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Chemical messengers are used in both the nervous system and the endocrine system. What properties do these two systems share? What properties are different? Which one would be faster? Which one would result in long-lasting changes?

Both systems involve chemical messengers that must interact with receptors in order to have an effect. The relative proximity of the release site and target tissue varies dramatically between the two systems. In neurotransmission, reuptake and enzymatic breakdown immediately clear the synapse. Metabolism of hormones must occur in the liver. Therefore, while neurotransmission is much more rapid in signaling information, hormonal signaling can persist for quite some time as the concentrations of the hormone in the bloodstream vary gradually over time.

What are the implications of compromised immune function as a result of exposure to chronic stress?

Chronic stress can lead to increased susceptibility to bacterial and viral infections, and potentially an increased risk of cancer. Ultimately, this could be a vicious cycle with stress leading to increased risk of disease, disease states leading to increased stress and so on.

The motor cortex sends messages to specific regions of the body to create movement. In which part of the cerebral cortex is it located?

Frontal lobe

Susan, a college freshman, is taking college algebra. She never liked math and fears she will probably not do well in this first math course. She stays up all night studying for the first exam, and the next morning, she enters the classroom to take the test. As she sits down and takes out her pencils, she feels nervous; she begins to sweat, her stomach is upset, and her heart begins to race. What is happening to Susan?

Her body is preparing to respond to stress.

The visual cortex processes visual information. In which part of the cerebral cortex is it located?

Occipital lobe

Carbon monoxide poisoning often damages the occipital lobe of the brain. What might we expect when this part of the brain is damaged?

Problems processing visual information

The significance of the lesion study of Phineas Gage's damaged brain is that it provided evidence that ________.

The frontal lobe is involved in controlling personality traits, emotion, inhibitory control and goal setting abilities.

Hormone secretion is often regulated through a negative feedback mechanism, which means that once a hormone is secreted it will cause the hypothalamus and pituitary to shut down the production of signals necessary to secrete the hormone in the first place. Most oral contraceptives are made of small doses of estrogen and/or progesterone. Why would this be an effective means of contraception?

The introduction of relatively low, yet constant, levels of gonadal hormones places the hypothalamus and pituitary under inhibition via negative feedback mechanisms. This prevents the alterations in both estrogen and progesterone concentrations that are necessary for successful ovulation and implantation.

What happens to testosterone levels of those who lose chess tournaments?

They fall.

Damage to the ________ disrupts one's ability to comprehend language, but it leaves one's ability to produce words intact.

Weirnicke's Area

The ________ gland secretes epinephrine.

adrenal

If the signal exceeds threshold, it is pushed out of the cell body and down the ______toward the ________between this neuron and the next one.

axon, synapse

A psychologist who studies the interaction between hormones and behavior is called a

bio-physiological psychologist

The central nervous system is comprised of the ________.

brain and spinal cord

The central nervous system consists of the

brain and spinal cord.

When a neuron receives a signal, it travels down the dendrite to the ___ , where it is processed.

cell body

The wrinkly surface of the brain is called the ________.

cerebral cortex

The ________ receive(s) incoming signals from other neurons.

dendrites

As Susan enters the classroom and prepares to take the math exam, her bodily changes represent ________.

flight or fight response

Physiological changes such as those activated when Sarah hears spooky sounds while she's out for a run (her pupils dilate, her heart rate and blood pressure increase, etc.) are known as

flight or fight response

The two major hormones secreted from the pancreas are:

glucagon and insulin

Grandma had a stroke that damaged her left frontal lobe. We can expect she will ________.

have difficulty controlling movements on the right side of her body.

The state of equilibrium, in which biological conditions (such as body temperature) are maintained at optimal levels is known as

homeostasis.

