PSU: Psychology Classnotes 3
Final review flashcards for Psych 100 (Penn State)
Terms
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- Dopamine
- A common neurotransmitter involved with learning, memory, attention, and emotion; Pleasure and elation neurotransmitters, too much leads to Schizophrenic symptoms (delusions, hallucinations); Drug Addiction Theory
- Motor Neuron
- It relays information from the brain to muscles and glands (Phantom pains - in the absence of sensory information the brain percieves pain)
- Sympathetic
- A branch of the autonomic nervous system responsible for mobilizing the body's energy and resources during times of stress and arousal
- Drug Addiction Theory
- Drug users naturally lack dopamine, which sets craving for drugs because drugs raise dopamine levels in body and brain by hijacking body's natural reward center, releasing dopamine
- Agonists
- Excite neurons by mimicking neuron but blocks reuptake (Prozac, Cocaine, Valium)
- Acetycholine
- A common neurotransmitter found in all motor neurons (needed for movement); Allows muscles to contract when released in blood stream, when not released your muscles relax (Ex: Botulin, CURARE (indigenous tribes use to stun prey), "Botox," Nerve Gas (agonist which causes constant muscle contraction - can't relax muscles to get air in lungs))
- Neuron
- Communication throughout our entire nervous system takes place via these; They recieve and transmit information to and from all over the body; There are 3 types: Motor, Sensory, and Interneurons
- Norepinephrine
- A common neurotransmitter that helps control alertness and arousal (more physical)
- Threshold
- The 'all-or-none' response, it is the firing impulse of the cell; Works like dominoes, not like jump-rope
- Parasympathetic
- A branch of the autonomic nervous system concerned with the conservation of the body's energy and resources during relaxed states
- Interneurons
- Communicate between neurons, they make up most of the neurons in our body; Two actions: (1) Reflex Arc - uses reflex action from spine (directly from spine back to hand); (2) Perception - relays information to the brain
- Glial Cells (Glue Cells)
- Provide structural and repair support to the neurons; Provide nutrition, enhance the speed, and remove waste
- Serotonin
- A neurotransmitter that helps regulate sleep and appetite, mediate moods, and inhibit pain
- Somatic
- Any type of cell that doesn't make egg or sperm
- Dendrites
- One of the main parts of a neuron, they are the parts that recieve chemical information from other cells; Short and bushy (dendron = Greek for tree), which increases SA therefore increasing the amount of information they can recieve
- Reuptake Blockers
- Medicines, drugs, etc. that make neurotransmitters more available to the other neurons (SSRIs - Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors); Make serotonin more available to body and raises overall arousal and mood level (Prozac, Zoloft, Xanex)
- Inhibitory
- A collective signal recieved by neuron to make it less likely to fire an impulse
- Reflex Arc
- The basic conduction pathway through the nervous system, consisting of a sensory neuron, an association neuron, and a motor neuron
- Neurons
- Communication throughout our entire nervous system takes place via these; They recieve and transmit information to and from all over the body
- Axon
- One of the main parts of a neuron, it passes on info to other cells, muscles, or glands; Can be really long or short, and are covered in a Myelin sheathing
- Peripheral Nervous System
- The nerves that branch out from the brain and spinal cord to the rest of the body; Two subdivisions: Somatic and Autonomic
- Reuptake
- Neurotransmitters that are reabsorbed by the releasing neuron
- Drugs and Other Chemicals
- A common neurotransmitter that involves some kind of agonists or antagonists
- Action Potentials
- Chemical messages are gathered by dendrites and moved along axon in form of neural impulses (electrical)
- Endorphin
- A common neurotransmitter linked to pain control and pleasure; "within or internal morphines;" Affects visceral organs and smoothes muscles (sweating, kills pain); Used to react to get self to safety; Pain is necessary to warn, but too much with kill us (shark attack, runner's high)
- Autonomic
- The part of the nervous system responsible for the control of automatic bodily functions; Two types: Sympathetic and Parasympathetic
- Antagonists
- Inhibit by blocking neurotransmitters by diminishing their release (Curare, Botulin)
- Cell Body
- One of the main parts of a neuron, contains nucleus and creates energy for the cell
- Myelin Sheathing
- A layer of fatty tissue that insulates the axons of some neurons (marshmallow-like); Acts as an electrical conductor; Made and maintained by the glial cells
- Excitatory
- A collective signal more likely to fire an impulse, if overall signal is excitatory it will hit threshold and fire
- Neurotransmitters
- Action potentials that reach the end of the axon trigger that release chemical messengers; Act as inhibitors or excitors of neighboring axon
- Synapse
- The junction between two nerve cells across which a nerve impulse is transmitted
- Central Nervous System
- Includes the brain and the spinal cord and is the control network for the entire body
- Sensory Neuron
- It relays information from your senses and conveys information about the environment to the brain