unit 2 ap psych

Frontal Lobe

planning, making judgments, speaking, body movements, contains motor cortex and prefrontal cortex

Parietal Lobe

processes bodily sensations; visual and spatial reasoning

Occipital Lobe

processes vision

Temporal Lobe

processes hearing

Pons

influential in sleep and dreams

Medulla

controls heartbeat and breathing

Reticular Formation

controls awakeness and alertness

Cerebellum

controls balance, coordination, and nonverbal learning

Hippocampus

creates new memories

Amygdala

influential with emotions (specifically fear & aggression)

Hypothalamus

controls drives (hunger, thirst), regulates body temperature

Left Hemisphere

controls logic, mathematical reasoning, speech, and speech comprehension

Right Hemisphere

controls facial recognition, spatial reasoning, & creativity

nREM Stage 1 Sleep

lightest stage of sleep, hypnagogic sensations

nREM Stage 2 Sleep

stage of sleep where sleep talking occurs

nREM Stage 3 Sleep

deepest stage of sleep, sleep walking, bed wetting, night terrors

Somnambulism

sleep walking

REM (rapid eye movement)

increased brain activity, dreaming occurs, paradoxical sleep

Dopamine

neurotransmitter responsible for movement, attention, alertness, and rewards (related to addiction) - too much causes Parkinson's disease (tremors and muscular rigidity) too little causes Schizophrenia

Seratonin

neurotransmitter responsible for mood regulation, hunger/appetite, and sleep, Deficit causes depression and some anxiety disorders (OCD)

Norepinephrine/Noradrenaline

neurotransmitter and hormone responsible for the "fight or flight" response, excess increases blood pressure deficit causes depression

Glutamate

neurotransmitter involved in memory, cognition, and mood regulation, excess causes brain cell damage or death deficit causes depression, ADHD, insomnia, OCD, and other anxiety disorders

GABA

neurotransmitter that inhibits excitation and anxiety, excess impairs learning, motivations, and movement, deficit causes anxiety disorders, seizures, and insomnia

Endorphins

neurotransmitter involved with pain relief and feelings of pleasure, "natural opiates" deficit may be involved in addiction

Substance P

neurotransmitter involved in nociception (pain) and inflammation, excess causes MDD and fibromyalgia (musculoskeletal pain and fatigue), deficit reduces pain sensitivity and mechanical stability of the bone

Acetycholine

neurotransmitter responsible for voluntary movement and muscle contraction, learning, memory, and sleep, excess linked to depression, deficit leads to dementia and alzheimer's

Agonists

a molecule that increases a neurotransmitter's action

Antagonists

a molecule that blocks or inhibits a neurotransmitter's actions

Reuptake Inhibitors

medications that block the reabsorption of neurotransmitters in the brain

Central Nervous System (CNS)

the body's decision maker is made up of the brain and spinal cord

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

the sensory and motor neurons that connect the CNS to the rest of the body

Somatic Nervous System

the part of the PNS that controls skeletal muscles, allows for voluntary movement

Autonomic Nervous System

part of the PNS that controls the glands and muscles of the internal organs

Glial Cells

cells in the nervous system that support, nourish, and protect neurons

All-or-nothing Principle

a neuron's response of either firing or no firing

Depressants

drugs that reduce neural activity and slow body functions (alcohol)

Tolerance

the diminishing effect with regular use of the same dose of a drug, requiring the user to take larger doses to reach the same effect

Addiction

compulsive substance use that continues despite harmful consequences

Withdrawal

the discomfort and distress that follow discontinuing an addictive drug or behavior

Opioids

depress neural activity, temporarily lessening symptoms of pain and anxiety (heroin)

Stimulants

drugs that excite neural activity and speed up body functions (caffeine and cocaine)

Hallucinogens

psychedelic drugs that distort perceptions and evoke sensory images in the absence of sensory input (marijuana)

Neuroplasticity

the brain's ability to change, especially during childhood, by reorganizing after damage or building new pathways based on experience

fMRI (functional MRI)

a technique for revealing blood flow and therefore brain activity by comparing successive MRI scans

Brainstem

responsible for automatic survival functions; a central core of the brain, beginning where the spinal cord swells as it enters the skull

Cerebral Cortex

the fabric of interconnected neurons covering the brain

Split Brain Surgery

a surgery performed on patients with a high-frequency of seizure resistant to treatment where the corpus callosum is cut and communication between the two hemispheres stops, research is being done to see the effects of this and isolate the distinct functions of the two hemispheres

Broca's Area

in the left frontal lobe, controls language expression and muscle movements responsible for speech, speech expression

Wernicke's Area

in the left temporal lobe, responsible for language comprehension and expression, speech understanding

Aphasia

impairment of language usually due to damage in Broca's or Wernicke's Areas