Term
| minimally conscious state (MCS) |
|
Definition
| condition in which a person can display some rudimentary behaviors, such as smiling, or utter a few words but is otherwise not concious |
|
|
Term
| traumatic brain injury (TBI) |
|
Definition
| wound to the brain that results from a blow to the head |
|
|
Term
| persistent vegetative state (PVS) |
|
Definition
| condition in which a person is alive but unable to communicate or to function independently at even the most basic level |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| approved experiment directed toward developing a treatment |
|
|
Term
| deep brain stimulation (DBS) |
|
Definition
| neurosurgery in which electrodes implanted in the brain stimulate a targeted area with a low voltage electrical current to facilitate behavior |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| literally, half a sphere, referring to one side of the cerebral cortex or one side of the cerebellum |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| outer layer of brain-tissue surface composed of neurons; the human cerebral cortex is heavily folded |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| cortex that functions in connection with hearing, language, and musical abilities and lies below the lateral fissure, beneath the temporal bone at the side of the skull |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| cerebral cortex often generally characterized as performing the brain's "executive" functions, such as decision making, lying anterior to the central sulcus and beneath the frontal bone of the skull |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| cerebral cortex that functions to direct movements toward a goal or to perform a task, such as grasping an object, lying posterior to the central sulcus and beneath the parietal bone at the top of the skull |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| cerebral cortex where visual processing begins, lying at the back of the brain and beneath the occipital bone |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a specialized "nerve cell" engaged in information processing |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| part of the CNS encased within the vertebrae that provides most of the connections between the brain and the rest of the body |
|
|
Term
| central nervous system (CNS) |
|
Definition
| the brain and spinal cord that together mediate behavior |
|
|
Term
| peripheral nervous system (PNS) |
|
Definition
| all the neurons in the body located outside the brain and spinal cord; provides sensory and motor connections to and from the central nervous system |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| hypothesis that the movements that we make and those that we perceive in others are essential features of our concious behavior |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| synonym for mind, an entity once proposed to be the source of human behavior |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| proposed nonmaterial entity responsible for intelligence, attention, awareness, and conciousness |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| of the mind; an explanation of behavior as a function of the nonmaterial mind |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| philosophical position that holds that both a nonmaterial mind and the material body contribute to behavior |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| quandary of explaining a nonmaterial mind in command of a material body |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| philosophical position that holds that behavior can be explained as a function of the nervous system without explanatory recourse to the mind |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| darwin's theory for explaining how new species evolve and how existing species change over time |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| group of organisms that can interbreed |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| forebearer from which two or more lineages or family groups arise and so is ancestral to both groups |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| phylogenetic tree that branches repeatedly, suggesting a taxonomy of organisms based on the time sequence in which evolutionary branches arise |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| simple nervous system that has no brain or spinal cord but consists of neurons that receive sensory information and connect directly to other neurons that move muscles |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| body plan in which organs or parts present on both sides of the body are mirror images in appearance |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| division into a number of parts that are similar; refers to the idea that many animals, including vertebraes, are composed of similarly organized body segments |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| collection of nerve cells that function somewhat like a brain |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| animal that has both a brain and a spinal cord |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| major structure of the brain stem specialized for coordinating and learning skilled movements |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| general term referring to primates that walk upright, including all forms of humans, living and extinct |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| measure of brain size obtained from the ratio of actual brain size to expected brain size, according to the principle of proper mass, for an animal of a particular body size. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| idea that selection for improved brain cooling through increased blood circulation in the brains of early hominids enabled the brain to grow larger |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| process in which maturation is delayed, and so an adult retains infant characteristics |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| behavior that is characteristic of all members of a species |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| learned behaviors that are passed on from one generation to the next through teaching and experience |
|
|
