exam definitions Flashcards
(204 cards)
1
Q
Central nervous
system (CNS)
A
the brain and the spinal cord; processes and coordinates responses to sensory stimuli
2
Q
Brain
A
a complex structure that receives and processes sensory stimuli from the body and coordinates responses
3
Q
Spinal cord
A
a dense bundle of nerves that carries sensory information from the body to the brain and motor information from the brain to the body
4
Q
Spinal reflex
A
an involuntary and unconscious response to a stimulus involving the spinal cord, which occurs without input from the brain
5
Q
Sensory receptor
A
a sensory nerve ending
6
Q
Sensory neuron
A
a nerve cell that carries sensory signals along an afferent pathway throughout the nervous system
7
Q
Interneuron
A
a nerve cell in the spinal cord and brain that connects motor and sensory neurons by relaying information
8
Q
Motor neuron
A
a nerve cell that sends motor info along an efferent pathway to initiate motor movements
9
Q
Peripheral
nervous system
A
all the nerves outside the CNS that carry messages between the CNS and muscles, organs and glands throughout the body
10
Q
Somatic nervous
system
A
subdivision of PNS that carries sensory info to the CNS and motor info to the body
11
Q
Autonomic
nervous system
A
a subdivision of PNS that controls the body’s internal environment in an autonomous or self regulated manner
12
Q
Sympathetic
nervous system
A
a subdivision of the autonomic nervous system that increases our arousal, readying the body for a quick response
13
Q
Parasympathetic
nervous system
A
a subdivision of the autonomic nervous system that controls the body’s internal environment in an autonomous or self-regulated manner
14
Q
Unconscious
response
A
any response of our nervous system that does not require awareness
15
Q
Conscious
response
A
any response of the nervous system that requires awareness
16
Q
Neuron
A
an individual nerve cell that is specialised to receive, process and/or transmit information within the nervous system
17
Q
Neural
transmission
A
an electrical impulse that occurs when a neuron is activated or fires
18
Q
Neurotransmitter
A
a chemical produced by neurons that carries messages to other neurons or cells within the nervous system, including muscles, organs and glands
19
Q
Synapse
A
the point of communication between two neurons or between a neuron and a target cell such as a muscle or gland
20
Q
Synaptic vesicle
A
a membrane-bound sphere filled with neurotransmitter molecules
21
Q
Synaptic gap
A
the space between the axon terminal of the presynaptic neuron and the dendrite of the post-synaptic neuron
22
Q
Receptor site
A
a membrane protein on the dendrites of neurons that receive and detect specific neurotransmitters
23
Q
Excitatory effect
A
the increased likelihood that the post-synaptic neuron will fire an action potential or neural impulse
24
Q
Glutamate
A
the main excitatory neurotransmitter in the nervous system, which is involved with learning and memory
25
Inhibitory effect
the decreased likelihood that the post-synaptic neuron will fire an action potential or neural impulse
26
Gamma-
aminobutyric acid (GABA)
the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the nervous system, associated with anxiety, specific phobias and Parkinson’s disease
27
Neuromodulator
a subclass of neurotransmitters that alter the strength of neural transmission, by increasing or decreasing the responsiveness of neurons to neurotransmitter signals
28
Dopamine
a multifunctional neurotransmitter with both excitatory and inhibitory effects, that is involved in many central nervous system functions such as movement, pleasure, attention, mood, cognition and motivation
29
Reward pathway
a group ofvstructures invthe brain that are activated by rewarding or reinforcing stimuli
30
Serotonin
an inhibitory neurotransmitter that also acts as a neuromodulator, influencing a variety of brain activities
31
Serotonin
pathway
serotonin’s neuromodulatory system, which originates in the brainstem and extends to almost all areas of the cerebrum including the cerebral cortex
32
Synaptic
plasticity
specific changes that occur within the synapse, between neurons
33
Long-term
potentiation (LTP)
the relatively permanent strengthening of synaptic connections as a result of repeated activation of a neural pathway
34
Long-term
depression (LTD)
the relatively permanent weakening of synaptic connections as a result of repeated low-level activation
35
Sprouting
the growth of axon or dendrite fibres at the synapse
36
Dendritic spine
a dendrite fibre that grows by sprouting on the post-synaptic neuron
37
Filigree
appendage
a fibre that grows by sprouting from the axon terminal of the presynaptic neuron
38
Synaptogenesis
the formation of new synapses that result from the process of sprouting
39
Rerouting
the formation of new connections between neurons to establish alternative neural pathways
40
Pruning
the removal of excess neurons and synaptic connections to increase the efficiency of neuronal transmissions
