Unit 3- Biological Bases of Behavior (8-10%)

Question 1

Neurotransmitters

Answer 1

Chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gaps between neurons. Neurotransmitters travel across the synapse and bind to receptor sites on the receiving neuron, thereby influencing whether that neuron will generate a neural impulse.

Question 2

Action Potential

Answer 2

a neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon.

Question 3

Axon Terminal

Answer 3

distal terminations of the branches of an axon

Question 4

Dopamine

Answer 4

Neurotransmitter acting in the brain that helps regulate movement and emotion, related to Parkinson’s Disease

Question 5

Dendrite

Answer 5

A short branched extension of a nerve cell, along which impulses received from other cells at synapses are transmitted to the cell body

Question 6

Central Nervous System

Answer 6

Brain and spinal cord

Question 7

Peripheral Nervous System

Answer 7

The nervous system outside the brain and spinal cord

Question 8

Efferent Neurons

Answer 8

A peripheral neuron that carries signals from the central nervous system to the target cells

Question 9

Lesion

Answer 9

Selectively destroying small clusters of normal or defective cells in the pursuit of Science or Medicine.

Question 10

Acetylcholine

Answer 10

is one of the best-understood neurotransmitters. In addition to its role in learning and memory, ACh is the messenger at every junction between a motor neuron and skeletal muscle. When ACh is released to our muscle cell receptors, the muscle contracts. If ACh transmission is blocked, as happens during some kinds of anesthesia, the muscles cannot contract and we are paralyzed.

Question 11

Autonomic Nervous System

Answer 11

The part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and muscles of the internal organs such as the heart.

Question 12

Sympathetic Nervous System

Answer 12

The division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situations.

Question 13

Somatic Nervous System

Answer 13

The division of the peripheral nervous system that controls the body’s skeletal muscles.

Question 14

All-or-nothing principle

Answer 14

Principle that a neuron will fire completely if it reaches the threshold or not at all if it does not. It cannot fire at different magnitudes.

Question 15

Pituitary gland

Answer 15

• Master gland of the Endocrine system
• Influences the release of hormones in other glands
• Releases hormones that influence growth

Question 16

Adrenal glands

Answer 16

• Influence energy, blood pressure, and heart rate.
• Release epinephrine(adrenaline) and norepinephrine.
• Fight or flight response
• Part of the Endocrine system

Question 17

Endocrine System

Answer 17

The body’s “slow chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream

Question 18

CAT scan

Answer 18

A series of x-Ray taken from different angles and combined by computer into a composite representation of a slice through the body.

Question 19

Reuptake

Answer 19

The sending neuron reabsorbs the excess neurotransmitters.

Question 20

Endorphins

Answer 20

• Brains own naturally occurring opiates.
• Several types of neurotransmitter molecules similar to morphine in response to pain and vigorous exercise
• “Good feelings” or painkillers

Question 21

Synapse

Answer 21

The meeting point between neurons.

Question 22

MRI

Answer 22

A technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer generated images of soft tissue.
MRI scans show the brains anatomy.

Question 23

Hormones

Answer 23

Chemical messengers that are manufactured by the endocrine glands, travel through the bloodstream, and affect other tissues

Question 24

Excitatory Neurotransmitters

Answer 24

Neurotransmitters that excite which push the neuron to fire

Question 25

Inhibitory Neurotransmitters

Answer 25

Neurotransmitters that prevent a neuron from reaching action potential

Question 26

Threshold

Answer 26

the level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse

Question 27

Receptor sites

Answer 27

The point of attachments to cell membranes for viruses,hormones, or other activators.

Question 28

EEG

Answer 28

An amplified readout of electrical pulses while your brain is at work.

Question 29

Axon

Answer 29

The long threadlike part of a nerve cell along which impulses are conducted from the cell body to other cells

Question 30

Myelin Sheath

Answer 30

A layer of fatty tissue segmentally encasing the fibers of many neurons; enables vastly greater transmission speed of neural impulses as the impulse hops from one node to the next

Question 31

Parasympathetic Nervous System

Answer 31

The division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving its energy

Question 32

Serotonin

Answer 32

A neurotransmitter involved with sleep, depression, and memory

Question 33

Afferent Neurons

Answer 33

Otherwise known as sensory neurons carry information to the brain

Question 34

Corpus callosum

Answer 34

Axon fibers connecting the two cerebral cortex

Question 35

fMRI (Functional MRI)

Answer 35

Produces a live image monitoring blood flow. Shows brain function.

