Module 2: Chapter 2/3

Question 1

Nervous System

Answer 1

sends messages, or electrical signals, between your brain and all the other parts of your body.

Question 2

Plasticity

Answer 2

denotes the brain’s special capacity for change.

Question 3

Afferent Nerves or Sensory Nerves

Answer 3

carry information to the brain and the spinal cord.
*seeing a sunrise, feeling hungry or tired

Question 4

Efferent Nerves or Motor Nerves

Answer 4

carry information out of the brain and spinal cord. (carry nervous system’s output)
*tells our muscles what to do as we move

Question 5

Neural Networks

Answer 5

Network of nerve cells that integrate sensory input and motor output.

Question 6

Central Nervous System (CNS)

Answer 6

brain and spinal cord

Question 7

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

Answer 7

the network of nerves that connects the brain and spinal cord to other parts of the body.

Question 8

Function of Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

Answer 8

to bring information to and from the brain and spinal cord and to carry out the commands of the CNS to execute various muscular and glandular activities.

Question 9

What are the 2 major divisions of Peripheral Nervous System?

Answer 9

Somatic Nervous System and Autonomic Nervous System

Question 10

Somatic Nervous System

Answer 10

consists of sensory nerves (afferent), whose function is to convey information from the skin and muscles to the CNS about conditions such as pain and temperature, and motor nerves (efferent), whose function is to tell muscles what to do.

Question 11

Autonomic Nervous System

Answer 11

takes messages to and from the body’s internal organs, monitoring such processes as breathing, heart rate, and digestion.

Question 12

What are 2 parts that Autonomic Nervous System is divided into?

Answer 12

Sympathetic Nervous System and Parasympathetic Nervous System

Question 13

Sympathetic Nervous System

Answer 13

arouses the body to mobilize it for action and thus is involved in the experience of stress

Question 14

Parasympathetic Nervous System

Answer 14

Calms the body

Question 15

Stress

Answer 15

body’s response to environmental stressors

Question 16

Stressors

Answer 16

circumstances and events that threaten people and tax their coping abilities.

Question 17

What happens to our body when it experiences Stress?

Answer 17

our body readies itself to handle the assault of stress

Question 18

Fight-or-Flight Reaction

Answer 18

quickly mobilizes the body’s physiological resources to prepare the organism to deal with threats to survival.

Question 19

Chronic Stress

Answer 19

stress that goes on continuously

Question 20

Neurons

Answer 20

nerve cells that handle the information-processing function.

Question 21

Glial Cells

Answer 21

provide support, nutritional benefits, and other functions in the nervous system

Question 22

Cell Body

Answer 22

contains the nucleus, which directs the manufacture of substances that the neuron needs for growth and maintenance.

Question 23

Dendrites

Answer 23

treelike fibers projecting from a neuron, receive information and orient it toward the neuron’s cell body.

Question 24

Axon

Answer 24

the part of the neuron that carries information away from the cell body toward other cells.

Question 25

Myelin Sheath

Answer 25

consisting of a layer of cells containing fat, encases and insulates most axons.

Question 26

Resting Potential

Answer 26

The stable, negative charge of an inactive neuron.

Question 27

Action Potential

Answer 27

describes the brief wave of positive electrical charge that sweeps down the axon

Question 28

All-or-nothing principle

Answer 28

The principle that once the electrical impulse reaches a certain level of intensity (its threshold), it fires and moves all the way down the axon without losing any intensity.

Question 29

Synapses

Answer 29

tiny spaces between neurons

Question 30

What is the gap between neurons?

Answer 30

synaptic gap

Question 31

What is chemical substances are stored in very tiny synaptic vesicles (sacs) within the terminal buttons?

Answer 31

neurotransmitters

Question 32

Acetylchlorine

Answer 32

usually stimulates the firing of neurons and is involved in the action of muscles, learning, and memory

Question 33

GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid)

Answer 33

-keeps many neurons from firing -helps to control the precision of the signal being carried from one neuron to the next.