41
Stressor
any event that causes stress or is perceived as a threat and a challenge to our ability to cope
42
Internal stressor
a cause of stress that originates within an individual; can be both psychological and biological/physiological
43
External stressor
a cause of stress that originates from outside an individual, such as an event or environmental extreme
44
Acute stress
stress that usually occurs because of a sudden threat and only lasts for a short time
45
Chronic stress
stress that lasts for a long time
46
Flight-or-fight-or-freeze response
an automatic biological response to a perceived stressor that increases our chances of survival in our environment
47
Cortisol
a hormone produced by the adrenal glands that regulates a wide range of bodily processes, including metabolism, and is released in response to stress
48
Gut–brain axis
(GBA)
the connection between the CNS and the ENS, that enables bidirectional communication between the brain and the gastrointestinal tract
49
Enteric nervous
system (ENS)
a subdivision of the autonomic nervous system that controls the digestive system
50
Vagus nerve
a nerve that connects the brain (CNS) to organs within the autonomic nervous system, via nerve fibres that directly link organs such as:
- lungs
- heart
- oesophagus
- intestinal tract
51
Gut
the gastrointestinal tract or long tube that starts at the mouth and ends at the anus
52
Gut microbiota
the microbe population found in the gut (digestive system)
53
Microbe
a microscopic living thing found in water, soil and the air
54
General adaptation syndrome (GAS)
a biological model of stress that proposes we have a non-specific biological response to stress that occurs in three stages
55
Transactional
model of stress
and coping
a model that suggests a stress response is only elicited if an event is perceived to exceed our ability to cope and is based on our appraisal of the situation
56
Coping
all the things we do to manage and reduce the stress we experience
57
Coping strategy
a method that we use to manage or reduce the stress produced by a stressor
58
Coping flexibility
the ability to modify our coping strategies to adapt and meet the demands of different stressful situations
59
Context-specific
effectiveness
when a coping strategy matches or is appropriate to the stressful situation
60
Approach strategy
an effort to confront a stressor and deal directly with it and its effects
61
Avoidance strategy
an effort to avoid a stressor and not deal directly with it and its effects
62
Learning
the process of acquiring knowledge or skills resulting from experience; there are many approaches
63
Behaviourist
approach
an approach to learning that states that behaviours are learned through interactions with the environment
64
Conditioning
the learning process by which the behaviour of an organism becomes dependent on an event occurring in its environment
65
Stimulus
an environmental event that triggers a response in an organism
66
Response
a behavioural reaction to a stimulus
67
Classical
conditioning
a simple form of learning that occurs through repeated associations between two stimuli to produce a conditioned
response
68
Acquisition
the process during which an organism learns to associate two events (the neutral stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus)
69
Operant
conditioning
a learning process in which the likelihood of a voluntary behaviour occurring is determined by its consequences
70
Antecedent
an environmental stimulus that triggers an action
71
Behaviour
any observable action by an organism
72
Consequence
something that makes a behaviour more or less likely to occur again
73
Observational
learning
a type of social learning that occurs when a learner observes a model’s actions and their consequences to guide their future actions
74
Social-cognitive
approach
when individuals process, remember and learn information in social contexts to explain and predict their behaviour and that of others
75
Memory
an information processing system that actively receives, organises, stores and recovers information
76
Encoding
converting sensory information
into a useable from that can be processed by the brain
77
Storage
retaining information over time
78
Retrieval
accessing information that has previously been stored
79
Sensory memory
a memory store that receives and stores an unlimited amount of incoming sensory information for a brief time
80
Short-term
memory (STM)
a memory store that has limited capacity of short duration, unless the information is renewed
81
Displacement
adding new single items to short-term memory by pushing out old items
82
Decay
the fading away of information in short-term memory when not maintained by rehearsal
83
Rehearsal
the conscious manipulation of information to keep it in short- term memory for longer or to transfer it to long-term memory
84
Long-term
memory (LTM)
