question

A positron emission tomography (PET) scan depicts brain activity by

answer

detecting where radioactive forms of glucose are located during a given task.

question

The _____ sits between the brainstem and the pons

answer

medulla

question

The _____ lobes are located at the rear of the brain

answer

occipital

question

Research with split-brain patients led Michael Gazzaniga to conclude that the _____ typically constructs the theories people offer to explain their own behaviors.

answer

left cerebral hemisphere

question

Active neurons require _____ the way a car requires fuel

answer

glucose

question

In 1949, Giuseppe Moruzzi and Horace Magoun severed a cat's _____ from higher brain regions; the cat lapsed into a permanent coma.

answer

reticular formation

question

How do neurotransmitters influence behavior, and how do drugs and other chemicals affect neurotransmission?

answer

Neurotransmitters travel designated pathways in the brain and may influence specific behaviors and emotions. Acetylcholine affects muscle action, learning, and memory. Endorphins are natural opiates released in response to pain and exercise. Drugs and other chemicals affect brain chemistry at synapses. Agonists excite by mimicking particular neurotransmitters or by blocking their reuptake. Antagonists inhibit a particular neurotransmitter's release or block its effect.

question

What are the functions of the nervous system's main divisions, and what are the three main types of neurons?

answer

The central nervous system (CNS)—the brain and the spinal cord—is the nervous system's decision maker. The peripheral nervous system (PNS), which connects the CNS to the rest of the body by means of nerves, gathers information and transmits CNS decisions to the rest of the body. The two main PNS divisions are the somatic nervous system (which enables voluntary control of the skeletal muscles) and the autonomic nervous system (which controls involuntary muscles and glands by means of its sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions). Neurons cluster into working networks. There are three types of neurons: (1) Sensory neurons carry incoming information from sense receptors to the brain and spinal cord. (2) Motor neurons carry information from the brain and spinal cord out to the muscles and glands. (3) Interneurons communicate within the brain and spinal cord and between sensory and motor neurons. In addition, glial cells support, nourish, and protect neurons and may also play a role in learning and thinking.

question

How does the endocrine system transmit information and interact with the nervous system?

answer

The endocrine system is a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream, where they travel through the body and affect other tissues, including the brain. The endocrine system's master gland, the pituitary, influences hormone release by other glands. In an intricate feedback system, the brain's hypothalamus influences the pituitary gland, which influences other glands, which release hormones, which in turn influence the brain.

question

How do neuroscientists study the brain's connections to behavior and mind?

answer

Clinical observations and lesioning reveal the general effects of brain damage. Electrical, chemical, or magnetic stimulation can also reveal aspects of information processing in the brain. MRI scans show anatomy. EEG, PET, and fMRI (functional MRI) recordings reveal brain function.

question

What structures make up the brainstem, and what are the functions of the brainstem, thalamus, and cerebellum?

answer

The brainstem, the oldest part of the brain, is responsible for automatic survival functions. Its components are the medulla (which controls heartbeat and breathing), the pons (which helps coordinate movements), and the reticular formation (which affects arousal). The thalamus, sitting above the brainstem, acts as the brain's sensory switchboard. The cerebellum, attached to the rear of the brainstem, coordinates muscle movement and balance and also helps process sensory information.

question

What are the limbic system's structures and functions?

answer

The limbic system is linked to emotions, memory, and drives. Its neural centers include the hippocampus (which processes conscious memories); the amygdala (involved in responses of aggression and fear); and the hypothalamus (involved in various bodily maintenance functions, pleasurable rewards, and the control of the endocrine system). The pituitary (the "master gland") controls the hypothalamus by stimulating it to trigger the release of hormones.

question

What are the functions of the various cerebral cortex regions?

