Psych Ch3 Vocabulary

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.

Drugs that increase the action of a neurotransmitter

Drugs that block the function of a neurotransmitter.

An interacting network of neurons that conveys electrochemical information throughout the body.

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.

Simple pathways in the nervous system that rapidly generate muscle contractions.

An area of the brain that coordinates information coming into and out of the spinal cord.

An extension of the spinal cord into the skull that coordinates heart rate, circulation, and respiration.

A brain structure that regulates sleep, wakefulness, and levels of arousal.

A large structure of the hindbrain that controls fine motor skills

A brain structure that relays info from the cerebellum to the rest of the brain.

A part of the midbrain that orients an organism in the environment

A part of the midbrain that is involved in movement

The outermost layer of the brain, visible to the naked eye and divided into two hemispheres.

Areas of the forebrain housed under the cerebral cortex near the very center of the brain

A subcortical structure that relays and filters info from the senses and transmits the info to the cerebral cortex

A subcortical structure that regulates body temperature, hunger, thirst, and sexual behaviour.

the "master gland" of the body's hormone-producing system, which releases hormones that direct the functions of many other glands in the body.

a group of forebrain structures including:

• 1. Hypothalamus
• 2. Amygdala
• 3. Hippocampus

which are involved in motivation, emotion, learning, and memory.

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.

Plays a central role in many emotional processes, particularly the formation of emotional memories.

A set of subcortical structures that directs intentional movements

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.

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.

The unit of hereditary transmission

Strands of DNA wound around each other in a double-helix configuration.

A measure of the variability of behavioral traits among individuals that can be accounted for by genetic factors.

A device used to record electrical activity in the brain.