Brain and Behavior Course Review

Flashcards from Brain and Behavior Lecture Notes

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.