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biological psychology a branch of psychology concerned with the links between biology and behavior neuron a nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system dendrite the busy, branching extensions of a neuron that receive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body axon the extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers, thruogh which emssages pass to other neurons or to muscles or glands myelin sheath a layer o 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 action potential a neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon synapse the junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron synaptic gap the tiny gap at the synapse junction neurotransmitters chemical messengers that traverse the synaptic gaps between neurons; they bind to receptor sites on the receiving neuron acetylcholine a neurotransmitter that enables learning and memory and also triggers muscle contraction agonist mimic neurotransmitters antagonist blocks neurotransmitters endorphins natural, opiatelike neurotransmitters linked to pain control and to pleasure nervous system the body's speedy, electrochemical communication network, consisting of all the nerve cells of the peripheral and central nervous systems central nervous system (CNS) the brain and spinal cord peripheral nervous system (PNS) the sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system (CNS) to the rest of the body nerves neural "cables" containing many axons; connect the central nervous system with muscles, glands, and sense organs sensory neurons neurons that carry incoming information from the sense recptors to the central nervous system motor neurons neurons that carry outgoing information from the central nervous system to the muscles and glands interneurons central nervous system neurons that internally communicate and intervene between the sensory inputs and motor outputs somatic nervous system the division of the peripheral nervous system that controls the body's skeletal muscles autonomic nervous system the part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs sympathetic nervous system the division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situations parasympathetic nervous system the division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving its energy reflex a simple, automatic, inborn response to a sensory stimulus, such as the knee-jerk response neural network interconnected neural cells endocrine system the body's "slow" chemiacl communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream hormones chemiacl messengers, mostly those manufactured by the endocrine glands, that are produced in one tissue and affect another adrenal glands a pair of endocrine glands just above the kidneys; they secrete the hormones epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline), which help to arouse the body in times of stress pituitary gland the endocrine system's most influential gland; under the influence of the hypothalamus it will regulate growth and control other endocrine glands lesion a naturally or experimentally caused destruction of brain tissue electroencephalogram (EEG) an amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity that sweep across the brain's surface; waves are measured by electrodes placed on the scalp PET (positron emission tomography) scan a visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of 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 that distinguish among different types of soft tissue; allows us to see structures within the brain brainstem 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 medulla the base of the brainstem; controls heartbeat and breathing reticular formation a nerve network in the brainstem that plays an important role in controlling arousal thalamus the brain's sensory switchboard or relay station, located on top of the brainstemp; it directs messages to the sensory receiving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla cerebellum the "little brain" attached to the rear of the brainstem; its functions include processing sensory input and coordinating movement output and balance limbic system a doughnut-shaped system of neural structures at the border of the brainstem and cerebral hemispheres; associated with emotions such as fear and aggression and drives such as those for food and sex; includes the hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamus amygdala two lima beansized neural clusters that are components of the limbic system and are linked to emotion, specifically fear and aggression hypothalamus a neural structure lying below (hypo) the thalamus; it directs several maintenance activities (eating, drinking, body temperature, sex drive), helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland, and is linked to emotion cerebral cortex the intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells that covers the cerebral hemispheres; the body's ultimate control and information processing center glial cells cells in the nervous system that support, nourish, and protect neurons sensory cortex the area at the front of the parietal lobes that registers and processes body touch and movement sensations frontal lobes the protion of the cerebral cortex lying just behind the forehead; involved in speaking and muscle movements and in making plans and judgments parietal lobes the portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the top of the head and toward the rear; receives sensory input for touch and body position occipital lobes the portion of hte cerebral cortex lying at the back of the head; includes the visual areas, which receive visual information from the opposite visual field temporal lobes the portion of the cerebral cortex lying roughly above the ears; includes the auditory areas, each of which recieves auditory information primarily from the opposite ear motor cortex an area at the rear of the frontal lobes that controls voluntary movements 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 aphasia impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca's area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke's area (impairing understanding) Broca's area controls language expression--an area of the frontal lobe, usually in the left hemisphere, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech Wernicke's area controls language reception--a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression; usually in the left temporal lobe plasticity the brain's capacity for modification, as evident in brain reorganization following damage (especially in children) and in experiments on the effects of experience on brain development corpus callosum the large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages between them split brain a condition in which the two hemispheres of the brain are isolated by cutting the connecting fibers (mainly those of the corpus callosum) between them