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Flashcards from Brain and Behavior Lecture Notes
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Nervous System
Consists of central and peripheral divisions, incorporating both motor and sensory nerves; further divided into somatic and autonomic nervous systems.
Motor Nerves
Central nervous system outputs.
Sensory Nerves
Central nervous system inputs.
Somatic and Autonomic Nervous System
Divisions of the Peripheral Nervous System utilizing cranial and spinal nerves.
Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Branches
Branches of the autonomic nervous system that operate in opposition; one prepares the body for action, the other tells the body to relax and recuperate.
Enteric Branch
Operates relatively independently within the gastrointestinal tract and does not primarily rely on spinal or cranial nerves.
Central Nervous System
Consists of the brain and the spinal cord.
Cerebrum
Divided into left and right hemispheres, containing a cerebral cortex and key subcortical structures.
Frontal Lobe
Responsible for executive functions.
Parietal Lobe
Responsible for spatial cognition.
Temporal Lobe
Responsible for learning, memory, and auditory processing.
Occipital Lobe
Responsible for visual processing.
Essential Gyrus
Important for motor control and is located in the frontal lobe.
Post Central Gyrus
Important for mediating sensory information and is located in the parietal lobe.
Brainstem Regions
Involved in less conscious processing, including life-sustaining functions.
Cerebellum
Responsible for coordinating voluntary movements as well as maintaining balance and posture.
Basal Ganglia and Limbic System
Clusters of subcortical structures that make up important brain systems.
Neurons
Primary information processors and transmitters in the nervous system.
Dendrites
Function as the input zone.
Axon Hillock
Functions as the integration zone.
Axon
Is the conduction zone.
Axon Terminals
Act as the output zone.
Neurons
Communicate via neurotransmitters released across synapses, facilitated by synaptic vesicles in the axon terminals.
Anterograde Transport
Moves materials towards axon terminals.
Retrograde Transport
Moves materials toward the cell body.
Oligodendrocytes
Essential for myelinated axons, which enhances the speed of electrical impulses.
Neurons
Communicate internally via electrical signals of action potentials and between each other through chemical signals of neurotransmitters.
Resting Membrane Potential
State of readiness, with the neuron more negative inside compared to outside.
Generation of Action Potentials
Occurs at the integration zone.
Depolarization
The cell becomes less negative inside.
Action Potentials
Process that either occurs fully or not at all, with intensity conveyed by firing rate.
Propagation of Action Potentials
Directional flow and prevented from traveling backwards by refractory periods.
Cells
Restore their resting potential through passive and active mechanisms, including the use of the sodium-potassium pump.
EPSPs
Positive membrane potential shifts triggered by sodium influx, leading to depolarization and action potentials if the threshold is reached.
IPSPs
Negative membrane potential shifts caused by chloride influx, resulting in hyperpolarization and inhibition of action potential firing.
Spatial Summation
Refers to the integration of postsynaptic potentials from different locations on the dendritic tree.
Temporal Summation
Refers to the integration of postsynaptic potentials occurring close in time at the same location.
Ionotropic Receptors
Are ligand gated ion channels.
Metabotropic Receptors
Are G-protein coupled receptors upon binding of a neurotransmitter.
Ionotropic Receptors
Enable rapid, direct responses essential for immediate actions.
Metabotropic Receptors
Provide slower, longer lasting modulation of cellular activities.
GABA
The major inhibitory neurotransmitter.
Glutamate
The main excitatory neurotransmitter.
Acetylcholine
Neurotransmitter that was the first to be identified.
Dopamine
Is involved in reward, cognition, emotions, behavior, and motivation.
Norepinephrine
Modulates processes that include arousal, mood, and sexual behavior.
Serotonin
Is implicated in sleep states, mood, sexual behavior, and anxiety.
Prozac
Slows clearance of serotonin from synapses by inhibiting reuptake into axon terminals.
Drugs
Chemicals that change the normal functioning of neurotransmitters at the synapse.
Agonists
Occupy and activate receptors allowing for receptor activation.
Antagonists
Occupy and block receptors allowing no activation.
Reuptake Inhibitors
Blocks the reuptake of neurotransmitters from the synapse back up into the presynaptic terminal.
Receptor Cells
Convert electrical energy from a stimulus into a change in membrane potential in a receptive cell.
Primary Somatosensory Cortex
Area that senses the body, and its map is a map of the body.