memory that is relatively permanent and holds huge amounts of information for a long time, possibly lifelong
85
Semantic information
information related to meaning
86
Explicit memory
information that can be consciously retrieved and stated, such as ‘known facts’
87
Declarative
memory
an explicit long- term memory of specific facts and events, most of which can be stated or ‘declared’
88
Semantic
memory
the declarative memory of facts or knowledge about the world
89
Episodic memory
the declarative memory of personally experienced events
90
Implicit memory
memory not requiring conscious retrieval, such as ‘how to’ skills
91
Reconstruction
the combining of stored information with other available information to form what is believed to be a more coherent, complete or accurate memory
92
Autobiographical memory
a memory system consisting of episodes recollected from an individual's life, based on a combination of episodic and semantic memory
93
Episodic future thinking
projecting yourself forwards in time to pre-experience an event that might happen
in your personal future
94
Mental time travel
the capacity to mentally reconstruct past personal events and imagine possible future scenarios
95
Amnesia
a permanent or temporary, complete or partial loss of memory
96
Alzheimer’s disease
a neurodegenerative disease characterised by the progressive deterioration of brain neurons, causing memory loss, decline in cognitive and social skills and personality changes
97
Dementia
a collection of symptoms that are caused by disorders affecting the brain
98
Brain scan
an examination of the brain that shows brain activity and tissues that cannot be detected otherwise
99
Lesion
a damaged or abnormal area of the brain that may appear like a scar or wound
100
Amyloid plaque
an abnormal build-up of beta-amyloid proteins between the synapses of neurons that interfere with communication
101
Neurofibrillary tangle
an abnormal build-up of protein inside a neuron that is associated with cell death
102
Brain atrophy
the loss of neurons within the brain
103
Anterograde amnesia
the inability to form new explicit long- term memories after an amnesia-causing event
104
Retrograde amnesia
the inability to retrieve previously stored memories after an amnesia- causing event
105
Aphantasia
the inability to visualise imagery
106
Visual cortex
the primary cortical region of the brain that receives, integrates and processes visual information relayed from the retinas
107
Congenital
present from birth
108
Acquired
present after brain injury or a significant psychological event
109
Mnemonic
any technique used for improving or enhancing memory
110
Written culture
a culture in which stories and information are shared and preserved through the processes of reading and writing
111
Method of loci
a mnemonic system that commits a familiar location or sequence of locations to memory, then visually links them with information that needs to be recalled
112
Acronym
an abbreviation formed from the first letter of each word and pronounced as a single word
113
Acrostic
a phrase (or poem) in which the first letter of each word functions as a cue to help with recall
114
Oral culture
a culture in which information and stories are communicated by word of mouth
115
Sung narrative
a story told through singing, music and sometimes dance
116
Dreaming
a guide to life and living; Dreaming is not just stories, it is art, songs, dance; it is written into the land itself
117
Songline
one of many sung narratives of the landscape that weave across Country and enable every significant place in Aboriginal Dreaming to be known
118
Consciousness
the awareness of your own internal mental processes, including your thoughts, feelings, sensations and perceptions, and your awareness of the external world around you
119
Psychological construct
a concept that cannot be objectively observed or measured directly through the collection of data, but is widely understood to exist
120
Normal waking consciousness
a state associated with being aware of our internal and external environments
121
Altered state of consciousness
any state that differs in awareness when compared to normal waking consciousness
122
Naturally occurring
altered state of consciousness
an altered state of consciousness that occurs without any external influence
123
Induced
altered state of consciousness
an altered state of consciousness that has been brought about on purpose
124
Sleep
a naturally occurring and reversible altered state of consciousness, characterised by a reduction in awareness and responsiveness to external surroundings
125
Non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep
a type of sleep characterised by a progressive decline in physiological activity
126
Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep
a type of sleep characterised by quick darting of the eyes behind closed eyelids and an increase in physiological activity
127
Hypnogram
a line graph that represents the stages of sleep plotted against time
128
Polysomnography
