Unit 1: 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

Nightmares

Frightening dreams that occur during REM sleep.

Dual processing

Processing information on conscious and unconscious levels at the same time.

Hypnagogic state

You feel relaxed, fail to respond to outside stimuli, and begin the first stage of sleep Non-REM-1.

EEGs of NREM-1

Show theta waves, which are higher in amplitude and lower in frequency than alpha waves.

Sleep

A complex combination of states of consciousness, each with its own level of consciousness, awareness, responsiveness, and physiological arousal.

EEGs of NREM-2

Shows high-frequency bursts of brain activity(called sleep spindles) and K complexes.

EEGs of NREM-3

Shows very high amplitude and very low-frequency delta waves.

REM Sleep

(Rapid Eye Movement) about 90 minutes after falling asleep.

Unconscious

(subconscious) The level of consciousness that includes often unacceptable feelings, wishes, and thoughts not directly available to conscious awareness.

Expressive Aphasia

connected destruction of Broca’s area(part of left frontal lobe) that causes the loss of the ability to speak.

Carl Wernicke

Similarly found another brain area involved. in understanding language.

Receptive Aphasia

Destruction of Wernicke’s are(in left temporal lobe) that results in loss of ability to comprehend written and spoken language.

Lesions

Precise destruction of brain tissue.

Roger Sperry and Michael Gazzaniga

Their studies revealed that the left and right hemispheres do not perform the same functions(brain lateralization).

Computerized Axial Tomography(CAT/CT)

Creates computerized image using X-rays passed through the brain at various angles of the brain showing two-dimensional “slices” that can be arranged to show the extent of a lesion.

magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)

A magnetic field and pulses of radio waves cause the emission of faint radio frequency signals that depend upon the density of the tissue.

Evoked Potentials

Amplified tracings when voltage changes in response to a specific stimuli.

magnetic source image(MSI)

Produced by magnetoencephalography(MEG Scan) and similar to EEG but are able to detect the slight magnetic field caused by the electric potentials in the brain.

Peripheral nervous system

Includes both your somatic nervous system and your automatic nervous system. Lies outside the midline portion of your nervous system carrying sensory information to and motor information away from your central nervous system via spinal and cranial nerves.

Sympathetic Stimulation

Responses that help your body deal with stressful events.

Parasympathetic Stimulation

Calms your body following sympathetic stimulation.

Spinal Cord

Protected by membranes called meninges and your spinal column of bony vertebrae, start at the base of your back and extends upward to the base of your skull where it joins your brain.

Old Mammalian brain

Roughly corresponds to the limbic system(septum, hippocampus, amygdala, cingulate cortex, hypothalamus, and the thalamus).

New mammalian brain(AKA neocortex)

80% of the brain. Is associated with the higher functions of judgment.

Gyri and sulci

Peaks and valleys of the surface of the cortex. They form convolutions that increase cortex surface area.

Fissures

Deeper valleys in convolutions.

Association Areas

Regions of the cerebral cortex that do not have specific sensory or motor functions but are involved in higher mental functions.

Medulla oblongata

regulates heart rhythm, blood blow, breathing rate, digestion, and vomiting.

Cerebellum

Controls posture, equilibrium, and movement.

Basal ganglia

Regulates initiation of movements, balance, eye movements, and posture, and functions in processing of implicit memories.

Thalamus

Relays visual, auditory, taste, and somatosensory information to/from appropriate area of the cerebral cortex.

Hypothalamus

controls feeding behavior, drinking behavior, body temperature, sexual behavior, threshold for rage behavior, activation of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems, and secretin of hormones of the pituitary.

Hippocampus

Enables formation of new long-term memories.

Neuron

The basic unit of structure and function of your nervous system.

Dendrites

Branching tubular processes capable fo receiving information.

Axon

Emerges form the Cyton as a single conducting fiber(longer than a dendrite) that branches and ends in tips called terminal buttons, axon terminals, or synaptic knobs. Covered by myelin sheath.

Neurogenesis

The growth of new neurons, take place throughout life.

Neurotransmitters

Chemicals stored in structures of the terminal buttons called synaptic vesicles.

Opioid Peptides

Considered the brain’s own painkillers. Gamma-aminobutyric acid(GABA) inhibits the firing of neutrons.

Norepinephrine

(nonadrenaline) Associated with attentiveness, sleeping, dreaming, and learning.

Nodes

Spaces between segments of the myelin sheath.

Wave of polarization and depolarization

Passed along the axon to the terminal buttons which release neurotransmitters.

All-or-none rinciple

If stimulation isn’t strong enough, your neuron doesn’t fire.

saltatory conduction

Axon is myelinated, conduction speed increases since depolarization jump from node to node.

Excitatory

Neurotransmitters cause the neuron on the other side of the synapse to generate an action potential(to fire); other synapses are inhibitory, reducing or preventing neural impulses.

Afferent/sensory neurons

Transmit impulses from your sensory receptors to the spinal cord or brain.

INterneurons

Located entirely within your brain and spinal cord, intervene between sensory and motor neurons.

Motor/efferent neurons

Transmit impulses from your sensory or interneurons to muscle cells that contract or gland cells that secrete.

Effectors

Muscle and gland cells.