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Psychology module 4
N/A
27
Science
12th Grade
09/03/2012

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Term
biological perspective
Definition
concerned with the links between biology and behavior. Includes psychologists working in neuroscience, behavior.. These researchers may call themselves behavorial neuropsychologists, etc.
Term
neuron
Definition
a nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system
Term
dendrites
Definition
a neuron's bushy, branching extensions that receive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body.
Term
axon
Definition
the neuron extension that passes messages trough its branches to other nerons or to muscles or glands.
Term
myelin sheath
Definition
a fatty tissue layer segmentally encasing the acons of some neurons; enables vastly greater tansmission speed as neural impulses hop from one node to the next
Term
action potential
Definition
a neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon
Term
threshold
Definition
the level of stimulation reqired to trigger a neural impulse
Term
synapse
Definition
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.
Term
neurotransmitters
Definition
chemical messengers that cross the sunaptic gaos between neurons. when released by the sending neuron, neurotransmitters trvel accross the synapse and bind to receptor sites on the receiving neuron, thereby influencing whether that neuron will generate a neural impulse
Term
reuptake
Definition
a neurotramitter's reabsorption by the sending neuron.
Term
endorphins
Definition
morphine within - natural, opiate-like neurotransmitters linked to pain control and pleasure
Term
nervous system
Definition
the body's speedy, electrochemical communication network, consisting of all the nerve cells of the preipheral and central nervous system
Term
central nervous system
Definition
the brain and spinal chord
Term
peripheral nervous system
Definition
the sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nercous system to the rest of the body.
Term
nerves
Definition
bundled acons that form neural cables connecting the CNS with muscles, glands, and sense organs.
Term
sensory neurons
Definition
neurons that carry incoming info from the sensory receptors to the brain and spinal cord
Term
motor neurons
Definition
nueorns that carry outgoing info from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles and glands
Term
interneurons
Definition
neurons within the brain and spnal cord that communicate internally and intervene between the sensory inputs and motor outputs
Term
somatic nervous ststem
Definition
the division of the peripheral nervous system that controls the body's skeletal muscles. also called the skeletal nervous system
Term
autonomic nervous system
Definition
the part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the interna organs. its sympathetic division arouses; its parasumpathetic division calms.
Term
sympathetic nervous system
Definition
the division of the sutonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situations
Term
parasympathetic nervous system
Definition
the division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body conserving its energy
Term
reflex
Definition
a simple, sutomatic resoinse to a sensory stimulus, such as the knee-jerk response
Term
endocrine system
Definition
the body's slow chemical communication system; a set of glanfs that secrete hormones into the bloodstream
Term
hormones
Definition
chemical messengers that are manufactured by the endocrine glands, travel through the bloodstream, and affect other tissues
Term
adrenal glands
Definition
a pair of endocrine glands that sit just above the kidneys and secrete hormones that help arouse the body in time of stress
Term
pituitary gland
Definition
the endocrins systems' most influential gland. under the influence of the hypothalamus, the pituitary regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands
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