psych111- test 2

Glial Cells

work to help provide nourishment, structure, and clean up after the brain

outnumber neurons 9:1

Blood Brain Barrier

barrier of blood and other fluids that help protect the brain from being poisoned

Neuroplasticity

your brain’s ability to change depending on your circumstances

Neuropeptides

brain chemicals that regulate the activity of the neurons

neurogenesis

production of new brain cells, these new braincells are created deep into the brain and work to the outer surface

Neurons

cells in the nervous system that communicated to each other in order to perform tasks. They are throughout the entire body/nervous system with a majority in the brain, they’re basis of all human knowledge and behavior

dendrites

branches reaching out in order to bring informati

cell body/ soma

brings information to the nucleus of the neuron, where it decided what to do with the information that the dendrite brings in

axon

largest part of the neuron, takes info from cell body

myelin sheath

helps speed up transmission/information

terminal buttons

end of neuron, releases information out for other neurons to pick up

synapse

the small space between the terminal buttons of one neuron and dendrites of another neuron

synaptic pruning

prune off/eliminate some synaptic connections as you become more of an expert in some task, helps with the efficiency of the brain

sensory

takes information from different sense organs and carries that information to the brain, afferent

motor

takes information from the brain to the muscles , efferent

mirror

allows us to mimic things that we are seeing, important for things like empathy and following directions

inter

neurons that are just connected to other neurons

electrical transmission

information transmission within a single neuron

chemical transmission

information Transmisson between neurons

action potential

electrical= changing the charge of a neuron

happens at the surface of an axon

absolute refractory period

when the neuron will not fire again no matter what, initial period of the refractory period

relative refractory period

a neuron can fire again but it will require a stronger stimulus

neuro-transmitters

different chemicals that neurons use to communicate with each other

agonist neurotransmitter

medication given to make a neurotransmitter more effective

antagonist neurotransmitter

medication given to make a neurotransmitter less effective

dopamine

pleasure or reward neurotransmitter, associated with controlling voluntary movements

too much dopamine is associated with schizophrenia

serotonin

helps control negative emotions, too little is associated with depression, OCD, anorexia

epinephrine

adrenaline, energizing mental state

norepinephrine

energizing both mental and physical states, associated with depression and PTSD

endorphins

the body’s pain killer, responds as if it is morphine

GABA

blocks certain brain signals to decrease activity in the nervous system

Glutamine

excitatory neurotransmitter, encourage a neuron to send on information, too much is associated with having a seizure

acetylcholine

for muscle movements and memory and muscle memories and learning

malfunctions: alzheimers or dementia

law of forward condition

information is always going to travel from the dendrites to the terminal buttons, and never in reverse

all or none principle

if a cell body determines it is going to send on information, it will travel all across the axon and to the terminal NEVER HALFWAY

excitatory neurotransmitter

stimulate the brain and contribute to depolarization, increase likelihood of action potential

inhibitory neurotransmitter

calm the brain down and decrease likelihood of action potential

hebb’s rule

repeated communication between neurons is going to strengthen the connection/ make it easier to process the information

clean-up

after firing, they will have a clean-up where neurotransmissions that were not taken

enzymatic degradation

enzyme comes in and eliminates the neurotransmitter in order to clean up that space

reuptake

take back some of the neurotransmitters that it released

center of the nervous system

key pat of who we are as humans and how we’re able to navigate and interpret the world

intelligence correlation

people thought that if you had a larger brain, you were more intelligent: more surface area is what actually correlates the most with intelligence

new builds on old

evolutionary, oldest parts of our brain are the parts at the very bottom

behind brain

the first part that develops in utero

contralateral control

our brain works through this, the brain is developed in 2 hemispheres

left controls right, right controls left

association area

isn’t specifically involved with motor movements or sensory functions, it deals with the processing of information

Hindbrain

brainstem, oldest part of the brain + develops first

deals with survival mechanisms and controlling breathing + heartrate

Midbrain

primarily focused on orientating ourselves in our environment

Forebrain

processing sensory information, directing motor movement, creating creativity and memory

