Unit 3: Modules 9-12

Question 1

What is phrenology?

Answer 1

study of the bumps on the skull; could reveal someone’s personal mental abilities and traits

Question 2

What is biological psychology?

Answer 2

study that links between biological and psychological processes

Question 3

What is a neuron?

Answer 3

a nerve cell, building block of the nervous system

Question 4

What is a dendrite?

Answer 4

neuron’s branching extensions that receive and conduct impulses toward the cell body

Question 5

What is an axon?

Answer 5

neuron extension that passes messages through its branches to other neurons or to muscles and glands

Question 6

What is a myelin sheath?

Answer 6

fatty layer encasing the axons of some neurons, enables greater transmission speed as neural impulses hop from one node to the next

Question 7

What is action potential?

Answer 7

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

Question 8

What us the refractory period?

Answer 8

period of inactivity after a neuron has fired

Question 9

What is the threshold

Answer 9

level of stimulation required to trigger a neuron response

Question 10

What is the all or none response?

Answer 10

a neuron’s reaction to firing or not

Question 11

What is a synapse?

Answer 11

junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the retrieving neuron

Question 12

What are neurotransmitters?

Answer 12

chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gaps between neurons when released they travel across the synapse and bin to the receptor cites; neural impulse

Question 13

True or False: the brain produces its own naturally occurring opiates

Answer 13

true

Question 14

True or False: neurotransmitters operation in isolation

Answer 14

false; they interact, never operate isolated

Question 15

What is an agonist?

Answer 15

molecule, that by binding to a receptor cite, stimulates a response

Question 16

What is an antagonist?

Answer 16

molecule that binds to a receptor site, inhabits or blocks a response

Question 17

What does the CNS contain?

Answer 17

brain and spinal cord

Question 18

What is the PNS?

Answer 18

sensory and motor neurons that connects the CNS to the rest of the body

Question 19

What are sensory neurons?

Answer 19

neurons that carry incoming info from sensory receptors to the brain and spinal cord

Question 20

What are motor neurons?

Answer 20

neurons that carry outgoing info from brain spinal cord to muscles and glands

Question 21

What are interneurons?

Answer 21

neurons within the brain and spinal cord that communicate internally between the sensory inputs and motor inputs

Question 22

What is the somatic nervous system?

Answer 22

division of the PNS that controls the body’s skeletal muscles; voluntary

Question 23

What is the autonomic nervous system?

Answer 23

part of PNS that controls the glands and muscles of internal organs; involuntary (heartbeat, digestion)

Question 24

What is the sympathetic nervous system?

Answer 24

division of the autonomic n.s that arouses the body, mobilizing energy in stress; fight or flight

Question 25

What is the parasympathetic nervous system?

Answer 25

division of autonomic n.s that calms the body and conserves energy; rest and digest

Question 26

What are hormones?

Answer 26

chemical messengers that are manufactured by endocrine glands travel through the bloodstream to affect other tissues

Question 27

True or False: hormones are chemically different from neurotransmitters?

Answer 27

false; chemically identical to neurotransmitters

Question 28

What are adrenal glands?

Answer 28

endocrine glands that sit above the kidneys and secrete hormones that help arouse the body when stressed

Question 29

What is the pituitary gland?

Answer 29

most influential gland in the endocrine system; under influence of the hypothalamus; regulates growth

Question 30

What are lesions?

Answer 30

tissue destruction; naturally or experimentally created

Question 31

True or False: scientists can selectively create lesions

Answer 31

true!!

Question 32

What is an EEG?

Answer 32

amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity sweeping across the brain's surface

Question 33

What is a CAT/CT scan?

Answer 33

x-ray photographs from different angles and combined by computer into a composite representation of the part of brain

Question 34

What is a PET scan?

Answer 34

visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a task

Question 35

What is an MRI?

Answer 35

magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer generated images of soft tissue

Question 36

What is a fMRI?

Answer 36

reveals blood flow, shows brain structure and function

Question 37

What is the cerebral cortex?

Answer 37

interconnected neural cells covering the cerebral hemisphere; ultimate control and info processing center

Question 38

What are glial cells?

Answer 38

cells in the nervous system that support, nourish and protect neurons, play a role in learning and thinking

Question 39

What are the frontal lobes?

Answer 39

portion of the cerebral cortex lying behind the forehead; speaking and muscle movement, making plans, judgements

Question 40

What are the parietal lobes?

Answer 40

receives sensory input for touch and body position

Question 41

What are the occipital lobes?

Answer 41

receive information from visuals

Question 42

What are temporal lobes?

Answer 42

auditory areas, each receiving inform primarily from the opposite ear

Question 43

What is a motor cortex?

Answer 43

controls voluntary movements

Question 44

What is the somatosensory cortex?

Answer 44

registers and processes body touch and movement sensations

Question 45

True or False: We only use 35% of our brains

Answer 45

False nigga!! we only use 10%

Question 46

What does the prefrontal cortex enable?

Answer 46

judgement, planning and processing new memories

Question 47

What are association areas?

Answer 47

part of cere. cortex not involved in higher mental functions such as learning, remembering , thinking and speaking

Question 48

What happens if the Broca's area is damaged?

Answer 48

disrupts speaking

Question 49

What happens if the Wernicke's area is damaged?

Answer 49

disrupts understanding

Question 50

What is plasticity?

Answer 50

the brains ability to change; especially during childhood