Question 36

Parietal lobe

Answer 36

The home of somatosensory processing of sensations in the skin and muscles of the body

Question 37

Occipital lobe

Answer 37

Home of the visual processing

Question 38

PET (Positron Emission Tomography) Scan

Answer 38

Radioactive glucose enters, and reveals a live image of how the brain consumes energy during a given task.

Question 39

Temporal Lobe

Answer 39

Portion of the cerebral cortex lying roughly above the ears; includes the auditory areas, each receiving information primarily from the opposite ear

Question 40

Brain plasticity

Answer 40

The brain's ability to change, especially during childhood, by reorganizing after damage or by building new pathways based on experience

Question 41

Medulla

Answer 41

The base of the brainstem; controls heartbeat and breathing.

Question 42

Brainstem

Answer 42

The oldest part and central core of the brain, beginning where the spinal core swells as it enters the skull; the brainstem is responsible for automatic survival functions.

Question 43

Cerebellum

Answer 43

The "little brain" at the rear of the brainstem; functions include processing sensory input and coordinating movement output and balance.

Question 44

Pons

Answer 44

Helps to coordinate movement

Question 45

Limbic system

Answer 45

border (“limbus”) between the brain’s older parts and the cerebral hemispheres— the two halves of the brain

Question 46

Amygdala

Answer 46

Influence aggression and fear

Question 47

Identical Twins

Answer 47

Twins who develop from a single fertilized egg that splits in two, creating two genetically identical organisms.

Question 48

Fraternal Twins

Answer 48

Twins who develop from separate fertilized eggs, they are genetically not closer than brothers and sisters, but they share fetal environment.

Question 49

Thomas Bouchard

Answer 49

Psychologist who started a study on separated twins, measuring their personality, intelligence, heart rate, and brain waves.

Question 50

Wernicke's Area

Answer 50

Controls language reception-a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression; usually in the left temporal lobe.

Question 51

Hypothalamus

Answer 51

Controls the endocrine system, as well as metabolic functions like libido, body temperature, hunger, and thirst

Question 52

Left hemisphere

Answer 52

Controls right side of the body, responsible for logic, speech and mathematical thinking

Question 53

Cerebral cortex

Answer 53

The intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells covering the cerebral hemispheres; the body's ultimate control and information-processing center.

Question 54

Right Hemisphere

Answer 54

- Controls left side of the body | - spatial tasks, creative tasks, integrating sense of self, detecting emotions

Question 55

Motor cortex

Answer 55

At the rear of frontal lobe that controls voluntary movement.

Question 56

Sensory cortex

Answer 56

Area at the front of the parietal lobes that registers and processes body touch and movement sensation.

Question 57

Hippocampus

Answer 57

Involved in the transfer of memories from short term/working memory into long-term memory.

Question 58

Heritability

Answer 58

The proportion of variation among individuals that we can attribute to genes. The heritability of a trait may vary, depending on the range of populations and environments studied.

Question 59

Natural selection

Answer 59

The principle that, among the range of inherited trait variations, those that lead to increased reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations.

Question 60

Neuron

Answer 60

Individual nerve cell

Question 61

Sensory Neuron

Answer 61

Carry messages from the body's tissues to the brain and spinal cord

Question 62

Motor Neuron

Answer 62

Carry messages from the brain and spinal cord to the body's tissues

Question 63

Interneurons

Answer 63

The brain's internal communication neurons

Question 64

Phineas Gage

Answer 64

Railroad worker who received frontal lobe damage, changing his personality. Revealed the part of the brain where emotions are regulated.

Question 65

Reticular formation

Answer 65

Midbrain structure that controls bodily arousal and our ability to focus

Question 66

Thalamus

Answer 66

Our brain's sensory relay station, receives information from our senses and sends it to the appropriate areas

Question 67

Frontal Lobe

Answer 67

Our brain's executive functioning center. Responsible for reasoning and emotional control

Question 68

Broca's Area

Answer 68

Area of the brain that allows us to move our muscles to produce speech, damage would lead to difficulty pronouncing words

Question 69

DNA

Answer 69

Complex molecule that contain our genetic makeup

Question 70

Genes

Answer 70

Units of heredity that make up the chromosomes