Hindbrain

oldest: both evolutionary and developmentally

conducts information from the rest of our body to the higher parts of our brain and from the higher parts to the rest of the body

vital body functions

one of the parts that is most common, keeps our body living and breathing

medulla

very bottom part of the hindbrain

responsible for heartrate, circulation, respiration, reflexes, vital bodily functions

if damaged you are dead

hindbrain

reticular formation

on the inside, focused on mood, attention, and sleep

lot of serotonins in reticular formation

inside medulla

pons

helps with sleep and attention, critical for facial expressions, both understanding and creating

if damaged, lots of destructions in your send information

hindbrain

cerebellum

balance, coordination, and fine motor movements: most difference in humans vs other mammals

what makes us able to create speech and to walk upright

most number of neurons in this area of the brain, half of all neurons are here

hindbrain

Midbrain

orienting yourself in your environment

tectum

receive sensory information from the hindbrain and build a map of your environment

tegmentum

helps you move through environment

forebrain

considered highest level by its physical location and b/c it is where the more complex thinking is occurring

cerebral cortex

part you can see from the outside, divided by the right and left hemispheres

sex differences

woman tend to have more connections across the hemispheres in the cerebral cortex

corpus collosum

band of fibers that connects the two hemispheres so that they can communicate

subcortical structures

underneath the cerebral cortex, not things you can see unless split the brain in half

frontal lobe

at the front of the brain, where the higher order processing is occurring:

judgement, creativity, logic, and reasoning happen here

prefrontal cortex

very front part of the frontal lobe

manager of the brain, helps regulate and coordinate systems all across the brain

last part of the brain to develop until the age of 25

in frontal lobe

phineas gage

case study helped us understand how the brain worked

railroad worker where explosion sent a railroad piece of railroad into his brain

attitude changed after the incident

motor cortex

fibers at the very back of the frontal lobe and is very critical to motor movement

in frontal lobe

parietal lobe

just behind the frontal lobe

somatosensory cortex

where touch sensation is produced, in parietal lobe

visual integration with our environment

integrating visual information with other pieces of information stored already along with sense information to work through our environment

parietal lobe

occipital lobe

in the very back

vision, and builds out simple features into more complex images

temporal lobe

right along the temples/ears

responsible for hearing and language, being able to recognize what different objects are

left hemisphere is different from the right

left vs right temporal lobe

speech

non speech

brocas area

responsible for understandable speech production

brocas aphasia

when brocas area is damaged, person cannot give legible speech and they are aware it is happening

wernickes area

responsible for speech comprehension

werniches aphasia

saying words with no meaning behind it and they aren’t aware it isn’t making sense

thalamus

all sensory information except for smell come here before all the other parts of the brain

pituitary gland

helps control the release of hormones, directing hormone production

limbic system

area of the brain primarily focused on emotion and memory

hypothalamus

flight or fight

amygdala

deals with really strong emotions, negative emotions: fear and anger

when under high amounts of stress the amygdala creates a strong memory of it

hippocampus

works in creating stable long-term memory, gateway to memory

decrease in functioning and size while we age

cingulate gyrus

focusing on relevant/important information, doesn’t function well in people with schizophrenia

basal ganglia

primarily involved in motor control, critical place for dopamine production

CT

series of x-rays put together by an algorithm to create images of the brain

MRI

using magnets and charge and polarization of the brain to examine structure

DTI

use magnets to focus on the myelination of neruons

NIRS

use light pulses to create image of the brain

EEG

tells us when electrical information activity is happening but you can’t tell where it is

ERP

comes from an EEG, looking at singular electrode and when information is happening

FMRI

mri but specifically looks at the metal in blood, where the blood is flowing is where the activity is happening

very expensive + large technology

PET

drink a weird drink to trap glucose in brain, where glucose is going is where activity is happening in the brain

TMS

using strong magnet to send a magnetic pulse to the brain to disrupt processes happening in that area

only non-invasive technique

central nervous system

brain and spinal cord

brain = director of nervous system

spine = conducting information to the brain, most information in body goes to the spinal cord before the brain

gate control theory

your spinal cord is going to decide when your brain shouldn’t get information, especially in relation to pain b/c experiencing it could possibly put you at further risk

cerebrospinal fluid

liquid cushioning that helps protect the CNS, helps provide fuel for nervous system

autonomic

involuntary

sympathetic

flight or fight response, sends more blood to certain muscles