system, relays to central nervous system

Somatic nervous system

voluntary movement, has sensory and motor neurons

Autonomic nervous system

involuntary organs (heart, lungs, etc.) contain sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.

Sympathetic nervous system

fight/flight , preparing body for action

Parasympathetic nervous system

rest / digest , relaxes the body

Neuron

basic cell of the nervous system, receives, processes, and transmits information.

Neurotransmitters

chemicals released by synaptic gap received by neurons.

Excitatory neurotransmitters

increase action potential, exciting ***

Inhibitory

decrease action potential *, calming **

Dendrites

branches that receive incoming neurotransmitters

Action potential

electrical impulse, sends the neurotransmitter.

Axon

where action potential travels through

Myelin sheath

speeds action potential and protects the axon

Synapse

gap between neurons

Resting potential

the electrical potential of a neuron's resting state

Depolarization

charge of neuron briefly switching from negative to positive triggering the action potential

Threshold of depolarization

stimulus strength must reach this point to start action potential

Refractory period

neuron needs to rest before sending another action potential

Sensory neurons

receives senses and signals to brain

Motor neurons

signals to move from brain

GABA

inhibitory, relaxes

Glutamate

Excitatory, excites

Dopamine

short term reward (like with drugs) and fine movement

Serotonin

moods

Acetylcholine

memory and movement

Norepinephrine

sympathetic nerovus system

Endorphins

decrease pain

Substance P

regulates pain

Hormones

regulate body processes

Endocrine system

sends hormones throughout the body

Oxytocin

love, bonding, childbirth, lactation

Adrenaline

fight/flight

Leptin

makes you full, stops hunger

Ghrelin

makes you hungry (turns u into a gremlin!)

Melatonin

sleep

Agonist

drugs that mimic a neurotransmitter

Antagonist

drugs that blocks a neurotransmitter

Reuptake

Unused neurotransmitters are taken back up into the sending neuron

Depressants

decrease nervous system activity (like alcohol)

Stimulants

increase nervous system activity (like caffeine and coke)

Hallucinogens

hallucinations and altered perceptions (weed)

Opioids

relieve pain (heroin)

Tolerance

needing more and more of a drug to achieve the same effects, getting TOO used to it.

Cerebellum

little brain. Movement, balance, coordination, procedural memory

Brainstem/medulla

vital organs, heart rate, blood pressure, breathing.

Reticular activating system

alertness, arousal, sleep, eye movement

Cerebral cortex

outer portion of the brain with higher order thought processes

Amygdala

2 lima bean shaped, emotions/fear

Hippocampus

episodic and semantic memory

Hypothalamus

reward/pleasure center, eating behaviors, link to endocrine system

Thalamus

relay center for everything but smell

Pituitary gland

talks with endocrine system and hypothalamus, releases hormones

Occipital lobe

vision

Frontal lobe

decision making, planning, judgment, personality, etc. includes prefrontal cortex and motor cortex

Prefrontal cortex

front of frontal lobe for executive functions

Motor cortex

back of frontal lobe, map of motor receptors, controls skeletal movement

Parietal lobe

sensations and touch, controls association areas

Association areas

receive input from multiple areas/lobes to integrate info

Somatosensory cortex

map of touch receptors

Temporal lobe

hearing and face recognition, language

Broca’s area

speech production

Wernicke’s area

speech comprehension

Aphasia

damaged speech

Corpus callosum

bundle of nerves connecting the 2 hemispheres

Split brain patients

the 2 brain hemispheres are disconnected, causing inability to communicate and connect with each other.

Pituitary gland

release growth hormones

EEG

electrical activity on scalp showing broad brain activity

MRI

structural images of brain

fMRI

shows brain activity in specific regions

CT

takes images using a bunch of different view slices to put them all together as 3D

PET

ingesting radioactive tracers to visualize metabolic processes and neurotransmitter systems

MEG

magnetic fields

Lesion

destruction of brain tissues

Multiple sclerosis

destruction of myelin sheath causing impaired mobility, paralysis, pain

Myasthenia gravis

poor motor control and paralysis from blocked acetylcholine

Blindsight

caused by lesions, being able to “see” despite being blind

Epilepsy

seizures from too much/little glutumate or GABA

Alzheimers

destruction of acetylcholine in hippocampus, memory loss

Consciousness

awareness of cognitive processes, asleep or awake.

Beta waves

awake

Alpha waves

drowsy, NREM

NREM 1

light sleep, falling feeling

NREM 2

bursts of sleep spindles

NREM 3 Delta waves

deep sleep

REM

dreaming, cognitive processing. Occurs in between each cycle. REM lasts longer throughout the night and deep sleep decreases.

How long is an entire sleep cycle?

90 minutes.

REM rebound

after sleep disruptions or lack of REM sleep you’ll have more/intense REM sleep

Sensation

receiving stimulus energy from environment

Transduction

converting info into action potential

Perception

brain holds info

Absolute threshold

detection of signal 50% of the time

Webers law

two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum proportion to be differentiated

Synesthesia

disorder where senses blend

Lens

focuses light on retina

Retina

converts light into signals

Rods

black/white, dark adaptation

Cones

color, bright light

Blind spot

the sides u cant see

Visual accommodation

lens changes the curvature to focus images on retina