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CH 2 Griggs
Psychology: A Concise Introduction (6th Ed):Neuroscience
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| neuroscience | The scientific study of the brain and nervous system. |
| neurons | Cells that transmit information within the nervous system. |
| glial cells (glia) | Cells in the nervous system that comprise the support system for the neurons. |
| dendrites | Fibers projecting out of the cell body of a neuron whose function is to receive information from other neurons. |
| cell body | The part of the neuron that contains its nucleus and the other biological machinery to keep the cell alive and that decides whether to generate a neural impulse in order to pass incoming information on to other neurons. |
| axon | "The long, singular fiber projecting out of the cell body of a neuron, whose function is to conduct the neural impulse from the cell body to the axon terminals, triggering chemical communication with other neurons." |
| myelin sheath | An insulating layer covering an axon that allows for faster neural impulses. |
| neurotransmitter | A naturally occurring chemical in the nervous system that specializes in transmitting information between neurons. |
| synaptic gap (synapse) | The microscopic gap between neurons across which neurotransmitters travel to carry their messages to other neurons. |
| positron emission tomography (PET) scans | A visual display of the activity levels in various areas in the brain generated by detecting the amount of positron emission created by the metabolization of radioactive glucose in each area. |
| functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) | A computerized image of the activity levels of various areas in the brain generated by detecting the amount of oxygen brought to each area. |
| agonist | A drug or poison that increases the activity of one or more neurotransmitters. |
| antagonist | A drug or poison that decreases the activity of one or more neurotransmitters. |
| acetylcholine (ACh) | A neurotransmitter involved in learning, memory, and muscle movement. |
| dopamine | A neurotransmitter involved in arousal and mood states, thought processes, and physical movement. |
| Parkinson’s disease | A disease in which the person has movement problems such as muscle tremors, difficulty initiating movements, and rigidity of movement. These movement problems stem from a scarcity of dopamine in the basal ganglia. |
| blood–brain barrier | A protective mechanism by which the blood capillaries supplying the brain create a barrier that prevents dangerous substances access to the brain. |
| L-dopa | A drug for Parkinson’s disease that contains the precursors to dopamine so that once it is in the brain, it will be converted to dopamine. |
| serotonin | Neurotransmitter involved in levels of arousal and mood, sleep, and eating. |
| norepinephrine | Neurotransmitter involved in levels of arousal and mood, sleep, and eating. |
| selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) | Antidepressant drugs that achieve their agonistic effect on serotonin by selectively blocking its reuptake. |
| selective serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SSNRIs) | Antidepressant drugs that achieve their agonistic effect on serotonin and norepinephrine by selectively blocking their reuptake. |
| GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) | The main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the nervous system. It is involved in lowering arousal and anxiety and regulating movement. |
| glutamate | "The main excitatory neurotransmitter in the nervous system. It is involved in memory storage, pain perception, strokes, and schizophrenia." |
| endorphins | A group of neurotransmitters that are involved in pain relief and feelings of pleasure. |
| central nervous system (CNS) | The brain and spinal cord. |
| peripheral nervous system (PNS) | The part of the nervous system that links the central nervous system with the body’s sensory receptors, muscles, and glands. |
| interneurons | Neurons that integrate information within the central nervous system through their communication with each other and between sensory and motor neurons in the spinal cord. |
| sensory neurons | Neurons in the peripheral nervous system that carry information to the central nervous system from sensory receptors, muscles, and glands. |
| motor neurons | Neurons in the peripheral nervous system that carry movement commands from the central nervous system out to the rest of the body. |
| spinal cord | The conduit between the brain and the peripheral nervous system for incoming sensory data and outgoing movement commands to the muscles. |
| spinal reflex | A simple automatic action of the spinal cord not requiring involvement of the brain, such as the knee-jerk reflex. |
| somatic (skeletal) nervous system | The part of the peripheral nervous system that carries sensory input from receptors to the central nervous system and relays commands from the central nervous system to skeletal muscles to control their movement. |
| autonomic nervous system | The part of the peripheral nervous system that regulates the functioning of our internal environment (glands and organs like the heart, lungs, and stomach). |
| sympathetic nervous system | The part of the autonomic nervous system that is in control when we are highly aroused, as in an emergency, and need to prepare for defensive action. |
