Psychology Lecture Notes: Neuroscience, Sensation, Perception, and Memory

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering key concepts from lecture notes on neuroanatomy, the nervous and endocrine systems, sensory transduction and perception, and memory structures and processes.

Psychoactive Drugs

Drugs that interact with neurotransmitters.

Agonists

Substances that enhance receptor site activity.

Antagonists

Substances that decrease receptor site activity.

Neurogenesis

The process by which new neurons are formed in the brain, crucial when an embryo is developing in utero, but also continuing in some brain regions after birth and throughout life.

Neural Plasticity

The nervous system's ability to change, occurring through five ways during development: growth of dendrites and axons, synaptogenesis, pruning, myelination, and learning.

Synaptogenesis

The formation of new synapses.

Meninges

Three layers of protective membranes that encase the central nervous system: the pia mater, arachnoid, and dura mater.

Cerebral Ventricles

Fluid-filled pockets inside the brain that protect the central nervous system and are filled with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).

Cerebral Cortex

Also called the forebrain or cerebrum; the most developed area of the brain responsible for advanced intellectual abilities, divided into two cerebral hemispheres and four lobes.

Corpus Callosum

The structure connecting the two cerebral hemispheres that allows communication between them.

Frontal Lobes

Brain lobes that assist in motor function, language, and memory, and oversee and organize most other brain functions (executive functioning).

Broca's Area

A region in the frontal lobe responsible for language production.

Prefrontal Cortex

The cortical region responsible for thinking, planning, and language.

Parietal Lobe

The lobe specialized for touch and perception that contains the somatosensory cortex and communicates information to the motor cortex every time we reach, grasp, or move our eyes.

Somatosensory Cortex

The area in the parietal lobe sensitive to pressure, pain, and temperature.

Temporal Lobe

The lower part of the cerebral cortex that plays a role in hearing, understanding language, and storing autobiographical memories.

Wernicke's Area

A region within the temporal lobe responsible for speech comprehension.

Occipital Lobe

The lobe specialized for vision, located at the back of the brain.

Basal Ganglia

Two sets of structures buried inside the cortex that help control movement, damage to which can contribute to Parkinson's disease.

Limbic System

The emotional center of the brain that also plays a role in smell, motivation, and memory; consists of the hypothalamus, thalamus, amygdala, and hippocampus.

Hypothalamus

Limbic structure that regulates and controls internal bodily states and controls the pituitary gland.

Thalamus

Limbic structure that relays sensory information from sense organs to the primary sensory cortex.

Amygdala

Limbic structure that plays a key role in fear, excitement, and arousal.

Hippocampus

Limbic structure that plays a role in spatial memory and the formation of new memories.

Brain Stem

Structure located at the very back of the brain connecting the cerebral cortex and spinal cord; performs basic bodily functions, serves as a relay station, and consists of the midbrain and reticular activating system.

Midbrain

Part of the brain stem that contributes to movement, tracking of visual stimuli, and reflexes triggered by sound.

Reticular Activating System (RAS)

Brain stem network that connects the forebrain and cerebral cortex and plays a key role in arousal; damage can result in a coma.

Cerebellum

Hindbrain structure that plays a predominant role in our sense of balance and enables us to coordinate movement and learn motor skills.

Pons

Hindbrain structure that connects the cortex to the cerebellum and triggers dreams.

Medulla

Hindbrain structure that regulates breathing, heartbeat, and other vital functions.

Spinal Cord

The thick bundle of nerves that conveys sensory signals from the body to the brain and motor signals from the brain to the rest of the body; contains interneurons that allow reflexes.

Somatic Nervous System

Part of the peripheral nervous system that conveys information from the central nervous system to the muscles in the body, controlling and coordinating voluntary movement.

Autonomic Nervous System

Part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the involuntary actions of internal organs and glands, divided into sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions.

Sympathetic Division

The division of the autonomic nervous system engaged during a crisis or after actions requiring fight or flight.

Parasympathetic Division

The division of the autonomic nervous system that controls rest and digestion.

Endocrine System

A system of glands that release hormones directly into the bloodstream.

Hormones

Chemical messengers that travel in the bloodstream to influence particular organs and regulate emotions.

Pituitary Gland

The master gland controlled by the hypothalamus that regulates other glands in the body and releases hormones influencing growth and maternal/romantic bonding.

Adrenal Glands

Glands located on top of the kidneys that release adrenaline during states of arousal.

Cortisol

Hormone that regulates blood pressure and cardiovascular function, as well as the body's use of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats.

Electroencephalograph (EEG)

Brain mapping tool that measures electrical activity via electrodes placed on the skull to identify active brain regions during specific tasks.

Computed Tomography (CT)

Neuroimaging method using multiple X-rays to construct 3D images of brain structure.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

Neuroimaging technique that uses magnetic fields to indirectly visualize brain structure.

Functional MRI (fMRI)

Technique using magnetic fields to visualize brain activity by measuring changes in blood oxygen levels as an indicator of neural function.

Positron Emission Tomography (PET)

Imaging technique that measures the consumption of glucose-like molecules to picture neural activity.

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)

Technique that applies strong, rapidly changing magnetic fields to the surface of the skull to either enhance or interrupt brain function.

Magnetoencephalography (MEG)

Brain mapping method that measures tiny magnetic fields generated by the brain.

Sensation

The detection of physical energy by sense organs.

Perception

The brain's interpretation of raw sensory data.

