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Neurotransmitters and their functions:
1. Acetylcholine (ACH) - enables muscle action; regulates attention, learning memory, sleeping, and dreaming.
2. Dopamine - influences movement, motivation, emotional pleasure, and arousal.
3. Glutamate - A major excitatory nt involved in learning and memory.
4. GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) - primary inhibitory nt.
5. Norepinephrine - helps control mood and arousal.
6. Serotonin - regulates hunger, sleep, arousal, and agressive behaviour.
7. Endorphins - Act within the pain pathways and emotion centers of the brain.
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Agonists
Drugs that increase the action of a neurotransmitter
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Antagonists
Drugs that block the function of a neurotransmitter.
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Nervous System
An interacting network of neurons that conveys electrochemical information throughout the body.
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Divisions of the nervous system (6):
1. Central Nervous System (CNS) - composed of brain and spinal cord
2. Peripheral Nervous System (PNS) - connects the CNS to the body's organs and muscles.
3. Somatic Nervous System - A set of nerves that conveys info into and out of the central nervous system.
4.Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) - A set of nerves that carries involuntary and automatic commands that control blood vessels, body organs, and glands.
5. Sympathetic Nervous System - A set of nerves that prepares the body for action in threatening situations.
6. Parasympathetic Nervous System - A set of nerves that helps the body return to a normal resting state.
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Spinal Reflexes
Simple pathways in the nervous system that rapidly generate muscle contractions.
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Hindbrain
An area of the brain that coordinates information coming into and out of the spinal cord.
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Medulla
An extension of the spinal cord into the skull that coordinates heart rate, circulation, and respiration.
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Reticular Formation
A brain structure that regulates sleep, wakefulness, and levels of arousal.
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Cerebellum
A large structure of the hindbrain that controls fine motor skills
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Pons
A brain structure that relays info from the cerebellum to the rest of the brain.
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Tectum
A part of the midbrain that orients an organism in the environment
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Tegmentum
A part of the midbrain that is involved in movement
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Cerebral Cortex
The outermost layer of the brain, visible to the naked eye and divided into two hemispheres.
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Subcortical Structures
Areas of the forebrain housed under the cerebral cortex near the very center of the brain
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Thalamus
A subcortical structure that relays and filters info from the senses and transmits the info to the cerebral cortex
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Hypothalamus
A subcortical structure that regulates body temperature, hunger, thirst, and sexual behaviour.
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Pituitary Gland
the "master gland" of the body's hormone-producing system, which releases hormones that direct the functions of many other glands in the body.
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Limbic system
a group of forebrain structures including:
- 1. Hypothalamus
- 2. Amygdala
- 3. Hippocampus
which are involved in motivation, emotion, learning, and memory.
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Hippocampus
critical for creating new memories and integrating them into a network of knowledge so that they can be stored indefinitely in other parts of the cerebral cortex.
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Amygdala
Plays a central role in many emotional processes, particularly the formation of emotional memories.
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Basal Ganglia
A set of subcortical structures that directs intentional movements
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Corpus Callosum
A thick band of nerve fibers that connects large areas of the cerebral cortex on each side of the brain and supports communication of information across the hemispheres.
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4 (+1) major lobes of the cerebral cortex:
1. Occipital Lobe - processes visual information
2. Parietal Lobe - processes info about touch
3. Temporal Lobe - responsible for hearing and language.
4. Frontal Lobe - has specialized areas for movement, abstract thinking, planning, memory and judgement.
5. Association Areas - areas of the cerebral cortex that are composed of neurons that help provide sense and meaning to information registered in the cortex.
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Gene
The unit of hereditary transmission
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Chromosomes
Strands of DNA wound around each other in a double-helix configuration.
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Heritability
A measure of the variability of behavioral traits among individuals that can be accounted for by genetic factors.
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Electroencephalogram (EEG)
A device used to record electrical activity in the brain.
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