AP Psych Unit 1A flashcards

Nature

Traits you inherit through your genes.

Nurture

How your environment and experiences shape you.

Heredity

Passing genetic traits from parents to children.

Environment

Everything around you that affects you.

Jim Twins

Identical twins raised apart who had many surprising similarities.

Neuron

A nerve cell that sends messages throughout the body.

Dendrites

Receive messages from other neurons.

Cell Body (Soma)

Keeps the neuron alive and maintains its functions.

Axon

Carries electrical messages away from the cell body.

Myelin Sheath

Protects the axon and speeds up messages.

Axon Terminals

Release chemical messengers.

Synapse

The tiny gap between neurons.

Action Potential

An electrical impulse traveling down a neuron.

Resting Potential

A neuron's state when it is not sending an impulse.

Neurotransmitters

Chemical messengers that cross synapses.

Hormones

Chemical messengers released by glands into the bloodstream.

Dopamine

Motivation, reward, and movement.

Serotonin

Helps regulate mood, sleep, and appetite.

Acetylcholine (ACh)

Muscle movement and memory.

GABA

Slows down brain activity.

Glutamate

Increases brain activity; important for learning.

Endorphins

Help reduce pain.

Norepinephrine

Helps with alertness and attention.

Adrenaline (Epinephrine)

Prepares the body for emergencies.

Cortisol

Helps the body respond to stress.

Melatonin

Helps regulate sleep.

Central Nervous System (CNS)

The brain and spinal cord.

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

All nerves outside the brain and spinal cord.

Somatic Nervous System

Controls voluntary movements, like walking and writing.

Autonomic Nervous System

Controls automatic functions, like heartbeat and digestion.

Sympathetic Nervous System

Fight or flight; prepares the body for action.

Parasympathetic Nervous System

Rest and digest; calms the body down.

Frontal Lobe

Planning, decisions, personality, and movement.

Parietal Lobe

Processes touch, temperature, pain, and spatial awareness.

Temporal Lobe

Hearing, language, and memory.

Occipital Lobe

Processes vision.

Cerebellum

Balance and coordination.

Brainstem

Controls basic survival functions.

Hippocampus

Helps form new memories.

Amygdala

Processes emotions, especially fear.

Hypothalamus

Regulates hunger, thirst, and body temperature.

Thalamus

Relays sensory information to the brain.

Corpus Callosum

Connects the left and right brain hemispheres.

Left Hemisphere

Controls the right side of the body; often more involved in language.

Right Hemisphere

Controls the left side of the body; often more involved in spatial processing.

Broca's Area

Helps produce speech.

Wernicke's Area

Helps understand language.

MRI

Uses magnets and radio waves to show brain structure.

fMRI

Shows brain activity through changes in blood oxygen.

PET Scan

Uses a tracer to show brain activity and energy use.

EEG

Measures electrical activity in the brain.

Neuroplasticity

The brain's ability to change and adapt through experience.