Transduction

The process by which the nervous system converts external energy or substances into electrical excitation or inhibition of neurons in the brain.

Sensory Adaptation

The decline in receptor activation that occurs after a stimulus is first detected, during which sensory response adjusts.

Parallel Processing

The brain's ability to attend to multiple sensory modalities simultaneously.

Bottom-up Processing

A cognitive process where sensory organs detect and send information about the environment up to the brain.

Top-down Processing

A cognitive process in which the brain uses information, expectations, or concepts already brought into it to interpret input.

Psychophysics

The study of how we perceive sensory stimuli based on their physical characteristics.

Absolute Threshold

The lowest level of a stimulus that humans can detect $50\%$ of the time for a specific type of sensory input.

Just Noticeable Difference (JND)

The smallest amount of change in a stimulus that humans can detect.

Weber's Law

The psychophysical principle that the stronger the stimulus, the greater the change needed to detect a difference.

Signal Detection Theory

A theory addressing how stimuli are detected under different conditions, resulting in true positives, false positives, false negatives, or true negatives.

Synesthesia

A condition involving cross-modal sensation where stimulation of one sensory pathway leads to automatic experiences in another, such as hearing sounds when seeing colors or tasting colors.

Selective Attention

A mechanism that allows us to focus on select sensory inputs while turning down other channels.

Cocktail Party Effect

The phenomenon demonstrating that unattended auditory channels are still processed at some level, allowing personally relevant cues to capture attention.

Accommodation

The process by which the lens changes its curvature to refract light properly onto the retina.

Fovea

The central area of the retina responsible for visual acuity.

Optic Nerve

A bundle composed of the axons of ganglion cells that travels from the retina to the brain, producing a blind spot where it leaves the eye.

Trichromatic Theory

The idea that color vision is based on our sensitivity to three primary colors: blue, green, and red, corresponding to three types of retinal cones.

Opponent Process Theory

The theory that color vision operates via pairs of complementary, opposing colors: red versus green and blue versus yellow.

Gestalt Principles

Perceptual rules governing how we view objects as unified wholes within their overall context, including proximity, similarity, continuity, closure, symmetry, and figure-ground.

Audition

The sense of hearing, which is the sense humans rely on most after sight.

Pitch

The perceptual quality of sound corresponding to wave frequency, measured in Hertz ($\text{Hz}$).

Loudness

The perceptual quality of sound corresponding to wave amplitude, measured in decibels ($\text{dB}$).

Timbre

The complexity or unique quality of a sound.

Cochlea

The spiral structure of the inner ear that converts mechanical sound vibrations into neural activity.

Mechanoreceptors

Specialized nerve endings in the skin that respond to touch, pressure, and mechanical stimulation.

Proprioception

Also called kinesthetic sense; the body sense that monitors the position and movement of body parts to enable efficient motion.

Vestibular Sense

The body sense of equilibrium and balance mediated by the three fluid-filled semicircular canals in the inner ear.

Olfaction

The chemical sense of smell, initiated when airborne odorants bind to specialized receptors in the nasal passage.

Gustation

The chemical sense of taste, sensitive to five basic qualities: sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and umami (savoury).

Orbitofrontal Cortex

The brain region where olfactory and gustatory pathways converge to create unified flavor perception.

Memory Illusion

A phenomenon where the brain goes beyond available information to make sense of the world, serving an adaptive role but leaving memory prone to errors.

Flashbulb Memories

Extremely vivid memories recalled in apparent detail long after an event, which nevertheless change over time and are often inaccurate compared to initial memories.

Reconstructive Memory

The cognitive reality that memory actively reconstructs past events rather than passively reproducing exact recordings.

Encoding

The cognitive process of getting information into memory, which requires attention.

Storage

The process of keeping information in memory over time, heavily shaped by interpretations and expectations.

Retrieval

The reactivation or reconstruction of information stored in long-term memory.

Method of Loci

A mnemonic technique that relies on spatial imagery and associating items to be remembered with specific places along a familiar path.

Pegword Method

A mnemonic strategy that uses rhyming anchor words to memorize ordered lists of items.

Schema

An organized knowledge structure or mental model stored in memory that helps organize experiences.

Sensory Memory

The initial, very brief memory storage of raw perceptual information lasting only a few seconds.

Iconic Memory

The visual form of sensory memory, lasting for approximately $1\,\text{second}$.

Short-Term Memory (STM)

The memory system that retains elaborated concepts for up to $20\,\text{seconds}$ without rehearsal.

Chunking

The process of organizing information into meaningful groups to expand the capacity of short-term memory.

Maintenance Rehearsal

Repeating information in its original stimulus form to extend its duration in short-term memory.

Elaborative Rehearsal

Linking stimuli to each other or to existing knowledge in meaningful ways to improve retention.

Primacy Effect

The tendency to better remember words or items at the beginning of a list, reflecting long-term memory encoding.

Recency Effect

The tendency to better remember words or items at the end of a list, reflecting short-term memory storage.

Semantic Memory

A subtype of explicit memory storing general world knowledge that does not depend on personal autobiographical events.

Episodic Memory

A subtype of explicit memory storing personal life experiences tied to specific times, places, and emotions.

Implicit Memory

Unintentional, non-conscious long-term memory that is acquired and retrieved without deliberate awareness.

Procedural Memory

A form of implicit memory involving step-by-step motor skills and physical habits mastered through repetition.