a multi-parameter sleep study used as a diagnostic tool in sleep medicine
129
Electro- encephalography (EEG)
a technique that detects, amplifies and records the electrical activity of the brain
130
Electromyography (EMG)
a technique that detects, amplifies and records the electrical activity of the skeletal muscles
131
Electro- oculography (EOG)
a technique that detects, amplifies and records the electrical activity of the muscles controlling the eyes
132
Sleep diary
a subjective self-report tool used by a person to track their own sleep and wake patterns
133
Video monitoring
a sleep study tool used to collect qualitative visual and audio information about a person’s sleep
134
Circadian rhythm
biological processes that coordinate the timing of body activities over a 24-hour period
135
Ultradian rhythm
biological processes that coordinate the timing of body activities over a period of less than 24 hours
136
Suprachiasmatic nucleus
a master body clock in the hypothalamus that regulates body activities to a daily schedule of sleep and wakefulness
137
Zeitgeber
an environmental cue such as light, temperature and eating patterns that
can synchronise and regulate the body’s circadian rhythm
138
Melatonin
a hormone
that induces drowsiness and decreases cell activity
139
Life span
the period of time a person is alive
140
Partial sleep deprivation
the experience of achieving inadequate sleep in terms of quantity or quality
141
Affective functioning
a person’s experience of their emotions
142
Behavioural functioning
a person’s observable actions
143
Cognitive functioning
a person’s mental processing
144
Blood alcohol concentration (BAC)
the percentage of alcohol in the bloodstream
145
Circadian rhythm sleep disorders
a category of sleep disorders in which sleep is disrupted because the circadian rhythm and a person’s sleep–wake schedule are misaligned
146
Bright light therapy
a therapy to treat a sleep disorder in which the person is exposed to a bright light to reset the sleep– wake cycle
147
Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome (DSPS)
a circadian rhythm sleep disorder characterised by a delay in the timing of sleep onset and awakening compared with the timing that is desired
148
Advanced Sleep Phase Disorder (ASPD)
a circadian rhythm sleep disorder characterised by an advance in the timing
of sleep onset and awakening compared to the timing that is desired
149
Shift work
work that regularly takes place outside
of normal business hours, particularly
at night and the very early morning;
can cause a circadian rhythm sleep disorder
150
Sleep hygiene
the sleep-related behaviours and environmental conditions that are beneficial for sleep
151
Zeitgeber
an environmental cue such as light, temperature and eating patterns that can synchronise and regulate the body’s circadian rhythm
152
Daylight
all direct and indirect sunlight during the daytime
153
Blue light
a part of the visible light spectrum that is emitted from smartphone screens, computer monitors, televisions, LED and fluorescent light bulbs, as well as sunlight
154
Mental health and wellbeing
a beneficial emotional state in which a person realises their abilities, copes with the normal stresses of life, works productively and contributes to their community
155
Resilience
the ability to recover from adversity
156
Mentally healthy
the state of not having difficulty with everyday activities and displaying resilience
157
High level of functioning
the ability to carry out a wide range of daily activities, attend to self- care, maintain interpersonal relationships and demonstrate resilience in the face of everyday challenges
158
Wellbeing
a complex combination of a person’s physical, social, emotional, mental and spiritual health that is linked to happiness and life satisfaction
159
Social wellbeing
relates to the connections you make with other people and your ability to get along with people in a community
160
Emotional wellbeing
relates to the ability to feel a range of emotions and express them in a positive way
161
Life stressor
an everyday or conceivable event, such as
a relationship breakdown, work challenge or failing a test
162
Mental health problem
a relatively short- term disruption that impacts on a person’s everyday functioning
163
Mental disorder
a condition that affects mood, thinking and behaviour and is typically long lasting
164
External factor
a factor that influences mental wellbeing and originates from outside a person, such
as the physical and social environment
165
Internal factor
a factor that influences mental wellbeing and originates from within a person, such
as genetics and hormones
166
Biological factor
a factor that relates to the physiological functioning of the body
167
Psychological factor
a factor that relates to the functioning
of the brain and the mind, including cognitive and affective processes such as thought patterns and memory
168
Social factor
a factor that relates to the social components of a person’s environment
