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| Question | Answer |
| Biological Psychologist | type of psychology that brings together biology and psychology to understand behavior and thought |
| Neurons | type of psychology that brings together biology and psychology to understand behavior and thought |
| Sensory (afferent ) neurons | Sensory neurons are responsible for bringing information from sensory receptors (like the nerves in your hand) to the central nervous system (spinal cord and brain |
| motor neurons (efferent) | information is traveling throughout your brain and body all the time. information travels on motor neurons -- neurons that carry information from the central nervous system to the muscles to make these movements. |
| Interneurons | information travel throughout your nervous system along a network of 3 types of neurons; sensory neurons, motor neurons, and interneurons. |
| mirror neurons | type of brain cell that fires when you do an action, and also when you simply watch someone else doing the same action. |
| soma (cell body) | cell body of a neuron and contains the nucleus of the cell. The soma doesn’t play an active role in transmitting neural signals, but it keeps the cell functioning and holds the cell’s DNA. |
| axon | long, spider-thin, tail-like structures found on neurons long, spider-thin, tail-like structures found on neurons . The axon carries signals between the dendrites and the terminal buttons |
| axon terminals | is the very end of a branch of a nerve's axon, a long slender nerve fiber that conducts electrical signals to a nerve synapse |
| dendrites | branch-like structures of neurons that extend from the cell body (Soma). The dendrites receive neural impulses (electrical and chemical signals) from the axons of other neurons. |
| myelin sheath | a layer of myelin surrounding the axons of some neurons |
| action potential | is a short-lasting event in which the electrical membrane potential of a cell rapidly rises and falls, following a consistent trajectory. |
| "all-or-none principle" | relates response to stimulus in excitable tissues |
| resting potential | polarization of cellular fluid within a neuron that provides the potential to produce an action. |
| threshold | A threshold is the minimum amount of stimulation needed to start a neural impulse (you know, the electrical impulses that travel throughout your body carrying important information). |
| synapse (synaptic gap) | entire junction between neurons, including the pre-synaptic neuron's axon terminal, the synaptic cleft, and the dendrite of the post-synaptic neuron, across which communications flow, usually in the form of neurotransmitter molecules secreted by the pre-synaptic neuron (on its axon terminal) that travel a short distance across the synaptic cleft (this is the actual space between the neurons - the space between the axon terminal of one neuron and the dendrite of the other) to the post-synaptic neuron. |
| Neurotransmitters | Neural transmission (information being sent from neuron to neuron) works at both the electrical and chemical levels. |
| excitatory neurotransmitter | Excitatory Inputs refer to the physical input to a neuron (nerve cell) that signals it to activate. This comes about as electrochemical signals that travel to and from the brain. These can be signals of heat,cold, pressure, pain, etc. |
| Inhibitory neurotransmitter | These types of neurotransmitters have inhibitory effects on the neuron; they decrease the likelihood that the neuron will fire an action potential. Some of the major inhibitory neurotransmitters include serotonin and GABA |
| reuptake | process in the brain of neurons to retrieve chemicals that were not received by the next neuron. Neurons are cells in the brain that have miniscule spaces between them. They communicate with each other by sending chemicals across the space to the next neuron. After the chemicals are received, the neuron cleans up whatever is left and uses it later. |
| Acetylcholine ( Ach) | most common type of neurotransmitter, and the most well understood. It's found in parts of the peripheral nervous system, spinal cord, and areas of the brain. In the peripheral nervous system, ACh activates muscles that help the body move. When Ach is released to the muscle cells, the muscle contracts. In the brain, ACh is involved in breathing, attention, arousal, motivation, etc. |
| Dopamine | both a neurotransmitter and a neurohormone produced in multiple areas of the brain. |
| Serotonin | neurotransmitter with functions in various systems of the body. In the central nervous system serotonin works to regulate mood, appetite, sleep, memory and learning. |
| gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) | an amino acid that acts to inhibit the transmission of nerve impulses in the central nervous system. |
| endorphins | help us deal with pain as well as producing a pleasurable sensation |
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