answer

The cerebral cortex has two hemispheres, and each hemisphere has four lobes: the frontal, parietal, occipital, and temporal. Each lobe performs many functions and interacts with other areas of the cortex. The motor cortex, at the rear of the frontal lobes, controls voluntary movements. The sensory cortex, at the front of the parietal lobes, registers and processes body touch and movement sensations. Body parts requiring precise control (in the motor cortex) or those that are especially sensitive (in the sensory cortex) occupy the greatest amount of space. Most of the brain's cortex—the major portion of each of the four lobes—is devoted to uncommitted association areas, which integrate information involved in learning, remembering, thinking, and other higher-level functions. Our mental experiences arise from coordinated brain activity.

question

To what extent can a damaged brain reorganize itself, and what is neurogenesis?

answer

If one hemisphere is damaged early in life, the other will pick up many of its functions by reorganizing or building new pathways. This plasticity diminishes later in life. The brain sometimes mends itself by forming new neurons, a process known as neurogenesis

question

What do split brains reveal about the functions of our two brain hemispheres?

answer

Split-brain research (experiments on people with a severed corpus callosum) has confirmed that in most people, the left hemisphere is the more verbal, and that the right hemisphere excels in visual perception and the recognition of emotion. Studies of healthy people with intact brains confirm that each hemisphere makes unique contributions to the integrated functioning of the brain.

question

biological perspective:

answer

concerned with the links between biology and behavior. Includes psychologists working in neuroscience, behavior genetics, and evolutionary psychology. These researchers may call themselves behavioral neuroscientists, neuropsychologists, behavior geneticists, physiological psychologists, or biopsychologists. (p. 48)

question

Why are psychologists concerned with human biology?

answer

Psychologists working from a biological perspective study the links between biology and behavior. We are biopsychosocial systems, in which biological, psychological, and social-cultural factors interact to influence behavior.

question

What do phrenology and psychology's biological perspective have in common?

answer

They share a focus on the links between biology and behavior. Phrenology faded because it had no scientific basis—skull bumps don't reveal mental traits and abilities.

question

dendrites

answer

receive info from other cells

question

axon

answer

passes info away from cell body to other neurons, muscles, and glands

question

neural impulse

answer

aka action potential goes away from cell body travelling down the axon towards the terminal axon

question

myelin sheath

answer

covers the axon of some neurons. helps speed neural impulses.vastly greater transmission speed as neural impulses hop from one node to the next.

question

If the myelin sheath degenerates

answer

, multiple sclerosis results: Communication to muscles slows, with eventual loss of muscle control.

question

If excitatory signals minus inhibitory signals exceed a minimum intensity, or threshold

answer

, the combined signals trigger an action potential.

question

Increasing the level of stimulation above the threshold will not increase the neural impulse's intensity. True or false?

answer

True The neuron's reaction is an all-or-none response

question

How does our nervous system allow us to experience the difference between a slap and a tap on the back?

answer

Stronger stimuli (the slap) cause more neurons to fire and to fire more frequently than happens with weaker stimuli (the tap).

question

synapse

answer

the junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron. The tiny gap at this junction is called the synaptic gap or synaptic cleft. (p. 52)

question

What happens in the synaptic gap? What is reuptake?

answer

Neurons send neurotransmitters (chemical messengers) to one another across this tiny space between one neuron's terminal branch and the next neuron's dendrite. In reuptake, a sending neuron reabsorbs the extra neurotransmitters.

question

If ACh transmission is blocked,

answer

as happens during some kinds of anesthesia, the muscles cannot contract and we are paralyzed.

