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Psychology 1A > Neuroscience > Flashcards

Neuroscience Flashcards

(87 cards)

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1
Q

What are neurons?

A

Cells in the nervous system that communicate with one another to perform information processing tasks

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2
Q

What are the three main parts of a neuron?

A

Dendrites, cell body, axon

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3
Q

What is another name for the cell body?

A

Soma

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4
Q

What is the function of the cell body?

A

To coordinate the information-processing tasks and keep the cell alive

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5
Q

What does the cell body contain?

A

Nucleus

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6
Q

What is the function of dendrites?

A

To receive information from other neurons and relay it to the cell body

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7
Q

What is the function of the axon?

A

To transmit information to other neurons, muscles or glands

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8
Q

What is the axon covered by?

A

Myelin sheath

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9
Q

What is the function of the myelin sheath?

A

To insulate the axon, thereby increasing efficiency of signal transmission

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10
Q

What is the myelin sheath made of?

A

Glial cells

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11
Q

What are glial cells?

A

Cells that support the functionality of neurons

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12
Q

How do glial cells support functionality of neurons?

A

Provide physical support, supply nutrients and enhance neuronal communication

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13
Q

What is a synapse?

A

Junction or region between axon of one neuron and dendrites/cell body of another

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14
Q

How many synapses is an adult thought to have?

A

Between 100 and 500 trillion

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15
Q

What type of signal is transmitted across a synapse?

A

Chemical

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16
Q

What are the three types of neuron?

A

Sensory, motor, interneuron

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17
Q

What is the function of a sensory neuron?

A

To receive information from the external world and convey it to the brain via the spinal cord

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18
Q

What is the function of a motor neuron?

A

To carry signals from the spinal cord to the muscles to produce movement

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19
Q

What is the function of an interneuron?

A

To connect sensory neurons, motor neurons, or other interneurons

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20
Q

What are three types of neuron structure?

A

Purkinje, Pyramidal, Bipolar

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21
Q

What is significant about Purkinje neurons?

A

Elaborate tree-like assemblage of dendrites

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22
Q

Example of Purkinje neuron

A

Purkinje cells of cerebellum

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23
Q

What is significant about Pyramidal neurons?

A

Triangular cell body and a single, long dendrite with many smaller dendrites

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24
Q

Example of Pyramidal neuron

A

Hippocampal pyramidal cell

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25
What is significant about Bipolar neurons?
A few dendrites and a single axon
26
What type of signal is transmitted along a neuron?
Electrical
27
In what direction does the electrical signal travel along the neuron?
Dendrite - cell body - axon
28
What is resting potential?
The difference in electric charge between the inside and outside of a neuron's cell membrane
29
What causes resting potential?
K+ ion concentration
30
What is action potential?
An electric signal/impulse that is conducted along the length of a neuron's axon to the synapse
31
What causes action potential?
Opening of sodium channels and closing of potassium channels, allowing Na+ ions to flow inside the axon
32
What happens when action potential reaches its maximum?
Sodium channels close and potassium channels open, returning neuron to resting potential
33
What are breaks in the myelin sheath called?
Nodes of Ranvier
34
What happens to the electric signal when it passes along a myelinated axon?
Salatory conduction
35
What is salatory conduction?
Electrical impulse jumps from node to node
36
What is the benefit of salatory conduction?
Increases speed of conduction
37
What is the refractory period?
The time following an action potential during which a new action potential cannot be initiated
38
What does the action potential trigger?
Release of neurotransmitters
39
What does the release of neurotransmitters initiate?
Transmission of signal across synapse
40
Where are neurotransmitters released from?
Terminal buttons
41
What are terminal buttons?
Knoblike structures that branch out from an axon
42
What are neurotransmitters?
Chemicals that transmit information across the synapse to a receiving neuron's dendrites
43
What do the dendrites of a receiving neuron contain?
Receptors
44
What are receptors?
Parts of the cell membrane that receive neurotransmitters and initiate a new electric signal
45
What is significant about receptors?
They are specific to a particular neurotransmitter - they fit like a lock and key
46
What are three ways neurotransmitters leave the synapse after transmission?
Reuptake by presynaptic cell, destroyed by enzymes or bind to autoreceptors
47
Where are autoreceptors located?
Presynaptic cell
48
What is the function of autoreceptors?
Feedback inhibition of neurotransmitter release
49
What are 7 neurotransmitters?
Acetylcholine, Dopamine, Glutamate, GABA, Noradrenaline, Serotonin, Endorphins
50
What is a mneumonic to remember the 7 neurotransmitters?
AceDoGluGaNoSE
51
What is Acetylcholine involved in?
Motor control
52
What is Dopamine involved in?
Movement, motivation, emotional pleasure and arousal
53
What is Glutamate involved in?
Learning and memory
54
What is GABA?
Primary inhibitory neurotransmitter
55
What is Noradrenaline involved in?
Control of mood and arousal
56
What is Serotonin involved in?
Regulation of hunger, sleep, arousal and aggressive behaviour
57
What are Endorphins involved in?
Pain pathways and emotion centres of brain
58
What is the name for cells in the nervous system that communicate with each other to perform information-processing tasks?
Neurons
59
Which type of neurons carry signals out to voluntary muscles in order for them to contract or expand?
Motor neurons
60
What is the difference in electrical charge between the inside and the outside of a neuron's cell membrane called?
Resting potential
61
At rest, there is a higher concentration of which ion inside the cell membrane of the neuron?
K+ (Potassium)
62
At rest, there is a higher concentration of which ion outside the cell membrane of the neuron?
Na+ (Sodium)
63
What does the end of a neuron contain?
Many vesicles
64
What do vesicles at the end of neurons contain?
Neurotransmitters
65
What neurotransmitter is most closely associated with pleasure and motivation?
Dopamine (due to "reward circuit")
66
What is the primary excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain?
Glutamate
67
What is the primary inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain?
GABA
68
Both glutamate and GABA are which type of neurotransmitters?
Amino acid neurotransmitters
69
What is the CNS made up of?
Brain and spinal cord
70
What subdivision of the autonomic nervous system would be most associated with the phrase "fight or flight"?
The sympathetic nervous system
71
What part of the brain is dubbed as the brain's "relay station"?
Thalamus
72
What does the thalamus do?
Sends sensory information to be processed in other regions of the brain - particularly the cerebral cortex
73
What part of the brain attaches significance to previously neutral events that are associated with fear, punishment or reward?
Amygdala
74
What are the smooth raised surfaces of the cerebral cortex called?
Gyri
75
What are the indentations or fissures of the cerebral cortex called?
Sulci
76
Which part of the brain helps to provide sense and meaning to information registered in the cortex?
Association areas
77
Which part of the brain shows a great deal of plasticity to learning and memory, particularly relative to spatial navigation?
Hippocampus
78
London taxi drivers may have an overdeveloped what due to plasticity?
Hippocampus
79
The "phantom limb syndrome" can be explained by brain plasticity in which region of the cortex?
Somatosensory cortex
80
What are chromosomes?
Strands of DNA wound around each other in a double-helix configuration
81
What extra chromosome from the father determines maleness?
Y chromosome
82
What is severed in the split-brain procedure?
Corpus collosum
83
What was the medical purpose of the split-brain procedure?
Reduce seizure activity
84
What are two functional neuroimaging techniques?
PET and fMRI
85
What was the name of the man who had an iron rod in his frontal lobe?
Phineas Gage
86
What was the significance of Phineas Gage?
Gave scientists the first clues into the role of the frontal lobes in emotion and personality
87

Psychology 1A (5 decks)

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