Unit 3A Neural Processing And The Endocrine System

Question 0

Neuron

Answer 0

A nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system.

Question 1

Biological psychology

Answer 1

A branch of psychology concerned with the links between biology and behavior. (Some biological psychologist call themselves behavioral neuroscientists, neuropsychologists, behavior geneticists, physiological psychologists, or biopsychologists.)

Question 2

Sensory neurons

Answer 2

Neurons that carry incoming information from the sensory receptors to the brain and spinal cord.

Question 3

Motor neurons

Answer 3

Neurons that carry outgoing information from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles and glands.

Question 4

Interneurons

Answer 4

Neurons within the brain and spinal cord that communicate internally and intervene between the sensory input and motor outputs.

Question 5

Dendrite

Answer 5

The bushy, branching extensions of a neuron that receive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body.

Question 6

Axon

Answer 6

The extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers, through which messages pass to other neurons or to muscles or glands.

Question 7

Myelin sheath

Answer 7

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 8

Action potential

Answer 8

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

Question 9

Threshold

Answer 9

The level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse.

Question 10

Synapse

Answer 10

The junction between the axon tip of a sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron. The tiny gap at the junction is called the synaptic cleft.

Question 11

Neurotransmitter

Answer 11

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 12

Reuptake

Answer 12

A neurotransmitter’s reabsorption by the sending neuron.

Question 13

Nervous system

Answer 13

The body’s speedy, electrochemical communication network, consisting of all the nerve cells of the peripheral and central nervous systems.

Question 14

Central Nervous System (CNS)

Answer 14

The brain and spinal cord.

Question 15

Peripheral nervous system (PNS)

Answer 15

the sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system (CNS) to the rest of the body.

Question 16

Nerves

Answer 16

Bundled axons that form neural “cables” connecting the central nervous system with muscles, glands, and sense organs.

Question 17

Somatic nervous system

Answer 17

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

Question 18

Autonomic nervous system

Answer 18

The part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs (such as the heart). Its sympathetic division arouses; its parasympathetic division calms.

Question 19

Sympathetic nervous system

Answer 19

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

Question 20

Parasympathetic nervous system

Answer 20

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

Question 21

Reflex

Answer 21

A simple, automatic response to a sensory stimulus, such as the knee-jerk response.

Question 22

Endocrine system

Answer 22

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

Question 23

Hormones

Answer 23

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

Question 24

Adrenal glands

Answer 24

A pair of endocrine glands that sit just above the kidneys and secrete hormones (epinephrine and norepinephrine) that help arouse the body in times of stress.

Question 25

Pituitary gland

Answer 25

The endocrine system’s most influential gland. Under the influence of the hypothalamus, the pituitary regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands.