Biopsychology

Pons

A brain structure that relays information from the cerebellum to the rest of the brain

peripheral nervous system

A division of the nervous system consisting of all nerves that are not part of the brain or spinal cord.

Cerebellum

A large structure of the hindbrain that controls fine motor skills.

Amygdala

A limbic system structure involved in memory and emotion, particularly fear and aggression.

heritability coefficient.

A measure of the strength of the relationship between individual differences in a given trait and individual genetic differences is called the

Hippocampus

A neural center located in the limbic system that helps process explicit memories for storage.

Hypothalamus

A neural structure lying below the thalamus; it directs several maintenance activities (eating, drinking, body temperature), helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland, and is linked to emotion and reward.

frontal lobe

A region of the cerebral cortex that has specialized areas for movement, abstract thinking, planning, memory, and judgement

parietal lobe

A region of the cerebral cortex whose functions include processing information about touch.

Midbrain

A small part of the brain above the pons that integrates sensory information and relays it upward.

receptors

Agonists and antagonists mimic or impede neurotransmitters by binding to ________.

substantia nigra

An area of the midbrain that is involved in motor control and contains a large concentration of dopamine-producing neurons

a fraction of an inch to several feet

Axons range in length from __________ to _________.

Borca's area

Controls language expression - an area of the frontal lobe, usually in the left hemisphere, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech.

difficulty speaking

Damage to Broca's area may cause

sodium

During action potential, positively charged ________ ions move inside the cell.

10,000

Each synaptic vesicle contains about __________ neurotransmitter molecules.

hypothalamus and pituitary gland

Hormones are involved in regulating all sorts of bodily functions, and they are ultimately controlled through interactions between the ____________ (in the central nervous system) and the ____________ ___________ (in the endocrine system)

Athletes who win their events may experience elevated testosterone levels and elevated sex drives.

It has been rumored that Olympic athletes living at the Olympic Village have lots of sex with each other. What is one possible explanation for this behavior?

synaptic vesicles

Membrane-bounded compartments in which synthesized neurotransmitters are kept.

is routed through the limbic system.

One reason smells often evoke memories is that the sense of smell

Neurotransmitter

Psychotropic medications are drugs that treat psychiatric symptoms by restoring ________ balance.

endocrine system; hormones

The _______ ________ consists of a series of glands that produce chemical substances known as _________.

Amygdala

The ________ is involved in our experience of emotion and tying emotional meaning to our memories.

somatic

The ________ nervous system is involved in the relay of sensory and motor information to the central nervous system.

sympathetic

The ________ nervous system is responsible for responses such as pupil dilation, increased heart rate, and increased respiration.

cerebral cortex

The ________ plays an important role in higher-level thinking and decision making.

axon hillock

The conical region of a neuron's axon where it joins the cell body; is typically the region where nerve signals are generated.

cerebral cortex

The intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells covering the cerebral hemispheres; the body's ultimate control and information-processing center.

separates the brain into two hemispheres

The longitudinal fissure

Depolarization

The process during the action potential when sodium is rushing into the cell causing the interior to become more positive.

membrane potential

The voltage across a cell's plasma membrane.

they fall

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

an electroencephalograph (EEG)

Which type of brain imaging is especially helpful in the study of sleep disorders?

range of reaction

________ asserts that our genes set the boundaries within which we can operate, and our environment interacts with our genes to determine where within those boundaries we will fall.

Action potential

________ is the electrical signal that typically moves from the cell body down the axon to the axon terminals.

glial cells; neurons

________, which play a supportive role in the nervous system, vastly outnumber ________.

Sensory nerves; motor nerves

__________ _________ bring messages in; __________ _________ send messages out to the muscles and organs.

Glial cells

___________ __________ provide scaffolding on which the nervous system is built, help neurons align, transport nutrients and waste products, and mediate immune responses.

