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AP Psychology > Unit 1- Biological Bases of Behavior (Aayan) > Flashcards

Unit 1- Biological Bases of Behavior (Aayan) Flashcards

Unit 1 (68 cards)

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1
Q

What are axons?

A

A slender projection of a neuron that transmits electrical signals from the cell body to other neurons to facilitate communication in the nervous system.

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2
Q

What are dendrites?

A

Branching extensions of a neuron. They receive the signals that other neurons send and transmit them to the cell body.

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3
Q

What is the synaptic gap?

A

The small space between the axon of one neuron and the dendrites of the other neuron. The electrical signal is translated to a chemical signal so it can be perceived by the next neuron.

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4
Q

What is myelin?

A

A fatty substance that forms an insulating and protective shield around the nerves, which facilitates rapid and efficient transmission.

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5
Q

What is acetylcholine?

A

A neurotransmitter that acts as a chemical messenger and facilitates communication between neurons and muscle cells. This plays a role in being able to learn, memory, attention, arousal, and more.

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6
Q

What are endorphins?

A

Naturally occuring hormones and neurotransmitters that act as the body’s natural painkillers and mood boosters.

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7
Q

What is serotonin?

A

A neurotransmitter and hormone that plays a role in mood regulation, sleep, and appetite.

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8
Q

What is dopamine?

A

A neurotransmitter and hormone that plays a role in motivation, reward, pleasure, and movement.

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9
Q

What is GABA?

A

A neurotransmitter (amino acid) that is a chemical messenger in the brain and spinal cord that regulates various functions like sleep, anxiety, stress, mood regulation, and cognitive function.

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10
Q

What is glutamate?

A

A neurotransmitter that plays a crucial role in stimulating nerve cells and facilitating processes like learning, memory, and mood regulation.

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11
Q

What is norepinephrine?

A

A neurotransmitter and hormone that plays a crucial role in regulating arousal, attention, cognitive function, and stress reactions, as well as influencing mood and behavior.

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12
Q

Sympathetic Nervous System

A

Part of the autonomic nervous system that activates the fight or flight response, preparing the body for action in stressful or dangerous situations by increasing heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing, while slowing down digestion and other non-essential functions.

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13
Q

Parasympathetic Nervous System

A

Part of the autonomic nervous system that primarily facilitates the body’s rest and digest functions, counteracting the fight or flight response of the sympathetic nervous system.

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14
Q

What is the Medulla?

A

The lowest part of the brainstem, located at the base of the brain, responsible for controlling vital, involuntary functions like breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure.

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15
Q

What are the Pons?

A

A crucial part of the brainstem, acting as a bridge connecting the cerebrum and cerebellum, and playing a vital role in regulating sleep, respiration, and various sensory and motor functions.

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16
Q

What is the Reticular Formation?

A

A network of nerve cell bodies and fibers in the brainstem, crucial for regulating arousal, alertness, sleep-wake cycles, and influencing various physiological functions and behaviors.

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17
Q

What is the Thalamus?

A

A brain structure, often described as a relay station, that processes and relays sensory and motor signals to the cerebral cortex, playing a crucial role in sensory perception, motor control, and consciousness.

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18
Q

What is the Hippocampus?

A

A seahorse-shaped brain structure in the temporal lobe, crucial for forming new memories, learning, and spatial navigation, and is part of the limbic system, which regulates emotions.

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19
Q

What is the Hypothalamus?

A

A brain region crucial for maintaining homeostasis, regulating the autonomic nervous system, and influencing various physiological processes, including sleep, appetite, and hormone release.

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20
Q

What is the Cerebellum?

A

A brain region traditionally associated with motor control and balance, but increasingly recognized for its roles in cognitive functions like attention, language, and emotion regulation, as well as procedural learning.

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21
Q

What is the Amygdala?

A

An almond-shaped structure in the temporal lobe, part of the limbic system, that plays a crucial role in processing emotions, particularly fear and anxiety, and in forming emotional memories.

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22
Q

What is the occipital lobe?

A

The region of the brain responsible for visual processing, including interpreting visual information, recognizing objects, and processing color, form, and motion.

