Tompson Psychology Midterm

BU Psychology 101 Tompson midterm 1

Acetylcholine

A neurotransmitter that enables learning and memory and also triggers muscle contraction

Seratonin

A neurotransmitter that regulates mood, appetite, sleep, muscle contraction, and some cognitive functions including memory and learning.

-deficiencies associated with sleep disorders, aggression, and depression

Dopamine

influences movement, learning, attention, and emotion

-reward + pleasure

-associated with addiction

Norepinephrine

A neurotransmitter involved in arousal, as well as in learning and mood regulation

-central nervous system and peripheral nervous system

Hippocampus (limbic system)

learning and memory

-damage here \= difficulty forming new memories

Hypothalamus (limbic system)

below the thalamus

1. motivation and emotion expression

2. controlling the neuroendocrine system

3. maintaining homeostasis

Thalamus (limbic system)

beneath the cerebrum

1. relay station

2. routing incoming sensory information

3. regulating sleep cycles

Amygdala (Limbic System)

next to the hippocampus

1. expression of anger, range, fear, and aggressive behavior

limbic system

neural system (including the hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamus) located below the cerebral hemispheres; associated with emotions and drives.

1. motivation, learning, and memory

2. expressing emotion

Forebrain

The largest and most complicated region of the brain, including the thalamus, hypothalamus, limbic system, and cerebrum.

Midbrain

A small part of the brain above the pons that integrates sensory information and relays it upward.

Hindbrain

An area of the brain that coordinates information coming into and out of the spinal cord

central nervous system

brain and spinal cord

intermediate between the stimuli + responses to the stimuli

process of incoming and outgoing messages

peripheral nervous system

transmits information to and from the central nervous system

somatic and automatic nervous system

sensory (afferent) neurons

carry impulses from the sensory receptors to the CNS

in the skin, ears, nose, eyes, etc.

motor (efferent) neurons

neurons that carry outgoing information from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles and glands

cell body

Largest part of a typical neuron; contains the nucleus and much of the cytoplasm; metabolism

Dendtrites

receives neural impusles

Axon

conducts a message to the end of the neuron

terminal buttons (axon terminals)

ends of axons that secrete/releases neurotransmitters

resting potential

the state of the neuron when not firing a neural impulse

net negative charge

action potential

electrical signal that flows along the surface of the axon to the terminal button, initiating the release of neurotransmitters

graded potential

Voltage change in a neuron's dendrites that is produced by receiving an impulse from another neuron or neurons.

axon hillock

Cone shaped region of an axon where it joins the cell body.

all or none law

An action potential will be passed through a neuron's axon as long as the sum of graded potentials reaches a threshold. The strength of an action potential does not vary according to the degree of stimulation

myelin sheath

insulating membrane surrounding the axon in some neurons

increases a neuron's ability to transmit impulses quickly (made of glial cells)

node or ranvier

gap between adjacent neuroglia; where myelin sheath is absent

Synapse

A junction where information is transmitted from one neuron to the next.

excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP)

Neurotransmitter-induced postsynaptic potential change that depolarizes the cell, and hence increases the likelihood of initiating an action potential. (more likely to fire)

inhibitory postsynaptic potential (IPSP)

an inhibitory hyperpolarization of the postsynaptic membrane of a synapse caused by the liberation of a neurotransmitter by the terminal button (less likely to fire)

somatic nervous system

transmits sensory messages from major skeletal muscles and sensory organs to the central nervous system

autonomic nervous system

the part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs (such as the heart). Its sympathetic division arouses; its parasympathetic division calms.

Medulla (CNS - Hindbrain)

lowest part of the brain

- controls vital life support e.g. breathing, heartbeat, and blood pressure

- some reflexive function e.g. coughing, sneezing

Cerebrum (cns)

largest part of the brain 2 hemispheres (right or left)

Spinal Cord (CNS)

conducts signals to and from the brain, controls reflex activities

conveying messages to the brain

spinal nerves --\> connects w/sensory organs, muscles, and glands

Pons (CNS-brainstem)

accountable for motor control and sensory analysis

Cerebellum (CNS)

controls balance and coordinated movement

reticular formation (cns)

controlling arousal and alertness

Septal area (limbic system)

experience pleasure

basal ganglia

motor movement and emotion

damage to the area --\> movement becomes weak and poorly coordinated

caudate nucleus

control and initiation of motor movement

Huntington disease

Putamen

initiation of motor movement

substantia nigra

sends dopamine-releasing axons to the caudate nucleus and putamen

related to Parkinsons

cerebral cortex

movement, perception, thinking, and memory

sensory cortex (cerebral cortex)

registers body sensations

Motor cortex (frontal lobe-cerebral cortex)

transmits messages to muscles and controls virtually all intentional body movement

association cortex (cerebral cortex)

integrating sensory and motor messages

higher functions (thinking, interpreting, and remembering)

frontal lobe (cerebral cortex)

largest lobe of the brain

Broca's area (frontal lobe)

Language processing, speech production.