Sodium (Na+); Potassium (K+)

_____________ is in higher concentrations outside the cell; _____________ is more concentrated inside the cell

adoption study

a behavior genetic research method that involves comparison of adopted children to their adoptive and biological parents

twin studies

a behavior genetic research method that involves comparison of the similarity of identical (monozygotic; MZ) and fraternal (dizygotic; DZ) twins

ventral tegmental area

a group of dopamine-containing neurons located in the midbrain whose axons project to the forebrain, especially the nucleus accumbens and cortex

Positron Emission Tomography (PET)

a method of brain imaging that assesses metabolic activity by using a radioactive substance injected into the bloodstream

reticular formation

a nerve network in the brainstem that plays an important role in regulating sleep, arousal, motor activity

action potential

a neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon

CT scan (computerized tomography)

a series of x-ray photographs taken from different angles and combined by computer into a composite representation of a slice through the body

resting potential

a state of readiness where, like a rubber band stretched out and waiting to spring into action, ions line up on either side of the cell membrane

synaptic cleft

a very small space between two neurons where communication between neurons occurs.

motor cortex (in frontal lobe)

an area at the rear of the frontal lobes that controls voluntary movements

hereditary coefficient

an easily misinterpreted statistical construct that purports to measure the role of genetics in the explanation of differences among individuals

somatosensory cortex

area at the front of the parietal lobes that registers and processes body touch and movement sensations

motor cortex

area at the rear of the frontal lobes that controls voluntary movements

magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

brain-imaging method using radio waves and magnetic fields of the body to produce detailed images of the brain

Hormone

chemical messenger released by endocrine gland

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

connects the brain and spinal cord to the muscles, organs and senses in the periphery of the body

Wernicke's area

damage to _________ ___________ can produce sensible language, but they are unable to understand it.

Four lobes of the brain

frontal, parietal, occipital, temporal

Nodes of Ranvier

gaps in the myelin sheath

temporal lobe function

hearing, smell, memory

old brain

hindbrain and midbrain

frontal lobe function

involved in motor function: speaking, planning, problem solving, memory, judgment, impulse control

somatic nervous system

is associated with activities traditionally thought of as conscious or voluntary

threshold of excitation

level of charge in the membrane that causes the neuron to become active

Hindbrain

medulla, pons, cerebellum

limbic system

neural system (including the hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamus) located below the cerebral hemispheres; associated with emotions and drives...and smells

limbic system

neural system located below the cerebral hemispheres; associated with emotions and drives

semipermeable membrane

neuron's outer surface is made up of a ________ _______ which allows smaller molecules and molecules without an electrical charge to pass through it.

sympathetic nervous system

prepares the body for action or "stress-related activities."

Receptors

proteins on the cell surface where neurotransmitters attach. They vary in shape, with different shapes "matching" different neurotransmitters.

Phineas Gage

railroad worker who survived a severe brain injury that dramatically changed his personality and behavior; case played a role in the development of the understanding of the localization of brain function

parasympathetic nervous system

rest and digest

pituitary gland

secretes a number of key hormones, which regulate fluid levels in the body, and a number of messenger hormones, which direct the activity of other glands in the endocrine system

Pancreas

secretes hormones that regulate blood sugar (insulin and glucagon)

Thyroid

secretes hormones that regulate growth, metabolism, and appetite

Gonads

secretes sexual hormones, which are important for successful reproduction, and mediate both sexual motivation and behavior

adrenal glands

sit atop our kidneys and secretes hormones involved in the stress response

parietal lobe function

somatic sensory processing; sense of touch body position

Functional MRI (fMRI)

technique that uses magnetic fields to visualize brain activity using changes in blood oxygen level

auditory cortex

the area of the temporal lobe responsible for processing sound information

terminal buttons; synaptic vesicles; neurotransmitters

the axon ends at multiple ________ _______. The terminal buttons contain ________ ________ that house ___________.

Medulla

the base of the brainstem; controls heartbeat and breathing

endocrine system

the body's "slow" chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream

Thalamus

the brain's sensory control center, located on top of the brainstem; it directs messages to the sensory receiving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla

gyri and sulci (gyrus and sulcus in singular)

the cerebral cortex is very uneven and characterized by a distinctive pattern of folds or bumps, known as ________ and grooves, known as ______.

somatic nervous system

the division of the peripheral nervous system that controls the body's skeletal muscles; associated with activities traditionally thought of as conscious or voluntary

behavioral genetics

the empirical science of how genes and environments combine to generate behavior

prefrontal cortex

the frontmost portion of the frontal lobes, especially prominent in humans; important for attention, working memory, decision making, appropriate social behavior, and personality

corpus callosum

the large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages between them

autonomic nervous system

the part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs (such as the heart). Its sympathetic division arouses; its parasympathetic division calms.

occipital lobe

vision, perception

soma, dendrites, axons, terminal buttons, and synaptic vesicles

what are the neuron's specialized structures?