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23
Q

What is the parietal lobe?

A

A crucial brain region located behind the frontal lobe, responsible for processing sensory information, including touch, pain, temperature, and spatial awareness, as well as integrating sensory input from different modalities.

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24
Q

What is the temporal lobe?

A

A brain region crucial for processing auditory information, language, memory (especially forming and retrieving memories), and emotional processing, located near the temples and ears.

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25
What is the frontal lobe?
A brain region crucial for executive functions, including planning, decision-making, and voluntary movement, and also plays a role in personality, behavior, and language.
26
Right hemisphere
Refers to the right half of the cerebrum, often associated with spatial reasoning, visual processing, and emotional processing.
27
Left hemisphere
Refers to the left half of the brain's cerebral cortex, primarily responsible for language processing, analytical thinking, and logical reasoning, and controls the right side of the body.
28
What is Broca's area
A brain region in the left frontal lobe, is crucial for speech production and language comprehension, and its damage can lead to Broca's aphasia, a condition characterized by difficulty in producing fluent speech.
29
What is Wernicke's Area
A brain region in the left temporal lobe primarily involved in language comprehension, particularly of written and spoken language, and damage to this area can lead to Wernicke's aphasia, characterized by fluent but meaningless speech.
30
What is the corpus callosum?
A large bundle of nerve fibers that connects the left and right hemispheres of the brain, enabling communication and coordination between them for functions like movement, sensory processing, and cognitive tasks.
31
What is a CAT scan?
A medical imaging technique that uses X-rays and computer processing to create detailed, cross-sectional images of the brain or other body parts, aiding in the diagnosis and understanding of structural abnormalities.
32
What is an MRI scan?
A non-invasive neuroimaging technique that uses strong magnetic fields and radio waves to create detailed images of the brain's structure and, in some cases, function, aiding in understanding brain-behavior relationships.
33
What is a PET scan?
A medical imaging technique used in psychology to study brain function and activity.
34
What is an fMRI scan?
A non-invasive brain imaging technique that measures brain activity by detecting changes in blood flow related to neural activity, allowing researchers to map which brain areas are active during specific tasks or mental processes.
35
What is an EEG scan?
A non-invasive test that measures the electrical activity of the brain by recording brainwaves using electrodes placed on the scalp, helping to diagnose and monitor conditions like epilepsy, sleep disorders, and brain tumors.
36
What is the pituitary gland?
A pea-sized endocrine gland at the base of the brain that plays a crucial role in regulating various bodily functions and hormones, including stress response, growth, and metabolism.
37
What is the adrenal gland?
Endocrine glands located above the kidneys that play a crucial role in the body's stress response, producing hormones like adrenaline (epinephrine) and noradrenaline (norepinephrine) which prepare the body for "ight or flight.
38
What is the thyroid gland?
A butterfly-shaped gland in the neck that produces hormones crucial for regulating metabolism, growth, and development, and whose imbalances can significantly impact mood, energy levels, and cognitive function.
39
What are beta waves?
High-frequency, low-amplitude brain waves that are commonly observed in an awaken state. They are involved in conscious thought and logical thinking, and tend to have a stimulating effect. Having the right amount of beta waves allows us to focus.
40
What are alpha waves?
Brainwave oscillations that are associated with a state of relaxation, mindfulness, and daydreaming, but also with a relaxed, awake state.
41
What are delta waves?
The slowest recorded brain waves in human beings. They are found most often in infants and young children, and are associated with the deepest levels of relaxation and restorative, healing sleep. Delta is prominently seen in brain injuries, learning problems, inability to think, and severe ADHD.
42
What are sleep spindles?
Brief bursts of brain wave activity that occur during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, particularly stage 2.
43
What is the sleep cycle?
Involves distinct stages of NREM (Non-Rapid Eye Movement) sleep (N1, N2, N3) and REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, each with unique brainwave patterns and physiological functions, cycling through these stages multiple times per night.
44
What are night terrors?
Episodes of intense fear and panic that occur during non-REM sleep, characterized by screaming, thrashing, and a lack of memory of the event upon waking.
