AP Psychology Unit 1 Biological Bases

Neuron

A nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system.

Dendrites

Branchlike parts of a neuron that are specialized to RECEIVE information.

Cell Body (Soma)

Largest part of a typical neuron; contains the nucleus

Axon

A long projection off the cell body of a neruon down which an action potential can be propagated.

Myelin Sheath

A layer of fatty tissue covering the axon; speeds up of neural impulses as the impulse hops from one node to the next. Degeneration causes MS

Terminal Buttons/Branches

Small knobs at the end of axons that secrete chemicals called neurotransmitters (also called axon terminals)

Neurotransmitters

Chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gaps between neurons. When released by the sending neuron, neurotransmitters travel across the synapse and bind to receptor sites on the receiving neuron, thereby influencing whether that neuron will generate a neural impulse.

Synapse

A junction where information is transmitted from one neuron to the next.

Threshold

The level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse

Action Potential

A neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon. The action potential is generated by the movement of positively charged atoms in (Sodium) and out(Potassium) of channels in the axon's membrane.

All-or-None Principle

The principle by which neurons will fire only when a change in the level of excitation occurs that is sufficient to produce an action potential

Excitatory Neurotransmitters

Neurotransmitter that causes the receiving cell to fire.

Inhibitory Neurotransmitters

chemical secreted at terminal button that prevents (or reduces ability of) the neuron on the other side of the synapse from firing

Acetylcholine

A neurotransmitter that enables learning and memory and also triggers muscle contraction

mACHo=muscles

Dopamine

A neurotransmitter involved in motivation and reward. Sell Dopa in the Park

Parkinson's

Schizophrenia

Endorphins

"morphine within"--natural, opiatelike neurotransmitters linked to pain control and to pleasure.

Serotonin

Affects mood, hunger, sleep, and arousal

Sensory Neurons

Neurons that transmit messages from sense organs to the central nervous system.

Motor Neurons

Nerves that carry impulses AWAY from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles and glands.

Central Nervous System

Brain and spinal cord

Spinal Cord

Nerves that run up and down the length of the back and transmit most messages between the body and brain

Peripheral Nervous System

A division of the nervous system consisting of all nerves that are not part of the brain or spinal cord.

Somatic Nervous System

A subdivision of the peripheral nervous system. Enables voluntary actions to be undertaken due to its control of skeletal muscles

Autonomic Nervous System

A subdivision of the peripheral nervous system. Controls involuntary activity of visceral muscles and internal organs and glands.

Sympathetic Nervous System

Branch of the autonomic nervous system that produces rapid physical arousal in response to perceived emergencies or threats. (Fight or Flight)

Parasympathetic Nervous System

Branch of the autonomic nervous system that maintains normal bodily functions and conserves the body's physical resources.

Lesions

areas of tissue that have been pathologically altered by injury, wound, or infection

Electroencephalogram (EEG)

An amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity that sweep across the brain's surface. These waves are measured by electrodes placed on the scalp. Function

Computerized Axial Tomography (CAT/CT Scan)

an imaging technique used to study the brain to pinpoint injuries and brain deterioration. Structure

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

the use of nuclear magnetic resonance of protons to produce proton density images. Structure

Positron Emission Tomography (PET)

A visual display of brain activity that detects where radioactive form glucose goes while the brain performs a given task. Function

Functional MRI (fMRI)

A technique that uses high-powered, rapidly oscillating magnetic fields and powerful computation to measure cerebral blood flow in the brain and obtain an image of the neural activity in a specific brain area. Function

Brain Stem

Connection to spinal cord. Filters information flow between peripheral nervous system and the rest of the brain.

Medulla

Controls vital reflexes. Regulation of breathing, heart rate and blood pressure. (at the base of the brain stem)

Pons

The portion of the brainstem that is bounded at its lower end by the medulla and its upper end by the midbrain and is responsible, with the medulla, for organizing reflexes more complex than spinal reflexes (balance, metabolism, heart rate, breathing, etc.)--a lot like the medulla

Cerebellum

A large structure of the hindbrain that controls fine motor skills: fast, reflexive movement

Reticular Activating System

A network of nerve fibers located in the center of the medulla that helps regulate attention, arousal, and sleep; also called the reticular activating system.

