PSYC110 Exam 1

Anterior

Front, front of the body

Posterior

back, back of the body

Lateral

farther from the middle of the body

Medial

center of the body

Ventral

bottom of the brain

Dorsal

top of the brain, back of the body

Proximal

closer towards the body

Distal

farther from the body

Superior

above

Inferior

below

ipsilateral

on the same side of the body

contralaterally

on the opposite side of the body

Parietal lobe

processes sensory information like pain and temperature, spatial awareness, and interpreting signals like language and mathematics

Primary Visual Cortex

processes basic visual information and sends visual information to another part of the brain for further interpretation

Primary Somatosensory Cortezx

processing and interpreting sensory information from the body like touch, pain temperature. combines signals to create a perception of the external world. determines where on the body the sensation is coming from and distinguishes different types of sensations like whether it’s sharp or dull.

Somatosensory Association Cortex

processes basic sensory information from the body and identifying.understanding the sensations and what they mean, like recognizing a knife.

Occipital Lobe

processes visual information

Visual Association Cortex 

receives information from the primary visual cortex and integrates with other sensory information, identifies objects based on shape, size, color. Understands spatial awareness and recognizes faces.

Temporal Lobe

processes auditory information, understands language, manages memory and helps recognize faces and objects. Plays roles in smell, taste, and processing emotions.

Premotor Cortex

located in the frontal lobe and is responsible for receiving sensory information about the environment to plan and prepare for specific movements. sends signals to the primary motor cortex which initiates movements, understands the actions of others

Auditory Association Cortex

analyzes and categorizes different sound frequencies and patterns which allows one to perceive and recognize different types of sounds including speech, music, and environmental sounds and identifying their source

Frontal Lobe

planning and organizing tasks, decision making, problem solving, working memory, and attention

Prefrontal Cortex

executes functions, regulares emotions and decision making.

Coronal Section

you can see the front or back of brain slice

Horizontal Section

you can see the top or bottom of the brain slice

Sagittal Section

you can see the sides, left or right side of brain slice.

Meninges

a protective sheath that wraps around the brain and spinal chord as well as nerves from the peripheral nervous system. contain supply of blood vessels which deliver essential nutrients and oxygen to the brain and spinal cord tissue.

Dura Mater

outer layer of meninges, which and unstretchable which shields the brain from physical trauma, supports the weight of brain and spinal chord

Arachnoid Mater

middle weblike layer of meninges which is soft and spongey. main function is to absorb shock and impacts, prevents the brain and spinal chord from shifting or moving excessively. regulates the flow of CSF making sure it circulates properly

Subarachnoid Space

filled with cerebral spinal fluid, circulating it and making sure oxygen gets to the brain and removes any waste.

Pia Mater

thin innermost layer of the meninges

The Ventricular System

It consists of a series of hollow interconnected chambers called ventricles which are filled with CSF. a system in which CSF flows

Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF)

main function is to cushion the brain and spinal cord, protecting them from injury while also providing nutrients and removes waste. it fills up the ventricles and subarachnoid space.

Ventricles

they produce and circulate cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) which protects and nourishes the brain

Choroid Plexus 

a special tissue with rich blood supply that produces spinal fluid 

Obstructive Hydrocephalus

a condition where the flow of CSF is blocked in the brain which leads to a build up of fluid and puts pressure in the skull

Central Nervous System

composed of the brain and spinal, the body’s main control center

Peripheral Nervous System

the nerves connected to the brain and spinal cord which carries messages to and from all parts of the body

Telencephalon

part of the forebrain that contains the olfactory bulb, cerebral cortex, hippocampus and the basal ganglia

Diencephalon

part of the forebrain that contains the retina, thalamus, and hypothalamus

Mesencephalon

part of the brainstem which connects the forebrain and the hindbrain, it’s important for vision, hearing, movement, and reflexes 

Metencephalon

the front segment of the the hindbrain that develops into pons and cerebellum in the adult brain

Mycelencephalon

The posterior part of the hindbrain also known as the medulla

olfactory bulb

structure in the brain that processes the sense of smell, receives information from olfactory receptors and relies on other parts of the brain to process and connect the smell with emotion, memory, and cognition.

cerebral cortex

responsible for higher level processes like thinking, memory, and lanugage, also handles sensory perception and voluntary movement.

hippocampus 

forms memories, sends short term memories to long term storage, spatial navigation and creates mental maps of our surroundings. 

basal ganglia

controls motor functions like planning and doing voluntary movements. maintains posture and balance, regulates and coordinates voluntary movements, initates and does muscle activity.

retina

turns light into electrical signals that are transmitted to the brain which enables vision

Thalamus 

gathers sensory and motor information to and from the cerebral cortex and regulars consciousness and sleep. 

Hypothalamus

keeps the body at homeostasis by controlling factors like body temperature, blood pressure, and fluid levels (essential functions), as well as controlling the pituitory gland which releases hormones.

