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What is a neuron?

A nerve cell that receives and sends information.

What are sensory neurons?

Neurons that carry information from sensory receptors toward the brain and spinal cord.

You touch a hot pan. Which neurons first carry information toward the spinal cord?

Sensory neurons.

What are motor neurons?

Neurons that carry commands from the brain or spinal cord to muscles.

Your brain tells your hand to pull away. Which neurons carry that command?

Motor neurons.

What are interneurons?

Neurons that connect and process information between other neurons in the brain and spinal cord.

What are glial cells?

Support cells that protect, nourish, and help neurons work properly.

What is a brain circuit?

A connected group of neurons that works together to process information.

What is a dendrite?

A branching part of a neuron that receives signals.

What is the soma or cell body?

The part of a neuron that contains the nucleus and keeps the cell functioning.

What is an axon?

The long part of a neuron that carries an electrical signal away from the cell body.

What is myelin?

Insulating material around some axons that helps signals travel faster.

What are axon terminals?

Ends of the axon that release neurotransmitters.

Put the typical signal path through a neuron in order.

Dendrites → soma → axon → axon terminals.

What is a level of analysis in psychology?

A way of explaining behavior at a biological, individual, or social level.

What does electrochemical communication mean?

Neurons use electrical signals within cells and chemical signals between cells.

What is conduction in a neuron?

The movement of an electrical signal along a neuron's axon.

What are ions?

Tiny particles with electrical charges, such as sodium and potassium.

What is resting potential?

The electrical charge difference across a neuron's membrane when it is not firing; the inside is usually more negative.

Is a neuron at resting potential firing?

No. It has a charge difference but is not producing an action potential.

What is an action potential?

A brief electrical impulse that travels along an axon.

What happens when a neuron reaches its firing threshold?

It produces an action potential.

What is the all-or-none law?

An action potential happens fully when threshold is reached or does not happen at all.

Does a stronger stimulus make one action potential bigger?

No. Action potentials have about the same size; stronger input can increase firing frequency.

What is the refractory period?

A short recovery period after an action potential when the neuron cannot fire again or needs stronger stimulation.

What is the sodium-potassium pump?

A membrane protein that uses energy to move sodium out and potassium in, maintaining ion gradients.

Which way does the sodium-potassium pump move ions?

Usually three sodium ions out and two potassium ions in.

Why are ion gradients important?

They make electrical signaling in neurons possible.

What is the difference between resting potential and action potential?

Resting potential is the charge difference when not firing; action potential is the brief electrical impulse.

What does firing rate mean?

How often a neuron produces action potentials.

What is synaptic transmission?

Chemical communication from one neuron to another across a synapse.

What is a synapse?

The communication junction between a neuron and another cell.

What is a terminal button?

An axon ending that releases neurotransmitters.

What is the synaptic cleft?

The tiny gap between the sending and receiving cells.

What is a neurotransmitter?

A chemical messenger released by a neuron.

What is a receptor site?

A place on a receiving cell where a specific chemical messenger can bind.

What is the order of synaptic transmission?

Action potential reaches terminal → neurotransmitter released → crosses cleft → binds receptors.

How does the receiving neuron detect neurotransmitters?

Neurotransmitters bind to matching receptor sites.

What is an agonist?

A substance that increases or mimics a neurotransmitter's effect at a receptor.

What is an antagonist?

A substance that blocks or reduces a neurotransmitter's effect at a receptor.

A drug activates a receptor like the natural neurotransmitter. Agonist or antagonist?

Agonist.

A drug blocks receptors so the neurotransmitter cannot act. Agonist or antagonist?

Antagonist.

What is reuptake?

When the sending neuron takes neurotransmitter back from the synapse.

What is acetylcholine associated with?

Muscle action, learning, and memory.

What is dopamine associated with?

Movement, reward, and motivation.

What is serotonin associated with?

Mood, sleep, and other regulatory functions.

What is norepinephrine associated with?

Alertness and arousal.

What is GABA's main role?

A major inhibitory neurotransmitter that reduces neural activity.

What is glutamate's main role?

A major excitatory neurotransmitter important for learning and memory.

What are endorphins associated with?

