Chapter 2 Vocabulary
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Created by:
morganrenaldo on August 31, 2012
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54 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Neuron | A nerve cell; the basic budilgin block of the nervous sytem |
| Snesory Neurons | Neurons that carry incoming information from teh sensory receptors to the brain and spinal cord |
| Motor Neurons | Neurons tha carry outgoing information fromt he brain and spinal cord to the muscles and galnds |
| Interneurons | Neurons within the brain and spinal cord that communicate internally and inetervene between the sensory inpyuts and motor outputs |
| Dendrite | The busy, brabnching extensions of a neuron that recieve messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body |
| Axon | The extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers thorugh which emssages pass to other neurons tr to muslces or glands |
| Myelin sheath | A layer of fatty tissue segmentally encasing the fibers of many neurons enables vastly greater tranjsmission speed of neural impulses as the impuls hops from one node to the next |
| Action potential | A neural impuls; a bfried electrical charage that travels down an axon |
| Cell body | The cells life support center |
| Neural impulse | Electrical signal traveling down the axon |
| Terminal branches of the axon | Form junctions with other cells |
| Threshold | The level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse |
| Synapse | The junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the recieving neuron. TH etiny gap at this junction is called the synaptic gap or synaptic cleft. |
| Neurotransmitters | Chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gaps between tneurons. When released by teh sending neuron, neurotransmitters travel across the synapse and bind to receptor sites on the reicieving neuron, thereby influencing whether that neuron will generate a neural impulse |
| Reuptake | A neurotransmitters reabsorption by the sending neuron |
| Endorphins | Natural, opioatelike neurotransmitters linked to pain control and to pleasure |
| Nervous system | The body's speedy, electrochemical communication netwokr, consisting of all hte nerve cells of the peripheral and central nervous systems |
| Central nervous system (CNS) | The brain and spinal cord |
| Peripheral nervous sytem (PNS) | The sensory and motoer neruons that connect the central |
| Nerves | Bundled axons that form nerual cables connectin gthe central nervous syutem with muslces, glands, and sense organs |
| Somatic nervous system | The division of the peripheral nervous system that controls the body's skeletal muscles |
| Autonomic nervous sytem | The part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the gland and the muscles of the internal organs. Its sympathetic division arouses; its parasympathetic division calms |
| Sympathetic nervous system | The division of the authonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situations |
| Parasympathetic nervous system | Th edivision of the authonomic nervous system tha calms the body, conserving its energy |
| Reflex | A simple, automatic response to sensory stimullus, such as the knee-jerk response |
| Endocrine | The body's slow chemical communcaition system, a set of glands that secret hormones into the bloodstream |
| Hormones | Chemical messengers that are manufactured by the endocrine glands, travle through the bloodstream, and affect other tissues |
| Adrenal glands | A pair of endocrine glands that sit just above the kidneys and secret hormones that help arouse the body in times of stress |
| Pituitary gland | The endocrine system's most influential gland. Under the influence of the hypothalamus, the pituitary regulates the growth and controls other endocrine glands |
| Lesion | Tissue destruction. A brain lesion is a naturlal or experimentall caused destruction of brain tissue |
| Electroencephalogram (EEG) | 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. |
| PET (position emission tomography) scan | A visual display of brain activity that detects wehre a radioactive form glucose goes while the brain performs a given task |
| MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) | A technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer generated images of soft tissue. MRI scans show brain anatomy. |
| fMRI (functional MRI) | A technique for revealing blooflow and, therefore, brain activity by comparing uccessive MRI scans. fMRI scans show brain function |
| Brainstem | THe oldest part and central core of the brain, beginning where the spinal cord swells as it enters the skull; the brain stem is responsible for authomatic survival functions |
| Medulla | The base of the brainstem; controls hearbeat and breathing |
| Reticular formation | A nerve network in the brainstem that plays an important role in controlling arousal |
| Thalamus | The brain's sensory switchoard, located on top of the brainstem; it directs messages to the sensory recieving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla |
| Cerebellum | The "little brain" at the rear of the brainstem; functions include processing sensory imput and coordinating movement output and balance |
| Limbic system | Neural system (including the hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamus) located below the cerebral hemispheres; associated with emotions and drives |
| Amygdala | Two lima bean sized neural clusters in the limbic system; linked to emotion |
| Hypothalamus | A neural structure lying below the thalamus; it directs several maintance activies (eating, drinking, body temperature) helps govern the endocrine system bia the pitutiaaary gland and is linked to emotion and reward. |
| Cerebral cortex | The intricate fabirc of interconnected neural cells covering the cerebral hemispheres; the body's ultimate control and information-processing center |
| Glial cells (glia) | Cells in teh nervous system taht support, nourish, and protect neurons |
| Frontal lobes | Portion of the cerebral cortex lying just behind the forehead; involved in speaking and muscle movements and in making plans and judgements |
| Parietal lobes | Portion of teh cerebral cortex lying at teh top of the head and toward the rear; recieves sensory imput for touch and body position |
| Occipital lobes | Portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the back of the head; includes areas that recieve information from the visual fields |
| Temporal lobes | Portion of the cerebral cortex lying roughly above the ears; includes the auditory areas, each receiving information primarily from the opposite ear |
| Motor Cortex | An area at teh rear of the frontal lobes that controls voluntary movements |
| Sensory Cortex | Area at the front of the parietal lobes that registers and processes body touch anbd movement sensation |
| Association areas | 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 |
| Plasticity | The brain's abililty to change. especially durring the childhood by reorganizing after damange by building new pathways based on experience |
| Corpus callosum | The large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages between them |
| Split Brain | A condition resulting from surgery that isolates the brain's two hemispheres by cutting the fibers (mainly those of the corpus callosum) connecting them |
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