Psych Unit 2

neurons

the basic building block of the nervous system, building blocks of human psychology

dendrites

branching objects that reach out into the brain to grab information to bring back to the neuron

cell body/soma

where the nucleus for the neuron is. it decides how to respond based on the info that the dendrite gives it and sometimes can decide not to respond

axon

the step after info going to the soma, is the largest piece of the neuron and can be very long

myelin sheath

speeds up the transmission and allows the neuron to pass info faster.

terminal buttons

release the info for other neurons to pick up

synapse

the space between neurons

glial cells

* supports neuronal communication
* skeletal system
* provides nourishment
* creates myelin for the myelin sheath
* repairs damage
* removes waste
* helps to create the blood-brain barrier

sensory neuron

transmits sense info to the brain from sense organs (visual, audio, etc.)

afferent nueron

sends info TO the brain, sensory neurons are an example

motor neurons

messages that the brain sends to create and support movement

efferent neuron

sends info FROM the brain, motor neurons are an example

mirror neurons

helpful for processing how others are feeling/reacting. important for human empathy and learning from other ppl.

infer nuerons

communicate with other neurons, they’re the most common type in our nervous system

electrical transmission

how you describe the way that info is moving within a neuron

chemical transmission

how you describe the way info is moving between neurons

action potential

what is happening to the neuron as it is passing info along, happens all along the neuron. -70mV to +40mV

ions for action potential

sodium and potassium

neuro-transmitters

chemicals that allow information/communications to go between neurons

agonist

makes neurotransmitters more effective

antagonist

makes neurotransmitters less effective

dopamine

* a pleasure neurotransmitter that controls voluntary movements
* having too much is associated with Schizophrenia
* having too little is associated with Parkinson’s

serotonin

* largely associated with controlling negative emotions and sleep
* a malfunction is associated with depression or anxiety
* SSRI is an agonist for it and is a common antidepressant

epinephrine

important for having an energized mental state

norepinephrine

energized mental and physical state. dysfunction for this is associated with depression or PTSD

endorphins

our body’s painkillers and mood lifters

GABA

* primary inhibitory transmitter
* tells your neurons when to stop and not send info
* when there is too little it is associated with epilepsy
* Anxiety meds are usually antagonists of this as depression meds are agonists of this

acetylcholine

* the first neurotransmitter that was discovered
* important for memory and learning
* a dysfunction with tis is associated with memory disorders

law of forward condition

information will start at the dendrites and end at the terminal buttons but never go the other way around

all or none principle

if a soma decides to send the info along it will fully go to the terminal buttons, if it decides to not send info along, it will stop at the soma.

excitatory

if this wins, the info will be sent along

inhibitory

if this wins, the info will not be sent along

clean-up

happens after the neuron has released the neurotransmitters into the synapse

enzymatic degradation

where some of the glial cells that are in our brain are going to clean up the neurotransmitters and break them down

reuptake

terminal buttons take back neurotransmitters that they released

synaptic pruning

eliminates synapses that are no longer useful

center of the nervous system

the most important component of the neuro system, info comes to it and directions come from it

intelligence correlation

the more surface area/bumps and ridges a brain has, the smarter it is

contralateral control

your brain controls the opposite sides of your body,

association area

there are different parts of your brain that are important/related to different tasks

hindbrain

brainstem, main job is to keep you alive, oldest part of the brain

medulla

in the hindbrain, largely in charge of heart rate, circulation, respiration, and reflexes

pons

sit on top of the medulla, which helps with sleep, mood, arousal, and focus but also important for creating and reading facial expressions

cerebellum

the densest level of neurons, critical for balance and fine motor skills. one of the first places you can see the effects of alcohol.

midbrain

• the smallest most specialized part of the brain

• orientation is the main focus

tectum

midbrain, responsible for receiving sense info and doing base-level processing

tegmentum

responsible for movement, arousal, or focus

forebrain

newest part of the brain developmentally and evolutionarily

cerebral cortex

forebrain, wrinkly parts of the brain

corpus callosum

a band of fibers in the middle that allows the left side of your brain to talk to the right. a lobotomy separates this

