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Learning and Plasticity > Chapter 2 - Neuroscience > Flashcards

Chapter 2 - Neuroscience Flashcards

1
Q

Point out the lobes.

A

Frontal, parietal, temporal, occipital.

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2
Q

Where is the cerebellum located?

A

Slightly behind/below the cerebral cortex.

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3
Q

What is the cerebellum known for?

A

It contributes to the coordination of movement.

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4
Q

Where is the brainstem?

A

At the base of the brain.

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5
Q

What does the brainstem do?

A

Connects brain to the spinal cord, regulating breathing and body temperature.

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6
Q

What does the thalamus do?

A

Receives sensory information (touch, sound, sight).

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7
Q

What is the basal ganglia responsible for?

A

Planning and producing skilled movements like throwing a football.

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8
Q

Hippocampus?

A

Important for learning facts or remembering autobiographical events (what you did last summer).

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9
Q

Amygdala is important for what?

A

Adding emotional content to memories.

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10
Q

What is comparative neuroanatomy?

A

The study of similarities/differences between organisms’ brains.

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11
Q

Only ____ have a CNS and PNS.

A

Vertebrates.

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12
Q

____s are the building blocks of the nervous system.

A

Neurons.

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13
Q

What are the three main components of a neuron? What do they do?

A

Dendrites - receive signals from other neurons.
Cell body - integrates signals from dendrites.
Axons - transmit information to other neurons.

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14
Q

What are glia?

A

Cells that provide functional and structural support to neurons.

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15
Q

Phrenology?

A

A study in which skulls of different size and shape were compared with the individual’s (to whom it belongs) personalities/abilities.

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16
Q

Brain lesions?

A

Areas of damage in the brain.

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17
Q

CT scan?

A

Takes multiple xrays at different angles to see how deep something is, locate an abnormality.

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18
Q

MRI?

A

Changes in magnetic fields generate images of internal structure.

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19
Q

DTI?

A

Measures the diffusion of water in the brain tissue, allowing bundles of axons throughout the brain to be imaged.

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20
Q

A ____ is an involuntary response that does not need to be learned.

A

Reflex.

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21
Q

Cerebral cortex?

A

The tissue covering the top and sides of the brain, largest structure of the human brain.

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22
Q

Communicating neurons are separated by a narrow 20 nanometer gap called the ____.

A

Synapse.

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23
Q

Most synapses are formed between the the axon of the ____ neuron and dendrite of the ____ neuron.

A

Presynaptic (sending), postsynaptic (receiving).

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24
Q

Neurons contain molecules called ____ which are chemical substances that can cross a synapse to carry a message to a postsynaptic neuron.

A

Neurotransmitters.

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25
____ are molecules embedded in the surface of the postsynaptic neuron that are specialized to bind with and respond to particular kinds of neurotransmitters.
Receptors.
26
Several areas in the brainstem contain neurons that send axons widely throughout the brain; when they fire, these neurons release neurotransmitters called ____ that can affect activity in entire brain areas, rather than just a single ____.
Neuromodulators, synapse.
27
Neuropsychology?
Patients with brain damage psychology b
28
Karl Lashley's theory of equipotentiality?
Memories are not stored in one area of the brain, rather the brain operates as a whole to store memories.
29
Sensory information is initially processed in the cortical regions of the brain for interpreting particular sensory stimuli. Example?
Auditory cortex for sounds.
30
Primary motor cortex produces outputs that guide coordinated ____.
Movement.
31
Difference image?
An image of differences in the brain activity obtained by fMRI or PET image of a person performing a task and then subtracting the image of the dame individual at baseline (not performing a task).
32
PET scans?
Track glucose consumption in the brain. Attaches a glucose molecule to a radioactive molecule and as it travels through the brain it releases positrons.
33
fMRI?
Detects oxygen by tracking hemoglobin?
34
EEG?
Electrodes record changes in electrical activity.
35
Single-cell recordings?
Use tiny micro electrodes to measure the firing of a neuron, this micro electrode is inserted into a sleeping animal's brain.
36
Synaptic plasticity?
The ability of synapses to change as a result of experience.
37
Long term potentiation?
A process in which synaptic transmissions become more effective as a result of recent activity.
38
Long term depression?
Occurs when synaptic transmission becomes less effective as a result of recent activity.
39
What does learning require?
Physical changes in neurons.
40
Experiences can have a profound ____ on brain organization.
Impact.
41
What is habituation? What is its opposite process?
A decrease in strength or occurrence of behavior after repeated exposure to the stimulus that produces that behavior, sensitization.
42
Acoustic startle reflex?
A defensive response to a loud and unexpected noise.
43
Orienting response?
An organisms natural reaction to a novel stimulus.
44
What is dishabituation?
A renewal of a response, previously habituated, that occurs when the organism is presented with a novel stimulus (a way of responding to old stimuli as if it were new).
45
The reappearance or i crease in strength of a habituated response after a period of no stimulus presentation is called ____ recovery.
Spontaneous.
46
Sensitization?
The phenomenon in which experienced with an arousing stimulus lead to stronger responses in a later stimulus (repeated presentations of stimulus result in a bigger response).
47
Skin conductance response?
A change in the skin's electrical conductivity associated with emotions such as anxiety, feat and surprise.
48
Dual process theory?
The theory that habituation and sensitization are independent of each other but operate in parallel.
49
Perceptual learning?
Learning in which repeated experiences with a set of stimuli makes hose stimuli easier to distinguish (i.e. chicken sexers who see so many chickens so can distinguish a chicken's sex with one glance).
50
Latent learning?
Latent learning is a form of learning that is not immediately expressed in an overt response; it occurs without any obvious reinforcement of the behavior or associations that are learned.
51
Mere exposure learning?
A type of latent learning, learning through mere exposure to stimuli, without any explicit prompting.
52
Training an individual to respond differently to a stimuli is often referred to as ____ training.
Discrimination.
53
Learning specificity?
The degree to which learning about one set of stimuli transfers to another group of stimuli.
54
Differentiation theory?
Suggests that representations of stimuli initially are formed rapidly and vaguely but become more precise over time by incorporating further details as the stimulus is repeated.
55
Spatial learning?
The acquisition of information about one's surroundings.
56
Novel object recognition?
An organism's detection of and response to unfamiliar objects during exploratory behavior.
57
Familiarity?
Perception of similarity that occurs when an event is repeated.
58
Priming?
A phenomenon in which prior exposure to a stimulus can improve the ability to recognize that stimulus later in.
59
Word-stem completion task?
MOT___ If it was just mothers day, one would likely write MOTHER. If someone just went to an insect museum, they will likely write MOTH.
60
Sea hare shit.
Tail is touched, activating sensory neuron T (1 of the 3 sensory neurons), sensory neuron T fires and releases a neurotransmitter into the synapse. The neurotransmitter (glutamate) diffuses across the synapse to activate receptors in motor neuron M.
61
Synaptic depression?
A reduction in synaptic transmissions; a possible neural mechanism underlying habituation.
62
Homosynaptic?
Occurring in one synapse without affecting nearby synapses.
63
Heterosynaptic?
Occurring in several nearby synapses simultaneously.
64
The range of stimuli that cause a particular cortical neuron to fire is called the neuron's ____ field.
Receptive.
65
The capacity for cortical receptive fields and cortical spatial organization to change as a result of experience is called cortical ____.
Plasticity.
66
Receptive fields in regions of the cortex are sometimes multimodal, what does this mean?
The neurons in those areas responded to inputs from more than one sensory modality- i.e. visual AND auditory stimulus.

Learning and Plasticity (7 decks)

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