45
What is narcolepsy?
A chronic neurological disorder characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) and other sleep disturbances.
46
What is insomnia?
A common sleep disorder characterized by persistent difficulty falling or staying asleep, despite having adequate opportunity to do so.
47
What is sleep apnea?
A breathing disorder during sleep, can lead to significant impacts on mental health, including increased risk of mood disorders, anxiety, and cognitive impairment, due to the disruption of sleep and potential oxygen deprivation.
48
What are stimulants?
A class of drugs that speed up messages travelling between the brain and body. They can make a person feel more awake, alert, confident or energetic. Stimulants include: legal substances such as caffeine and nicotine.
49
What are depressants?
Substances that slow down the central nervous system, resulting in an overall feeling of relaxation. Depressant substances are therefore known for causing an overall relaxing effect on an individual, often resulting in an inability to concentrate and coordinate.
50
What are hallucinogens?
A group of drugs that alter a person's perception of reality. They also change a person's thoughts and feelings. Types of hallucinogens include LSD, peyote, PCP, psilocybin and others. Nearly all hallucinogens are illegal, and researchers don't consider any amount of use safe.
51
What is withdrawal?
The physical and mental symptoms that occur when someone stops or significantly reduces their use of a substance or behavior they have become dependent on, such as drugs, alcohol, or addictive behaviors.
52
What is absolute threshold?
The minimum amount of a stimulus needed to be detected 50% of the time, serving as the point at which a stimulus becomes consciously noticeable.
53
What is Weber's Law?
A psychological principle that describes the relationship between the intensity of a stimulus and the perceived change in that stimulus. It states that the just noticeable difference, the smallest detectable change in a stimulus, is proportional to the original stimulus intensity.
54
What is Signal Detection Theory?
A framework that explains how individuals make decisions about the presence or absence of a stimulus amidst background noise, separating the observer's ability to discriminate the stimulus from their decision-making strategy.
55
What is the pupil?
The adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light passes, and its size is regulated by the iris, the colored part of the eye.
56
What is the lens?
The crystalline lens within the eye, a transparent, curved structure that focuses light rays onto the retina, enabling clear vision.
57
What is the retina?
The light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye that receives images, converts them into electrical signals, and transmits them to the brain via the optic nerve.
58
What are rods and cones?
Rods are responsible for vision at low light levels (scotopic vision), while cones are active at higher light levels (photopic vision) and enable us to see color.
59
What is the fovea?
The central part of the retina, a small area responsible for sharp, detailed central vision and color perception, containing a high concentration of cone photoreceptors.
60
What is the optic nerve?
A crucial part of the visual system, responsible for transmitting visual information from the retina to the brain, enabling us to see and interpret visual stimuli.
61
What is the blind spot?
The area where the optic nerve leaves the eye, containing no light-sensitive cells.
62
What is the eardrum?
A thin, cone-shaped membrane that separates the outer ear from the middle ear, vibrating in response to sound waves and transmitting those vibrations to the ossicles.
63
What is the middle ear?
A crucial air-filled space containing three tiny bones (ossicles) that transmit sound vibrations from the eardrum to the inner ear, facilitating the process of hearing.
64
What is the cochlea?
A fluid-filled, snail-shaped structure in the inner ear that converts sound vibrations into electrical signals that the brain interprets as sound.
65
What is the basilar membrane?
A thin, long structure within the inner ear's cochlea that vibrates in response to sound waves, enabling the brain to interpret different frequencies of sound.
66
What is Vestibular sense?
The sensory system responsible for providing the brain with information about movement, head position, and spatial orientation, playing a crucial role in balance and equilibrium.
67
What is the Kinesthesis sense?
The ability to perceive the position and movement of your body and its parts, even without visual input, relying on sensory receptors in muscles, tendons, and joints.
68
What is the Gate Control Theory?
Suggests that pain perception is not a simple, direct transmission of pain signals to the brain, but rather a complex process modulated by "gates" in the spinal cord that can open or close, influencing whether pain signals reach the brain

AP Psychology (8 decks)

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