Biological Basis of Behavior and Sensation Lecture Notes

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering basic neuroscience, brain anatomy, psychoactive drugs, sleep cycles, and sensory systems based on the lecture transcript.

Evolutionary psychology

The study of how natural selection influences behavior.

Heredity (nature)

How genes influence your behavior.

Environment (nurture)

How outside situations, such as school, influence your behavior.

Twin/Adoption Studies

Research showing that identical twins have a higher percentage of developing the same disease (genetics) but show differences when raised in different environments.

Central Nervous System (CNS)

The part of the nervous system consisting of the brain and spinal cord.

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

The rest of the nervous system that relays information to the Central NS; includes somatic and autonomic divisions.

Somatic NS

A division of the Peripheral NS responsible for voluntary movement, containing sensory and motor neurons.

Autonomic NS

A division of the Peripheral NS that controls involuntary organs like the heart and lungs.

Sympathetic NS

Part of the Autonomic NS responsible for fight/flight; generally activates the body, with the exception of digestion.

Parasympathetic NS

Part of the Autonomic NS responsible for rest/digest; generally inhibits the body, with the exception of digestion.

Neuron

The basic cell of the nervous system.

Action Potential (AP)

An electrical charge sent down the axon when ions move across the membrane.

Resting potential

The state where a neuron maintains a $-70,mv$ charge when not active.

Depolarization

A process where the charge of a neuron briefly switches from negative to positive, triggering the action potential.

Threshold of depolarization

The stimulus strength point that must be reached to start the action potential.

All or nothing principle

The principle that a stimulus must trigger the action potential past its threshold, but does not increase the intensity or speed of the response.

Refractory period

The period during which a neuron must rest and reset before it can send another action potential.

GABA

The major inhibitory neurotransmitter.

Glutamate

The major excitatory neurotransmitter.

Dopamine

A neurotransmitter associated with short-term reward, fine movement, and addiction; located in the hypothalamus.

Serotonin

A neurotransmitter for long-term moods, emotion, and sleep; located in the amygdala, with low levels associated with depression.

Acetylcholine (ACh)

A neurotransmitter for memory and movement; located in the hippocampus and associated with Alzheimer's.

Norepinephrine

A neurotransmitter involved in the sympathetic nervous system; low levels are associated with depression.

Endorphins

Neurotransmitters that decrease pain.

Substance P

A neurotransmitter for pain regulation where abnormalities increase pain and inflammation.

Agonist

A drug that mimics a neurotransmitter.

Antagonist

A drug that blocks a neurotransmitter.

Reuptake

The process where unused neurotransmitters are taken back up into the sending neuron.

Dendrites

Parts of the neuron that receive incoming neurotransmitters.

Axon

The part of the neuron down which the action potential travels.

Myelin Sheath

A protective layer that speeds up the action potential traveling down the axon.

Synapse

The gap located between neurons.

Sensory neurons

Neurons that receive sense signals from the environment and send them to the brain.

Motor neurons

Neurons that send signals from the brain to the body to move.

Interneurons

Cells in the spinal cord and brain responsible for the reflex arc.

Reflex arc

A process where important stimuli skip the brain and route through the spinal cord for immediate reactions.

Glia

Support cells that provide nutrients and clean up around neurons.

Oxytocin

A hormone associated with love, bonding, childbirth, and lactation.

Leptin

A hormone that makes you feel full and stops hunger.

Ghrelin

A hormone that makes you hungry.

Melatonin

A hormone involved in sleep.

Depressants

Psychoactive drugs such as alcohol that decrease nervous system activity.

Stimulants

Psychoactive drugs like caffeine and cocaine that increase nervous system activity.

Hallucinogens

Psychoactive drugs like marijuana that cause hallucinations and altered perceptions.

Opioids

Drugs like heroin that relieve pain and act as endorphin agonists.

Tolerance

Needing more of a drug to achieve the same effects.

Addiction

A state where one must have a drug to avoid withdrawal symptoms.

Withdrawal

Symptoms associated with the sudden stoppage of a drug.

Cerebellum

Part of the brain responsible for movement, balance, coordination, and procedural memory.

Medulla

Part of the brainstem responsible for vital organs including heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing.

Reticular activating system

Brain area responsible for alertness, arousal, sleep, and eye movement.

Cerebral Cortex

The outer portion of the brain responsible for higher-order thought processes.

Amygdala

Part of the limbic system responsible for emotions and fear.

Hippocampus

Part of the limbic system responsible for episodic and semantic memory.

Hypothalamus

The reward and pleasure center of the brain; regulates eating and links to the endocrine system for homeostasis.

Thalamus

The relay center for all senses except smell.

Occipital Lobe

The lobe of the brain responsible for vision.

Frontal Lobe

Lobe responsible for decision making, planning, judgment, movement, personality, and executive function.

Prefrontal cortex

The front part of the frontal lobe responsible for executive function.

Motor Cortex

The back part of the frontal lobe that controls skeletal movement and contains a map of motor receptors.

Parietal Lobe

Lobe responsible for sensations, touch, and controlling association areas.

Somatosensory Cortex

Part of the parietal lobe that contains a map of touch receptors.

Temporal Lobe

Lobe responsible for hearing, face recognition, and language.

Association areas

Brain areas that receive input from multiple lobes to integrate information.

Broca's Area

An area in the left hemisphere responsible for the production of speech; damage leads to broken speech.

Wernicke's Area

An area in the left hemisphere responsible for the comprehension of speech.

Corpus Callosum

A bundle of nerves connecting the two hemispheres; sometimes severed to treat severe seizures.

Brain Plasticity

The ability of the brain to change via damage and through experience.

EEG

A research tool that shows broad brain activity via non-specific electrical output.

fMRI

A research tool that shows activity in specific brain regions by measuring oxygen levels.

Multiple sclerosis

A disease involving the destruction of the myelin sheath, causing impaired mobility and paralysis.

Blindsight

A condition caused by lesions to the primary visual cortex where individuals can 'see' objects despite being blind.

Prosopagnosia

Face blindness caused by damage to the occipital and/or temporal lobe.

Circadian Rhythms

The $24,hour$ biological clock of body temperature and sleep.

Beta Waves

Brain waves associated with being awake.

Alpha Waves

High amplitude brain waves associated with being drowsy.

Delta waves

Brain waves associated with NREM 3 deep sleep.

Rapid Eye Movement (REM)

A paradoxical sleep stage characterized by dreaming and cognitive processing where the brain is active but the body is relaxed.

Activation Synthesis

A neural theory stating that dreams start as random bursts of energy stimulating the limbic system and later develop meaning.

Narcolepsy

A sleep disorder characterized by falling into REM sleep out of nowhere; treated with stimulants.

Transduction

The process of converting environment stimulus energy into action potentials.

Absolute Threshold

The detection of a signal $50\%$ of the time.

Weber's Law

The principle that two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum proportion for a difference to be detected.

Sensory Adaptation

Diminished sensitivity resulting from constant stimulation as receptors respond less.

Fovea

The area of the retina with the best vision, containing only cones.

Opponent Process theory

A theory of color vision stating that complementary colors are processed in ganglion cells (Red/green, Blue/yellow, Black/white).