169
Stress
a state of mental or emotional and physiological tension, resulting from factors that are perceived to challenge
or threaten our ability to cope
170
Anxiety
an emotion akin to worrying and uneasiness that something is wrong or something bad is going to happen, usually accompanied by physiological signs
171
Phobia
a persistent, intense, irrational fear of a specific object or event
172
Protective factor
a factor that plays a role in decreasing the chance of developing a mental disorder
173
Biological risk factor
a factor that relates to the physiological functioning of the body, and may contribute to mental disorders
174
Genetic vulnerability
an increased likelihood
that a person will develop a particular mental disorder because of their DNA
175
Stigma
the feeling of shame or disgrace associated with a personal characteristic that indicates you belong to a culturally devalued group in society – this can be real or imagined
176
Mindfulness meditation
the practice of observing the present moment, suspending judgements,
and focusing on something calm and peaceful
177
Specific phobia
a persistent, intense, irrational fear of a specific object or event
178
Gamma- aminobutyric acid (GABA)
the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the nervous system, associated with anxiety, specific phobias and Parkinson’s disease
179
Glutamate
the main excitatory neurotransmitter in the nervous system, involved with learning and memory
180
Dysfunctional GABA system
a failure to produce, release or receive the correct amount of gamma- aminobutyric acid
181
Long-term potentiation (LTP)
the relatively permanent strengthening of synaptic connections as a result
of repeated activation of a neural pathway
182
Behavioural model
phobias are learned through experience
and may be developed, sustained or modified by environmental consequences such as rewards or punishments
183
Precipitate
trigger the onset or exacerbation of a mental disorder
184
Perpetuation
prolonging of the occurrence of a mental disorder and preventing recovery
185
Avoidance behaviour
actions a person takes to escape from difficult thoughts and feelings
186
Cognitive model
a model that describes how people's perceptions of situations influence their emotional and behavioural reactions
187
Cognitive bias
the tendency to think in a way that involves errors of judgement and faulty decision- making
188
Memory bias
distorted thinking that either enhances or impairs the recall of a memory or alters its content
189
Catastrophic thinking
a cognitive bias that involves overestimating and exaggerating the worst possible outcomes to situations even though they are unlikely to occur
190
Specific environmental trigger
an object, situation or circumstance that probably caused a direct, negative traumatic experience associated with extreme fear or discomfort, which then acts as a cue for future phobic fear responses
191
Evidence-based intervention
a treatment shown to be effective in valid and reliable research studies
192
Biological intervention
a treatment targeting physiological mechanisms believed to contribute to a condition
193
Benzodiazepine
a type of agonist drug that works on the central nervous system to make the post-synaptic neuron less likely to fire, which regulates anxiety
194
Agonist
a type of drug that mimics the action of a neurotransmitter that binds to the same receptor by stopping the presynaptic neuron from firing
195
Hyperventilation
rapid, shallow breathing
196
Breathing retraining
an anxiety management technique that involves teaching someone with a specific phobia how to control their breathing in the presence of their phobic stimulus
197
Psychological intervention
treatment that uses activities such as psychotherapy to modify thoughts, feelings and behaviours
198
Psychotherapy
any talking therapy designed to help people with a broad range of mental health issues
199
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
a common intervention consisting
of a range of cognitive and behavioural therapies and learning principles to help people identify and change unhelpful thought processes, feelings and behaviours to more helpful ones
200
Systematic desensitisation
a method for treating phobias in which the phobic stimulus is progressively introduced while the person uses relaxation techniques until their fear is replaced by a relaxation response
201
Relaxation technique
any method or procedure that helps to induce a physiological and psychological relaxation response
202
Fear hierarchy
a list of anxiety- inducing experiences relating to the patient’s phobia, in order from easiest to confront, to the most difficult to confront
203
Social intervention
an intervention designed to increase social support for people with a mental illness
204
Psychoeducation
educating people diagnosed with mental health conditions and their family members about the disorder
and possible treatment options
