Unit 2: Biological Bases of Behavior

Dopamine

\________ stimulates the hypothalamus to synthesize hormones and affects alertness and movement.

Serotonin

\________ is associated with sexual activity, concentration and attention, moods, and emotions.

Albinism

\________ arises from a failure to synthesize or store pigment and also involves abnormal nerve pathways to the brain, resulting in quivering eyes and the inability to perceive depth or three- dimensionality with both eyes.

Paul Broca

\________ (1861) performed an autopsy on the brain of a patient, nicknamed Tan, who had lost the capacity to speak, although his mouth and his vocal cords werent damaged and he could still understand language.

Insomnia

\________ is the inability to fall asleep and /or stay asleep.

Psychological dependence

\________ develops when the person has an intense desire to achieve the drugged state in spite of adverse effects.

Electroencephalograms

\________ (EEGs) can be recorded with electrodes on the surface of the skull.

Positron emission tomography

\________ (PET) produces color computer graphics that depend on the amount of metabolic activity in the imaged brain region.

Pons

\________ generates bursts of action potentials to the forebrain, which is activation.

Cyton

contains cytoplasm and the nucleus, which directs synthesis of such substances as neurotransmitters.

Glutamate

\________ is a major excitatory neurotransmitter involved in information processing throughout the cortex and especially memory formation in the hippocampus.

Nonconscious

\________ is the level of consciousness devoted to processes completely inaccessible to conscious awareness, such as blood flow, filtering of blood by kidneys, secretion of hormones, and lower- level processing of sensations, such as detecting edges, estimating size and distance of objects, recognizing patterns, and so forth.

Psychoactive drugs

\________ are chemicals that can pass through the blood- brain barrier into the brain to alter perception, thinking, behavior, and mood, producing a wide range of effects from mild relaxation or increased alertness to vivid hallucinations.

Glial cells

\________ guide the growth of developing neurons, help provide nutrition for and get rid of wastes of neurons, and form an insulating sheath around neurons that speeds conduction.

Functional MRI

\________ (fMRI) shows the brain at work at higher resolution than the PET scanner.

Circadian rhythm

\________ is a natural, internal process that regulates the sleep- wake cycle and repeats roughly every 24 hours.

Tay Sachs syndrome

\________ produces progressive loss of nervous function and death in a baby.

Freud

\________ tried to analyze dreams to uncover the unconscious desires (many of them sexual) and fears disguised in dreams.

Stimulants

\________ are psychoactive drugs that activate motivational centers and reduce activity in inhibitory centers of the central nervous system by increasing activity of serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine neurotransmitter systems.

Unconsciousness

\________ is characterized by loss of responsiveness to the environment, resulting from disease, trauma, or anesthesia.

Cerebral cortex center

\________ for higher- order processes such as thinking, planning, judgment; receives and processes sensory information and directs movement.

endocrine system

consists of glands that secrete chemical messengers called hormones into your blood.

Hypothalamus

portion of brain part that acts as endocrine gland and produces hormones that stimulate (releasing factors) or inhibit secretion of hormones by the pituitary.

Gamma aminobutyric acid

\________ (GABA) inhibits firing of neurons.

Lucid dreaming

the ability to be aware of and direct ones dreams, has been used to help people make recurrent nightmares less frightening.

Hypnosis

\________ is an altered state of consciousness characterized by deep relaxation and heightened suggestibility.

dissociation theory

hypnotized individuals experience two or more streams of consciousness cut off from each other.

Antagonists

\________ block a receptor site, inhibiting the effect of the neurotransmitter or agonist.

Tolerance

decreasing responsivity to a drug.

Endocrine

glands include the pineal gland, hypothalamus, and pituitary gland in your brain; the thyroid and parathyroids in your neck; the adrenal glands atop your kidneys; pancreas near your stomach; and either testes or ovaries.

Withdrawal symptoms

\________ include intense craving for the drug and effects opposite to those the drug usually induces.

Heritability

\________ is the proportion of variation among individuals in a population that is due to genetic causes.

Agonists

\________ may mimic a neurotransmitter and bind to its receptor site to produce the effect of the neurotransmitter.

Reflex

\________ involves impulse conduction over a few (perhaps three) neurons.

Narcotics

\________ are analgesics (pain reducers) that work by depressing the central nervous system.

Preconscious

\________ is the level of consciousness that is outside of awareness but contains feelings and memories that you can easily bring into conscious awareness.

Depressants

\________ are psychoactive drugs that reduce the activity of the central nervous system and induce relaxation.

Central nervous system

consists of your brain and your spinal cord

Somatic nervous system

has motor neurons that stimulate skeletal (voluntary) muscle

Autonomic nervous system

has motor neurons that stimulate smooth (involuntary) and heart muscle

Plasticity

Although specific regions of the brain are associated with specific functions, if one region is damaged, the brain can reorganize to take over its function

Pineal Gland

endocrine gland in brain that produces melatonin that helps regulate circadian rhythms and is associated with seasonal affective disorder

Hypothalamus

portion of brain part that acts as endocrine gland and produces hormones that stimulate (releasing factors) or inhibit secretion of hormones by the pituitary

Pituitary Gland

endocrine gland in brain that produces stimulating hormones, which promote secretion by other glands including TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone); ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone), which stimulates the adrenal glands; FSH (follicle stimulating hormone), which stimulates egg or sperm production; ADH (antidiuretic hormone) to help retain water in your body; and HGH (human growth hormone)

Thyroid Gland

endocrine gland in neck that produces thyroxine, which stimulates and maintains metabolic activities

Parathyroids

endocrine glands in neck that produce parathyroid hormone, which helps maintain calcium ion level in blood necessary for normal functioning of neurons

Adrenal Glands

endocrine glands atop kidneys

Pancreas

gland near stomach that secretes the hormones insulin and glucagon, which regulate blood sugar that fuels all behavioral processes

Ovaries and Testes

gonads in females and males, respectively, that produce hormones necessary for reproduction and development of secondary sex characteristics

Hypothalamus

systematically regulates changes in your body temperature, blood pressure, pulse, blood sugar levels, hormonal levels, and activity levels over the course of about a day

Tolerance

decreasing responsivity to a drug