Biopsychology Intro, Chap 1 and Chap 2.1

Negatively charged ions like ____ are mostly located outside the cell.

chloride

The function of an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee is to?

evaluate proposed experiments to ensure that they minimize pain and discomfort.

The membrane of a neuron is composed of ____ with ____ embedded in them.

fat molecules; proteins

Having camouflage that matches an animal's typical surroundings in order to provide protection from predators is an example of a(n) ____ explanation.

functional

Psychiatrist

helps people with emotional distress or troublesome behaviors sometimes using drugs or other medical procedures.

Inhibitory synapses on a neuron?

hyperpolarize the postsynaptic cell.

Saltatory conduction ____ the velocity of action potentials and ____ the amount of energy used by the neuron.

increases; decreases

What ordinarily prevents extensor muscles from contracting at the same time as flexor muscles?

inhibitory synapses in the spinal cord

Chemicals are released by axons?

into the junction between neurons.

The "spontaneous firing rate" of a neuron refers to?

its rate of producing action potentials even when it is not stimulated.

The resting potential is mainly the result of?

negatively charged proteins inside the cell.

A medical degree is MOST likely held by which specialist?

neurologist

At the microscopic level, we find two kinds of cells____.

neurons and glia

A researcher is interested in how the nervous system responds when the organism is in a certain emotional situation. This researcher might be identified as a(n)?

neuroscientist.

What type of glial cells myelinate axons in the brain and spinal cord?

oligodendrocytes

A(n) ____ describes how a structure or behavior develops, including the influences of genes, nutrition, experiences, and their interactions.

ontogenetic

Voltage-activated channels are channels for which a change in the voltage across the membrane alters their?

permeability.

Explaining differences in running speed as a function of differences in muscle fiber types is an example of a(n) ____ explanation.

physiological

Sodium-potassium pump

protein complex, repeatedly transports three sodium ions out of the cell while drawing two potassium ions into it. Sodium ions are more than 10 times more concentrated outside membrane where potassium are concentrated inside.

What does the electrical gradient do?

pull sodium ions into cell. along with the concentration gradient

At the peak of the action potential, the electrical gradient of potassium?

pushes potassium out of the cell.

What is the difference in voltage called that typically exists between the inside and the outside of a neuron?

resting potential

What is the molecular basis of the action potential?

1. Start, sodium ions mostly outside neuron and potassium ions inside. 2. membrane is depolarized, sodium and potassium channels in membrane open. 3. peak a.p, the sodium channels close.

Physiological Explanation

A behavior to the activity of the brain and other organs

Excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP)

A graded depolarization (excitatory). Result of sodium ions into the neuron. Quick sequence of EPSP's exceed threshold and create an action potential

Spontaneous firing rate

A periodic production of action potentials even without synaptic input.

Synapse

A specialized gap between neurons and was discovered by Ramon Y Cajal

relative refractory period

A stronger-than usual stimulus is necessary to initiate an action potential.

Membrane

A structure that separates the inside of the cell from the outside environment

Microglia

Act as part of the immune system removing waste material, viruses and fungi from the brain. Contribute to learning by removing the weakest synapses. Proliferate after brain damage and most brain diseases

Dendrites

Are branching fibers that get narrower near their ends, Surface lined with specialized synaptic receptors receives information from other neurons.

Ribosomes

Are the sites at which the cell synthesizes new protein molecules. Proteins provide building materials for he cell and facilitate chemical reactions

What are the several types of glia?

Astrocytes, microglia, oligodendrocytes, and radial glia

Hyperpolarization

Axons membrane is at rest with a negative potential inside the axon, use another electrode to apply a negative charge we can further increase the negative charge inside the neuron. the change is hyper polarization, increased polarization

Minimalists

Believe in some animal testing, if the benefits outweigh the costs

Abolitionists

Believe that animal research is murder

Much of biological psychology concerns?

Brain functioning

Afferent neurons

Brings information INTO a structure

Efferent neurons

Carries information AWAY from a structure

Cell body or soma

Contains the nucleus, ribosomes and the mitochondria

A neuron can have many __, but only one ___.

