Physio Psych Midterm

Plasticity

the ability for the nervous system to change over time

dualism

belief that the body is physical but the mind is not

Paul Broca (Broca’s Area)

autopsy done on a brain of a man that had a stroke and lost speech - founded this area controlling speech

Charles Darwin

formulated principles of natural selection and theory of evolution

CNS

brain and spinal cord

Soma

cell body

dendrites

recieves messages

axon

carries information

Glia cells

surround neurons and hold them in place

Microglia cells

primarily responsible for inflammatory reaction in response to brain damage

depolarization

each neuron has a threshold of excitation, or a set point, to trigger the main electrical event in an axon - action potential

action potential

burst of rapid depolarization followed by hyperpolarization

action potential

an all or nothing response to depolarization

hormones

secreted by the endocrine glands, affects activity of cells

PNS

cranial nerves, spinal nerves, peripheral ganglia

anterior

near/toward head / front

posterior

back

superior

above

inferior

below

lateral

toward the side of the body

medial

toward the middle of the body

ipsilateral

located on the same side of the body

contralateral

located on opposite sides of the body

ventricles

hollow spaces in brain filled with cerebrospinal fluid

hydrocephalus

enlarged ventricles filled with fluid (water-brain)

sulci

small grooves

gyri

bulges between grooves

fissures

large grooves

parietal lobe

somatosensory, sensory info, touch, spatial awareness

temporal lobe

primary auditory lobe, memory, language, speech

primary somatosensory cortex

receives information from senses

unilateral neglect

inability to notice objects placed to the left side

• right hemisphere lesion

basal ganglia

control of movement

• somewhat related to OCD

split brain

cut corpus callosum

• used to help epilepsy

hippocampus

learning and memory (in temporal lobe)

amygdala

emotions, fear response, aggression

hypothalamus

controls autonomic nervous system and endocrine system

• fighting, escape, eating, reproduction

sympathetic NS

involved in arousal and using energy

• fight or flight response

• endocrine release

parasympathetic NS

controls functions occuring when relaxed

• salvation & digestion

psychopharmacology

the study of the effects of drugs on the nervous system

theraputic index

measure of the margin of safety of a drug

tolerance

more you take = less the dose works

placebo

may produce effect because someone thinks it will

parkinsons

low dopamine movement disorder

schizophrenia

high dopamine

serotonin

mood and pain regulation

antihistamines

cause drowsiness

endocannabinoids

natural neuroreceptors in the brain the same as the effects of THC

experimental ablation

removing brain tissue or damaging the tissue to disrupt its functioning

stereotaxic surgery

brain surgery using an apparatus to position an electrode or cannula in a specified position in the brain

computerized tomography (CT)

beams of x-rays that produce a 2-d picture of a slice through the body

magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

interior of body can be accurately imaged with radio waves and magnetic field use

monozygotic twins

identical, one egg, same genotype

dizygotic twins

fraternal, 50% DNA, two eggs

visual agnosia

inability to perceive/identify a stimulus

prosopagnosia

inability to recognize faces

striate cortex

back of brain, primary visual cortex

Hubel & Wiesel

nobel prize winners, discover that vision can see features and contours

cochlea

structure in the inner ear that contains receptors

cochlear nerve

branch of auditory nerve transmitting auditory information from the cochlea to the brain