AP Psychology Mr. Sinn NEW CED

Nature

Refers to a person's genetic makeup.

Nurture

Refers to the environmental factors that influence a person's development.

Heredity

The passing on of different physical and mental traits from one generation to another.

Nurture factors

1) Friends 2) School 3) Family

Nature psychological perspectives

Biological, Cognitive, Evolutionary.

Nurture psychological perspectives

Psychodynamic, Behaviorism, Sociocultural.

Natural selection

The process by which traits that are better suited to help a species survive get passed down to the next generation.

Eugenics

The belief in improving the genetic quality of the human population by selectively breeding for desirable traits and discouraging reproduction among those with traits considered undesirable.

Epigenetics

The study of how the environment and a person's behavior affect a person's genes and how they work.

Brain plasticity

Changes that happen with the structure of the brain on a cellular level, in response to what is happening in the environment.

Central nervous system (CNS)

Made up of the brain and spinal cord, it sends out orders to the body.

Peripheral nervous system (PNS)

Consists of the different nerves that branch off from the brain and spine.

Afferent neurons

Send impulses to the brain from the body and outside stimuli.

Efferent neurons

Send impulses from the brain to the rest of the body to control movement.

Somatic nervous system

Includes voluntary movements in your skeletal muscles and five senses.

Autonomic nervous system

Controls involuntary actions, such as breathing and digesting food.

Divisions of the autonomic nervous system

Sympathetic division & parasympathetic division.

Sympathetic division functions

Mobilizes your body, makes your heart beat faster, your eyes dilate, and your breathing increases.

Parasympathetic division functions

Relaxes your body, slows your heart rate, increases your digestion, and focuses on saving and storing energy.

Glial cell

A cell that provides support to the nervous system, providing neurons with nutrients.

Neuron

The basic functional unit of the nervous system.

Reflex arc

A neural pathway that controls an autonomic response to a stimulus, with no conscious thought involved.

Neurons in reflex arc

Sensory neurons, motor neurons, and interneurons.

Action potential

When a neuron fires an electrical impulse down the axon.

Action potential requirement

An outside stimulus must cause a neuron to cross a specific threshold (typically -55mV), causing depolarization.

Permeability

The ability for some ions to cross the membrane more easily than others.

Depolarization

When the strong negative charge of the inside of the cell has enough positive ions enter so that the charge changes from around -70mV to at least -55mV.

All or nothing principle

Once a neuron reaches the threshold level, it will fire an action potential at full strength; if the threshold is not met, no action potential occurs.

Repolarization

The process in which the neuron goes back to its resting potential, channels will open up letting more positive ions outside of the cell membrane.

Refractory period

A time when the neuron can not fire, the neuron is waiting for repolarization to occur. This prevents signals being sent in both directions down the axon.

Resting neuron (Resting potential)

When there are more positive ions outside the membrane of the neuron, here the neuron is polarized and will not send a signal (-70mV).

Synapse

A small pocket of space between the axon terminal of one neuron and the dendrite of the next neuron, less than 1 millionth of an inch.

Electrical synapse

Used for messages that need to be sent quickly and immediately, one neuron is typically connected to another.

Chemical synapse

Uses neurotransmitters to deliver messages across a synaptic gap, which takes more time than an electrical synapse.

Neurotransmitter

A chemical messenger sent by a neuron, normally categorized as excitatory or inhibitory.

Synaptic gap

A narrow space between two neurons, specifically the presynaptic terminal of one neuron and the postsynaptic terminal of the next neuron.

Presynaptic terminal

The end of a neuron that contains neurotransmitters to be released.

Postsynaptic terminal

The end of a neuron that receives neurotransmitters from the synapse.

Reuptake

This is when the sending neuron at the presynaptic terminal, reabsorbs neurotransmitters from the synapse.

Excitatory neurotransmitter

Will increase the likelihood that a neuron will fire an action potential.

Inhibitory neurotransmitter

Will decrease the likelihood that a neuron will fire an action potential.

Hyperpolarization

This is when the inside of a neuron becomes more negative which moves it farther away from its threshold or intensity needed for an action potential.

Multiple Sclerosis

A neurological disorder where the immune system attacks the myelin sheath, disrupting communication between the brain and the body.

Myasthenia Gravis

An autoimmune disorder that affects the connection between nerves and muscles due to antibodies blocking or destroying receptors for acetylcholine.

Acetylcholine

Enables muscle action, learning, and memory.

Substance P

Helps with transmitting pain signals from sensory nerves to the CNS.

Dopamine

Helps with movement, learning, attention, emotions, known also as a natural drug because of how it impacts your feelings & emotions.

Serotonin

Impacts hunger, sleep, arousal, and mood.

Endorphins

Helps with pain control.

Epinephrine

Same chemical as adrenaline, helps the body respond to high emotional situations by increasing blood pressure, heart rate, and alertness & helps form memories.