Dendrites, axon

Ontogenetic Explanation

Describes how a structure or behavior develops, including the influences of genes, nutrition, experience and their interactions

Propagation of the action potential

Describes the transmission of an action potential down an axon

Funcional Explanation

Describes why a structure or behavior evolved as it did

Blood-brain barrier

Excludes most chemicals from the vertebrate brain, blocks viruses, bacteria and other harmful chemicals from passage

An evolutionary explanation describes why a structure or behavior evolved? ( true or false )

False

The cell membrane is composed of two layers of?

Fat

Nodes of Ranvier

Gaps in between myelin

Radial glia

Guide the migration of neurons and the axons and dendrites during embryonic development

Behavioral neuroscientist

How functioning of brain and other organs influence behavior

Mind-brain problem

How mind relates to brain activity

Refractory period

Immediately after an action potential, the cell is in a refractory period during which it resists the production of further action potentials.

Oligodendrocytes

In brain and spinal cord, myelin surround insulate certain vertebrate axons

Schwann cells

In periphery of the body build myelin sheaths that surround and insulate certain vertebrate axons, supply axon with nutrients necessary for its functioning.

Myelin

Insulating material composed of fats and proteins

What type of axons don't have myelin sheaths?

Invertebrate

Sensory Neuron

Is specialized at one end to be highly sensitive to a particular type of stimulation, such as light, sound, or touch

What happens once an action potential starts?

It is regenerated at other points along the axon.

Saltatory conduction

Jumping of action potentials from node to node. Providing rapid conduction of impulses, conserves energy

Psychophysiologist

Measures heart rate, breathing rate, brain waves and other body processes and how they vary from one person to another or one situation to another

Selectively permeable

Membrane allows some chemicals to pass through it more freely that others.

Action potential

Messages sent by axons.

What is the charge inside the cell?

Negative

What are the two kinds of cells in the nervous system?

Neurons and glia

Local neurons

Neurons without an axon exchange information with only their closest neighbors. Don't follow all or none law. when it receives information from other neurons it has graded potential which is a membranes potential that varies in magnitude in proportion to the intensity of the stimulus.

What crosses freely through channels in the membrane?

Oxygen, carbon dioxide, urea, and water

What ion starts out in the cell?

Potassium

The "decision" for a neuron to fire is determined by the?

Ratio of EPSPs to IPSPs.

Neurons

Receive information and transmit it to other cells

Evolutionary Explanation

Reconstructs the evolutionary history of a structure or behavior

What are the three R's?

Reduction of animal numbers, Replacement when possible, Refinement (reducing pain and discomfort)

Voltage-gated channels

Regulates sodium and potassium. permeability depends on the voltage difference across membrane.

Temporal summation

Repeated stimuli within a brief time have a cumulative effect

List the steps of a neuron firing in order.

Resting potential, Action potential, Refractory period

Which type of glia builds myelin sheaths around axons in the periphery of the body?

Schwann cells

Who discovered the synapse?

Sherrington

Dendritic spines

Short outgrowths that increase the surface area available for synapse

What crosses freely through the blood-brain barrier

Small uncharged molecules, oxygen , and carbon dioxide.

Threshold

Stimulation beyond excitation produces a massive depolarization of the membrane.

During the entire course of events from the start of an action potential until the membrane returns to its resting potential, what is the net movement of ions?

sodium in, potassium out

Neuroscientist

Studies anatomy, biochemistry or physiology of nervous system

Biological Psychologists

Study the animal roots of behavior, relating actions and experiences to genetics and physiology

Presynaptic terminal

Swells at the tip at the end of the branches on the axon. Also known as an end bulb or button. At that point axon releases chemicals that cross through the junction between one neuron and the next

Inhibitory postsynaptic potential (IPSP)

Temporary hyperpolarization (inhibitory) of a membrane. Occurs when synaptic input selectively opens gates for potassium ions to leave cell

Spatial summation

That is the summation over space. Synaptic inputs form separate locations combine their effects on a neuron

All-or-none law

The amplitude and velocity of an action potential are independent of the intensity of the stimulus that initiated it, provided that the stimulus reaches the threshold.

