AP Psych Unit 1

Afferent Neurons

another name for sensory neurons

Reuptake

neurotransmitters being taken back into the sending axon

Amygdala

In the limbic system, linked to emotion

Frontal Lobe

executive functions, problem solving, personality

Lateralization

the idea that specific functions are linked to a specific side of the brain

Split Brain

Severed Corpus Callosum, severing takes away the ability of communication between the two hemispheres

Narcolepsy

Difficulty staying awake

Insomnia

Difficulty falling or staying asleep

Sleep Apnea

Temporary cessations in breathing

Myelin sheath

Insulator, speeds transmissions between axons

Stimulant

Drug that increases actions of the central nervous system, reduces drowsiness, enhances problem-solving and physical abilities; Caffeine, Nicotine, Cocaine, Amphetamines

Depressant

Cause decreased nerve activity, relaxation, euphoria, and alertness; Alcohol, Barbiturates, and Opiates

Hallucinogens

Cause alterations in perception, thought, and mood; LSD, Ecstasy, PCP (Angel Dust), Peyote, Marijuana

Opiates

Relieve pain, result in euphoria and relaxation; Opium, Morphine, Heroin, Narcotic Painkillers; all extremely addictive

Sensory Neurons

Relay information from senses to brain and spinal cord

Motor Neurons

Communicate to Muscles and glands to promote action/movement

Interneurons

Bridge between sensory and motor neurons

Reflex Arc

When all three neurons (motor, sensory, inter) work together

Evolutionary Psychology

An approach to psychological behavior viewing human cognition and mental processing through the lens of Darwinian Evolution

Natural Selection

Better adapted individuals are more likely to survive and reproduce.

Eugenics

Seeked to improve genetic makeup of population through selective human breeding; breeding out genetic defects

Identical Twins

MONOzygotic

Fraternal Twins

DIzygotic

Twin Studies

Showed if genetics or environment had a bigger impact of personality or intelligence

Family Studies

Siblings, parents, children, assesses evidence linking characteristics to outcomes (health or disease predispositions)

Adoption Studies

Studies relationships between behavior and personality based on environmental (adoptive parents), and biological (shares genetics) parent-child pairs.

Glial Cells

Structure, insulation, communication, waste transport

Neurons

Transmit information from three types; Sensory, Motor, Interneurons

Spinal Reflex Arc

All three neurons work together to form

Central Nervous System

Contains brain and spinal cord; mostly interneuron and glial cells

Peripheral Nervous System

Carries sensory information TO the CNS and the motor neurons AWAY from the CNS. Contains subsystems, Somatic and Autonomic nervous systems.

Somatic Nervous System

Motor functions,gross and fine

Autonomic Nervous System

Controls involuntary actions; heartbeat, breathing, reflexes. Subdivided into Sympathetic and Parasympathetic systems

Sympathetic Nervous System

Fight or flight response

Parasympathetic Nervous System

Calming effects after fight or flight response

Vesicles

In the axon buttons or axon terminals, they store neurotransmitters

Multiple Sclerosis

Common demyelinating disease, immune system attacks the myelin sheath.

Dopamine

A neurotransmitter with movement, attention, and learning; brains pleasure and reward system, linked to addictive drugs and attention-grabbing experiences

Acetylcholine

Contraction of skeletal muscles, regulates heart, and arousal in the brain, transmits messages between brain and spinal cord

Serotonin

Regulation in mood, control of eating, sleep, arousal, regulation of pain, control of dreaming

Glutamate

Stimulate receptors with memory and sensory motor functions

GABA gamma-aminobutyric acid

Inhibits neuron firing; calming effects, lack of which you can have seizures, insomnia, anxiety, and Huntingtons Disease

Norepinephrine

sympathetic arousal; triggers fight or flight response, helps with attention and memory

Endorphins

Released by pituitary gland and hypothalamus, pain and stress reliever, mood regulation, excess can cause insomnia sleep apnea and thrill seeking behavior

Substance P

regulates bone and cartilage metabolism, heals bone fractures, released to help reduce stress

Resting Potential

prior to electrical charge being sent

Action Potential

electrical impulse being sent down the length of the axon

Depolarization

before generating action potential, before the threshold point

More Stimulus

more often the neuron fires

All-Or-Nothing principal

the neuron will either fire, or not fire at all

Refractory Period

when the neuron is waiting to fire again

Endocrine System

Hormones; regulated by pituitary gland, which is controlled by the hypothalamus

Adrenaline

Adrenal gland in conditions of stress, increase heartrate and metabolizing of carbs

