psych 2
About this set
Created by:
aaronhamburger on October 8, 2010
Log in to favorite or report as inappropriate.
Order by
29 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 psychobiology | the area of psychology that focuses on the biological foundations of behavior and mental processes |
| neuroscience | the study of the brain and the nervous system |
| neurons | individual cells that are the smalesst unit of the nervous sytem |
| dendrites | short fibers that branch out from the cell body and pick up incoming messages |
| axon | single long fiber extending from the cell body, it carries outoging messages |
| nerve | group of axons bundled together |
| myelin sheath | whitty fat covering found on some axons |
| sensory neurons | nerons that carry messages from sense organs to the spinal cord or brain |
| motor neurons | nerouons that carry messages from the spinaol cord or brain to the muscles and glands |
| interneurons | neurons that carry messages from one nueron to another |
| mirror neurons | specialized neurons that repsond when we observe otehers perform a behavior or express an emotion |
| glial cells | cells that insulate and support nerons by holding them togher, waste products, harmfull substances prevent |
| ions | eletrially charged particles found both inside and outside the neuron |
| resitng potential- | electrial charge across a neuron membrane bresulting from more postiuve ions concentrated on the outside and mroe neg on inside |
| polarization | inside is neg charged relative to the outisde when the nueron is at rest |
| neural impluise | firing of a neuron cell |
| graded potenial | a shif in the elctrial charge in a tiny area of the neuron |
| threshold of exciation | the level an impluse must exceed to cause a neron to fire |
| all or none law | aciton potential in a nueron does not vary in strength either at full strength it fires or not at all |
| synaptic space | tiny gap between the axon terminal of one nuerons and the dentries or cell body of another |
| synapase | area composed of the axon terminal of one neron and dentrile of another |
| terminal button | structure at the end of an axon terminal branch |
| synaptic vessels | tiny sacs in terminal button that relase chemicals into synapsse |
| neurotransmitters | chemcials released by the synaptic vesicals that travel across ynaptic space and affect adjacent neurons |
| receptor sites | locations ona recepto neron in which a specifc neurontransmitter fits like a lock |
| neural plasticity- | the ability of the brain to chacnce in repsose to experience |
| neurogenesis | growth of new neurons |
| CNS | divison of the nevous sytem that consits of the brain and spinal cord |
| PNS | conncects cns to rest of the body |
First Time Here?
Welcome to Quizlet, a fun, free place to study. Try these flashcards, find others to study, or make your own.