Neurons - individual cells that receive, integrate, and transmit information

Axon: long fiber that transmits the signals through the neuron to the axon terminals

Soma: contains the nucleus & cell’s normal organs, body of the neuron

Dendrites: where the neuron receives the signals

Action potential/Neural impulse - a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon

Myelin sheath: covers the axon with tubing but with spaces(nodes of Ranvier), helps speed the transmission of signals

Central nervous system - brain and spinal cord

Peripheral nervous system - connects the central nervous system to all muscles and tissues

Reuptake - a process where the sending neuron absorbs excess neurons

Endorphins - a neurotransmitter that helps relieve pain, reduce stress, improve mood, a little bit of emotion, When we take too much: breathing stops, When we take too little: aches, pain, depression, mood swings

Endocrine System - the body’s “slow” chemical communications system that releases and transports hormones

Pituitary gland - releases hormones into the body, in the hypothalamus, regulates growth + controls all other glands

Hormones - chemical messengers that travel through the bloodstream and are a part of the endocrine system, with longer effects than neurotransmitters

Neurotransmitters - chemical messengers released by neurons through a neural impulse

Glutamate - is involved with memory, too much: migraines or seizures, too less: insomnia, concentration problems, mental exhaustion

Dopamine - influences Movement + Emotion + Learning + Attention, too much: schizophrenia, too less: tremors + deceased mobility in Parkinson’s disease

Acetylcholine - enables Muscle Action + Learning + Memory, too much: cramps, paralysis, diarrhea, blurry vision, too less: difficulty in forming + recalling memories

Norepinephrine - controls Alertness + Arousal, too much: anxiety + high blood pressure + high heart rate + stress on organs, too less: depressed mood

GABA - brings us down, too much: burning sensation + low blood pressure, too less: seizures + tremors + Insomnia

Serotonin - affects Mood + Hunger + Sleep + Arousal, too much: shivering + diarrhea + muscle rigidity + fever + seizures, too less: depression

Cerebral Cortex - the body’s ultimate control and information-processing center

Corpus callosum - a network of fibers that connects the right and left hemispheres of the brain

Thalamus - brain’s sensory control center that is on top of the brain stem, hub for sensory information

Hypothalamus - regulates all of our biological needs + drives(hunger, thirst, sleep)

Reticular Formation - a nerve network through the brainstem and thalamus which filters incoming stimuli, controls sleep and arousal

Medulla - the base of the brainstem which regulates important functions such as breathing and heartbeats

Spinal Cord - a cylindrical bundle of nerve fibers + tissue that is in the spine and connects all the parts of the body to the brain

Cerebellum - the “little” brain at the back of the brainstem which helps with coordination, procedural memory, and more

Hippocampus - involved with memory, part of the limbic system

Amygdala - controls emotions(RAGE + FEAR)

Nervous system(neurons)

Phineas P. Gage - railroad worker that had a accident when a large iron road was driven through his head

• COMPLETELY driving through HIS HEAD AND destroying most OF THE LEFT FRONTAL LOBE

• Before the accident: a really nice guy

• After the accident: became mean and very rude

• SHOWS PERSONALITY COMES FROM THE BRAIN!!!

*know the function (maybe description) of the vocab words*

Neuroplasticity - the idea that our brain can change and manipulate its functions if we suffer a traumatic experience

• GAGE: his personality changed then the rest of the functions changed after the rod went through his head and he barfed brain

• signals start at the dendrites or axon terminals from which they go through the hillock if its large enough, create action potential

• Axon Terminal:

• Schwann Cells: make up the myelin sheath

• • Can deteriorate and lose control of muscular function

• Nodes of Ranvier: spaces between the Schwann cells in the myelin sheath

*Anatomy of a neuron* - khan academy video

• Either sending the chemical message OR NOT

• Generated by the movement of positively charged atoms in and out of channels in the axon’s membrane

Threshold - level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse

• Is it like the energy levels have to pass the threshold to trigger a neural impulse?

Synapse - where the neurons are meeting but not quite touching

• A tiny gap at this junction is called a synaptic gap

Autonomic functioning - things that are automatically happening

• Heart beating, breathing,

• Sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems

Sympathetic nervous system - stimulates body’s fight or flight response, AROUSES US

• Before something important, we get nervous, our heart starts beating faster, and we become sweaty

• Not good to be in this state for long, can cause death or other problems like premature aging

  • HIGH STATE OF AROUSAL

• BODY DOES THIS AUTOMATICALLY(automatic functioning)

Parasympathetic nervous system - “Parachutes” us after the flight or fight response

• After you have started, it brings us back to normal state

• BODY DOES THIS AUTOMATICALLY(automatic functioning)

Somatic functioning - voluntary muscle movement

• Throwing a ball

Endocrine system(hormones)