Auditory Pathways
Has a pitch-base map that starts in the cochlea and maintained throughout the auditory pathways.
Bottom Level of Motor System
Contains the skeletal system or our bones and the muscles attached to the base determine which movements are possible.
Spinal Cord
Hierarchy that manages skeletal muscles in response to sensory information.
Brainstem
Integrates motor commands from higher cortical areas and transmits them to the spinal cord.
Primary Motor Cortex
Where main commands for actions are initiated.
Pyramidal System
Network of neurons in the cerebral cortex and their axons, which form the pyramidal tract to the spinal cord.
Premotor Cortex
Involved in movements in response to external influences.
Supplementary Motor Area
Important for planning movements that are internally generated.
Cerebellum in the Supplementary Motor Area
Monitor ongoing activity to produce smooth movements.
Basal Ganglia
Works with the motor cortex to initiate and terminate movements.
Classical Pavlovian Conditioning
Involves an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) and an unconditioned response (UCR)
Engram
Neural concept first considered as far back as the 1920s by Carl Lashley.
Working Memory
Ability to process and transform information in memory.
Long Term Memory
Capacity to retain information and use it for adaptive purposes.
Neuroplasticity
Term used to describe the way that the brain can change, particularly as a result of experience.
Simplest Form of Neoplastic Change
Change to synaptic transmission, or the ability of the presynaptic neuron to influence the postsynaptic neuron.
Interneurons
Coordination of firing from networks of cells that enhances synaptic transmission and the formation of new networks that are involved in the formation of memories.
Another Form of Neuroplasticity
Formation of new synapses, or synaptic genesis.
Pruning
Process where cells that are not activated very often are pruned or lost.
First Experiments on Long Term Potentiation
Experiments conducted in anaesthetized rabbits which had two sets of electrodes placed into the hippocampus.
Cognitive Attribution Theory
Theory proposed that our emotional experience results from the cognitive analysis of the context around us, which includes our physiological responses.
Stress
Any circumstance which upsets homeostatic balance.
Having Static Balance
Maintained constant temperature, stable blood sugar levels, a mental alertness, moisture, and so on.
Stress-induced Response
Referred to as the fight or flight system.
Study of the Stress Response
Military recruits who are training in parachute jumps over a period of weeks.
Hunger and Satiety
All animals have mechanisms to keep physical systems in a steady, optimal state.
Negative Feedback
Regulatory mechanism in which a change in a physiological variable triggers a response that counteracts the initial change, thereby maintaining a stable internal environment.
Digestion
Breaks food down into smaller chemicals that the body can use.
Adaptation in the Context of Basal Metabolic Rate
Is the body's ability to adjust its metabolic rate in responses to changes in the environment.
Hypothalamic Appetite Controller
Is a complex network of cells within the hypothalamus that integrates various signals to regulate hunger and satiety.
Ozempic
Used in diabetes management and mimics GLP-1 increases insulin production.
Thyroxine
Drugs that increases body temperature and therefore basal metabolic rate.
Pharmacological Interventions for Weight Control
Are drugs that target a number of processes.
Treatment for Drug Addiction
Are targeted at reducing the consequences of withdrawal or increasing positive coping strategies.
Anxiety Disorders
Includes social phobias, specific phobias, panic disorders, OCD, and PTSD.
Antidepressants
Drugs that increase central nervous system serotonin levels are effective for OCD.
Benzodiazepines
Enhance their activity and hence calm the brain are effective for panic type disorders.
Unipolar Depression
Those with a consistently low mood, with a loss of loss of pleasure in most activities.
Bipolar Depression
Have periods of very high and very low moods.
MAO Inhibitors
Drugs that prolong neurotransmitter functioning in synapses, alleviate depressive symptoms.
Tricyclic Antidepressants (TCAs)
Also affect catecholamine levels and synapses by inhibiting reuptake.
Noradrenaline Reuptake Blockers
Also block serotonin reuptake.
Permissive Hypothesis
Popular theory that looks at the idea that low serotonin, to start with, upsets noradrenaline balance, which leads to lower noradrenaline and depression.
Psychosis
Is a set of symptoms where a person's mental capacity, affective response and capacity to recognize reality, communicate and relate to others is impaired.
Dopamine Hypothesis
Hypothesizes hyperactive dopamine D2 receptors in the media limbic pathway.
Serotonin Hypothesis
States of psychosis: hypothesizes hyper function.