Norepinephrine

Increases blood pressure, heart rate, and alertness (Flight and Flight).

Glutamate

Involved with excitatory messages, helps with long term memory and learning.

GABA

Helps with sleep and movement, this slows down your nervous system.

Hindbrain

One of the three main regions of the brain.

Midbrain

One of the three main regions of the brain.

Forebrain

One of the three main regions of the brain.

Spinal Cord

Connects the brain to the rest of the body (information highway).

Brain Stem

Located at the base of the brain on top of the spinal cord. Controls essential life functions.

Medulla

Controls breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure.

Pons

Works with cerebellum to coordinate movement and helps coordinate sleep.

Leptin

Regulates energy balance by inhibiting hunger (this tells your body you have enough stored fat and don't need to keep eating).

Ghrelin

Also known as the hunger hormone, signals to the brain that you are hungry and helps release growth hormones.

Melatonin

Helps promote sleep and helps regulate the body's circadian rhythm.

Oxytocin

Also known as the love hormone, promotes feelings of affection and emotional bonding.

Nervous System

Uses neurons to send and deliver messages to localized areas of the body, it uses fast, short-lived messages.

Endocrine System

Uses glands to create hormones, these messages are slower moving and target larger broad areas of the body.

Agonist Drugs

Will increase the effects of a certain neurotransmitter.

Antagonist Drugs

Will minimize the effects of a neurotransmitter or stop them completely.

Agonist Impact on Receptors

Work by either binding to receptors that are made for a certain neurotransmitter or will block the normal reuptake so that there are more of that neurotransmitter that will stay in the synapse.

Antagonist Impact on Receptors

Will either block the receptors on the postsynaptic neuron so that the neurotransmitters are not able to bind to them or will block the release of the neurotransmitter from the presynaptic axon terminal.

Example of Agonist Substance

1) Anti-anxiety medications such as Xanax, which increases the neurotransmitter GABA. 2) Prozac, which delays the reuptake of the neurotransmitter serotonin. 3) Opioids, which act like the neurotransmitter endorphins.

Example of Antagonist Substance

1) Schizophrenia medication, which blocks the receptors for dopamine. 2) Alcohol, which will block the release of glutamate.

Psychoactive Substance

A substance that alters brain function, leading to changes in mood, perception, consciousness, or behavior.

Stimulants

Excite and promote neural activity, resulting in an individual feeling energetic, losing their appetite and possibly becoming irritable.

Depressants

Reduce neural activity, resulting in drowsiness, muscle relaxation, lowered breathing, and if abused possibly death.

Hallucinogens

Cause a person to sense something that is not really there, can also reduce an individual's motivation and cause a person to panic.

Opioids

Function as a depressant, but have their own category since they are addictive. Opioids provide an individual with pain relief.

Reticular Activating System

The part of the reticular formation that is specifically for arousal/alertness/sleep-wake cycles

Cerebellum

Enables smooth muscle movements, maintains equilibrium.

Midbrain

Part of the brainstem that relays information for the visual and auditory systems, and has motor and sensory tracts that go through it. Also contains the reticular formation and RAS.

Cerebrum

A general term to describe the brain, not including the brainstem and cerebellum.

Cerebral Cortex

A thin layer of gray matter that covers the entire brain.

Corpus Callosum

A tract of nerve fibers that runs longitudinally down the center of the brain and connects the two hemispheres.

Frontal Lobe

One of the four lobes of the brain, involved in higher level thinking and motor functions.

Prefrontal Cortex

Front part of the cerebral cortex where planning, emotional expression, & complex thought occurs.

Motor Cortex

The part of the cortex that allows control of voluntary movement.

Motor Homunculus

A visual representation that shows how much brain area is devoted to the movement of each body part, showing how complex the movements are.

Broca's Area

Responsible for controlling the muscles needed to speak.

Broca's aphasia

A language disorder, caused by damage to Broca's area, that results in people having difficulty in producing speech.

Parietal Lobe

One of the four lobes of the brain, involved in processing sensory stimuli.

Somatosensory Cortex

Part of the cortex that processes touch sensations.

Sensory Homunculus

A visual representation that shows how much brain area is devoted to the sensations of each body part, showing how sensitive to stimuli they are.

Temporal Lobe

One of the four lobes of the brain, primarily processes auditory information, also is important in memory formation.

Hippocampus

A structure that controls the autonomic functions of the body and works with the pituitary gland to control hormones.

Amygdala

A structure that is important for emotion, threat/fear perception, and memory.

Auditory Cortex

The part of the cortex that processes auditory information.

Wernicke's Area

Responsible for the ability to comprehend speech and create meaningful speech.

Wernicke's aphasia

A language disorder, caused by damage to Wernicke's area, that results in an individual losing the ability to make meaningful speech.

Occipital Lobe

One of the four main lobes, contains areas that process visual information.

Thalamus

A structure on the top of the brain stem serves as a relay station for impulses from the body to areas of the cerebral cortex.