AP Psychology [UNIT 1]

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Neurotransmitters

The body's chemical messengers that transmit signals across the synaptic gap. They are also essential for regulating everything, like breathing, heart rate, learning, mood, and sleep.

action potential

The electrical impulse that travels down a neuron's axon, it operates on an all-or-none principle, meaning it either fires completely or not at all.

Neuroplasticity

The brain's ability to change, adapt, and form new neural connections (The biological foundation for all human thought, memory, learning, and psychical movement) after experience or damage

myelin sheath

A fatty tissue layer insulating the axon, which speeds up neural impulses

Neurons

Brain Cells

Dopamine

Controls pleasure and movement

Serotonin

Regulates sleep and mood

Endorphins

Your body natural painkillers

Nervous system

Divided into the Central Nervous System (brain and spinal cord) and the Peripheral Nervous System (somatic and automatic systems) [governs all actions that you consciously choose to make and relays info from your senses to the brain, regulates the body's internal functions that occur without conscious thought, such as heart rate and digestion.]

Nature vs. Nurture

The foundational debate on whether our traits are determined by biology (nature) or the environment (nurture).

Neural Communication

The nervous system relies on neurons. An electrical action potential travels down the axon, and neurotransmitters (like serotonin and dopamine) pass messages across synapses

Parts of a neuron contains:

Dendrites

Soma

Axon

Myelin Sheath

Dendrites

Branch-like parts that "listen" for messages from other cells

Soma

Main cell body that keeps the neuron alive

Axon

A long cable that sends the electrical message away

Biological bases of behavior

How our physical anatomy and genetics shape our thoughts and actions, focusing heavily on how biology and the environment interact to make us who we are