Nervous System, Neurons and Brain function

Critical Thinking

• Critical thinking involves examining assumptions, assessing sources, uncovering hidden values, weighing evidence, and assessing conclusions, rather than blindly accepting arguments and conclusions.

Structuralism

• Structuralism, promoted by Wundt, focused on understanding the structure of the human mind.

Functionalism

• Functionalism, championed by James and influenced by Darwin, explored how the mind functions.

Behaviorism

• Behaviorism posits that psychology should be an objective science, primarily studying behavior without focusing on mental processes.
• Most psychologists today agree that psychology should be an objective science.

Humanistic Psychology

• Humanistic psychology emphasizes the potential for human growth and is considered a historically important perspective.

Cognitive Psychology

• Cognitive psychology studies mental processes, including perception, learning, memory thinking, communication, and problem-solving.

Cognitive Neuroscience

• Cognitive neuroscience is an interdisciplinary field studying brain activity linked with mental activity such as perception, thinking, memory, and language.

Biopsychosocial Approach

• The biopsychosocial approach integrates biological, psychological, and socio-cultural viewpoints.

Nature-Nurture Issue

• The nature-nurture issue is a debate about the influence of genes and experience on psychological traits and behaviors. Modern psychological science recognizes that traits and behaviors arise from the interaction of both nature and nurture.

Dual Processing

• Dual processing refers to the mind processing information simultaneously on separate conscious and unconscious tracks.

Theory

• A theory explains and organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events.

Hypothesis

• A hypothesis is a testable prediction, often implied by a broader theory.

Operational Definition

• An operational definition is a carefully worded statement of the exact procedures used in a research study.
• Human intelligence can be operationally defined as what an intelligence test measures.

Replication

• Replication involves repeating a research study, often with different participants in different situations, to see if the basic finding can be reproduced.

Case Study

• A case study is a descriptive technique where one individual or group is studied in depth, with the goal of revealing universal principles.

Naturalistic Observation

• Naturalistic observation is a descriptive technique that involves observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without manipulation.

Survey

• A survey is a descriptive technique used to obtain self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a group, usually through questioning a representative, random sample of that group.

Population

• A population includes all individuals in a group being studied, from which random samples can be drawn.

Random Sample

• A random sample fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion.

Correlation Experiments

• Correlation experiments measure the extent to which two factors vary together, indicating how well either factor predicts the other.
• The correlation coefficient is the mathematical expression of the relationship, ranging from -1.00 to +1.00, where 0 indicates no relationship.

Placebo Effect

• The placebo effect involves an inactive substance or condition given to a control group instead of the actual treatment.

Experimental Group

• In an experiment, the experimental group is exposed to one version of the independent variable (the treatment).

Control Group

• In an experiment, the control group is not exposed to the treatment and serves as a comparison for judging the effect of the treatment.

Double-Blind Procedure

• The double-blind procedure is when both the participants and the research staff are unaware of who has received the treatment or a placebo.

Dependent Variable

• The dependent variable is the factor that gets measured in an experiment and may change when the independent variable is manipulated.

Independent Variable

• The independent variable is the factor that gets manipulated in an experiment; its effect is being studied.

Confounding Variable

• A confounding variable is a factor other than the one being studied in an experiment that might influence a study's results.

Informed Consent

• Informed consent is giving people enough information about a study to enable them to decide whether they wish to participate.

Debrief

• Debriefing involves explaining the study's purpose and any deceptions used to participants after an experiment concludes.

Plasticity

• Plasticity means the brain's ability to change, especially during childhood, by reorganizing after damage or by building new pathways due to experience.

Neuron

• A neuron is a nerve cell and the basic building block of the nervous system.

Cell Body

• The cell body is the part of a neuron that contains the nucleus and is the cell's life-support center.

Dendrites

• Dendrites are neuron extensions that receive and integrate messages, conducting them toward the cell body.

Axon

• The axon is the neuron extension that sends messages to other neurons or to muscles and glands.

Action Potentials

• Action potentials are nerve impulses and brief electrical charges that travel down an axon.

Glial Cells

• Glial cells support, nourish, and protect neurons in the nervous system.

Synapses

• Synapses are the junctions between the axon tip of a sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of a receiving neuron; this tiny gap is the synaptic gap or synaptic cleft.

Neurotransmitters

• Neurotransmitters are neuron-produced chemicals that cross the synaptic gap to carry messages to other neurons or to muscles and glands.

