The Neuron and Neural Firing
This is the basic unit of the nervous system that transmits information.
What is a neuron?
This part of the brain controls basic life functions such as heartbeat and breathing.
What is the medulla?
The part of the nervous system responsible for calming the body and conserving energy.
What is the parasympathetic nervous system?
The minimum stimulation needed to detect a stimulus 50% of the time.
What is the absolute threshold?
This stage of sleep is characterized by rapid eye movement and vivid dreams.
This chemical messenger is released by neurons to communicate across the synapse.
What are neurotransmitters?
The brain structure responsible for forming new memories.
What is the hippocampus?
This is the "fight-or-flight" response system.
What is the sympathetic nervous system?
The process of converting sensory stimuli into neural impulses.
What is transduction?
This sleep disorder involves difficulty falling or staying asleep.
What is insomnia?
The electrical charge that travels down the axon during neural firing.
What is an action potential?
This part of the brain controls voluntary movements and is located at the rear of the frontal lobes.
What is the motor cortex?
This division of the nervous system includes the brain and spinal cord.
What is the central nervous system (CNS)?
This principle explains that to perceive a difference between two stimuli, they must differ by a constant proportion, not a constant amount.
What is Weber's Law?
This sleep disorder is characterized by sudden cessation of breathing during sleep, often resulting in repeated awakenings.
These structures insulate the axon and speed up neural transmission.
What are the myelin sheaths?
The bundle of nerves connecting the two hemispheres of the brain.
What is the corpus callosum?
These nerves carry information from the body to the brain.
What are sensory neurons?
The diminishing sensitivity to an unchanging stimulus over time.
What is sensory adaptation?
This theory suggests sleep is necessary for restoring and repairing the body.
What is the restorative theory of sleep?
This period occurs after an action potential when the neuron cannot fire again immediately.
What is the refractory period?
This brain region plays a key role in emotional regulation and fear responses.
What is the amygdala?
This system controls involuntary functions like heartbeat and digestion.
What is the autonomic nervous system?
The sense responsible for detecting body position and movement.
What is kinesthesia?
A sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable "sleep attacks."
What is narcolepsy?