Pain reduction and pleasure.

What is the difference between excitation and inhibition?

Excitation makes firing more likely; inhibition makes firing less likely.

What are the three major divisions of the brain?

Hindbrain, midbrain, and forebrain.

What is the hindbrain generally important for?

Basic survival functions, movement coordination, and arousal.

What does the cerebellum do?

Helps coordinate movement, balance, and motor learning.

What does the pons do?

Helps relay information and regulate sleep and arousal.

What does the medulla do?

Controls vital automatic functions such as breathing and heart rate.

What does the reticular formation do?

Helps regulate alertness, attention, and sleep-wake states.

What is the midbrain involved in?

Movement, arousal, and responses to sights and sounds.

What is the forebrain generally involved in?

Higher thinking, emotion, memory, sensation, and voluntary action.

What is the cerebrum?

The large upper part of the brain involved in thinking, perception, and voluntary behavior.

What is the limbic system broadly involved in?

Emotion, motivation, and memory.

What does the thalamus do?

Relays most incoming sensory information to the cerebral cortex.

What does the hypothalamus do?

Regulates hunger, thirst, temperature, and other basic drives.

What does the hippocampus do?

Helps form new explicit memories.

What does the amygdala do?

Helps process emotions, especially fear and threat.

A person struggles to form new long-term memories. Which structure may be damaged?

Hippocampus.

A person has trouble with balance and coordination. Which structure may be damaged?

Cerebellum.

Which brain structure is especially important for breathing and heart rate?

Medulla.

Which structure helps regulate body temperature and hunger?

Hypothalamus.

What is a sulcus?

A groove or indentation on the surface of the brain.

What are sulci?

The plural of sulcus: grooves on the brain's surface.

What does the central sulcus separate?

The frontal and parietal lobes.

What does the lateral sulcus separate?

The temporal lobe from the frontal and parietal regions above it.

Where is the frontal lobe?

At the front of the brain, behind the forehead.

What does the frontal lobe help with?

Planning, decision-making, self-control, and voluntary movement.

Where is the parietal lobe?

Near the upper back portion of the cerebral cortex.

What does the parietal lobe help with?

Touch and body sensation, plus spatial processing.

Where is the temporal lobe?

On the sides of the brain, near the ears.

What does the temporal lobe help with?

Hearing, memory, and language comprehension.

Where is the occipital lobe?

At the back of the brain.

What does the occipital lobe process?

Visual information.

What is the motor cortex?

An area near the back of the frontal lobe that controls voluntary movement.

What is the somatosensory cortex?

An area near the front of the parietal lobe that processes touch and body sensations.

What does brain modularity mean?

Different brain areas specialize in different functions, while working together.

What does contralateral mean?

On the opposite side; one hemisphere often controls or senses the opposite side of the body.

What does ipsilateral mean?

On the same side of the body.

What is lateralization?

The tendency for certain functions to be more specialized in one brain hemisphere.

What is the corpus callosum?

A large bundle of nerve fibers connecting the two hemispheres.

What is a split-brain procedure?

Surgery that cuts the corpus callosum, historically used in some severe epilepsy cases.

What did split-brain research show?

The hemispheres can process some information separately when their connection is cut.

What is the left-brain interpreter theory?

The left hemisphere may create explanations to make sense of actions, even without full information.

What did Penfield's brain stimulation research help map?

Motor and sensory areas of the cerebral cortex.

What is a cortical homunculus?

A body map showing how much cortex is devoted to different body parts.

What is the fusiform gyrus associated with?

Visual recognition of faces and other complex objects.

What is prosopagnosia?

Difficulty recognizing familiar faces, sometimes called face blindness.

What is the face inversion effect?

Faces are harder to recognize when upside down than upright.

What is neuroplasticity?

The brain's ability to change its connections and functioning through experience or after injury.

What is hemispherectomy?

Surgery removing or disconnecting much of one cerebral hemisphere, sometimes used for severe epilepsy.

Why can younger brains sometimes recover better after hemispherectomy?

Greater plasticity may allow other brain areas to take over some functions.

What is the mind-body problem?

The question of how mental experience relates to the physical brain and body.