BRIAN

Theory that functions of the brain are performed in unique, specific areas.

The brain and spinal cord; 100 billion neurons carry messages and instructions through here.

Neural connections running all throughout the body.

Part of the peripheral nervous system that is responsible for voluntary muscule movements.

Part of the peripheral nervous system over which you have no conscious control.

Sympathetic Nervous System

Neural connections that calm the body, relax the muscles, and decrease the heart rate.

Four major areas of the brain

Responsible for reason, decision-making, strategy, planning, innovation, voluntary action, complex emotion

Complex decision-making, higher-level personality; develops fully by 25

Posture, fine motor skills

Voluntary movement; communicates with the cerebellum and brain stem constantly

Inhibition

Speech production (left side) (aphasia)

Movement, orientation, perception, recognition, information from almost three dozen senses, including touch, pain, proprioception, and time

Visual processing; on the back of the head

Temples; process hearing and a little memory. Amygdala is partially here; speech processing (Wernicke's)

Speech processing (aphasia)

Network of connecting fibers between the left and right hemispheres; right brain recognizes, but does not articulate language; left side generates language

Coordination of movement, balance, fluidity of motor movements

Contains the midbrain, pons, and medulla (in descending order); essential functions of life

Processes visual and auditory stimuli; voluntary/involuntary eye movement

SLEEP, communicates with different parts of the brain, breathing, hearing, taste, balance

Breathing, heart and blood vessels, sneezing, swallowing, respiration, circulation

Series of nerve fibers that diffuse neurons along the brainstem; makes neurotransmitters

"Primal" brain; includes the thalamus, hypothalamus, hippocampus, and amygdala

Sends messages where they are needed; brain "HQ"

Emotion, thirst, hunger, hormone levels (endocrine system), sleep, body temperature, emotional bonding; "little thalamus"

Learning, memory, spatial orientation, transfer of memory to long-term storage (requires sleep)

Memory association, fight/flight; located in the temporal lobe; core, basic emotions, implicit memory, emotion, fears

Disorder caused by an overfiring amygdala, causing flashbacks at the occurence of triggers

Overfiring amygdala; intense anxiety related to a situation, accompanied by a ritual to relieve anxiety. Behavior is known to be irrational.

Retrains the amydala to realize that a certain experience or stimuli is not actually dangerous.

Exposed in the extreme, all at once

Gradual increase in the severity of a trigger

Stress period followed by relaxation

Specific functions regulated to certain areas; supported by Broca, Wernicke, Penfield

Specific functions occuring in many separate areas; supported by Lashley

Higher percentage of cortex removed equals a high percentage cognitive decline

One part of the cortex takes over for another to some degree.

Broca's Area; speech production and Broca's Aphasia, strict localization

Wernicke's Area; speech comprehension and Wernicke's Aphasia, strict localization

Cortical Homonculus, motor and sensory homunculi

Map of the space in the brain which is devoted to each part of the body; motor and sensory

Memory (in rats), wide distribution

Corpus callosum (severed in frogs, cats, and humans), lateralization

Student of Roger Sperry; severed the corpus callosum and studied its effects; lateralization

Brain changes size, shape, etc; brain is molded by the environment

A change in the brain's amounts of chemical stimulation (short-term memory and motor skills)

A change in neurons and neural networks in the brain (long-term memory and motor skills)

More frequently used regions or the brain are made more excitable

Kills neuron connections (causes cellular death in some areas); limited ability to restore function afterwards, depending on genetics, age, location, severity, and time spent retraining.

The two nutrients needed to fire a neuron; neurons are more negative (polarised) at rest

The three things that can happen when neurotransmitters are sent

Attached to soma, receive signals

Long channel, transmits signal

Produces myelin (made of fats)

Insulates neurons to keep messages moving in one direction (think of insulation on an electrical wire). Made of fat.

Speeds transmission of electrical signals (between myelin sheaths)

Transmits signal to next neuron

Junction between neurons

Type of neurons which send signals from sensory or chemical stimulus

Type of neurons which send messages from the brain and spinal cord to muscle fibers

Connect sensory and motor neurons

Provide structure, sustenance, and insulation to other neurons. Clean dead neurons. Modulate, amplify, and diminish neural signals.

Neurons fire in a method that is both...

Type of neurotransmitters that allow synapses across

Type of neurotransmitters that stop impulses

Excitatory neurotransmitter; muscle function, learning, memory, and attention; surplus causes muscle spasms; deficit causes Alzheimer's

Inhibitory neurotransmitter; mood, emotion, arousal; surplus causes schizophrenia and drug addiction; deficit causes Parkinson's

Inhibitory neurotransmitter; mood regulation, hunger, and sleep; surplus causes hallucinations, "..." toxicity syndrome; deficit causes depression and mood disorders

Excitatory nerotransmitter; fight/flight, mood elevation; surplus causes anxiety; deficit causes mental disorders including depression

Main inhibitory neurotransmitter; regulates sleep-wake cycle; surplus causes sleep and eating disorders; deficit causes anxiety, epilepsy, insomnia, Huntington's

Main excitatory neurotransmitter; basis of learning and memory; surplus causes overstimulation, migraines, and seizures; deficit causes psychosis, coma, and death

Inhibitory neurotransmitter; pain control, stress reduction, positive emotions; surplus causes artificial highs and an inadequate response to pain; deficit causes possible addictive behaviors (esp. opiates)

Excitatory neurotransmitter; pain perception, inflammatory, vomiting, itching, mood (anxiety); surplus causes chronic pain, oversensitivity to touch; deficit causes little pain stimulation

Inhibitory neurotransmitter; sleep, calming agent; surplus causes sleeping too much, deficit causes insomnia, anxiety