Leptin

Released by adipose (fat) tissue, regulates appetite, energy balance, body weight

Ghrelin

produced in stomach, stimulates appetite (hunger hormone)

Melatonin

produced in the brain, used for sleep-wake cycle

Oxytocin

produced in hypothalamus, childbirth, social recognition, emotional attachment

Agonist drugs

encourage neural firing

Antagonist drugs

inhibit neural firing

Midbrain

transmission of visual and auditory information, motor movement, pain processing, and sleep/wake cycle

Pons

Sensory information transmission to the cerebellum, regulates breathing and involved in sleep/wake cycle

Medulla

Involuntary vital processes; heartbeat, breathing, blood pressure, relay point between spinal cord and brain

Reticular formation

between brainstem and hypothalamus; pain sensitization, alertness, sleep, and motivation.

Reticular Activating System

in the reticular formation; arousal, sleep/wake cycle, muscle tone, transition between sleep rhythms, involved in attention and perception of stimuli, bigger processes of learning, cognition, and emotion

Cerebellum

Back of the head above the brainstem, critical functions of the body, movement coordination, balance, posture, muscle memory, language and attention, vision and eye movement

Cerebrum

initiates and coordinates movement and maintains body temperature, speech, thinking and reasoning, emotions, learning

Cerebral Cortex

outside of the cerebrum, two hemispheres, memory, thinking, learning, reasoning, problem solving, emotions, consciousness, and sensory processing. Includes limbic system

Wernicke’s area

Left lobe, responsible for understanding written and spoken language, speech production

Association Areas

Produce and organize information, understand world around us

Somatosensory Cortex

process information related to touch, temperature, pain and pressure

Prefrontal Cortex

personality center of the brain, process moment to moment input from our surroundings and how we react to the information

Motor Cortex

controls skeletal movement

Brocas area

frontal lobe left hemisphere, speech production

Limbic system

natural instincts such as eating, drinking, reproduction, caring for the young, fight or flight response

Hypothalamus

Produces hormones to sleep; melatonin, manages mood, hunger, thirst, sexual arousal, blood pressure, body temperature, and heart rate, controls the pituitary gland which controls endocrine system

Amygdala

How we experience emotions, memory formation, and social interpretation

Thalamus

processes sensory information, helps with planning, memory, and emotions

Hippocampus

Converts short-term memories into long-term memories by organizing, storing, and retrieving information

Left hemisphere

verbal information, processes information from right side of the body

Right hemisphere

nonverbal information, processes information from the left side of the body

Aphasia

when there is damage to a part of the brain that controls language, makes it hard to communicate

EEG

records electrical activity patterns in the brain, checks for abnormalities and cognitive dysfunction

CT scan

uses XRAYs to produce images of the brain, show evidence of brain atrophy(damaged or dying brain) and strokes

MRI

radio waves and magnetic fields to produce images of the brain, better at identifying brain atrophy and damage from small strokes, better for more frequent scans (no radiation)

PET

Radioactive tracer, measures metabolic activity of the brains neurons, shows parts of the brain receiving changes in blood flow

Case studies

good for unique situations

Surgical

procedures done to learn more about the brain; lesioning studies patients with brain damage to learn how damaged areas affect their behavior

Circadian Rhythm

24 hour cycle, internal clock

Diurnal

day and night

Ultradian

less than 24 hours, eating, digestion

Infradian

longer than 24 hours, menstrual cycle

Circannual

year long cycles, body’s response to seasonal changes

NREM 1

lightest stage of sleep, can experience hypnagogic sensations(mild hallucinations)

NREM 2

heart rate drops, body temp decreases

NREM 3

deepest sleep state, body fully relaxed, tissue repair, cell regen, strengthening of the immune system

REM

primary state for dreaming, breathing and heart rate increases, limbs temporarily paralyzed, whole cycle lasts about 90 min

REM Rebound

when you are deprived of REM Sleep, the time spent in REM increases, along with frequency and intensity of REM sleep stages

Activation-Synthesis Theory

Dreaming is the cerebral cortex sending nerve impulses from body to brain stem to try and make sense of the impulses

Consolidation Theory

Dreaming is influenced by the consolidation of memory during sleep, encoding memory traces into more stable state and reorganized into a more permanent form of long-term storage

Sensory interaction

sensory systems all working together