Biopsychology and Sensory Systems Lecture Review

Vocabulary-based flashcards covering key terms from biopsychology, neuroanatomy, and the visual system based on lecture assessments.

Psychopharmacology

A field that focuses on the manipulation of brain activity and behavior with drugs.

Donald Hebb (D.O. Hebb)

Widely considered the father of biopsychology.

Chimpanzees

Close evolutionary relatives of humans that share $99\%$ of our genetic material.

Fitness

The ability of an organism to survive and contribute its genes to the next generation.

Evolution

The process by which new species develop from preexisting species.

Pure Research

Scientific study motivated primarily by the curiosity of the researcher.

Neuropsychology

The study of the psychological effects of brain damage in humans.

M-layers

Layers of the lateral geniculate that are most sensitive to rapidly moving stimuli.

Cone receptors

Retinal cells that provide high acuity due to their low degree of convergence onto retinal ganglion cells.

Primates

The order of mammals that includes prosimians, new-world monkeys, old-world monkeys, apes, and hominids.

Neuroendocrinology

The study of the interactions of the nervous system with the endocrine glands and the hormones they release.

Hydrocephalus

A condition resulting from the blockage of the flow of cerebrospinal fluid through the ventricles.

Sensation

The process of detecting the presence of a stimulus.

Coolidge effect

The tendency of an organism to copulate with more than one sex partner.

Sodium-potassium pump

The key factor at rest that keeps $Na^{+}$ ions outside the neuron from being driven inside by concentration and charge.

Signal averaging

A technique used in PET and fMRI to reduce the noise in the background signal.

Striate cortex simple cells

Neurons in the visual system where virtually all simple cells are monocular.

Unipolar neurons

Neurons that have one process extending from their cell bodies.

Bipolar neurons

Neurons characterized by having two processes extending from their cell bodies.

Multipolar neurons

Neurons that have many or more than two processes extending from their cell bodies.

Interneurons

Neurons that usually have no processes or extensions, or have very short ones.

Purkinje effect

A shift in color brightness in dimly-lit environments where blue-green colors appear brighter than red colors because rod cells are more sensitive to shorter wavelengths.