| Term | Definition |
|---|
| rete | Evidence that led aristotle to believe purpose of brain was to cool blood - a tight pack of blood vessels. |
| muscle spindles | provide information about the state of contraction of all muscles. |
| epiphenomenon | a secondary phenomenon that is a by-product of another phenomenon |
| hard problem | How does NCC produce CSE? |
| Ockams Razor | When there are two explanations - go with the simpler one. |
| Metazoan | Multicellular animal |
| emergent properties | Properties that are only observable from higher levels of the living hierarchy., Characteristics of a whole system that are greater than the sum of the system's parts |
| sensory data | chemical, electromagnetic, movement |
| Integrative functions | most significant senses are selected by the process of attention, and analysis before a decision is made as to how to respond. |
| minimal self | A transient entity, recreated for each and every object which the brain interacts with. |
| extended self | A unified continuous being - journeying from past to future. |
| sensory functions | specialized receptors that measure position of body parts, levels of glucose, oxygen, salt, etc. |
| sensory signals | information about changes in external and internal environment are sent as these. |
| first person approach | The only way to study consciousness (right now). |
| neuron | Type of brain cell of which there are hundreds of types. |
| glia | cells that surrounds and supports neurons in the central nervous system. |
| reductionalist | whole = sum of the parts, bottom-up approach. Properties of upper levels are determined by those of the lower ones. |
| holistic | Each level expresses properties not present at lower leves. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts, and their are emergent properties which control and determine what happens at lower levels. |
| mysterians | believe consciousness is related to quantum mechanics. |
| statins | reduce inflammation - linked to cholesterol, but better indicator of heart health. |
| blindsight | ability to respond to visual stimuli while insisting they are blind. |
| behavior | total responses to changes in the external and external environment (includes body position). |
| homeostasis | behaviors that insure optimal functioning of all systems in the body. |
| voluntary nervous system | controls conscious intent and contraction of skeletal muscles. |
| skeletal muscle | 700 in the body, mediate movement, controlled by conscious intent. |
| smooth muscle | under control of autonomic nervous system, their not considered under conscious control (digestive system, arteries, etc.) |
| cardiac muscle | control heartbeat - control is by autonomic nervous system. |
| neural darwinism | groups of neurons compete with one another to create an effective representation of the world. |
| bifurcate | split or divide into two |
| peripheral nervous system | the section of the nervous system lying outside the brain and spinal cord |
| central nervous system | the portion of the vertebrate nervous system consisting of the brain and spinal cord |
| dorsal | belonging to or on or near the back or upper surface of an animal or organ or part |
| neural groove | forms between ridges of ectoderm |
| neural tube | a tube of ectodermal tissue in the embryo from which the brain and spinal cord develop |
| forebrain | the anterior portion of the brain |
| midbrain | the middle portion of the brain |
| hindbrain | the posterior portion of the brain including cerebellum and brainstem |
| ventricles | receive blood from atria and force into body |
| gray matter | greyish nervous tissue containing cell bodies as well as fibers |
| white matter | whitish nervous tissue of the CNS consisting of neurons and their myelin sheaths |
| cerebral cortex | the layer of unmyelinated neurons (the gray matter) forming the cortex of the cerebrum |
| computerized axial tomography | CAT stands for |
| magnetic resonance imaging | MRI stands for |
| longitudinal cerebral fissure | divides cortex into left and right half, bilaterally symmetrical. |
| Corpus Collosum | connects the left & right hemispheres |
| sylvian(lateral) fissure | gives the brain an arm. |
| central sulcus | vertically divides brain into front and back. |
| frontal | forehead part of brain. |
| occipital | anatomical term for the back of the head |
| parietal | Between frontal and occipital lobes. |
| temporal | brain arm. |
| gyri | convolutions (mounds) of the cerebral hemispheres |
| sulci | shallow grooves in the brain |
| fissure | a long narrow opening |
| galen | observed that nerves from sense organs lead directly to the brain and not the heart. Argued against aristotle. |
| cranial nerves | directly carry sensory signals into the brain and carry motor signals from brain. |
| limbic system | a system of functionally related neural structures in the brain that are involved in emotional behavior |
| basal ganglia | Name the area of the cerebral cortex with the function described: • Initiation and control of movements |
| thalamus | (forebrain) main input center for sensory information going to the cerebrum and the main output center for motor information leaving the cerebrum. |
| hypothalamus | a basal part of the forebrain governing autonomic nervous system |
| tectum | a part of the midbrain that orients an organism in the environment |
| pons | Regulates sleep/wake cycle (hindbrain) |
| medulla | lower or hindmost part of the brain |
| cerebellum | balance, muscle coordination. in hindbrain |
| cerebrospinal | ventricles are filled with this. |
| gray | What is more dense: gray or white matter? |
| MRI | What has better resolution - MRI or CAT? |
| forebrain | Most enlarged part of brain in humans compared with other animals. |
| phrenology | a now abandoned study of the shape of skull as indicative of the strengths of different faculties |
| localization of function | A problem of neurobiology in that the functional modules are not always in a discrete location - but rather, distributed. |
| functional modules | discrete anatomical locations where things happen (physical correlates?) |
| stroke | interruption of supply of blood to brain. |
| hemorrhage | rupture of blood vessel. |
| infarction | blockage of blood vessel. |
| oxygen glucose | The brain requires a continuous supply of _________ & ________ (cba order) carried by the blood. If interrupted these parts of the brain die. |
| aphasia | inability to use or understand language (spoken or written) because of a brain lesion |
| broca's region | Region responsible for speech production. |
| wernicke's region | Region responsible for speech comprehension. |
| transcortical aphasia | lesion occurs between broca's and wernicke's - resulting in someone who speaks jumbled works but can understand language. They cannot repeat words. |
| nouns speaking verbs writing | Four areas of brocas region that can be broken down (abc order). |
| focus | location of the start of a seizure in epileptic people. Increased overactivity spreads throughout the brain. |
| hippocampus | Structure within brain responsible for forming new memories. |
| visual cortex | located in occipital lobe, it is responsible for sight. |
| dorsal stream | this part of the brain is involved in seeing movement and locating objects in space. |
| ventral stream | this region of the temporal lobe carries information about the shape of an object in the visual field. |
| Franz Gall | Invented Phrenology. Believed each metal trait was correlated with a specific physical characteristic. |
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