The Brain
Systems
Neurons and Communication
Definitions
Etc.
100
This area of the brain is responsible for controlling heartbeat and breathing.Damage to this area would mean death.
What is the Medulla?
100
The electrochemical communication system of the body.
What is the Nervous System?
100
A chemical messenger that travels across the synapse from one neuron to the next.
What is a neurotransmitter?
100
The basic building block of the nervous system.
What is a neuron?
100
This lobe is responsible for hearing.
What is the temporal lobe?
200
The central core of the brain, beginning where the spinal cord swells as it enters the skull. It is the oldest part of the brain.
What is the Brainstem?
200
The brain and spinal cord make up this system.
What is the Central Nervous System?
200
This part of the neuron receives messages from other cells.
What is a Dendrite?
200
This covers the axon and helps speed neural impulses.
What is the Myelin Sheath?
200
The master gland that controls all endocrine glands.
What is the Pituitary Gland?
300
Responsible for carrying messages between the left and right hemisphere of the brain.
What is the Corpus Callosum?
300
The sensory and motor nerves that connect the Central Nervous System to the rest of the body.
What is the Peripheral Nervous System?
300
This part of the neuron passes messages away from the cell body to other neurons, glands, or muscles.
What is an Axon?
300
The tiny fluid-filled gap between the axon terminal of one neuron and the dendrite of another.
What is a Synapse?
300
This operation involves cutting the corpus callosum.
What is a split brain procedure?
400
Helps coordinate voluntary movement and balance.
What is the Cerebellum?
400
The system that controls the body’s skeletal muscles.
What is the Somatic Nervous System?
400
The state of a neuron when it is at rest and capable of generating an action potential.
What is resting potential?
400
A neurotransmitter effect that makes it less likely that the receiving neuron will generate an action potential (impulse).
What is the inhibitory effect?
400
The brain region that controls the pituitary gland.
What is the Hypothalamus?
500
The brain’s sensory switchboard. It directs messages to the sensory receiving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla.
What is the Thalamus?
500
The system responsible for the flight or fight response.
What is the Sympathetic Nervous System?
500
Specialized cells in the sensory systems of the body that can turn other kinds of energy into action potentials that the nervous system can process.
What are receptor cells?
500
One of the body’s two communication systems-- A set of glands that produce hormones.
What is the Endocrine System?
500
A ring of structures surrounding the thalamus, forming a border between older and newer brain regions.
What is the Limbic system?
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