AP Psychology Test

Unit 1

nervous system

body's communication network consisting of nerve cells from the peripheral and central nervous system

central nervous system

brain and spinal cord

peripheral nervous system

sensory and motor veruons that connect the central nervous to body

somatic nervous system

part of peripheral nervous system that control voluntary movement and sensory information

autonomic nervous system

control glands and muscles of internal organ; involuntary like heart rate and blood pressure

sympathetic nervous system

arouses body, mobilizing energy

parasympathetic nervous system

calms body

afferent neurons

carry signal from sensory receptor toward central nervous system

efferent neurons

carry signals away from central nervous system to place to cause reflex

interneurons

between sensory and motor neurons

neuron

specialized nerve cell that transmits electrical and chemical signals throughout the body

dendrite

recieves messages from other cells

soma/cell body

contains the nucleus and is cell’s support center

axon

segmented neuron extension that passes messages to other cells

axon terminals or terminal buttons

connect to other cells on opposite side that dendrites

myelin sheath

covers axons and speeds neutral impulse

nodes of ranvier

gaps in myelin sheaths where membrane is exposed

schwann cells

glial cell inside myelin sheath

glial cells

support, nourish, and protect neurons

action potential

neural impulse; brief electrical charge that travels down axon

neurotransmitters

chemical messages that cross synapse gap that cause body to respond is certain ways

reuptake

neurotransmitters are reabsorbed into the sending neuron

depolarizaiton

going up the hill; neuron is less negative than things around it making it more likely to fire

repolarization

down the hill; returns back to resting negative stage

serotonin

regulates mood, digestion, sleep, and other essential body functions; is the base line resting place for body (elephant)

endorphins

relieves pain, reduces stress (endorphins make you happy)

Melatonin

regulates sleep cycle

substance p

pain transmitter

Glutamate

more likely to fire a neuron and encourages brain activity (learning and memory)

GABA

less likely for neuron to fire and reduces brain activity

oxytocin

love and relationships; encourages social bonding

acetylcholine

movement and muscles

norepinephrine

increases alertness, focus, and wakefulness

Ghrelin

you are hungry and fat

leptin

you’re are full

adrenaline

boosts heart rate and triggers fight or flight

dopamine

reward and response to pleasure; controls mood

neuroplasticity

the brain’s ability to change and heal

electroencephalograoh eeg

record Brian waves of surface for brain with cap to measure

MEG

brain imaging technique that measures magnetic field from the brain’s natural electric activity

PET

detecting brain activity using rediations while the Brian perform certain tasks

MRI

magnetic field and radio waves to product computer generated images of brian

fMRI

show blood flow

CT

show only certain part of brain

Hindbrain

direct essential survival functions like breath, sleeping, and wakefulness and includes medulla, pons, and cerebellum

midbrain

on top of brain stem and connects hind and fore brain; motor movement and auditory and visual information

forebrain

manages complex cognitive activities, sensory and associative function, and voluntary motor actions; includes cerebral cortex, thalamus, and hypothalamus

brain stem

core of brain and responsible for automatic survival functions

thalamus

directs messages to sensory reciving areas

medulla

controls heartbeat and breathing

reticular formation

a nerve network that travels through the brain stem into the thalamus, filters information and controls arousal

pons

part of brain stem that is a relay station and bridge for different parts of brain

cerebellum

processing sensory input, coordinating movement output, posture, and balance; enabling learning and memory

limbic system

emtion and drives; includes amygdala, hypothalamus, hippocampus, thalamus, and pituitary gland

amygdala

emotion

hippocampus

memory

corpus callosum

connects right and left

pitutiary gland

tell other gland to release hormones

pineal gland

sleep cycle; releases melatonin

hypothalams

internal stability; homeostasis

endocrine system

network of glands

frontal lobe

voluntary movement, speech, and high level thinking

parietal lobe

senses and sensations

temporal lobe

processes sound and smell input, interprete language, and memory/emotion

occipital lobes

visual

motor cortex

directs and controls voluntary movement; frontal lobe

broca’s area

frontal lobe and controls speech production and language processing (can understand but cannot speak)

somatosensory cortex

parietal lob and processes conscious feelings from Boyd like touch and pain

auditory cortex

temporal lobe and processes meaning of sound

wernicke’s area

comprehension of spoken and written language; temporal lobe (can speak but doesn’t make sense)

visual cortex

occipital lobe; process visual data

association areas

involved in learning and remembering; processing behaviors

left brain controls the

right

right controls the

left