• Includes glands that secrete chemicals into the bloodstream that help control bodily functioning

  • In charge of ADRENALINE EFFECT

    • After an argument, we still are worked up because the hormones are still there and need time to dissipate and COOL OFF

• Hormones: chemical messengers in the endocrine system

  • Travel through the body slower than Neurotransmitters

  • Regulate many physical and behavioral functions

Neurotransmitters(FILL IT OUT)

Acetylcholine: Alzheimer's disease

• Function: enables muscle action, learning, and memory

• When we take too much: cramps, paralysis, diarrhea, + blurry vision

• When we take too less: difficulty in forming and recalling memories

Norepinephrine: BRINGING US UP - excitatory neurotransmitter

• Function: helps control alertness and arousal

• When we take too much: anxiety, high blood pressure, high heart rate, organ stress

• When we take too less: can depress our mood

Dopamine:

• Function: influences movement, learning, attention, and emotion

• When we take too much: schizophrenia

• When we take too less: tremors and decreased mobility in Parkinson’s disease

Serotonin:

• Function: affects mood, hunger, sleep, and arousal

• When we take too much: shivering, diarrhea, muscle rigidity, fever, seizures

• When we take too less: depression

Glutamate: BRINGING US UP - excititory neurotransmitter - BRING US UP

• Function: involved with memory

• When we take too much: overstimulate the brain - migraines or seizures

• When we take too less: insomnia, concentration problems, mental exhaustion

GABA: BRINGING US DOWN - opposite of Neropinephrine

• Function: inhibitory neurotransmitter

• When we take too much: burning sensation, low blood pressure

• When we take too less: seizures, tremors, and insomnia

Brain

• medulla: regulating heart beat and breathing

  • DOING AUTONOMIC RESPONSES

• pons: regaulates sleep and dreams

  • Activated every 90 minutes: because of sleep cycle

  • Connects the brainstem with the cerebellum

• cerebellum: regulates balance(coordination), procedural memory(your cerebellum doesn’t forget how to do stuff like riding a bike)

  • REMEMBERING

• Reticular formation: controls sleep and arousal

Limbic System

• thalamus: grand central station for your brain, regulates all of our senses except SMELL

  • Ol factory senses control SMELL

• Hypothalamus: regulates all of our biological needs(hunger, thirst, sleep) - regulates fighting(staying alive), fleeing(staying alive), feeding(hunger), mating(reproduction)

• amygdala: tied to EMOTION

• Hippocampus: MEMORY(especially important for long-term memories)

LOBES

• Frontal Lobe: at the front

  • Decision making, problem solving, deliberate movements, consciousness, emotions, memory, spontaneous impulse, social and sexual control, speech

• Temporal Lobe: bottom of the frontal lobe, near the temples

  • Hearing, language comprehension, speech

• Parietal Lobe: top of the rear

  • Sensory information, spatial awareness

• Occipital Lobe: bottom of the rear

  • VISION

Frontal Lobe

• Motor Cortex: in charge of motor movements

  • Back of the frontal lobe

• Broca’s area: deals with language production(speaking, talking, forming words)

  • Left side of the frontal lobe

Parietal Lobe

• Sematosensory: deals with sensations

  • Front of parietal lobe

Temporal Lobe

• Wernicke’s area: language comprehension

  • Left side of the temporal lobe

Things that can happen to your brain

• Aphasia: loss of ability to understand or express speech, caused by brain damage to the Broca or Wenicke’s areas

  • Wernicke’s Aphasia/Fluent Aphasia: you can speak properly but you can’t understand or comprehend what is being said to you

  • Broac’s Aphasia/Non-Fluent Aphasia: you can understand properly but can’t speak properly because

• Agnosia(Prosopagnosia - Face Blindness): losing the ability to recognize things such as faces

Corpus Callosum: fiber, neural network that connects the two hemispheres

• The reason to sever the corpus callosum is because of seizures

  • Reduces seizures if it is cut

  • Now you have two brains: Split brain

    • Can read two pages of a book at the same time

    • Work that requires people to use both hemispheres TOGETHER like buttoning a shirt

Micheal Gazzaniga: pioneer in researching split-brain

Henry Molaessen(HM): case study/longitudinal study over one individual person

• Was riding his bike, hit his head then suffered from major seizures

• Removed the hippocampus - didn’t know which part they removed which caused a bunch of issues

• HM’s memory was gone and was unable to form new memories

• Brenda Milner studied HM at his house

• HM retained information for long enough to finish a sentence around 15 minutes by repeating it to himself

Brenda Milner’s study:

• HM was told to draw a star

  • Unconscious motor sensors remembered how to do it over and over again which is why he improved over time even though he thought he was doing it for the first time each time

• Cerebellum: allows us to do procedural memory(short-term) and such