question

ACh

answer

enables muscle action, learning, and memory. W/ Alzheimer's ACh producing molecules deteriorate and we get paralyzed

question

dopamine

answer

influences movement, learning, attention, & emo. oversupply means schizophrenia undersupply means tremors or parkinson's disease's decreased mobility

question

Serotonin

answer

affects mood hunger sleep and arousal. undersupply means depression

question

norepinephrine

answer

helps control alertness and arousal. undersupply can depress mood (not depression tho)

question

GABA

answer

MAJOR inhibitory neurotransmitter undersupply=seizures/tremors/insomnia

question

glutamate

answer

MAJOR excitatory neurotransmitter + involved in memory oversupply=overstimulate brain to point of migraine OR seizures FUN FACT: MSG=monosodium glutamate which people avoid because they don't want migraines or seizures :)

question

when flooded with opiate drugs such as heroin and morphine,

answer

the brain may stop producing its own natural opiates. leading to intense discomfort

question

agonist

answer

similar to neurotransmitters and bind like they do like drugs (morphine/opium)

question

antagonist

answer

block neurotransmitter functioning not similar enough to simulate neurotransmitter effect

question

If incoming signals are strong enough, the receiving neuron

answer

generates its own action potential and relays the message to other cells.

question

endorphines are

answer

natural opiates released during exercise and pain

question

CNS (central nervous system)

answer

brain + spinal cord decision maker

question

PNS (peripheral nervous system)

answer

Sensory + motor neurons that connect CNS to body func: gathering info & transmitting CNS decisions->messenger

question

nerves

answer

part of the PNS cables that are bundled axons connect CNS w/ body receptors/muscles/glands/organs

question

Autonomic NS (ANS)

answer

part of PNS controls INVOLUNTARY self regulated action of organs/glands

question

somatic NS

answer

part of PNS controls VOLUNTARY movements of skeletal muscles

question

sympathetic nervous system

answer

part of ANS arouses body and expends energy raise your blood pressure, slow your digestion, raise your blood sugar, and cool you with perspiration

question

3 types of main neurons

answer

sensory motor interneurons

question

sensory neurons

answer

neurons that carry incoming information from the sensory receptors and tissues to the brain and spinal cord. (p. 56) INPUT TO CNS

question

motor neurons

answer

neurons that carry outgoing information (instructions)n from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles and glands. (p. 56) OUTPUT FROM CNS

question

interneurons:

answer

neurons within the brain and spinal cord that communicate internally and intervene between the sensory inputs and motor outputs. (p. 56)

question

Its sympathetic division _____; its parasympathetic division ____.

answer

arouses;calms

question

parasympathetic Nervous system

answer

part of ANS calms body and conserves energy decreasing your heartbeat, lowering your blood sugar

question

A simple spinal reflex pathway is composed of

answer

a single sensory neuron and a single motor neuron. involved in knee jerk responses

question

endocrine

answer

the body's "slow" chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream. (p. 59)

question

hormones

answer

chemical messengers that are manufactured by the endocrine glands, travel through the bloodstream, and affect other tissues. (p. 59)

question

hypothalamus endocrine function

answer

brain region controlling the pituitary gland

question

pituitary gland function

answer

secretes hormones which can effect other glands in brain below hypothalamus the endocrine system's most influential gland. Under the influence of the hypothalamus, the pituitary regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands. (p. 60)

question

thyroid gland

answer

affects metabolism in neck left of parathyroid

question

parathyroid gland

answer

helps regulate amount of calcium in blood in neck right of thyroid

question

adrenal glands

answer

inner part helps trigger fight or flight in belly area under pancreas from front view just above the kidneys and secrete hormones (epinephrine and norepinephrine) that help arouse the body in times of stress.

question

pancreas

answer

regulates levels of blood sugar

question

endocrine messages tend to ___ the effects of neural messages.

answer

outlast

question

oxytocin

answer

enables contractions associated with birthing, milk flow during nursing, and orgasm. Oxytocin also promotes pair bonding, group cohesion, and social trust released by pituitary gland

question

Why is the pituitary gland called the "master gland"?

answer

Responding to signals from the hypothalamus, the pituitary releases hormones that trigger other endocrine glands to secrete hormones that in turn influence brain and behavior.

question

How are the nervous and endocrine systems alike, and how do they differ?

