Brain Structure and Function

Brain Structure and Function

• Neuron: The basic unit of the nervous system.
• Cell Body: The neuron's life-support center, containing the nucleus.
• Dendrites: Receive and integrate messages, transmitting them towards the cell body.
• Axon: Sends messages away from the cell body to other neurons, muscles, or glands.
• Action Potentials: Brief electrical charges traveling down an axon, a nerve impulse.
• Glial Cells: Support, nourish, and protect neurons, involved in learning and memory.
• Synapses: Junctions between neurons, where neurotransmitters relay messages.
• Synaptic Gap/Cleft: The tiny space between neurons at a synapse.
• Neurotransmitters: Chemical messengers that travel across the synaptic gap.
• All-or-None Law: Neurons fire with a full response or not at all.
• Threshold: The minimum stimulation needed to trigger a neural impulse.
• Refractory Period: A brief pause after firing, preventing immediate re-stimulation of a neuron.

Nervous System

• Nervous System: The body's electrochemical communication network.
• Peripheral Nervous System: Sensory and motor neurons connecting the central nervous system to the body.
• Central Nervous System: Brain and spinal cord.
• Endocrine System: The body's "slow" chemical communication system using hormones.
• Hormones: Chemical messengers traveling in the bloodstream, affecting various tissues.
• Limbic System: A neural center associated with emotions and drives (includes amygdala, hypothalamus, hippocampus).

Brain Lobes and Functions

• Frontal Lobes: Involved in speaking, muscle movements, planning, and judgments.
• Parietal Lobes: Receive sensory input for touch and body position.
• Occipital Lobes: Receive visual information.
• Temporal Lobes: Receive auditory information.
• Motor Cortex: Controls voluntary movements.
• Somatosensory Cortex: Processes body touch and movement sensations.
• Association Areas: Areas for higher mental processes like learning, remembering, thinking, and speaking.
• Corpus Callosum: Connects the two brain hemispheres.

Brain Plasticity and Other Concepts

• Plasticity: The brain's ability to change, reorganize, and form new pathways based on experience and damage.
• Neurogenesis: Formation of new neurons.
• Consciousness: Subjective awareness of self and environment.
• Selective Attention: Focusing awareness on a specific stimulus.
• Inattentional and Change Blindness: Failing to notice changes in the environment.

Explore brain structure, neuron function, and synaptic communication. Learn about action potentials, neurotransmitters, and the nervous system's fundamental processes. Understand neural impulses and the all-or-none law.