Frenetic Genetics
The principle that the inherited traits enabling an organism to best survive and reproduce in a particular environment will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations
What is natural selection?
Molecules that increase the activity of a neurotransmitter
What are agonists?
An amplified recording of the waves of the electrical activity sweeping across the brain's surface measured by electrodes placed on the scalp
What is an EEG (electroencephalogram)?
Consisting of two lima-bean-sized neural clusters in the limbic system, this neural structure enables aggression and fear
What is the amygdala?
Including opium and its derivatives, this class of psychoactive drugs depresses neural activity, temporarily lessening pain and anxiety
What are opioids?
Despite having shared the same prenatal environment, these organisms are genetically no closer than ordinary siblings
What are fraternal (dizygotic) twins?
The bushy, branching extensions of a neuron that receive and integrate messages, conducting impulses toward the cell body
What are dendrites?
A technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer generated images of soft tissue, showing brain structure
What is MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)?
What is the medulla?
This is the most consumed psychoactive drug in the world
What is caffeine?
The study of change in the expression of genes that does not involve changes to the underlying DNA sequence
What is epigenetics?
Cells in the nervous system that support, nourish, and protect neurons
What are glial cells?
A technique for detecting brain activity that displays where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task
What is PET (positron emission tomography)?
This is the large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres that carries information between them
What is the corpus callosum?
This category of psychoactive drugs includes those that distort perceptions and evoke sensory images in the absence of sensory input
What are hallucinogens?
Any physical or chemical agent that facilitates mutations within the genetic material of an organism
What is a mutagen?
The tiny gap located at the junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron
What is the synaptic gap/cleft?
Series of x-ray photographs taken from different angles and combined by a computer into a composite representation of a slice of the brain’s structure
What are CT (computed tomography) scans?
This is a region of the parietal lobe within the cerebral cortex that registers and processes body touch and movement sensations
What is the somatosensory cortex?
What is THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol)?
A diagram that displays the pairs of homologous chromosomes within an organism arranged by decreasing size
What is a karyotype?
Meaning "conveying towards a center", this term is used to describe neurons that transmit signals towards the central nervous system
What is afference?
Characterized by a lack of resistance to the flow of electric current when supercooled, materials such as these are commonly used in MRI scanners to produce strong magnetic fields
What are superconductors?
Proposed by Franz Gall, this 19th century pseudoscience involved studying the bumps on a person's skull to reveal their character traits and mental abilities
What is phrenology?
Prepared from the Banisteriopsis caapi vine, this psychoactive drug is used by indigenous cultures of the Amazon as part of traditional medicine and spiritual rituals
What is ayahuasca?