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| a branch of psychology concerned with the links between biology and behavior. (Behavioral neuroscientists...etc) |
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| a nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system |
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| the bushy, branching extensions of a neuron that receive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body. |
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| the extension of a neuron, ending branchig terminal fibers, thru which messages pass to other neurons or to muscles or glands. |
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| a layer of fatty tissue segmentally encasing the fibers of many neurons; enables vastly greater transmission speed of neural impulses as the impulse hops from one node to the next. |
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| a neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon. The action potential is generated by the movement of positively charged atoms in and out of channels in the axon's membrane. |
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| electrically charged atoms |
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| the level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse |
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| the junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron. The tiny gap at this junction is called the synaptic gap or cleft. |
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| chemical messengers that traverse the synaptic gaps between neurons. When released by the sending neuron, neurotransmitters travel across the synapse and bind to recepter sites on the receiving neuron, thereby influencing whether that neuron will generate a neural impulse. |
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| a neurotransmitter that enables learning and memory and also triggers muscle contraction. |
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| "morphine within" natural, opiatelike neurotransmitters linked to pain control and to pleasure. |
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| the body's speedy, electrochemical communication network, consisting of all the nerve cells of the perpheral and central nervous systems |
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| central nervous system (CNS) |
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| the brain and spinal cord |
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| peripheral nervous system (PNS) |
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| the sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system (CNS) to the rest of the body. |
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| neural "cables" containing many axons. These bundled axons, which are part of te PNS, connect the CNS w/ muscles, glands, and sense organs. |
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| neurons thata carry incoming information from the sense receptors to the CNS |
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| neurons that carry outgoing info from the CNS to the muscles and glandss. |
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| CNS neurons thata internally communicate and intervene between the sensory inputs and motor outputs. |
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| the division of the peripheral nervous system that controls the body's skeletal muscles. Also called Skeletal Nervous System. |
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| the part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs (such as the heart). Its sympathetic division arouses; its parasympathetic division calms. |
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| a simple, automatic, inborn response to a sensory stimulus, such as the knee-jerk response. |
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| interconnected neural cells. With experience, networks can learn, as feedback strengthens or inhibits connections that produce certain results. Computer simulations of neural networks show analogous learning. |
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| the body's "slow" chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream |
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| chemical messengers, mostly those manufactured by the endocrine glands, that are produced in one tissue and affect another. |
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| a pair of endocrine glands just above the kidneys. The adrenals secrete the hormones epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline), which help to arouse the body in times of stress. |
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| the endocrine system's most influential gland. Under the influence of the hypothalamus, the pituitary regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands. |
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| tissue destruction. A brain lesion is a naturally or experimentally caused destruction of brain tissue |
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| an amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity that sweep across the brain's surface. These waves are measured by electrodes placed on the scalp. |
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| PET (positron emission tomography) |
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| a visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of gluclose goes while the brain performs agiven task. |
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| MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) |
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| a technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer-generated images that distinguish among different types of soft tisse; allows us to see structures within the brain. |
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| a tech. for revealing blood flow & therefore brain activity by comparing successive MRI scans; fMRI scans show brain function. |
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| the oldest part and central core of the brain, beginning where the spinal cord swells as it enters the skull; the brainstem is responsible for automatic survival functions. |
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| the base of the brainstem, controls heartbeat and breathing |
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| a nerve network in the brainstem that plays an important role in controlling arousal. |
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| the brain's sensory switchboard, located on the top of the brainstem; it directs messages to the sensory receiving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to the crebellum and medulla (pg 71) |
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| the "little brain" attached to the rear of the brainstem; its functions include processing sensory input and coordinating movement output and balance. |
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| a dought-nut shaped system of neural structures at the border of the brainstem and cerebral hemispheres; associated w// emotions such as fear and aggression and drives such as those for food and sex. |
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| two lima-bean sized neural clusters that are components of the limbic system and are linked to emotion. |
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| a neural structure lying below the thalamus; it directs several maintenence activities (eating, drinking, body temp) helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland, and is linked to emotion. |
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| the intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells that covers the cerebral hemispheres; the body's ultimate control and informat-processing center. |
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| cells in the nervous system that support, nourish, and protect neurons. |
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| four lobes, geographic subdivisions separated by prominent fissures or folds... |
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| frontal (behind your forehead), parietal (at the top and to the rear), occipital (at the back of your head) and temporal (on the sides of you head just above the ears) |
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| an area at the rear of the frontal lobes that controls voluntary movements. |
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| the area at the front of the parietal lobes that registers and processes body touch and movement sensations. |
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| areas of the cerebral cortex that are not involved in primary motor or sensory functions;rather they are involved in higher mental functions such as learning, remembering, thinking and speaking. |
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| impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca's area (imparing speaking) or to Wernicke's area (imparing understanding). |
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| the brain's capacity for modification, as evident in brain reorganization following damage (espesh in kids), and in experiments on the effects of experience on brain development. |
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| the large band of neural fibers connecting the 2 brain hemispheres and carrying messages between them. |
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| a condition in which 2 hemispheres of fthe brain are isolated by cuting the connecting fibers (mainly those of the corpus callosum) between them. |
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