Brain and Bio Exam Questions and Answers

fMRI (functional MRI) - ANSWER a technique for revealing blood flow and, therefore, brain activity & shows brain function MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) - ANSWER a technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves ...

fMRI (functional MRI) - ANSWER a technique for revealing blood flow and, therefore, brain activity & shows brain function MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) - ANSWER a technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer-generated images of soft tissue. This scan shows brain anatomy PET scan (positron emission tomography) - ANSWER Visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task & shows function of the brain EEG (electroencephalogram) - ANSWER amplified reading of the waves electrical activity that sweep across the brain's surface. These waves are measured by electrodes placed on the scalp lesion - ANSWER tissue destruction split brain - ANSWER condition resulting from surgery that isolates the brain's two hemispheres by cutting the fibers connecting them corpus callosum - ANSWER large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages between them plasticity - ANSWER the brain's ability to change, especially during childhood, by recognizing after damage or by building new pathways based on experience association areas - ANSWER areas of the cerebral cortex that are not involved in primary motor or sensory functions; involved in higher mental functions like learning, remembering, thinking, and speaking *specialty jobs sensory cortex - ANSWER front of parietal; registers and processes body touch and movement sensations motor complex - ANSWER rear of frontal lobes; controls voluntary movements (somatic) frontal lobe - ANSWER forehead; speaking, muscle movements, planning, judgements parietal lobe - ANSWER top/rear of head; sensory, touch, body position occipital lobe - ANSWER back of head; visual temporal lobe - ANSWER above ears; auditory, opposite ears cerebrum - ANSWER two large hemispheres, 85% of brain's weight lobes - ANSWER geographical subdivisions separated by fissures glial cells - ANSWER cells in the nervous system that support, nourish, and protect neurons; 'glue cells'; "worker bees" cerebral cortex - ANSWER intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells covering the cerebral hemispheres; body's ultimate control and information processing center hypothalamus - ANSWER a neural structure lying below the thalamus; it directs several maintenance activities (eating, drinking, body temp.), helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland, and is linked to emotion and reward amygdala - ANSWER two lima bean-sized neural clusters in the limbic system; linked to emotion cerebellum - ANSWER the 'little brain' at the rear of the brainstem; functions include processing sensory input and coordinating movement output and balance thalamus - ANSWER the brain's sensory switchboard; located at the top of the brainstem; directs messages to the sensory receiving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla reticular formation - ANSWER a nerve network in the brainstem that plays an important role in controlling arousal hippocampus - ANSWER processes memory limbic system - ANSWER neural system (including the hippocampus, amygdala, & hypothalamus) located below the cerebral hemispheres; associated with emotions and drives cerebral hemispheres - ANSWER the two hemispheres of the brain brainstem - ANSWER oldest part and central core of the brain, beginning where the spinal cord swells as it enters the skull; responsible for automatic survival functions medulla - ANSWER the base of the brainstem; controls heartbeat and breathing pituitary gland - ANSWER The endocrine system's most influential gland. It's under the influence of the hypothalamus, the pituitary regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands adrenal glands - ANSWER pair of endocrine glands that sit just above the kidneys and secrete hormones (epinephrine & norepinephrine) that help arouss the body in times of stress endocrine system - ANSWER the body's 'slow' chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream parasympathetic nervous system - ANSWER division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving its energy sympathetic nervous system - ANSWER division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situations autonomic nervous system - ANSWER part of the PNS that controls glands and the muscles of internal organs somatic nervous system - ANSWER division of the PNS that controls the body's skeletal muscles. also called the skeletal nervous system peripheral nervous system - ANSWER the sensory and motor neurons that connect the CNS to the rest of the body central nervous system - ANSWER the brain and spinal cord nervous system - ANSWER the body's speedy, electrochemical communication network, consisting of all the nerve cells of the PNS and CNS endorphins - ANSWER "morphine within" -- natural, opiate like neurotransmitters linked to pain control and pleasure reuptake - ANSWER a neurotransmitter's reabsorption by the sending neuron neurotransmitters - ANSWER chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gap between neurons synapse - ANSWER the junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite of cell body of the receiving neuron threshold - ANSWER level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse action potential - ANSWER a neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon myelin sheath - ANSWER layer of fatty tissue encasing fibers of many neurons; speeds transmissions axon - ANSWER extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers through which messages pass to other neurons or to muscles/glands dendrites - ANSWER the busy, branching extensions of a neuron that receive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body interneurons - ANSWER neurons within the brain and spinal cord that communicate internally and intervene between the sensory inputs and motor outputs; billions and billions motor neurons - ANSWER neurons that carry outgoing information from the brain and spinal cord to muscles and glands; few million sensory neurons - ANSWER neurons that carry incoming information from the sensory receptors to the brain and spinal cord; few million neuron - ANSWER nerve cell; basic building block of the nervous system biological psychology - ANSWER branch of psychology concerned with the links between biology and behavior -behavioral neuroscientists -neuropsychologists -behavior geneticists -physiological psychologists -biopsychologists phrenology - ANSWER popular but ill fated theory that claimed bumps on the head (skull) could reveal our mental abilities and character traits