Cerebellum

coordinates voluntary movements to make sure they are smooth, accurate, and timed correctly

cerebellum pons

they connect the cerebellum to the cerebrum and medulla

Medulla 

controls involuntary functions that essential for surviving such as breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure

Limbic System

group of brain structures that help regulate your emotions and behavior

Limbic Cortex

processes emotions and helps regulate emotional responses, motivation, memory, and other functions like olfaction.

Amygdala 

processes emotions, specifically fear and aggression and linkes them to memories and decision-making. (fight or flight)

Fornix

if damaged, could cause memory loss, it’s main function is to flow out information of the hippocampus. it consolidates and retrieves memories.

Sympathetic Divison

prepares the body for “flight or fight” situations by increasing heart rate, dilating pupils, and increasing breathing rate

Parasympathetic Division

“rest and digest” system which conserves energy and calms the body. returns it to homeostasis

Autonomic System

works with automatic movements like breathing, heart, and blinking

Somatic System

controls voluntary movements of skeletal muscles

Lesion

an abnormal area of brain tissue that can be detected throught an MRI or a CT

Lesion Study

uses physical or pharmacological methods to destroy or remove neurons

Stereotaxic Surgery

uses a device to position electrode or cannula in specified position of brain

The Stereotaxic Atlas

a collection of drawings of sections of the brain of a particular animal with measurements that provide coordinates for stereotaxic surgery

Bregma

junction of sagittal and coronal sutures of skull, also a reference point for stereotaxic brain surgery

Irreversible Brain Lesions

produced by either radio frequency lesion ( using electrical currents to heat the lesion) or excitotoxic lesion (exciting the amino acids)

Sham Lesion

a control group that goes through the same surgery process as a lesion group does but doesn’t receive lesion markers

Radio Frequency Lesion

when a current is passed through electrodes which produces hear and destroys the brain tissue, is not selective.

NA Ions

enable rapid electrical signaling through voltage gated sodium channels and the action potential

K ions

establishes a resting membrane potential, controlling excitability and repolarizing the membrane after action potential

Action Potential

a fast electrical impulse that travels along the membrane of excited cells (neurons and muscle cells) in response to a stimulus.

Myelin

prevents leakage of electrical signals from the axon, making sure that the electrical impulse travels quickly and efficiently along the axon.

Saltatory Conduction

a process in which nerve impulses (action potentials) rapidly spread alone the myelinated neurons

Generation of Action Potential

when neuron’s membrane (depolarization) potential reaches a threshold which causes voltage gated sodium channels to open and sodium ions rush into the cell

Usage of energy/ATP

after the action potential to restore the resting membrane potential 

Na/K ATPase pump

to actively transport ions across the cell membrane using energy from ATP

ATP

provides energy for neuronal signaling, resets ion gradients through pumps like Na/K ATPase

Refractory Period 

a brief interval after a neuron fires an action potential when it cannot fire another one. happens when the neuron’s voltage-gated sodium channels become temporarily inactivated and potassium channels remain open (leaky)

Ionotropic Receptors

proteins that function as both a receptor and an ion channel. roles such as taste and smell.

Ligand-gated Channels

ion channels that are opened by the binding of neurotransmitters

Voltage-gated channels

ion channels that are opened by the membrane potential of the cell reaching a threshold 

Metabotropic Receptors

a receptor that activates a g-protein which initiates a slower response compared to ionotropic receptors. 

Resting potential

when the neuron maintains a resting potential, where the inside of the cell is negative compared to the outside

Depolarization

if the neuron receives a stimulus strong enough to reach a threshold potential, voltage- gated sodium channels open

repolarization

shortly after opening, the sodium channels inactivate, opening the potassium channels to flow out of the cell making it negative again

Hyper polarization

when the potassium channels stay open a bit longer than necessary to return to the resting potential. this stabilizes it so that it can go back to rest 

Sodium Roles

depolarization and propagation (triggering the opening of more sodium channels)

Potassium Roles

repolarization, and restoration of action potential

Calcium Roles

when the gates open at the axon terminal which allow a flow into the neuron, provides a lot of calcium inside the neuron and the calcium pushes the neurotransmitters out

Astrocytes

clean up debris by eating what is produced from brain function, blocks any leaking blood vessels, picks up trash outside of the neurons

Oligodendrocytes

produces the myelin sheath

Microglia

acts as immune cells of the brain, they clean up any bacteria or trash that can damage the brain 

Empendymal cells

line the ventricles of the brain and spinal cord which produces and circulates CSF

Radial Glia

involved in neural development, guide the migration of new neurons

Synapse

translates it into another signal over to another neuron

Chemical Synapses

synapses that are much more abundant, slower, more precise and selective in what messages they send where

Axon terminal

holds a bunch of tiny synaptic vesicles sacs, each loaded with thousands of neurotransmitters

Postsynaptic Neuron

accepts the neurotransmitters in its receptor region which is usually on the dendrite

EPSP

graded potentials that push the neuron closer to threshold, makes the inside more positive so that action potential is more likely to happen. GLUTAMATE