AP PSYCH MIDTERM VOCAB

evolutionary psycs

study how natural selection influences behavior

heredity

how genes influence your behavior (nature)

environment

how outside situations influence your behavior (nurture)

Twin studies (genetics)

identical twin will have a higher percentage of also developing a disease.

twin studies (environment)

identical twins raised in diff environments show show differences

central nervous system

brain and spinal cord

peripheral nervous system

the rest of the NS - relays to central NS

somatic NS

voluntary movement, has sensory and motor neurons

autonomic NS

involuntary organs (heart, lungs, etc) (has sympathetic and parasympathetic NS)

sympathetic NS

fight/flight (generally activates- exception digestion)

parasympathetic NS

rest/digest (generally inhibits - exception digestion)

neuron

basic cell of the NS

dendrites

receive incoming NTs

axon

action potential travels down this

myelin sheath

speeds up action potential down axon, protects axon.

synapse

gap between neurons

sensory neurons

receive sense signals from environment - send signal to brain.

motor neurons

signals to move - send signals from brain

interneurons

calls in spinal chord/brain responsible for reflex arc.

reflex arc

important stimuli skips the brain and routes through the spinal cord for immediate reactions. (hand on hot flame)

GLIA

support cells - give nutrients and clean up around neutrons.

neurons fire with an AP

ions move across membrane sends an electrical charge down the axon

resting potential

neuron maintains a -70mv charge when not doing anything

depolarization

charge of neuron briefly switches from neg to pos - triggers the AP

threshold of depolarization

stimulus strength must reach this point to start the AP

All or nothing principle

it goes or it doesn’t. FIRE NOW OR NO FIRE.

refractory period

neuron must rest and reset before it can send another AP

neurotransmitters

chemicals released in the synaptic gap, received by neurons. Classified as excitatory or inhibitory

GABA

major inhibitory NT

glutamate

major excitatory NT (excites you)

dopamine

reward (short term) and fine movement - association with addiction (in hypothalamus)

seratonin

moods (long term) emotion, sleep (too little association with depression)

acetylcholine

memory and movement - in hippocampus (associated with alzheimers)

Norepinephrine

sympathetic NS - too little association with depression

endorphins

decrease pain

susbstance P

pain regulation (abnormality increases pain and inflammation)

oxytocin

love, bonding, childbirth, lactation

adrenaline

fight/flight

leptin

makes u full (stops hunger)

ghrelin

makes u hungry (turns you into a gremlin)

melatonin

sleep

agonist

drug that mimics NT

antagonist

drug that blocks NT

reuptake

unused NT are taken back up into sending neuron

reuptake inhibition

blocks reuptake

depressants

decrease NS activity (alcohol)

stimulants

increase NS activity (caffeine and cocaine)

hallucinogens

causes hallucinations and altered perceptions (marijuana)

opioids

relieves pain (heroin) (endorphin agonists)

cerebellum

movement, balance, coordination, procedural memory (walking a tight rope, balancing a ball)

Brainstem/Medulla

vital organs (HR, BP, breathing)

RAS

 alertness, arousal, sleep, eye movement

cerebral cortex

 outer portion of the brain – higher order thought processes
includes limbic system, lobes, corpus callosum

amygdala

emotions, fear

hippocampus

episodic and semantic memory (if you saw a hippo on campus you’d remember it)

hypothalamus

reward/pleasure center, eating behaviors – links endocrine system, homeostasis

thalamus

relay center for all but smell

pituitary gland

 talks w/ endocrine system and hypothalamus – release hormones

occipital lobe

vision

frontal lobe

decision making, planning, judgment, movement, personality, language, executive function – includes the prefrontal cortex

prefrontal cortex

front of frontal lobe - map of motor receptors - controls skeletal movements

motor cortex

back of frontal lobe – map of our motor receptors – controls skeletal movement

parietal lobe

sensations and touch – controls association cortex – includes somatosensory cortex – map of our touch receptors

somatosensory cortex

map of our touch receptors

temporal lobe

hearing and face recognition, language

association areas

receive input from multiple areas to integrate info

broca’s area

ability to produce speech (telugu)

wernicke’s area

ability to comprehend speech (kannada)

corpus callosum

bundle of nerve fibers connective hemispheres

brain plasticity

brain changes via damage and through experiences

endocrine system

send hormones throughout the body

pituitary gland

controlled by hypothalamus. releases growth hormones.

EEG

shows brain activity (electrical output)

fMRI

show brain activity in specific regions, measure oxygen

lesion

destruction of brain tissue

multiple sclerosis

destruction of myelin sheath

myasthenia gravis

acetylcholine blocked, disrupts AP, causes paralysis and poor motor control

blindsight

lesions to primary visual cortex

prosapagnosia

face blindness - damage to occipital or temporal lobe

aphasia

cant comprehend or speak speech

phantom limb pain

pain from a limb that is no longer there

epilepsy

seizures (too much or little clutamate/GABA)

alzheimers

memory loss (destruction of acetylcholine in hippocampus)

REM rebound

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

activation synthesis

brain produces random bursts of energy – stimulating lodged memories in limbic sys & brain stem. Dreams start random then develop meaning

consolidation theory

brain is combining and processing memories for storage

sensation

receive stimulus energy from environment

transduction

convert that info into APs

perception

brain interprets info

absolute threshold

detection of signal 50% (is it there)

JND

can tell the difference b/w a stronger & weaker stimulus or two similar things (coke vs pepsi, did it get darker?)

weber’s law

two stimuli must differ by a minimum proportion (the stronger the stimulus, the more you have to add to tell the difference)

synesthesia

disorder where your senses blend

lens

focuses light on retina

retina

contains photoreceptors

fovea

area of best visions (cones here)

rods

black/white, dark adaptation; way more rods than cones, located along sides of retina

cones

color, bright light (red, green, blue) – only in the fovea

ganglion cells

create optic nerve (opponent process theory happens here)

blind spot

occurs where the optic nerve leaves the eye