Thalamus

A structure that relays and filters information from the senses and transmits the information to the cerebral cortex (relay station)

Hypothalamus

A small brain structure lying just below the thalamus, connected directly to the pituitary gland and to the limbic system, that is especially important for the regulation of motivation, emotion, and the internal physiological conditions of the body.

Amygdala

A limbic system structure involved in memory and emotion, particularly fear and aggression.

Hippocampus

A neural center located in the limbic system that helps process explicit memories for storage. (think memory)

Limbic System

A doughnut-shaped system of neural structures at the border of the brainstem and cerebral hemispheres; associated with emotions such as fear and aggression and drives such as those for food and sex. Includes the hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamus.

Cerebral Cortex

the outermost, evolutionarily newest, and (in humans by far the largest portion of the brain; it is divisible in to two hemispheres (right and left), and each hemisphere is divisible into four lobes-the occipital, temporal, parietal, and frontal lobes (FPOT)

Lobes of the Brain: Mnemonic Device

FPOT: Counter clockwise direction (starting in the front with Frontal Lobe)

Left Hemisphere of the Brain

controls right side of the body and is logical, contains mathamatics, lauguage, & speech

Right Hemisphere of the Brain

controls left side of the body and specializes in pattern and face recognition, perception, nonverbal ideas, musical, emotional processing, creative part

Corpus Callosum

A thick band of axons that connects the two cerebral hemispheres and acts as a communication link between them.

Frontal Lobe

A region of the cerebral cortex that has specialized areas for movement, abstract thinking, planning, memory, and judgement

Broca's Area

Controls language expression - an area of the frontal lobe, in the left hemisphere, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech.

Wernicke's Area

A specialised area in the left temporal lobe which is involved with comprehending the sounds of human speech

Broca's Aphasia

Can understand words but cannot produce them--girl who could not string together a logical sentence

Wernicke's Aphasia

Can speak fluently, but in gibberish

Motor Cortex

An area at the rear of the frontal lobes that controls voluntary movements

Parietal Lobe

Located in the upper back half of the brain. Receives and processes sensory information from the body and skin senses as well as other sensory areas in the brain. Association areas are invovled with spatial reasoning and sensing the position of the body in space.

Sensory Cortex (Somatosensory)

Area at the front of the parietal lobes that registers and processes body and movement sensations.

Occipital Lobe

A region of the cerebral cortex that processes visual information

Temporal Lobe

lobe of the cerebral cortex that lies in front of the occipital lobe and below the parietal and frontal lobes that contains the auditory area of the brain

Brain Plasticity

the ability within the brain to constantly change both the structure and function of many cells in response to experience or trauma

Pituitary Gland

Endocrine gland attached to the base of the brain that secretes hormones that affect the function of other glands as well as hormones that act directly on physical processes--the master gland of the endocrine system

Monozygotic Twins

Also called identical twins; twin siblings that result from one zygote splitting in two and therefore share the same genes

Resting potential

tiny electrical charge that exists when a neuron is not receiving or sending information. (Sodium on outside, Potassium inside)

Refractory Period

brief time period when another neural impulse cannot occur.

Heredity

the transmission of traits from one generation to the next

Nature vs. Nurture

Do genes (nature) or environmental factors (nurture) contribute more to a person's being?

Substance P function

pain transmission

linguistic processing

The cognitive activities involved in understanding and producing language. It encompasses various processes such as perceiving speech sounds, comprehending word meanings, constructing grammatically correct sentences, and conveying thoughts through speech or writing.

Contralateral hemispheric organization

left side of brain controls right side of body while right brain controls left body except smell

Stimulants

Drugs (such as caffeine, nicotine, and the more powerful amphetamines, cocaine, and Ecstasy) that excite neural activity and speed up body functions.

Depressants

drugs (such as alcohol, barbiturates, and opiates) that reduce neural activity and slow body functions

Opioids

Any drug or agent with actions similar to morphine.

Hallucinogens

Drugs that alter moods, thoughts, and sense perceptions including vision, hearing, smell, and touch

withdrawal

the discomfort and distress that follow discontinuing the use of an addictive drug

tolerance

the diminishing effect with regular use of the same dose of a drug, requiring the user to take larger and larger doses before experiencing the drug's effect