Ch 2 & 4: Biology of Mind, Nature vs Nurture

Question 1

Biological psychologists

Answer 1

Study the links between biological (genetic, neural, hormonal) and psychological processes

Question 2

Neuroplasticity

Answer 2

is the brain’s ability to change by reorganizing after major damage has occurred or by building new pathways based on experience

Question 3

Neuron

Answer 3

a nerve cell, the basic building block of the nervous system

Question 4

Cell body

Answer 4

part of the neuron that has the nucleus

Question 5

Dendrites

Answer 5

a neuron’s bushy tail that receives and shares messages from other cells in the form of impulses toward another cell

Question 6

Axon

Answer 6

passes messages away from the cell body to other neurons, muscles or glands

Question 7

Myelin sheath

Answer 7

a layer of fatty tissue that insulates axons and speeds their impulses

Question 8

Glial cells

Answer 8

aka “glue cells”
function to support cells of the nervous system that support, nourish, and protect neurons. They play a major role in learning, thinking, and memory

Question 9

Action potential

Answer 9

is a neural impulse that fires off a brief electrical charge that travels down the axon..is semi-permeable

Question 10

Reuptake

Answer 10

a NTs reabsorption by the sending neuron

Question 11

Endorphins

Answer 11

a natural, opiate-like NTs linked to pain control and to pleasure

Question 12

Agonist

Answer 12

a molecule that increases a NTs action

Question 13

Nervous System

Answer 13

is a communication network that takes in information from the world and body’s tissues, makes decisions, and sends back information and orders to the body’s tissues

Question 14

Central Nervous System (CNS)

Answer 14

made up of the brain and spinal cord functions as the body’s decision maker

Question 15

Peripheral Nervous System

Answer 15

made job is to gather information and transmit CNS decisions to the other body parts

Question 16

Sensory Neurons

Answer 16

afferent, carry messages from the body’s tissues and sensory receptors inward

Question 17

Motor Neurons

Answer 17

efferent, carry instructions from the CNS outward to the body’s muscles and glands

Question 18

Interneurons

Answer 18

found in the brain and spinal cord. Functions to communicate internally and process information between the sensory inputs and motor outputs

Question 19

The Peripheral Nervous System has 2 parts called the…

Answer 19

Somatic and Autonomic

Question 20

Somatic vs. Autonomic Nervous Systems

Answer 20

SNS: enables voluntary movement of our skeletal muscles

ANS: controls our glands and our internal organ muscles

Question 21

The Autonomic Nervous System is made up of which 2 parts (or systems)

Answer 21

sympathetic and parasympathetic

Question 22

Sympathetic Nervous System

Answer 22

arouses and expends energy

Question 23

Parasympathetic Nervous System

Answer 23

produces the opposite effects of, it conserves energy as it calms you

Question 24

Adrenal glands

Answer 24

a pair of endocrine glands that sits just above the kidneys and secretes hormones that help arouse the body in times of stress

Question 25

Pituitary glands

Answer 25

the endocrine system’s most influential gland. Regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands

Question 26

Which structures make up the brainstem?

Answer 26

Brainstem
Thalamus
Reticular Formation
Cerebellum

Question 27

What are the functions of the brainstem, thalamus, reticular formation, and cerebellum?

Answer 27

The brainstem…
The thalamus..
The reticular formation…
The cerebellum

Question 28

What are the limbic system’s structures and functions?

Answer 28

Amygdala
Hypothalamus
Hippocampus

Question 29

What four lobes make up the cerebral cortex?

Question 29

What are the functions of the motor cortex, somatosensory cortex, and association areas?

Question 30

In Responses to Damage

What is neurogenesis?