Untitled Flashcards Set

Cornea

A clear tissue that covers the front of the eye.

Pupil

Opening in which light enters the eye.

Iris

A circular structure that surrounds the pupil and regulates how much light enters the eye; it gives the eye its color.

Lens

Flexible structure that focuses light.

Retina

Lines the back of the eye and contains light-sensitive cells.

Nearsightedness

See near objects clearly but not distant ones.

Farsightedness

See distant objects clearly but not close ones.

Eardrum

A membrane that vibrates when sound strikes it.

Cochlea

A snail-shaped tube that is lined with sound receptor cells.

Semicircular canals

Helps your CNS maintain its balance.

Central Nervous System

Acts like a traffic cop and is made of the brain and the spinal cord.

Peripheral Nervous System

Includes the nerves outside the CNS and they are like car drivers.

Brain

Is the control center.

Spinal cord

Is a thick column of nervous tissue that links the brain to the PNS.

Cerebrum

Interprets the things you feel and carries out complex mental processes like learning or remembering.

Cerebellum

Coordinates your muscle actions and helps you keep balance.

Brain stem

Controls your body’s involuntary actions such as heartbeat.

Left half

Usually associated with logical thinking.

Right half

Usually associated with creative thinking and artistic skills.

Somatic nervous system

Controls voluntary actions such as using a fork.

Autonomic nervous system

Controls involuntary actions such as digesting food.

Reflex

An automatic response that occurs without conscious control.

Concussion

Occurs when the soft tissue of the brain collides with the skull causing it to bruise.

Involuntary

An action not in your control.

Sense organ

Body structures that gather info from your surroundings.

Voluntary

An action that is under your conscious control.

Neurons

Cells that carry info throughout your nervous system.

Nerve Impulse

The message that a nerve carries.

Stimulus

Any change that an organism can recognize.

Response

A reaction to a stimulus.

Dendrite

A branch-like structure that picks up the impulses.

Axon

The long structure leading away from the cell.

Nerve

A bundle of nerve fibers.

Sensory neuron

Picks up a stimulus and converts it into a nerve pulse.

Interneuron

Carries a nerve impulse to another interneuron or motor neuron.

Motor neuron

Sends an impulse to a muscle or gland.

Synapse

A place where neurons transfer to another structure.

What is the role of the nervous system?

It receives info about what is happening inside and outside your body.

Taste buds

Sensory receptors on your tongue that respond to chemicals from the food.

Drug

Any chemical taken into the body that causes change in their body or behavior.

Drug abuse

If medicine or drugs are used in nonmedical ways or they are illegal.

Tolerance

A state in which the drug user needs more of a drug to produce the same effect.

Addiction

The body becomes physically dependent on the drug.

Withdrawal

An adjustment period in which the person stops taking the drug.

Depressants

Slow down the activity of the CNS such as alcohol.

Stimulants

They speed up the body’s process such as caffeine.

Anabolic steroids

Synthetic chemicals that are similar to some hormones produced in the body.

Alcoholism

A disease in which a person is physically and emotionally addicted to alcohol and often experiences withdrawal symptoms when not consuming it.