cogs 17 midterm 1

Ipsilateral

- Connections made on the same side.

Contralateral

- Connections made on the opposite side.

Ventral

- Towards the stomach or towards the bottom of the human head.

Dorsal

- Towards the back or top of human head.

Superior

- A structure that is above another.

Inferior

- A structure that is below another.

Coronal

- A plane seen through the front of the head. (Anterior vs. Posterior)

Saggital

- A plane seen though the side of the head. (left vs right hemisphere)

Horizontal

- A plane seen through above/below the head. (Ventral vs. dorsal)

Diencephalon

- The division of the forebrain that ultimately becomes the Thalamus, Hypothalamus, and the eyes.

Telencephalon

- The division of the forebrain that ultimately becomes the Cerebral Cortex, Basal Ganglia, Limbic System, etc...

Medulla Oblongata

- Hindbrain structure that controls vital reflexes.

Pons

- Hindbrain structure that acts as a bridge between the Hindbrain and higher centers.

Cerebellum

- Hindbrain structure involved primarily with guided, timed movements.

Reticular Formation

- Network of cells moving medially through the hind- and mid-brain, involved in arousal.

Raphe System

- Core strip of cells through hind- and mid-brain, involved in sleep.

Tegmentum

- Midbrain structure involved in motor processes.

Tectum

- Midbrain structure involved in sensory processes, includes Superior (visual) and Inferior (auditory) colliculi.

Hypothalamus

- Forebrain structure, oversees the four "F's", temperature, clock; communicates with and through the endocrine system.

Pituitary Gland

- Forebrain structure, known as the "master gland," stimulated by the hypothalamus.

Thalamus

- Forebrain structure, a principal stop along most sensory, motor & arousal pathways, project to cortex.

Limbic System

- A set of forebrain structures involved in motivation and emotional expression.

Hippocampus

- A part of the limbic system, involved in memory formation.

Amygdala

- A part of the limbic system, associated especially with fear and anger, also with recognizing emotions in others.

Cingulate Cortex

- A part of the limbic system, a "re-entrant" layer mediating between cortex and lower systems, especially for +/- evaluation.

Olfactory Bulb

- A part of the limbic system, receives smell info from olfactory receptors.

Basal Ganglia

- Forebrain structure including the Caudate Nucleus, Putamen & Globus Pallidus, involves in organization and motor movement.

Basal Forebrain

- Forebrain structure including Nucleus Accumbens, involved in arousal of cortex, attention and reinforcement.

Cerebral Cortex

- Forebrain structure, outer "bark" of brain, 6-layered, highly convoluted.

Corpus Callosum

- Set of axons connecting the two cerebral hemisphere.

Occipital Lobe

- Lobe of the cortex, posterior, primarily involved in visual processing, including V1 (striate cortex).

Temporal Lobe

- Lobe of the cortex, lateral (sides), primarily involved in auditory processing (e.g. A1 and Wernicke's area) and higher visual area (Inferotemporal)

Parietal Lobe

- Lobe of the cortex, posterior to the Central Sulcus, primarily involved in somatosensory and visa-spatial mapping.

Frontal Lobe

- Lobe of the cortex, anterior to the Central Sulcus, including motor and premotor areas (including Broca's and mirror cells).

Prefrontal Cortex

- Most anterior part of the frontal lobe, involved in self-control, strategy, cultural rules, etc...

Spinal Cord

- Part of the CNS other than the brain.

Dorsal Root

- Part of the spinal cord through which sensory info enters.

Ventral Root

- Part of the spinal cord through which motor info exits.

Bell-Magendie Law

- "Law" governing the direction of information flow into and out of the spinal cord.

Grey Matter

- Area of the spinal cord (as seen in a cross-section) consisting of the soma.

White Matter

- Area of the spinal cord (as seen in a cross-section) consisting of myelinated axons.

Central Canal

- Tube through core of spinal cord containing fluid.

Ventricles

- Four hollow chambers (plus aqueducts) in the brain that produce the fluid that feeds, cleans and cushions brain.

Cerebral Spinal Fluid

- Fluid, produced by ventricles, found within spinal cord and in covering surrounding CNS.

Meninges

- Three-Layered (Dura-Mater, Arachnoid-Space, and Pia-Mater) protective covering that surrounds CNS.

Blood Brain Barrier

- Semi-permeable barrier, controls what chemicals enter brain, created by closing gaps between capillaries endothelial cells.

Somatic Nervous System

- The part of the PNS that is responsible for the body's interaction with the environment.

Autonomic Nervous System

- The part of the PNS that is responsible for assessing and maintaining the body's internal environment.

Sympathetic Nervous System

- The part of the Autonomic Nervous System that produces the "fight or flight" response.

Parasympathetic Nervous System

- The part of the Autonomic Nervous System that facilitates relaxation and replenishment.

