Sleep Stages & Disorders
What is the daily biological cycle that regulates sleep and wake patterns?
Circadian Rhythm
What class of drugs slows down brain activity and includes substances like alcohol?
Depressants
What psychoactive drug found in coffee increases alertness by stimulating the central nervous system?
Caffeine
What is the process by which sensory receptors convert stimulus energy into neural impulses?
Transduction
What part of the ear is damaged in sensorineural hearing loss?
The Cochlea
What term describes the biological transfer of traits from parents to offspring?
Heredity
What is the term for the chemical messengers that cross the synapse between neurons?
Neurotransmitters
What neurotransmitter is involved in movement and reward, and is linked to Parkinson’s and schizophrenia?
Dopamine
Dr. Copeland is interested in studying how diet impacts the nervous system activity of professional dancers. She randomly assigns a group of professional ballet dancers to either a protein-rich diet or a carbohydrate-rich diet. After three weeks on each food plan, she measures the function of specific parts of the brain and nervous systems while they are dancing.
Experiment
During which stage of sleep do hypnagogic sensations, such as falling or floating, often occur?
NREM Stage 1
What type of psychoactive drug increases neural activity and bodily functions, and includes caffeine and cocaine?
Stimulants
What is the theory that dreams are the brain’s attempt to make sense of random neural activity?
activation-synthesis theory
What term refers to the minimum amount of stimulation needed to detect a stimulus 50% of the time?
Absolute Threshold
Which theory explains how we locate sounds based on which ear hears the sound first and its intensity?
Sound Localization
What do we call a person’s inherited tendency to develop a particular disorder or trait?
genetic predisposition
Which nervous system controls involuntary bodily functions like heartbeat and digestion?
Autonomic Nervous System
What calming neurotransmitter is often low in people with anxiety disorders?
GABA
A manager of a company that makes self-driving cars is interested in showing that self-driving cars cause fewer accidents than traditional cars. She recruited 30 people for her study. After keeping her participants awake for 24 hours straight, she randomly assigned them to either drive a traditional car or a self-driving car. Which of the following is the most significant ethical factor that might influence the approval of this study?
Protection from Harm
What sleep disorder causes someone to stop breathing for short periods during the night?
Sleep Apnea
Which neurotransmitter-mimicking substance binds to receptor sites and activates them?
Agonists
What uncomfortable physical and psychological symptoms occur when a person stops using an addictive drug?
Withdrawal
What law explains how a stimulus must differ by a constant proportion (not amount) to be noticed?
Weber's Law
What is the name of the sense of smell system?
Olfactory System
Which controversial historical movement aimed at “improving” the human gene pool?
Eugenics
This term describes when a neuron is unable to fire again immediately after an action potential.
Refractory Period
What hormone, released by the pineal gland, helps regulate the sleep–wake cycle?
Melatonin
A research study seeks to examine the influence of REM sleep disruption on memory and attention. To investigate this, researchers gather a representative sample of healthy participants ages 18 to 40 years old with no prior history of sleep disorders or psychiatric conditions. They give each participant a baseline cognitive functioning test. The participants are housed in a sleep research lab for the duration of the study where they have their REM sleep disrupted multiple times each night. Following a three-week period of REM sleep disruption, participants will repeat the initial cognitive assessments to evaluate changes in performance. Which of the following research methods is being used in this study?
Experiment
A person enters REM sleep directly and randomly throughout the day, even during activities. What disorder is this?
Narcolepsy
After repeated use, this occurs when the user needs increasing amounts of a drug to feel the same effect.
Tolerance
What theory states that we dream in order to strengthen and store important memories from the day?
Consolidation Theory
When you stop noticing the smell of your perfume after a while, what process is responsible?
Sensory Adaptation
According to this theory, we perceive color through red, green, and blue cones.
Trichromatic Theory
Which research method compares identical and fraternal twins to study heredity vs. environment?
Twin studies
What disorder involves deterioration of the myelin sheath, leading to disrupted neural communication?
MS
Which neurotransmitter increases arousal and alertness and is part of the fight-or-flight response?
Norepinephrine
Neurologists trying to find a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease selected 100 individuals with moderate to severe symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. Fifty participants were randomly placed into either an experimental condition that received a new medication that acted as an agonist for acetylcholine or the control condition which continued to receive same care as before. The study lasted for ten weeks at which time members of both groups took a cognitive assessment to determine their level of functioning. Which of the following best explains the operational definition of the dependent variable in this study?
The Score on the Cognitive Assessment
What is the term for when someone violently acts out their dreams during REM sleep due to the failure of muscle atonia?
REM Sleep Behavior Disorder
What is the term for a drug that blocks a neurotransmitter from binding by occupying its receptor?
Atagonists
After being sleep-deprived of REM sleep, a person may fall into REM faster and stay in it longer. What is this called?
REM Rebound
What condition occurs when stimulation of one sense leads to automatic experiences in another (e.g., hearing colors)?
Synesthesia
After staring at a bright red shape, you see a green one when you look away. What concept explains this?
This evolutionary theory explains human behavior in terms of inherited traits that promote survival and reproduction.
Evolutionary Perspective
In the reflex arc, which neurons carry messages from the body to the spinal cord?
Sensory Neurons
What neurotransmitter is linked to muscle movement and memory, and deteriorates in Alzheimer’s disease?
Acetylcholine
A sample of pregnant women is given a high dose of caffeine daily to determine if their babies are born with an addiction to caffeine. What is the ethical issue in this study?
Potential long term harm to babies.