The Neuron
Neurotransmitters
Parts of the Brain
The Nervous System
Brain Scans
100
receives information and conducts it toward the cell body
What is the dendrite?
100
Affects mood, hunger, sleep, and arousal. Shortage = depression
What is serotonin?
100
The "little brain" that assists in balance and movement.
What is the cerebellum?
100
The brain and the spinal cord.
What is the central nervous system?
100
An amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity that sweep across the brain's surface.
What is an EEG (electroencephalogram)?
200

Passes messages along to other neurons

What is the axon?

200
A major inhibitory neurotransmitter. Shortage = seizures, tremors, and insomnia
What is GABA?
200
The part of the limbic system responsible for memory and learning.
What is the hippocampus?
200
Connects the CNS to the limbs and the organs.
What is the peripheral nervous system?
200

A series of x-ray photographs of the brain taken from different angles and combined by a computer to create and image that represents a slice through the brain.

What is a CT scan?

300

A brief electrical signal that travels down its axon.

What is action potential?

300
Influences movement, learning, attention, and emotion. Excess = schizophrenia Shortage = Parkinson's disease
What is dopamine?
300
The part of the brainstem that controls the heartbeat and breathing.
What is the medulla?
300
Division of the PNS that controls the body's skeletal muscles.
What is the somatic nervous system?
300

Measures the different levels of activity in the brain by detecting where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain is performing a given task.

What is a PET scan?

400

Fatty layer that insulates the axon and speeds up neural communication.

What is Myelin Sheath?

400
Enables muscle action, learning, and memory. Shortage = Alzheimer's disease
What is Acetylcholine (ACh)?
400
Neural clusters in the limbic system that are linked to emotions, especially fear, rage, and aggression.
What is the Amygdala?
400
The division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situations.
What is the sympathetic nervous system?
400
Uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer-generated images of different structures within the brain.
What is MRI?
500

Resting state after firing in which the neuron goes back to its polarized resting state.

What is the refractory period?

500
A major excitatory neurotransmitter; involved in memory. Excess = overstimulated brain, seizures, and migraines
What is Glutamate?
500
The part of the limbic system that lies below the thalamus. It is responsible for the regulation of body maintenance such as eating, drinking, and body temperature.
What is the hypothalamus?
500
The division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving its energy.
What is the parasympathetic nervous system?
500
A technique for revealing blood flow, and, therefore, brain activity by comparing successive MRI scans
What is fMRI?
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