Unit 4: Biological Bases of Behavior

Central Nervous System (CNS)

brain and spinal cord

Peripheral Nervous System

the sensory and motor neurons that connect the CNS to the rest of the body

Autonomic Nervous System

the part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs (consists of sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system)

sympathetic nervous system

fight or flight (arouses)

parasympathetic nervous system

rest and digest (calms)

endocrine system

the body's "slow" chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream

pituitary gland

Under the influence of the hypothalamus, it regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands (master gland)

adrenal gland

Just above the kidneys and secretes hormones that help arouse the body in times of stress (adrenaline)

hormones

chemical messengers made by endocrine glands

lateralization

brain hemispheres are functionally different

corpus callosum

neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and allowing communication between them

split brain

a condition resulting from surgery that isolates the brain's two hemispheres by cutting the corpus callosum

brain plasticity

the brain's ability to change, especially during childhood, by reorganizing or building new pathways

neuron

nerve cell

synapse

reuptake

neurotransmitters that didn't bind to receptor sites are taken back into the synaptic vesicles

neurotransmitters

chemicals that transmit information from one neuron to another

acetylcholine (ACh)

neurotransmitter involved in learning, memory and muscle movement (linked the Alzheimer’s)

serotonin

neurotransmitter that affects hunger, sleep, arousal, and mood

dopamine

neurotransmitter associated with movement, attention and learning and the brain's pleasure and reward system (linked to Parkinson’s, too little dopamine vs and schizophrenia, too much dopamine)

endorphins

natural, opiate-like neurotransmitters linked to pain control and to pleasure

resting potential

the state of the neuron when not firing a neural impulse

action potential

a neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon

all-or-nothing principle

Once action potential reaches threshold, either fires or doesn't

refractory period

a period of inactivity after a neuron has fired

stimulant drugs

drugs that stimulate or excite the central nervous system (ex. caffeine, cocaine)

depressant drugs

drugs that tend to slow down the central nervous system (ex. alcohol, Xanax)

hallucinogens

distort perceptions and evoke sensory images in the absence of sensory input (ex. LSD, cannabis)

opiates

depress neural activity, temporarily lessening pain and anxiety (ex. heroin)

circadian rhythm

the biological clock; regular bodily rhythms that occur on a 24-hour cycle (ex. wakefulness, body temp)

agonist drug

mimics and enhances a neurotransmitter's effect

antagonist drug

binds to a receptor and blocks a neurotransmitter's effect

dendrites, cell body, axon, axon terminals/terminal buttons (contains neurotransmitters)

parts of a neuron

afferent neurons

sensory neurons ("as")

efferent neurons

motor neurons ("em")

left hemisphere

controls the right side of the body; analytical, language, math

right hemisphere

controls the left side of the body; creative, intuitive, spacial

effect of split brain

able to say the word on right side of the dot but only able to draw the word on the left side of the dot

parallel processing

process many aspects simultaneously, used to process well-learned info and solve familiar problems

NREM 1

falling asleep, brain still active but everything is slowing down, high amplitude theta wave

NREM 2

light sleep, less aware of surroundings, sleep spindles, eye movements stop, body temp drops

NREM 3

deep sleep, muscles completely relaxed, brain consolidates memories, delta waves

REM

rapid eye movement, vivid dreams occur, brain consolidates emotional memories, brain activity similar to when awake but body paralyzed

GABA

inhibitory neurotransmitter that blocks signals going through neurons, good for calming stress and anxiety

norepinephrine

excitatory neurotransmitter important in controlling alertness, wakefulness, mood, and attention

thalamus

part of brain stem that is the sensory switchboard, directs all sensory messages except smell

medulla

part of brain stem that controls heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing

reticular formation

part of brainstem that controls alertness

limbic system

system that consists of hypothalamus, hippocampus, amygdala (associated with emotional drives, memory formation, sexual drive, etc.)

hippocampus

part of brain that processes explicit memories for storage

hypothalamus

controls endocrine system and regulates homeostasis

amygdala

linked to emotion and helps us remember emotionally charged events

motor cortex

generate signals to direct the movement of the body (part of frontal lobe)

somatosensory cortex

responsible for receiving and processing sensory information from across the body, such as touch, temperature, and pain (part of parietal lobe)

frontal lobe

speaking, muscles movements, making plans, abstract thinking

parietal lobe

receive sensory input for touch and body position

temporal lobe

processes speech, sounds, and smells and stores long-term memory

occipital lobe

receive info from visual fields

prefrontal cortex

part of frontal lobe responsible for planning, judgements, and not fully developed until around 25

neural plasticity

the capacity of the nervous system to modify itself, functionally and structurally, in response to experience and injury

pons

part of the brainstem that relays information between different parts of the brain, controls breathing, regulates sleep and arousal, and controls facial sensation and movement

cerebellum

helps coordination, motor control, balance, and movement

cerebral cortex

interconnected neural cells that covers the cerebral hemispheres

activation-synthesis theory

dreams are random neurological firings that have no particular meaning

information-processing theory

we organize our memories as we sleep so our dreams, which often contain elements from what we experienced that day, are a byproduct of that process

Freud’s wish-fulfillment theory

when wishes can't or won't be fulfilled in our waking lives, they are carried out in dreams

latent content

underlying meaning of symbols in dream

manifest content

actual literal subject matter of the dream

somatic nervous system

muscles under conscious control

sleep apnea

stop breathing during sleep

narcolepsy

hard time staying awake during the day

insomnia

trouble sleeping