Comprehensive Neuroscience and Conditioning: Brain, Neurotransmitters, and Learning

What happens when the action potential reaches the end of the axon?

Axon terminals release neurotransmitters from vesicles into the synapse.

What determines whether a target neuron is excited or inhibited?

The type of neurotransmitter and receptor involved.

What is the role of serotonin in the brain?

It increases sleep and mood while suppressing appetite; low levels are linked to depression.

What are the effects of dopamine in the brain?

It increases movement, reward, mood, and learning; too little is linked to Parkinson's Disease, and too much is associated with schizophrenia.

What is the function of acetylcholine?

It is involved in skeletal muscle action and promotes memory; deficits are linked to Alzheimer's Disease.

What does norepinephrine do in the body?

It excites the heart, regulates mood, and promotes memory and alertness; low levels are linked to depression.

What is GABA and its role in the brain?

GABA is the major inhibitory neurotransmitter that reduces anxiety and promotes sleep; low levels are linked to anxiety disorders.

What is the function of glutamate?

It is the major excitatory neurotransmitter that enhances learning and memory; excessive levels can damage glial cells, leading to Multiple Sclerosis.

What are endorphins and their effects?

Endorphins are the body's natural painkillers that increase feelings of pleasure, such as during a runner's high.

What is the role of melatonin?

Melatonin regulates daily biological rhythms and promotes sleep; it is secreted by the pineal gland.

What does oxytocin do?

Oxytocin facilitates childbirth contractions, milk ejection during nursing, and bonding; it is secreted by the pituitary gland.

What are the adrenal hormones and their functions?

Epinephrine, norepinephrine, and cortisol are produced by the adrenal glands and are involved in emotion, stress, attention, and memory.

What are the main functions of the hindbrain?

The hindbrain regulates automatic functions such as breathing and heart rate through the medulla, and coordinates movement via the cerebellum.

What is the function of the thalamus?

The thalamus relays sensory messages to higher brain centers.

What is the role of the hypothalamus?

The hypothalamus regulates emotions and drives vital to survival, controlling the pituitary gland and the body's internal state.

What does the pituitary gland do?

The pituitary gland is known as the 'master gland' because it regulates other glands and releases hormones.

What are the functions of the limbic system?

The limbic system is involved in emotion and memory, including the amygdala (emotion regulation) and hippocampus (forming new memories).

What are the primary functions of the frontal lobe?

The frontal lobe is responsible for reasoning, motor control, emotion, and language, with key areas for movement planning and impulse control.

What is the role of the parietal lobe?

The parietal lobe processes sensory information such as touch, temperature, and pain.

What functions does the temporal lobe serve?

The temporal lobe is involved in hearing, memory, emotion, and language comprehension.

What is the primary function of the occipital lobe?

The occipital lobe is responsible for visual processing.

What is the significance of the corpus callosum?

The corpus callosum connects the left and right hemispheres of the brain, allowing communication between them.

What happens in a stroke?

A stroke is an interruption of blood flow that leads to localized brain damage.

What is the function of the substantia nigra?

The substantia nigra is involved in movement and reward; its degeneration is linked to Parkinson's Disease.

What is the reticular formation responsible for?

The reticular formation regulates sleep/wake cycles, arousal, alertness, and motor activity.

What is sensation?

The process of receiving stimulus energies from the external environment and transforming those energies into a neural signal.

What is perception?

The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information to give meaning to sensation.

What are binocular cues in depth perception?

Cues that rely on the use of both eyes, such as binocular disparity.

What is monocular depth perception?

Cues that require only one eye, including linear perspective and interposition.

What is the process from sensation to perception?

Stimulus is received by sensory receptors, translated into nerve impulses, analyzed by feature detectors, reconstructed into neural representation, and compared with stored information for recognition.

What is bottom-up processing?

Processing that starts with sensory input and constructs perception from basic elements.

What is top-down processing?

Processing that starts with cognitive processing at higher brain levels, applying a framework to incoming information.

What is sensory adaptation?

A reduction in sensory responsiveness when stimulation is unchanging or repetitious.

What is priming?

A technique used to measure unconscious processes by briefly exposing a participant to a stimulus.

What is selective attention?

The focusing of attention on selected aspects of the environment while blocking out others.

What is inattentional blindness?

The failure to consciously register objects that we are looking straight at.

What does Signal Detection Theory explain?

It divides the detection of a sensory signal into a sensory process and a decision process, influenced by bias.

What is the absolute threshold?

The smallest amount of energy a person can detect reliably 50% of the time.

What is the difference threshold?

The smallest difference in stimulation that a person can detect reliably 50% of the time, also known as just noticeable difference (jnd).

What is Weber's Law?

The principle stating that the size of the just noticeable difference (jnd) is a constant proportion of the initial stimulus size.

What is classical conditioning?

A learning process where a previously neutral stimulus acquires the capacity to elicit a response through association with an unconditioned stimulus.

What is the conditioned stimulus (CS)?

A previously neutral stimulus that, after being paired with an unconditioned stimulus, elicits a conditioned response.

What is the unconditioned stimulus (US)?

A stimulus that naturally brings about a particular response without prior learning.

What is the unconditioned response (UR)?

A reflexive response to the unconditioned stimulus that occurs naturally.

What is the conditioned response (CR)?

The learned response that follows the conditioned stimulus after conditioning.

What is acquisition in classical conditioning?

The learning of the association between the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus.

What is extinction in classical conditioning?

The weakening and eventual disappearance of a learned response when the conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with the unconditioned stimulus.

What is spontaneous recovery?

The reappearance of a conditioned response after a period of extinction.

What is stimulus generalization?

The tendency to respond to stimuli that resemble the conditioned stimulus.

What is stimulus discrimination?

The ability to respond differently to two or more similar stimuli.

What is higher-order conditioning?

A process where a neutral stimulus can become a conditioned stimulus by being paired with an already established conditioned stimulus.

What are rods and cones?

Rods are photoreceptors sensitive to dim light, while cones are responsible for color vision and detail in bright light.

What is trichromatic theory?

The theory that the retina contains three types of cones that combine to produce all colors.

What is opponent-process theory?

The theory that the visual system treats pairs of colors as opposing or antagonistic.

What is Gestalt psychology?

A school of thought that studies how people naturally organize perception according to certain patterns.

What are binocular cues for depth perception?

Visual cues that require both eyes, such as convergence and retinal disparity.

What are monocular cues for depth perception?

Visual cues that can be perceived with one eye, such as overlap, linear perspective, and familiar size.

What is operant conditioning?

The process by which a response becomes more or less likely to occur depending on its consequences.

What is Thorndike's Law of Effect?

The principle that positive outcomes strengthen behavior while negative outcomes weaken it.