Broca's aphasia

loss of ability to speak (physically form words)

parietal lobe (cerebral cortex)

Sensation of touch, pressure, temp, and pain (somatosensory cortex), spatial processing, orientation, and manipulation

occipital lobe

vision

Visual cortex (occipital lobe)

Area of the brain responsible for the registration of visual information; the designation of electric (nerve) impulses from the retina

temporal lobe

auditory

auditory complex

located in temporal lobe, processes sound

Wernicke's area

language comprehension

Wernicke's (receptive) aphasia

motor production/fluency of speech retained, but comprehension is lost

Agnosia

the inability to recognize familiar objects.

prosagnosia

inability to recognize faces

lateralization of function

Degree to which a particular function, such as the understanding of speech, is controlled by one rather than both cerebral hemispheres

corpus callosum

a broad band of nerve fibers joining the two hemispheres of the brain.

Lesion Production

Technique for studying the brain that involves surgical damage to a precise region of the brain

brain stimulation

applying electrical stimulation to specific brain areas to examine localization of brain function and observing how this affects behavior

electrical recording

tiny wires implanted in the brain are used to record neural electrical activity

radioactive labeling

small amounts of radioactive chemicals into the blood supply; identify areas of the brain in different sensory, motor, cognitive tasks

Electroencephalogram (EEG)

record of the electrical activity of the brain

Computerized Axial Tomography (CAT)

locate brain abnormalities, involve an x-ray scanner, produce accurate image of the live brain

Position Emission Tomography (PET)

injecting a subject w/glucose

mapping the brain, pinpointing the location involved in movement, sensation, thinking, memory

magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

using radio waves and magnetic fields of the body to produce detailed images of the brain

functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

measures energy released by brain cells that are active during a specific task

endocrine system

secretes hormones

pituitary gland (endocrine system)

below hypothalamus

influence eating, drinking, sexual behavior, sleep, temp, regulation, pain, and response to stress

Thyroid gland (endocrine system)

in the neck, regulates metabolism

Adrenal gland (endocrine system)

above the kidneys

influence emotional state, energy levels, response to stress

releases epinephrine and norepinephrine

Gonads

ovaries and testes

Depressants

drugs (such as alcohol, barbiturates, and opiates) that reduce neural activity (cns) and slow body functions

addiction

compulsive drug craving and use

increase dopamine activity

sedatives

relaxation, calmness, sleep

Stimulants

stimulate the cns by increasing the transmission of neural impulses

Hallucinogens

psychedelic drugs, such as LSD, that distort perceptions and evoke sensory images in the absence of sensory input

Sensation

basic immediate experience that a stimulus (e.g. sound) in a sense organ (i.e. ear)

five senses: vision., hearing, smelling, tasting, and touch

perception

process of interpreting, organizing and elaborating on sensations

Transduction

The process of converting outside stimuli, such as light, into neural activity

Psychophysics

the study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them

sensory threshold

min. level of intensity or strength of a stimulus that is sufficient to activate a sensory process

absolute threshold

min. physical intensity of a stimulus that can be perceived by an observer 50% of the time

difference threshold (just noticeable difference-jnd)

the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time

weber's law

the just noticeable difference of a stimulus is a constant proportion despite variations in intensity

attention

focusing awareness on a narrowed range of stimuli or events

sensory adaptation

(perception) decreasein the response of sensory receptors to stimuli when exposed to constant unchanging stimuli

signal detection theory

ability to detect a sensory stimulus depends on intensity of signal + distraction (i.e. noise)

Brightness

intensity of light

hue

color we see

Saturation

proportion of colors or chromatic light to nonchromatic light, determines how color light appears

accommodation

focus process in which the lens adjusts the shape, depending on the distance between the eye and the object viewed, in order to protect a clear image, consistently onto the retina

Retina

thin membrane at the back of the eye

rods (retina)

inner layer of retina

peripheral vision and dim light (light sensors)

cones (retina)

perception of color

concentrated in the fovea

fovea (retina)

vision is sharpest, move eyes until the image is projected to the fovea

bipolar cells

eye neurons that receive information from the retinal cells and distribute information to the ganglion cells