answer

Both of these communication systems produce chemical molecules that act on the body's receptors to influence our behavior and emotions. The endocrine system, which secretes hormones into the bloodstream, delivers its messages much more slowly than the speedy nervous system, and the effects of the endocrine system's messages tend to linger much longer than those of the nervous system.

question

glial cells

answer

support, nourish, and protect neurons and may also play a role in learning and thinking.insulating myelin, guide neural connections, and mop up ions and neurotransmitters.

question

lesion

answer

tissue destruction. A brain lesion is a naturally or experimentally caused destruction of brain tissue. (p. 61)

question

electroencephalogram (EEG)

answer

an amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity that sweep across the brain's surface. These waves are measured by electrodes placed on the scalp. (p. 62)

question

MRI

answer

magnetic resonance imaging a technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer-generated images of soft tissue. MRI scans show brain anatomy. (p. 62)

question

fMRI (functional MRI)

answer

a technique for revealing bloodflow and, therefore, brain activity by comparing successive MRI scans. fMRI scans show brain function. (p. 62)

question

brainstem

answer

the oldest part and central core of the brain, beginning where the spinal cord swells as it enters the skull; the brainstem is responsible for automatic survival functions. (p. 64) old automatic survival functions

question

medulla

answer

base of brainstem breathing & heartbeat

question

pons

answer

helps coordinate movements

question

If a cat's brainstem is severed from the rest of the brain above it, the animal will

answer

still breathe and live—and even run, climb, and groom

question

thalamus

answer

the brain's sensory switchboard, located on top of the brainstem(p. 65) directs messages to sensory receivers in the cortex then it transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla hearing and tasting

question

reticular formation

answer

a nerve network that travels through the brainstem and plays an important role in controlling arousal. (p. 65)

question

Giuseppe Moruzzi and Horace Magoun discovered that electrically stimulating the reticular formation of a sleeping cat _____ (more than one word)

answer

almost instantly produced an awake, alert animal

question

cerebellum

answer

the "little brain" at the rear of the brainstem; functions include processing sensory input and coordinating movement output and balance nonverbal learning and memory. It also helps us judge time, modulate our emotions, and discriminate sounds and textures. And it coordinates voluntary movement.

question

If you injured your cerebellum,

answer

you would have difficulty walking, keeping your balance, or shaking hands. Your movements would be jerky and exaggerated.

question

In what brain region would damage be most likely to (1) disrupt your ability to skip rope? (2) disrupt your ability to hear and taste? (3) perhaps leave you in a coma? (4) cut off the very breath and heartbeat of life?

answer

1. cerebellum, 2. thalamus, 3. reticular formation, 4. medulla

question

limbic system

answer

neural system (including the hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamus) located below the cerebral hemispheres; associated with emotions and drives. (p. 66)

question

hippocampus

answer

processes memory limbic system

question

amygdala

answer

aggression and fear centers limbic system

question

Electrical stimulation of a cat's amygdala provokes angry reactions, suggesting the amygdala's role in aggression. Which ANS division is activated by such stimulation?

answer

The sympathetic nervous system

question

hypothalamus

answer

a neural structure lying below (hypo) the thalamus; it directs several maintenance activities (eating, drinking, body temperature,sexual behavior), helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland, and is linked to emotion and reward. (p. 670)

question

What are the three key structures of the limbic system, and what functions do they serve?

answer

(1) The amygdala are involved in aggression and fear responses. (2) The hypothalamus is involved in bodily maintenance, pleasurable rewards, and control of the hormonal systems. (3) The hippocampus processes memory.

question

cerebral cortex

answer

the intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells covering the cerebral hemispheres; the body's ultimate control and information-processing center. (p. 69)

question

Which area of the human brain is most similar to that of less complex animals? Which part of the human brain distinguishes us most from less complex animals?