Question 34

Glutamate

Answer 34

key role in exciting many neurons to fire and is especially involved in learning and memory

Question 35

Norepinephrine

Answer 35

inhibits the firing of neurons in the central nervous system, but it excites the heart muscle, intestines, and urogenital tract.

Question 36

Dopamine

Answer 36

helps to control voluntary movement and affects sleep, mood, attention, learning, and the ability to recognize rewards and other important signals in the environment

Question 37

Serotonin

Answer 37

is involved in the regulation of sleep, mood, attention, and learning.

Question 38

Endorphins

Answer 38

are natural opiates that mainly stimulate the firing of neurons. * shield the body from pain and elevate feelings of pleasure.

Question 39

Oxytocin

Answer 39

is a hormone and neurotransmitter that plays an important role in the experience of love and social bonding

Question 40

Agonist

Answer 40

is a drug that mimics or increases a neurotransmitter’s effects.

Question 41

Antagonist

Answer 41

is a drug that blocks a neurotransmitter’s effects.

Question 42

Hindbrain

Answer 42

located at the skull’s rear, is the lowest portion of the brain.

Question 43

What are 3 main parts of the Hindbrain?

Answer 43

medulla, cerebellum, and pons

Question 44

Medulla

Answer 44

governs breathing, heart rate, and reflexes

Question 45

Cerebellum

Answer 45

rounded structure involved in motor coordination

Question 46

Pons

Answer 46

contains several clusters of fibers involved in sleep and arousal

Question 47

Brain Stem

Answer 47

connects with the spinal cord at its lower end and then extends upward to encase the reticular formation in the midbrain.

Question 48

Midbrain

Answer 48

located between the hindbrain and forebrain, is an area in which many nerve-fiber systems ascend and descend to connect the higher and lower portions of the brain

Question 49

What is the midbrain's function?

Answer 49

relays information between the brain and the eyes and ears.

Question 50

Reticular Formation

Answer 50

a diffuse collection of neurons involved in stereotyped patterns of behavior such as walking, sleeping, and turning to attend to a sudden noise.

Question 51

Forebrain

Answer 51

The brain’s largest division and its most forward part.

Question 52

limbic system

Answer 52

a loosely connected network of structures under the cerebral cortex, is important in both memory and emotion

Question 53

Amygdala

Answer 53

An almond-shaped structure within the base of the temporal lobe that is involved in the discrimination of objects that are necessary for the organism’s survival, such as appropriate food, mates, and social rivals.

Question 54

hippocampus

Answer 54

has a special role in the storage of memories

Question 55

thalamus

Answer 55

The forebrain structure that sits at the top of the brain stem in the brain’s central core and serves as an important relay station

Question 56

basal ganglia

Answer 56

Large neuron clusters located above the thalamus and under the cerebral cortex that work with the cerebellum and the cerebral cortex to control and coordinate voluntary movements.

Question 57

hypothalamus

Answer 57

A small forebrain structure, located just below the thalamus, that monitors three pleasurable activities—eating, drinking, and sexual behavior—as well as emotion, stress, and reward.

Question 58

cerebral cortex

Answer 58

part of the forebrain and is the most recently developed part of the brain in the evolutionary scheme.

Question 59

neocortex

Answer 59

The outermost part of the cerebral cortex, making up 80 percent of the human brain’s cortex.

Question 60

occipital lobes

Answer 60

located at the back of the brain, respond to visual stimuli.

Question 61

temporal lobes

Answer 61

the part of the cerebral cortex just above the ears, are involved in hearing, language processing, and memory.

Question 62

frontal lobes

Answer 62

the portion of the cerebral cortex behind the forehead, are involved in personality, intelligence, and the control of voluntary muscles.

Question 63

prefrontal lobes

Answer 63

which is at the front of the motor cortex and is involved in higher cognitive functions such as planning, reasoning, and self-control.

Question 64

parietal lobes

Answer 64

located at the top and toward the rear of the head, are involved in registering spatial location, attention, and motor control