Parasympathetic Rebound

- Extreme compensatory response of one system to extreme activation of the other - can lead to fainting, ulcers and even voodoo death.

Neurons

- Cells in the Nervous System responsible for information transmission.

Glial Cells

- Cells in the Nervous System responsible for support, feeding, recycling, development, etc...

Ribosomes

- Organelles in a cell that are the site of protein production, crucial to much neural functioning.

Mitochondria

- Organelles in a cell that are the source of energy (ATP) to power active (rather than passive) functions in a cell.

Dendrites

- Processes (branches) of a neuron that receive the incoming messages.

Axons

- Part of the neuron responsible for releasing the outgoing message.

Concentration Gradient

- Difference in the amount of a given chemical inside/outside the cell.

Electrical Gradient

- A difference in charge outside/inside of the cell.

Na+, K+, Ca2+ and Cl-

- Symbols for 4 key chemical ions in neural functioning - including 3 cations and 1 anion.

Resting Potential (-70mV)

- Name for and amount of difference in charge inside/outside the cell, in millivolts (mV), in a polarized cell ready to fire.

Sodium-Potassium Pump

- Energy-requiring pump that helps restore membrane potential after cell fires.

Action Potential

- A sequence of depolarization that moves along the axon, resulting in an all-or-nothing release of NT.

Axon Hillock

- Section of axon where depolarization sequence begins.

Graded Potential

- A greater or lesser change in the polarity of a neuron that results in a greater or lesser release of NT.

Ionic Conduction

- Propagation of info down the axon by way of chemical gates opening/closing.

Electrical Conduction

- Propagation of info down the axon by the flow of electrons.

Saltatory Conduction

- "Jumping" electrical conduction that occurs in myelinated axons.

Myelination

- Glia cells wrapping around sections of an axon to insulate it and speed its info transmission.

Nodes of Ranvier

- Gaps between the myelin sheaths on an axon.

Multiple Sclerosis

- Disease that destroys the myelin, no ion gates under sheath so neurons cannot fire.

Refractory Period

- Period following an Action Potential during which the cell cannot fire.

Synapse

- The event in which one cell releases NT and that NT affects another cell.

Synaptic Cleft

- The gap between cells across which NT passively floats.

Pre-Synaptic Cell

- The cell that releases the NT.

Post-Synaptic Cell

- The cell that receives the NT.

Pre-Synaptic Terminal

- The end of the axon from which NT is released, also called "button" or "end bulb"

Vesicles

- Packets of NT released by neurons.

Exocytosis

- The release of NT into the cleft via its packet opening at a Fusion Pore in the cell's membrane.

Receptor Site

- Area, usually on a dendrite, that is specialized for the attachment of NT.

EPSP

- An increase in a cell's likelihood of releasing NT's.

IPSP

- A decrease in the cell's likelihood of releasing NT's.

Hypo-polarized

- Less polarized, less difference between the inside of a cell and the outside of the cell.

Hyper-Polarized

- More Polarized, more difference between the inside and the outside of a cell.

Summation

- Cumulative effect of the activity of multiple Presynaptic cells; Can be spatial or temporal.

Ionotropic

* When NT has direct effect on the ion channels in the Postsynaptic cell.
* Rapid response
* Very short-lived
* For sending messages along a pathway

Metabotropic

* When NT indirectly effects the postsynaptic cell via internal metabolic processes.
* slow response
* long lasting
* for setting conditions

Secondary Messengers

- Chemicals in Postsynaptic cell involved in energy-requiring processes (including altering ions channels) triggered by NT.

Neurotransmitters

- Chemicals released by Presynaptic cells that directly affect local Postsynaptic cells.

Neuromodulators

- Chemicals released by the Presynaptic cell that widely influence neural activity of the Postsynaptic potential.

Agonists

- Chemicals (endogenous or man-made) that acts to facilitate the effects of NT's.

Antagonists

- Chemicals (endogenous or man-made) that acts to reduce the effects of specific NT's.

Reuptake

- Process by which NT's or their components re-enter the Presynaptic cell for re-use.

Acetylcholinesterase

- Enzyme in cleft that breaks down Acetylcholine.

Auto-Receptor

- Site on presynaptic terminal that reacts to that cell's own NT's, usually acting to turn off/down that cell's further NT release.

Axoaxonic Synapse

- Synapses at a Presynaptic terminal that reacts to NT's from another cell, excitatory or inhibitory.

Acetylcholine (ACh)

* NT found at all neurons-muscular junctions.
* cortical arousal

GABA

- NT that suppresses cortical activity; regulates anxiety.

Glutamate

* Most common excitatory NT
* associated with learning, perception, and schizophrenia

Serotonin (5HT)

* Often acts as a Neuromodulator
* regulates mood, sleep, and perception