Psychology First Exam Review - Brain Structures and Neurobiology

Vocabulary flashcards covering key topics in neuroanatomy, neurotransmitters, brain lobes, nervous system divisions, scanning techniques, and endocrine glands for the Psychology First Exam.

Dendrites

Receive messages from other neurons

Cell body

SOMA

Myelin Sheath

Axon coating that speeds up message transmission

Axon

portion of a nerve cell (neuron) that carries nerve impulses away from the cell body

Terminal branches

Send messages to other neurons

Synaptic gap/synaptic cleft/synapse

the tiny space between two neurons where chemical or electrical communication occurs, allowing one neuron to pass a signal to the next .

Synaptic vesicle

a tiny sac/bubble inside a neuron that stores neurotransmitters; the chemicals that help neurons communicate with each other.

Resting potential

Polarized: Negative in the inside $-70$

Action potential (All or nothing response)

Depolarized: Charge is even on the inside and outside. Semipermeable membrane opens up and pumps out sodium cations. Fires at $-55$, goes up to $+30$

Refractory period (Unable to send messages, recovering)

Hyperpolarized: $-90$

Acetylcholine

Muscle involvement in movement, factual memory involving personal identity, (learning but not significant) deficit marks Alzheimer’s disease

Dopamine

Voluntary movement, reward sensation after learning, attention and focus in conjunction with learning, emotions mainly pleasurable ones in the moment. Too much dopamine is correlated with Schizophrenia. Lower levels involved in Parkinson’s. More involved in sexual arousal

Serotonin

Long-term overall mood, appetite, sleepiness before sleep. Undersupply of serotonin is associated with depression, so it is still being debated against

Norepinephrine

Alertness; caffeine

Epinephrine

Adrenaline

GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid)

Inhibits brain activity (stops sending messages)

Glutamate

Excites brain activity

Two Nervous Systems

Peripheral & Central Nervous System

Autonomic

Controls self-regulated action of internal organs and glands

Sympathetic

arousal, fight-or-flight response

Parasympathetic

rest and repair the body, calms you down

Opposing tendencies

phenomenon where two physical sensations are functioning in opposite ways ex. heartrate up appetite down and vice versa

Central, CNS

Brain and spinal cord

Interneurons

Neurons that only communicate within the brain and spinal cord

Motor neurons (efferent neurons exit brain)

Responsible for movement, from the brain to spinal cord, to muscles and glands

Sensory neurons (afferent neurons):

From sensory organs to brain and spinal cord

Phrenology (Franz Gall)

people’s bumps on their skull translate to a person’s abilities and traits

LEFT HEMISPHERE

LANGUAGE AND LOGIC; receives and sends most information to the right side of the body and vice versa.Information from the left visual field goes to the right hemisphere.

Angular gyrus

Transforms visual representations into auditory code

Wernicke’s area

Interprets Code

Broca's area

controls speech muscles using the motor cortex

Aphasia

Impairment in language

Broca’s aphasia

Can understand language but can’t speak

Wernicke’s aphasia

Can’t understand language

RIGHT HEMISPHERE

Processes more emotional stimuli; Art, spatial awareness, face recognition, emotion

Frontal lobe

Thinking, judgment (one roll), and movement (other roll)

Primary motor cortex

Located in frontal lobe, coordinates movement

Parietal lobe

Sense of touch

Primary somatosensory cortex

Touch, pain, body temperature

Sensory homunculus

Sensation in body parts is represented by sensitivity (hands have more intricate movements)

Temporal Lobe

Hearing

Occipital Lobe

Vision

SUBCORTICAL STRUCTURES (The Limbic System)

the brain’s reward center; a complex system of nerves and networks in the brain

Hypothalamus

Maintains homeostasis, links the endocrine system to the brain, motivation, emotional drives, hunger, fight-or-flight, sexual arousal, and body temperature. Sends orders to the pituitary gland (the master gland that signals the release of other hormones in the body)

Amygdala

“Emotional powerhouse of the cell” processes mostly fear and rage, and also positive emotions. Damage in the ____ makes it difficult to identify emotion from facial expressions

Lesion

Brain Damage

Hippocampus

Learning, converting and transferring short-term memory to long-term memory

Thalamus

Processes and integrates all sensory information. Every sense but smell goes to the thalamus first

Nucleus accumbens

Reward and pleasure, electrodes mainly stimulate

Brainstem

Pons, medulla, reticular formation

Pons

Regulates the left and right sides of the body’s movements, and paralyzes the body during sleep

Medulla

Vital life functions (heart rate, breathing, blood pressure

Reticular Formation

A nerve network that controls arousal.

Cerebellum

coordinated balance and movement

Reuptake

Process where neurons reabsorb released neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, back into the cell after they have transmitted signals. Recycling mechanism terminates the neurotransmitter's action and allows for its reuse.

Enzymatic degradation

a natural process where specific enzymes catalyze the breakdown of complex substances (such as excess neurotransmitters)into smaller, simpler molecules

Pet Scan

glucose that has a radioactive dye attached to it. Shows function not anatomical image. Radiation exposure, although small

MRI

Anatomical images. Machine uses magnets and radio frequency.

fMRI

shows function and anatomical images. Uses hemoglobin to track function

CAT or CT scan

X-rays shows anatomical images but exposes you to radiation

EEG

Brain waves but not images

Stimulants

increase CNS activity. Increase heart rate, breathing blood pressure and create alertness

Depressants

decrease CNS activity. Decrease heart rate, breathing blood pressure and create calmness and sleepiness

Hallucinogen/psychedelic drugs

Cause distortions of all senses, especially vision. Can create hallucinations, intense emotional and spiritual experiences

Pituitary Gland

The "master gland" located in the brain, controlled by the hypothalamus. It secretes growth hormones.

Adrenal Glands

Release hormones (like epinephrine and norepinephrine) that help the body respond to stress.

Thyroid Gland

Affects metabolism.

Nervous System Vs endocrine System

nervous system is fast; uses neurotransmitters vs endocrine system is slow; uses hormones. Both are crucial for the body's functioning.

Hemispherectomy

Removal of an entire hemisphere to alleviate epileptic seizures.

Plasticity

Brain’s capacity for modification & regeneration as evident in brain reorganization following damage (especially in children) and in experiments on the effects of experience on brain development. Children’s brains are more plastic than adults brains BUT adult brains are still plastic (evidenced by recovery by stroke patients.)

Split brain procedure

Corpus callosum (the bridge between the left and right hemisphere. severed (cut) to alleviate epilepsy.