answer

The brainstem; the cerebral cortex

question

frontal lobe

answer

involved in speaking, muscle movements, and making plans and judgements

question

parietal lobes

answer

receives sensory input for touch & body position

question

occipital lobes

answer

visual

question

temporal lobes

answer

above ears auditory reception from opposite side ear

question

Try moving your right hand in a circular motion, as if polishing a table. Then start your right foot doing the same motion, synchronized with your hand. Now reverse the right foot's motion, but not the hand's. Finally, try moving the left foot opposite to the right hand. 1. Why is reversing the right foot's motion so hard? 2. Why is it easier to move the left foot opposite to the right hand?

answer

1. The right limbs' opposed activities interfere with each other because both are controlled by the same (left) side of your brain. 2. Opposite sides of your brain control your left and right limbs, so the reversed motion causes less interference.

question

Gustav Fritsch and Eduard Hitzig made an important discovery:

answer

Mild electrical stimulation to parts of an animal's cortex made parts of its body move they discovered the motor cortex

question

motor cortex

answer

an area at the rear of the frontal lobes that controls voluntary movements.

question

sensory cortex

answer

area at the front of the parietal lobes that registers and processes body touch and movement sensations. (p. 73)

question

Our brain's ______________ cortex registers and processes bodily input. The ______________ cortex controls our voluntary movements.

answer

sensory; motor

question

association areas

answer

areas of the cerebral cortex that are not involved in primary motor or sensory functions; rather, they are involved in higher mental functions such as learning, remembering, thinking, and speaking. (p. 73)

question

Phineas Gage

answer

rontal lobes massively damaged. To everyone's amazement, he was immediately able to sit up and speak, and after the wound healed he returned to work. But the affable, soft-spoken man was now irritable, profane, and dishonest. This person, said his friends, was "no longer Gage." Although his mental abilities and memories were intact, his personality was not.

question

Why are association areas important?

answer

Association areas are involved in higher mental functions—interpreting, integrating, and acting on information processed in sensory areas.

question

brain plasticity

answer

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

question

neurogenesis

answer

the formation of new neurons. (p. 76)

question

corpus callosum:

answer

the large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages between them. (p. 76)

question

Philip Vogel and Joseph Bogen, speculated that major epileptic seizures were caused by an amplification of abnormal brain activity bouncing back and forth between the two cerebral hemispheres. If so, they wondered, could they put an end to this biological tennis game by severing the

answer

corpus callosum

question

split brain

answer

a condition resulting from surgery that isolates the brain's two hemispheres by cutting the fibers (mainly those of the corpus callosum) connecting them. (p. 77)

question

(1) If we flash a red light to the right hemisphere of a person with a split brain, and flash a green light to the left hemisphere, will each observe its own color? (2) Will the person be aware that the colors differ? (3) What will the person verbally report seeing?

answer

1. yes, 2. no, 3. green

question

How do neuroscientists study the brain's connections to behavior and mind?

answer

Clinical observations and lesioning reveal the general effects of brain damage. Electrical, chemical, or magnetic stimulation can also reveal aspects of information processing in the brain. MRI scans show anatomy. EEG, PET, and fMRI (functional MRI) recordings reveal brain function.

question

The _____ is to sensory input as the registrar's office is to a college campus.

answer

thalamus

question

Queen bees are to worker bees as neurons are to _____.

answer

glial cells

question

A(n) _____ would be most useful for detecting the brain areas that are most active as a person performs mathematical calculations.

answer

pet scan

question

A thermostat is to a house as the _____ is to the brain.

answer

hypothalamus

question

A researcher who is interested in measuring both the structure and function of the brain will use _____.

answer

fmri

question

An experiment in which part of a rat's hypothalamus is destroyed to examine the effects on eating behavior utilizes a technique known as a(n) _____.

answer

lesions

question

A person who has difficulty recognizing emotional responses in others following a head injury most likely suffered damage to the _____.

answer

amygdala or frontal lobes

question

Some researchers suggest that a reward deficiency syndrome may contribute to

answer

alcoholism

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