Neurons
A nerve cell found in the central nervous system.
What is a neuron?
A chemical message made of molecules.
What is a neurotransmitter?
This part of the brain controls basic functions such as breathing and heart rate.
What is the brainstem?
What emotion/experience causes cortisol levels to increase?
Stress
Name two of the structures in a neuron.
Dendrites, soma/cell body, nucleus, axon, myelin sheath, axon terminals
How do neurotransmitters help in the communication between neurons?
Neurotransmitters carry messages between neurons
What are the two major components of the central nervous system?
Brain and spinal cord.
This part of your brain looks like a seahorse!
What is a hippocampus?
This is the space between neurons.
What is a synapse?
Name two examples of neurotransmitters and their function.
Adrenaline (epinephrine) = fight/flight
Noradrenaline = concentrationDopamine = pleasure
Serotonin = mood regulation
Gaba = calming
Acetylcholine = learning
Glutamate = memory
Endorphins = euphoria
The system in the brain that is responsible for emotions and memories.
What is the limbic system?
What does the phrase “what fires together wires together” mean?
The connections between neurons grow stronger when we repeat a behavior (practice makes us better!)
This "insulates" the electrical impulse on the axon.
What is myelin sheath?
This neurotransmitter can interfere with learning and memory, depression, and lower immune function if kept at a high level for a long time.
What is cortisol?
The part of your brain that is responsible for voluntary movements like balance, coordination, speech, and motor learning.
What is the cerebellum?
What does the reptilian brain refer to and what is the mammalian brain?
Reptilian brain: brain stem (involuntary functions)
Mammalian brain: limbic system (hippocampus & amygdala)
Describe the journey of a neurotransmitter traveling from one neuron to another.
The neurotransmitter is a chemical message. Dendrites receive the message, the nucleus in the cell body processes the message,the electrical impose travels through the axon, protected by the myelin sheath, and the axon terminal releases the neurotransmitter which travels across the synapse.
What 4 neurotransmitters are likely being used in your brain right now as you play this Jeopardy game, and what is their main function?
Adrenaline (fight/flight)
Noradrenaline (concentration)
Acetylcholine (learning)
Glutamate (memory)
Abstract thinking, conscious thought, and making decisions are all functions of this part of the brain.
What is the prefrontal cortex found in the frontal lobe?
What would a fight, flight, freeze, and fawn response look like in preparing for the brain assessment?
Fight: study, prepare, and be determined to succeed
Flight: skip class, procrastinate studying
Freeze: don’t write anything down on the assessment
Fawn: Shower your teacher with compliments and gifts in the hopes that she will forget about the assessment!