System Basic
This part of your body acts like the “boss” that controls everything you do.
What is the brain?
The large outer part of the brain used for thinking, moving, and senses.
What is the cerebrum (or cortex)?
The name for a nerve cell.
What is a neuron?
The brain and spinal cord are protected by this strong structure.
What is the skull (and spinal column / vertebrae)?
The brain continues developing well into this life stage.
What is adolescence (or early adulthood)?
Together the brain, spinal cord, and this make up the nervous system.
What are the nerves?
This part of the brain helps with balance and coordination.
What is the cerebellum?
Neurons transmit messages by this kind of process (hint: electrical + chemical).
What is the electrochemical process?
The fluid that circulates around the brain and spinal cord to cushion and remove waste.
What is cerebrospinal fluid?
These habits are important during teen years because “what fires together wires together.”
What are good habits (like being active, positive thinking, healthy sleep)?
The pathway that carries messages back and forth between the body and brain.
What is the spinal cord?
This “stem” of the brain connects to the spinal cord and controls basic life functions.
What is the brain stem?
The system that includes nerves going out from the spinal cord to the body.
What is the peripheral nervous system?
The network of three protective membranes around the brain and spinal cord.
What are the meninges?
Abuse, drugs, or alcohol during brain development can harm this process.
What is brain development / neural wiring?
This system sends messages between the brain and all parts of the body.
What is the nervous system?
This part helps regulate body temperature, appetite, and sleep.
What is the hypothalamus?
The system that controls the body’s “rest and digest” functions.
What is the parasympathetic nervous system?
This refers to the “central” part of the nervous system: brain + spinal cord.
What is the central nervous system?
The brain’s emotional center that teens often use more than their judgment center.
What is the amygdala?
The brain and nervous system control things you don’t have to think about, like breathing.
What are automatic functions / involuntary actions?
These two halves of the brain are called _____.
What are hemispheres?
The system that handles the body’s response to danger or stress (“fight or flight”).
What is the sympathetic nervous system?
The large bundle of nerve fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres.
What is the corpus callosum?
The part of the brain responsible for judgment, decision-making, and impulse control — still developing in teens.
What is the prefrontal cortex?