Frontal lobe

• higher order processing

• prefrontal cortex

• motor cortex

prefrontal cortex

executive control functions, coordinates convos with the brain, doesn’t finish developing until around age 25, highly affected by alcohol, 28% of the frontal lobe

parietal lobe

• somatosensory cortex, deals with sensory information

• visual integration

• orientation

optical lobe

primarily responsible for vision. starts with color, shape, and direction, then begins to process the info more.

temporal lobe

mostly used for hearing and language

broca’s area

only on the left hemisphere of the brain, shared between the frontal + temporal lobe. responsible for speech.

broca’s aphasia

commonly associated with strokes. means you can’t produce speech but you are aware of that.

wernicke’s area

only on the left hemisphere, responsible for speech comprehension.

wernicke’s aphasia

words can be understood but there is no real meaning to what is being said. they don’t realize how they are speaking. associated with strokes.

thalamus

where most senses (not smell) info goes first before being sent to other parts of the brain for deeper processing

pituitary gland

executive control of hormones

limbic system

really important for memory and emotions

hypothalamus

known for the 4 f’s (feeding, fleeing, fighting, fornicating). also gives hunger skills when it thinks you should eat and stationary signals when it thinks you should stop eating.

amygdala

important for emotional memory (specifically fear, anger, and disgust

hippocampus

closest tie to memory, close to the amygala

cingulate gyrus

a belt of tissue around the brain, critical for focusing on information. people with schizophrenia often experience and issue with this

basal ganglia

a system of structures, important for voluntary movement. an important source of dopamine for the brain, this area is less active with Parkinsons.

MRI

uses magnets to get a static image of the brain (structural technique)

DTI

specifically looks for myelination, looks for where there is myelin (structural technique)

NIRS

uses a light pulse to get a different pic of the brain (structural technique)

EEG

uses electrodes to track electrical activity in the brain, measuring differences in charges and can tell the general area but not much specificity (active technique)

ERP

tells us when activity is happening (active technique)

fMRI

tracking the metal in our blood and seeing how much blood is going to different parts of the brain. this is more specific than an EEG but more expensive, (active technique)

PET

measures where the glucose is going in the brain, if one part is getting more that means its more active, (active technique)

TMS

uses magnetic plue to disrupt or encourage, (active technique)

gate control theory

sometimes pain signals get sent to the spinal cord and stop there so you can move out of the situation without handling the pain

cerebrospinal fluid

protects the central nervous system and provides nourishment to it

somatic

controls voluntary movements of skeletal muscles (conscious)

sympathetic nervous

fight or flight system, unconscious behaviors

parasympathetic

rest or digest system, brings you out of fight or flight

enteric

focuses solely on digestion, nerve cells in your gastro intestine, 95% of serotonin which is why depression and eating issues can go hand in hand

sensation

interaction of your sense organs with external stimuli, happens first, more externally, and is OBJECTIVE

perception

processing of sensations, happens second, internally, and is SUBJECTIVE

transduction

turning sensations into perceptions

weber’s law

the just noticeable difference is a constant proportion to the size of the initial stimulus

absolute threshold

the minimal level of stimuli for you to detect the existence

signal detection theory

• hits- correctly identified stimulus

• false alarms- saying the stimulus exists when it doesn’t

• correct rejection- where the stimulus doesn’t exists and you correctly say that

• misses- where there is a stimulus but you do not identify it

liberal response criteria

doesn’t need much evidence to say yes, more likely to have a false alarm

conservative response criteria

you have to be very sure in order to say yes, more likely to miss instances

button-up processing

starting at the sensation, based on your sense organs responding, builds up your perception from that sensation (more likely to be accurate but takes more effort)

top-down processing

where we let our expectations and beliefs to guide or processing (easier but can lead you wrong)

light

something that is dealt with by sensations

color

perception, how your brain processes lights

wavelengths

shorter ones are objectively cooler colors, longer ones are objectively warmer colors

amplitude

the larger the wave, the more intense the sensation and the darker the color

cornea

a thin membrane that protects the inner eye

pupil

a hole in your eye that allows for the light to be let in

iris

a muscle that controls the size of the pupil

lens

behind the pupil, changes shape depending on what you are looking at

fovea

where you can see the best, directly behind the iris, has all the cones