| parasympathetic nervous system | The part of the autonomic nervous system that returns the body to its normal resting state after having been highly aroused, as in an emergency. |
| endocrine glandular system | The body’s other major communication system, in addition to the nervous system. Communication is achieved through hormones that are secreted by the endocrine glands and travel through the bloodstream to their target sites. |
| hormone | A chemical messenger that is produced by an endocrine gland and carried by the bloodstream to target tissues throughout the body. |
| pituitary gland | The most influential gland in the endocrine glandular system. It releases hormones for human growth and hormones that direct other endocrine glands to release their hormones. |
| emotion | A complex psychological state that involves a state of physiological arousal, an outward behavioral expression of the emotion, and a cognitive appraisal of the situation to determine the specific emotion and its intensity. |
| James-Lange theory | A theory of emotion proposing that an emotion is determined from a cognitive appraisal of the physiological arousal and behavioral responses, which occur first. |
| Cannon-Bard theory | A theory of emotion proposing that an emotion is determined from simultaneously occurring physiological arousal, behavioral responses, and cognitive appraisal. |
| Schachter-Singer two-factor theory | A theory of emotion proposing that an emotion is determined by cognitive appraisal of the physiological arousal and the entire environmental situation. |
| medulla | A brain stem structure involved in many essential body functions, such as heartbeat, breathing, blood pressure, digestion, and swallowing. |
| pons | A brain stem structure that serves as a bridge between the cerebellum and the rest of the brain and is involved in sleep and dreaming. |
| reticular formation | A network of neurons running up the center of the brain stem that is responsible for our different levels of arousal and consciousness. |
| cerebellum | A part of the brain involved in the coordination of our movements, sense of balance, and motor learning. |
| thalamus | A part of the brain that serves as a relay station for incoming sensory information. |
| basal ganglia | A part of the brain that is involved in the initiation and execution of movements. |
| limbic system | A group of brain structures (hypothalamus, hippocampus, and amygdala) that play an important role in our survival, memory, and emotions. |
| hypothalamus | A part of the brain that is involved in regulating basic drives such as eating, drinking, and having sex., it also controls the pituitary gland and directs the autonomic nervous system to maintain the body’s internal environment. |
| hippocampus | A part of the brain involved in the formation of memories. |
| amygdala | A part of the brain that is involved in emotions by influencing aggression, anger, and fear and by providing the emotional element of our memories and the interpretation of emotional expressions in others. |
| cerebral cortex | The layers of interconnected cells covering the brain’s two hemispheres; is the control and information-processing center for the nervous system and where all other higher-level cognitive processing occur. |
| corpus callosum | The bridge of neurons that connects the two cerebral hemispheres. |
| frontal lobe | The area in each cerebral hemisphere in front of the central fissure and above the lateral fissure. The motor cortex is in this lobe. |
| parietal lobe | The area in each cerebral hemisphere in back of the central fissure and above the lateral fissure. The somatosensory cortex is in this lobe. |
| temporal lobe | The area in each cerebral hemisphere located beneath the lateral fissure. The primary auditory cortex is in this lobe. |
| occipital lobe | The area located in the lower back of each cerebral hemisphere. The primary visual cortex is in this lobe. |
| motor cortex | The strip of cortex in each cerebral hemisphere in the frontal lobe directly in front of the central fissure, which allows us to move different parts of our body. |
| somatosensory cortex | The strip of cortex in each cerebral hemisphere in the parietal lobe directly in back of the central fissure, which allows us to sense pressure, temperature, and pain in different parts of our body as well as the position of our body parts. |
| association cortex | All of the cerebral cortex except those areas devoted to primary sensory processing or motor processing; is where all the higher-level cognitive processing that requires the association (integration) of information (perception and language), occurs. |
| Broca’s area | An area in the cerebral cortex responsible for fluent speech production. It is in the left frontal lobe of the majority of people, regardless of handedness. |
| Wernicke’s area | An area in the cerebral cortex responsible for comprehension of speech and text. It is in the left temporal lobe of the majority of people, regardless of handedness. |
| consciousness | An individual’s subjective awareness of their inner thinking and feeling and their external environment. |
| REM (rapid eye movement) sleep | The stage of sleep that is characterized by rapid eye movements and brain wave patterns that resemble those for an awake state and in which most dreaming occurs. |
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