Reflex arc

The circuit from sensory neuron to muscle response

Concentration gradient

The difference in distribution of ions across the membrane. Sodium is more concentrated outside than inside

Dualism

The idea that minds are one type of substance and matter is another

Monism

The idea that the universe consists of only one type of being

When stating that the neuron's membrane is polarized, you are referring to a difference in electrical potential between?

The inside and the outside of the membrane.

Absolute refractory

The membrane can't produce an action potential regardless of the stimulation

Resting potential

The neuron inside the membrane has a slightly negative electrical potential with respect to the outside, because of negatively charged proteins inside the cell. Difference in voltage

Presynaptic neuron

The neuron that delivers transmission

Depolarize

The neuron that is reduce its polarization toward zero

Postsynaptic neuron

The neuron that receives the transmission

Glia

The other components of the nervous system, perform many functions, idea that glia were like glue that held the neurons together, concept now obsolete

What does the refractory period depend on?

The sodium channels are closed, and the potassium is flowing out of the cell at a faster-than-usual rate

During the relative refractory period?

The sodium gates are reverting to their usual state.

Nucleus

The structure that contains the chromosomes, and ribosomes

Mitochondria

The structure that performs metabolic activities, providing energy that the cell uses for activities, it requires fuel and oxygen

Biological Psychology

The study of the physiological evolutionary and developmental mechanisms of behavior and experience

What is needed for the body to use glucose?

Thiamine and Oxygen

Axon

Thin fiber of constant diameter, conveys an impulse toward other neurons, an organ, or a muscle

Myelinated axons

Those covered with a myelin sheath, found only in vertebrates are covered with layers of fats and proteins. is interrupted periodically by short sections of axon called nodes of Ranvier

An ontogenetic explanation is one that describes the development of a structure or behavior (T or F)

True

The underlying mechanisms of behavior are similar across species.(T or F)

True

Myelin sheath

Vertebrate axons are covered with insulation material. Invertebrate axons don't have myelin sheaths

Glucose

Vertebrate neurons depend on sugar, can gross blood-brain barrier

Protein channels in the membrane allow what to cross in a controlled flow?

Water, oxygen, sodium, potassium, calcium, chloride and other important chemicals

Interneuron or Intrinsic neuron

When a cells dendrites and axon are entirely contained within a single structure

Electrical gradient

When at rest membrane maintains gradient, also known as polarization, a difference in electrical charge between the inside and outside of the cell.

Motor Neuron

With its soma in the spinal cord, receives excitation through its dendrites and conducts impulses along its axon to a muscle

Astrocytes

Wrap around the presynaptic terminals of a group of functionally related axons. By surrounding a synapse between neurons an astrocyte shields it from chemicals circulating in the surround. Also helps synchronize activity of axon, guide formation and elimination of synapses, remove waste material when neurons die and control amount of blood flow to each brain area.

Endoplasmic Reticulum

a network of thin tubes that transport newly synthesized proteins to other locations

The all-or-none law states that?

a neuron produces an action potential of maximal strength, or none at all.

Active transport

a protein mediated process that expends energy to pump chemicals from the blood into the brain

Like an action potential, an EPSP results from?

sodium ions entering the cell

Sherrington found that repeated stimuli within a brief time have a cumulative effect. He referred to this phenomenon as?

temporal summation

Concentration gradients lead to what kind of movements?

the movement of ions to areas of their lowest concentrations

The sodium-potassium pump repeatedly transports ____ sodium ions out of the cell while drawing ____ potassium ions into it.

three; two

Neurologist

treats people with brain damage or disease of the brain

Which chemicals flow most freely across a cell membrane?

water, oxygen, and carbon dioxide

An evolutionary explanation of why we get goose bumps when cold is that?

we inherited the mechanism from our remote ancestors who had more hair.

Which group is most likely to suffer from a thiamine deficiency?

alcoholics

Suppose we applied a drug to a neuron that caused its sodium gates to suddenly open wide. What would happen?

an action potential

When a membrane is at rest, what attracts potassium ions to the inside of the cell?

an electrical gradient

Dendrites ____.

are branching fibers that get narrower near their ends

At what point do the sodium gates begin to close, shutting out further entry of sodium into the cell?

at the peak of the action potential

Reflexes

automatic muscular response to stimuli