Psychology

sensory neurons (afferent)

receptors to brain/spinal cord

motor neurons (efferent)

brain/spinal cord (CNS) to muscles & glands

Interneurons

neurons within the brain and spinal cord that communicate internally and intervene between the sensory inputs and motor outputs

Reflex Arcs

neural circuits that control reflexive behavior

Interneurons in spinal cord relay info to the source of stimuli while simultaneously routing it to the brain.

Central Nervous System

brain and spinal cord

Peripheral Nervous System:

Nervous tissue and fibers outside CNS

Somatic: Voluntary

Autonomic: Sympathetic = F/F, parasympathetic = Rest and Digest.

Neurotransmitters

Chemicals that transmit information from one neuron to another

Acetylcholine:

enables muscle action, learning, and memory

Used by somatic nervous system to move muscles. Also used by the parasympathetic and CNS.

Excitatory

Alzheimers

Dopamine

influences movement, posture, learning, attention, and emotion

Excitatory or inhibitory

CNS;PNS

Parkinsons

Endorphins & Enkephalins:

Natural pain killers.

Inhibitory

Pain

Epinephrine & Norepinephrine:

fight-or-flight responses, wakefulness, alertness

adrenal medulla

g-aminobutyric Acid (GABA)

Inhibitory neurotransmitters. Act as brain "stabilizers". Glycine serves a similar function.

Anxiety, Seizures

CNS

Glutamate:

excitatory neurotransmitter

Stimulates the brain

CNS

Lack of Motivation or Focus

Serotonin

Modulates mood, sleep, eating, and dreaming.

Inhibitory

hormones

chemical messengers that are manufactured by the endocrine glands, travel through the bloodstream, and affect other tissues

Cortisol

stress hormone released by the adrenal cortex

Testrogen & Estrogen

Mediates sexual desire. (Secondary sexual characteristics)

Produced in gonads and released by adrenal cortex

Hindbrain

cerebellum, medulla oblongata, reticular formation, pons

Cerebellum

Coordinates movement, posture, and balance

Medulla oblongata

Regulate cardiovascular system (breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, etc.)

Reticular formation

set of interconnected nuclei located throughout the brainstem. It is not anatomically well defined. Its neurons play a crucial role in maintaining behavioral arousal and consciousness through modulatory and premotor functions.

Pons

relay between medulla and thalamus.

Midbrain

Inferior and superior colliculi

Superior colliculi

Receive and process visual information

Inferior colliculi

Receive and process auditory information

Forebrain

Thalamus, Hypothalamus, basal ganglia, limbic system, cerebral cortex

Thalamus

Relay station for sensory information.

Hypothalamus

Homeostasis

Controls appetite, moderates body temperature, secretes hormones

Hypothalamus --> Hypophyseal portal --> anterior pituitary

Basal Ganglia

Smooths movements and helps postural stability.

Limbic System

Septal Nuclei: Pleasure and Addiction

Amygdala: Fear and aggression

Hippocampus: Emotion and Memory

Cerebral Cortex

frontal lobe, parietal lobe, occipital lobe, temporal lobe

Frontal Lobe

executive function, impulse control, long-term planning, motor function, speech production

parietal lobe

Touch, pressure, temp, pain, spatial processing.

Occipital Lobe

visual

Temporal Lobe

Sound, speech, perception, and memory, Wernicke's Area

Cerebral Hemispheres

Left is analytic, language, logic, math

Right is intuition, creativity, spatial processing

The nervous system develops through

Neurolation

Neural Tube:

Becomes the CNS

Neural Crest Cells

Cells at the tip of the neural fold; this group of cells gives rise to many components of the peripheral nervous system.

Primitive Reflexes

Exist in infants and should disappear with age.

Rooting Reflex

turns head toward stimulus

Moro Reflex

Extends arms, response to falling sensation.

Babinksi Reflex

Big toe is extended and other toes fan out in response to brushing on sole of foot.

Grasping Reflex

grabs anything put into hands

Sensory receptors

sensory nerves that respond to stimuli

Sensory ganglia

collection of cell bodies outside the CNS

Projection areas

areas in the brain that analyze sensory input

Absolute threshold

the minimum intensity of stimulation that must occur before you experience a sensation

difference threshold

The minimum difference in magnitude between tow stimuli before one can perceive this difference

threshold of conscious perception

the minimum stimulus energy that will create a signal large enough in size and long enough in duration to be brought into awareness

Weber's Law

the principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount)

Adaptation

Refers to the increase or decrease in sensitivity to stimulus

Signal detection theory

the detection of a stimulus depends on both the intensity of the stimulus and the physical and psychological state of the individual

Basically we notice things on how strong they are and how aware we are

Conjuctiva

mucous membrane that lines the eyelids and outer surface of the eyeball

Cornea

gathers and filters incoming light

outermost layer

Iris

controls the size of the pupil

colored part of eye

Lens

refracts incoming light to focus it on the retina

aqeous humor

watery substance which protects the lens and gives the eye shape

Anterior Chamber

between cornea and iris

space filled with aqueous humor, provides pressure to maintain eye ball shape and medium to supply cornea and iris with nutrients

Retina

the light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that begin the processing of visual information

rods and cones

rods- black and white (light and dark)

cones- color (Short/medium/long) in the fovea

macula

central region of retina that is highly packed with cones

Fovea

the central focal point in the retina, around which the eyes cones cluster

Pathway from retina

rods and cones --> bipolar cells --> ganglion cells--> optic nerve

Parallel Processing

the processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain's natural mode of information processing for many functions, including vision. Color, form, and motion at same time

Sclera

white of the eye

pupil

the adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters

choroid

middle, vascular layer of the eye, between the retina and the sclera

blood vessels that nourish retina and absorbs all light that goes through retina

Optic Nerve

the nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain

Visual Pathway

Eye, optic nerve, optic chiasm, optic tract, lateral geniculate nucleus, visual radiations, visual cortex (occipital lobe)