Multiple sclerosis involves a breakdown of the ________.

myelin sheath

After a stressful day at school and work, Kristen attends a yoga class. At the end of the class, Kristen lays quietly on her mat while paying close attention to her breathing. Her ________ nervous system is activated.

parasympathetic

As the exam is passed out, Susan takes several deep breaths and closes her eyes. She visualizes herself confidently taking the exam and focuses on her breathing and heart rate. She feels her heart and breathing slow down, and she feels calm and able to focus on answering the questions on the exam. Based on these new physiological responses, what part of Susan's nervous system is now being activated?

parasympathetic nervous system

If your ________ is activated, you will feel relatively at ease.

parasympathetic nervous system

As Larry and Claire begin to run, they hear the man calling them. He yells, "Wait! I didn't mean to scare you. I am a forest ranger, trying the clear part of this trail. Please don't run away." Larry and Claire stop running and turn around to look at the man. They notice that he is dressed in a typical forest ranger uniform and see his identification badge. Not feeling threatened any longer, both Larry and Claire begin to feel "calmed down" and walk back toward the forest ranger to resume their hike on the trail. Their heart rate and breathing began to return to a natural balance in their bodies. These new feelings were triggered by the ________ division of the ________ nervous system, which communicated with the activated ________ gland to stop secreting the energy-producing hormones.

parasympathetic; autonomic; adrenal

The somatosensory cortex is an area just behind the motor cortex that receives information from the skin's sensory receptors and movements from different body parts. In which part of the cerebral cortex is it located?

parietal lobe

The ________ secretes hormones that regulate the body's fluid levels.

pituitary

The ________ secretes messenger hormones that direct the function of the rest of the endocrine glands.

pituitary

Sympathetic activation is associated with ________.

pupil dilation and increased heart rate

Conscious and voluntary movements are associated with the ________ nervous system.

somatic

Our ability to make our legs move as we walk across the room is controlled by the ________ nervous system.

somatic

Which of the following is not a structure of the forebrain?

substantia nigra

The part of the nervous system that prepares the body to respond to threatening events is the ________ division, and the part that helps the body to maintain a normal state of balance is the ________ division.

sympathetic ; parasympathetic

Based on Susan's nervousness and on her physiological responses, what part of Susan's nervous system is being activated?

sympathetic nervous system

Larry and Claire are hiking on a trail in the Rocky Mountains. As they walk, the trail becomes less distinguishable and is overgrown with brush. Suddenly, a man holding an axe jumps in front of them. This scares both of them; their hearts begin to pump faster and their breathing increases. They begin running in the opposite direction to get away from the man. Larry and Claire's response to run away was triggered by the ________ division of the ________ nervous system, which stimulated the ________ gland to produce the hormones ________.

sympathetic; autonomic; adrenal; epinephrine and norepinephrine

The space between a sending and receiving neuron is called a

synapse

Dendrites receive signals from other neurons via ________ . This information is then processed in the ____________ , and if the signal is strong enough, the message is pushed through and travels down the __________ . The signal travels to the end of the axon to the____________ where another signal triggers neurotransmitters to be released, passing through the synaptic cleft onto ____________ of another neuron.

synapses, cell body/soma, axon, terminal buttons, dendrites

Gretchen recently reported randomly hearing songs, and voices from the past. An MEG (magnetoencephalography) revealed she had a tumor causing neurons in the ________ lobe to occasionally fire at random, triggering these auditory illusions.

temporal

The auditory cortex is responsible for hearing and language. In which part of the cerebral cortex is it located?

temporal lobe

The signal travels to the end of the axon, called the image to indicate the ____, where the signal travels across the synapse to the next neuron.

terminal button

The ________ is a sensory relay station where all sensory information, except for smell, goes before being sent to other areas of the brain for further processing

thalamus

A new animal is discovered that is more sensitive to pain in its toes than its fingers. If we were to examine the brain of this animal we would notice that ________.

the parietal lobe would have more brain area devoted to the toes than the fingers.

The left hemisphere of the brain controls

the right side of the body.