All-or-None Law

• All-or-none law refers to a neuron's reaction of either firing (with a full-strength response) or not firing.

Threshold

• Threshold is the level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse.

Refractory Period

• The refractory period is a brief resting pause that occurs after a neuron has fired.
• Subsequent action potentials cannot occur until the axon returns to its resting state.

Nervous System

• The nervous system is the body's speedy electrochemical communication network.
• It consists of all the nerve cells of the central and peripheral nervous systems.

Peripheral Nervous System

• The peripheral nervous system consists of the sensory and motor neurons connecting the central nervous system to the rest of the body.

Central Nervous System

• The central nervous system includes the brain and spinal cord.

Endocrine System

• The endocrine system which communicates through "slow" chemical processes, consists of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream.

Hormones

• Hormones are chemical messengers manufactured by the endocrine glands that travel through the bloodstream and affect other tissues.

Limbic System

• The limbic system is a neural system including the amygdala, hypothalamus, and hippocampus, located below the cerebral hemispheres. It is associated with emotions and drives.

Frontal Lobes

• The frontal lobes are the portion of the cerebral cortex just behind the forehead and are involved in speaking, muscle movements, planning, and judgment.

Parietal Lobes

• Parietal lobes are the part of the cerebral cortex at the top of the head and toward the rear that receives sensory input for touch and body position.

Occipital Lobes

• Occipital lobes are the portion of the cerebral cortex at the back of the head containing areas that receive information from the visual fields.

Temporal Lobes

• The temporal lobes roughly sit above the ears and include areas that receive information from the ears.

Motor Cortex

• The motor cortex is the cerebral cortex area at the rear of the frontal lobes that controls voluntary movements.

Somatosensory Cortex

• The somatosensory cortex is the cerebral cortex area at the front of the parietal lobes that registers and processes body touch and movement sensations.

Association Areas

• Association areas of the cerebral cortex are primarily involved in higher mental functions, such as learning, remembering, thinking, and speaking.

Corpus Callosum

• The corpus callosum is a large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages between them.

Neurogenesis

• Neurogenesis is the formation of new neurons.

Consciousness

• Consciousness is our subjective awareness of ourselves and our environment.

Selective Attention

• Selective attention involves focusing conscious awareness on a particular stimulus.

Inattentional and Change Blindness

• Inattentional Blindness and Change Blindness mean failing to notice changes in the environment and is a form of inattentional blindness.

Sleep and Sleep Cycles

• Regulated by the suprachiasmatic nucleus.
• Circadian rhythms are natural 24-hour cycles of physical, mental, and behavioral changes in the body.
• Fluctuations of biological and psychological processes, like the sleep-wake cycle, occur on 24-hour cycles.

REM Sleep

• REM (active or paradoxical) is the time when muscle activity is suppressed, rapid eye movement occurs, and physiological arousal fluctuates.

NREM Sleep

• NREM (quiet sleep) includes:
  • Stage one which is drifting into sleep and the process of falling asleep when individuals may experience hallucinations and activity in the motor cortex.
  • Hearing your name called or feeling like you're falling are hallucinatory stages.
  • Stage two is the onset of true sleep, but is shallow so it doesn't take much to wake someone up.
  • Stage three is when physiological arousal drops to its lowest point, resulting in deep sleep.
• Reasons to sleep is for recovery, to boost creative thinking, to support growth, and restore and rebuild memories.

Insomnia

• Insomnia is the inability to fall or stay asleep, or feel rested.

Narcolepsy

• Narcolepsy involves suddenly slipping into REM sleep ("sleep attacks").

Sleep Apnea

• Sleep apnea is when the sleeper repeatedly stops breathing, causing momentary awakening.

Sleepwalking

• Sleepwalking occurs as an episode of walking or performing other activities.

Night Terrors

• Night terrors are a spike of physiological arousal, including intense fear & hallucinations.

Dreams

• Dreams are sequences of images, emotions, and thoughts that pass through a sleeping person's mind.
• Dreams feature people and places from one's daily experiences.
• Suring sleep, our two-track mind continuously monitors the environment.
• Sensory stimuli can instantly be woven into the dream's content.

Questions about glial cells, neuron thresholds, association areas, neurotransmitters, corpus callosum and refractory period in a neuron. Also covers neurogenesis, consciousness, the endocrine system, the occipital lobe and the motor cortex.