From Textbook (Anatomy Vocabulary) - Unit 14: Psychiatry

affect

Outward display on the face of inward thoughts and emotions

amygdaloid body

Almond-shaped area within each temporal lobe. It interprets facial expressions and new social situations to identify danger. It combines visual images with long-term memory and is active in the emotions of fear, anger, and rage.

dopamine

Neurotransmitter in the brain

emotion

Intense state of feelings

epinephrine

Neurotransmitter of the sympathetic division of the nervous system. It is also a hormone secreted into the blood by the medulla of the adrenal gland to prepare the body for "fight or flight."

fornix

Connects the hippocampus to the thalamus and amygdaloid bodies

GABA

Inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain

hippocampus

Ellongated, curving structure within each temporal lobe. It helps short-term memories become long-term memories, stores long-term memories, and compares past and present emotions and experiences.

hypothalamus

Controls emotions (pleasure, excitement, fear, anger) and bodily responses to emotions. It regulates sexual arousal and the sex drive. It contains the feeding and satiety centers. It functions as part of the "fight-or-flight" response of the sympathetic division of the nervous system.

limbic lobe

Curved, encircling area of the brain that includes the medial edges of the two cerebral hemispheres and extends into the temporal lobes. It is also known as the cingulate gyrus.

limbic system

Related structures in the brain that control emotion, mood, memory, motivation, and behavior and link the conscious to the unconscious mind. The limbic system consists of the limbic lobe, thalamus, hypothalamus, hippocampus, amygdaloid bodies, and fornix.

mood

Prevailing, predominant emotion affecting a person's state of mind

neurotransmitter

Chemicals that relay messages from one neuron to another

norepinephrine

Neurotransmitter of the sympathetic division of the nervous system and in the brain. It is also a hormone secreted into the blood by the medulla of the adrenal gland. It controls involuntary processes such as the heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure when the body is active or exercising.

serotonin

Neurotransmitter in the brain and spinal cord

thalamus

Relay station that receives sensory information from the five senses and relays it to the midbrain (for immediate action in the face of danger) and to the cerebrum (for analysis and comparison with memories)