Unit 1: Biological Bases of Behavior

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Dopamine

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__ stimulates the hypothalamus to synthesize hormones and affects alertness and movement.

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Serotonin

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

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51 Terms

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Dopamine

__ stimulates the hypothalamus to synthesize hormones and affects alertness and movement.

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Serotonin

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

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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.

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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.

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Insomnia

__ is the inability to fall asleep and /or stay asleep.

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Psychological dependence

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

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Electroencephalograms

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

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Positron emission tomography

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

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Pons

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

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Cyton

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

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Glutamate

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Functional MRI

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

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Circadian rhythm

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

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Tay Sachs syndrome

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

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Freud

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

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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.

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Unconsciousness

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

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Cerebral cortex center

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

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endocrine system

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

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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.

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Gamma aminobutyric acid

__ (GABA) inhibits firing of neurons.

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Lucid dreaming

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

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Hypnosis

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

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dissociation theory

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

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Antagonists

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

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Tolerance

decreasing responsivity to a drug.

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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.

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Withdrawal symptoms

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

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Heritability

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

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Agonists

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

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Reflex

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

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Narcotics

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

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Preconscious

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

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Depressants

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

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Central nervous system

consists of your brain and your spinal cord

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Somatic nervous system

has motor neurons that stimulate skeletal (voluntary) muscle

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Autonomic nervous system

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

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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

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Pineal Gland

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

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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

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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)

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Thyroid Gland

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

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Parathyroids

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

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Adrenal Glands

endocrine glands atop kidneys

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Pancreas

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

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Ovaries and Testes

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

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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

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Tolerance

decreasing responsivity to a drug