AP PSYCH REVIEW #2

Central Nervous System (CNS)

Nerves in the brain and spinal cord (center of body)

Peripheral nervous system (PNS)

all nerves that are not part of braina dn spinal cord (edges/periphery of body)

Somatic nervous system

controls voluntary movement

Autonomic nervous system

controls involuntary/automatic functions

Sympathetic nervous system

preps body to respond to stress (pupils dilate, heart accelerates, digestion inhibited, perspiration increases) [feel sympathy for someone who’s stressed]

Fight or flight response

increased physiological arousal to help cope with threatening situations

Parasympathetic nervous system

slows our body down after stress (pupils contract, heart slows down, digestion is stimulated, perspiration decreases) [once the parachute opens, you start to calm]

Glial cells

“glue” cells that provide structure, insulation, communication, and waste transport in the brain

Neuron

nerve cell that is the building block of the nervous system

Sensory Neurons

carry information from senses to brain

Interneuron

Neurons of CNS; communicate between sensory and motor neurons

Motor Neurons

carry information from brain to senses

Reflex

unlearned, involuntary reaction to a stimulus; done through spinal cord

Reflex arc

demonstrates how neurons within the central and peripheral nervous systems work together to respond to stimuli. Sensory, Inter and Motor neurons work together to create arc.

Dendrite

receives information from other neurons by collecting neurotransmitters

Axon

passes information to other neurons, muscles, and glands by releasing neurotransmitters from terminal buttons

Myelin sheath

insulates the axon and conducts electrical impulses

Multiple sclerosis

breakdown of myelin sheath causes this disease; symptoms include tremors, weakness and vision problems

Action potential

firing of an electrical charge within a single neuron, travels down axon

All or nothing principal

neuron either fires or doesn’t; no halfway

Resting Potential

positive ions (electrically charged atoms) on outside/ negative on inside; neuron is ready to fire.

Firing Threshold

the minimum energy required for a neuron to fire.

Depolarization

when firing, positive ions rush in/ negative rush out.

Refractory period

time it takes a neuron to recharge (can’t fire in this period)

Axon Terminal Buttons

the branched end of an axon that contains neurotransmitters and sends them into the synapse [synaptic vesicles that hold neurotransmitters until released]

Synapse/synaptic gap

the space between the axon terminal and the dendrites of the receiving neuron which neurotransmitters go through to pass to the next neuron.

neurotransmitters

Chemicals that travel between two or more neurons to send messages

Excitatory neurotransmitters

speed up neutral communication; make action potnetials more likely

Inhibitory neurotransmitters

slow down neural communication; make action potentials less likely

Reuptake

Excess or leftover neurotransmitters are reabsorbed by the sending neuron (many drugs block reuptake)

Agonist drugs

block neurotransmitters by blocking receptor sites; slow down cell firing

Acetylcholine (ACh)

Enables cognitive skill, memory, learning, muscle contraction. Undersupply: Alzheimer's

myasthenia gravis

Neuromuscular disease where muscles cannot contract resulting in weakness, in extreme cases paralysis. Results from the immune system destroying ACh receptors in muscles.

Dopamine

Motor movement; mood; rewards pleasurable activities (involved in addiction) Oversupply: schizophrenia; Undersupply: Parkinson's disease Agonist = cocaine

Endorphins

Released in response to pain and rigorous exercise (pain and pleasure); involved in addition. Agonist = opioids

GABA

Inhibitory NT that reduces action potentials. Needed to relax after stress; undersupply: anxiety, depression, insomnia

Glutamate

Excitatory NT related to memory, learning, mood and cognition.

Norepinephrine

influences alertness and arousal; undersupply: depressed mood

Serotonin

Regulates Sleep, mood, appetite, and body temperature Undersupply: Clinical Depression

Substance P

Involved in pain perception. Oversupply can lead to chronic pain.

Hormones

chemicals that move through the blood and act as messengers between body parts; released by glands.

Adrenaline

Released during “fight or flight” response

Leptin

“Im not hungry (Hormone) because there is still food leptin my stomach'“

Ghrelin

“Im hungry (hormone) because my stomach is ghrelin.”

Melatonin

Sleep hormone

Oxytocin

released with body contact and when feeling good and/or love

Lesioning procedure

removal or destruction of part of the brain (naturally or experimentally)

Phantom Limb

sensations or movement coming from a limb that had been amputated

Brain plasticity

nervous tissue in the brain can reorganize to perform functions of a damaged part of the brain (children have more plasticity)

EEG (Electroencephalogram)

uses electrodes to detect electrical activity of brain waves (used in sleep studies)

fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging)

Reveals blood flow (blood oxygen level) and therefore brain activity by comparing successive MRI scans (MOVING SCAN). Used in Love Competition vid

Brainstem

Core of brain; where the spinal cord swells up and enters brain

Medulla

blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing

Reticular activating system

body arousal/ability to focus (tic tock goes alarm clock-awaken you)

Limbic system

neural structures at the border of the brainstem

Thalamus

receives sensory signal and relays them to the rest of the brain (except SMELL)

Cerebellum

balance, motor movement (Sara on a balance beam)

Hippocampus

formation of new memories (see a hippo on campus and form new memory)

Amygdala

emotions (mental image of Amy getting overly emotional)

Hypothalamus

hunger/thirst, sexual arousal, body temperature

Frontal lobe (prefrontal cortex

abstract thought, planning, emotion, judgment, decision making; located at the front of the face - forehead

Parietal lobe

sensory cortex, sense of touch; top of head

Occipital lobe

vision; back of the head

Temporal lobe

auditory, sound; a little above the ear

Association Areas

any part of the cerebral cortex that does not control muscle movements

or receive sensory information - these areas involve higher mental function (learning, remembering, speaking, thinking)

Aphasia

 impaired use of language

Broca’s Area

speech production

Broca’s Aphasia

people have difficulty speaking and forming words

Wernicke’s Area

language comprehension

Wernicke’s Aphasia

people can’t comprehend what others are saying

Motor cortex

sends signals to muscles and body, voluntary movement, located at the back of the frontal lobe

Somatosensory cortex

receives incoming touch sensations from the body, located at the front of the parietal lobe

Hemispheres

halves of the brain

Split brain patients

corpus callosum is severed to reduce seizures in patients with uncontrollable epilepsy; can write a word they see in the right visual field but cannot say it because the left hemisphere controls language

Contralateral hemispheric organization

the left hemisphere controls all movements of the right side of the body and vice versa

Corpus callosum

connects the 2 hemispheres and transmits messages between them; people who get epileptic seizures have this surgically removed therefore becoming split-brain patients