Nurturing Your Nature
In the nature vs. nurture debate, "nature" refers to heredity and genetics, while "nurture" refers to these external factors experienced in the womb and after birth.
What is the environment?
Encased entirely in bone and composed of the brain and spinal cord, this central system consists exclusively of interneurons.
What is the Central Nervous System (CNS)?
These branch-like structures extending from the soma receive incoming chemical signals from neighboring neurons.
What are dendrites?
Disruptions in muscle contractions or memory loss are often tied to imbalances in this neurotransmitter, which plays a primary role in muscle movement and learning.
What is acetylcholine (ACh)?
Caffeine, nicotine, cocaine, and amphetamines belong to this drug class, which excites neural activity and speeds up bodily functions.
What are stimulants?
Twin studies demonstrate that adult identical twins display striking similarities in personality traits even when raised in this situation.
What is separated at birth?
This division of the peripheral nervous system carries conscious motor commands from the CNS to allow voluntary muscle movement.
What is the somatic nervous system?
Multiple sclerosis damages this fatty layer insulating the axon, causing neural impulses to travel more slowly or unreliably.
What is the myelin sheath?
Unlike neural messages, which travel rapidly across synapses, chemical messengers from this system travel slowly through the bloodstream, causing their effects to outlast neural impulses.
What is the endocrine system (or hormones)?
Alcohol falls under this drug classification because it calms neural activity, slows body functions, and leads to reduced inhibitions.
What are depressants?
This psychological perspective explores how natural selection favors traits that promote gene survival, explaining why phobias of snakes and spiders are far more common than phobias of modern threats like electricity.
What is evolutionary psychology?
When a sudden threat appears, this autonomic division triggers a "fight-or-flight" arousal response by accelerating heart rate, raising blood pressure, and slowing digestion.
What is the sympathetic nervous system?
In transmitting sensory information through a single neuron, an electrical impulse travels along these three main anatomical structures in precise order.
What is from the dendrites, to the cell body (soma), to the axon?
Produced in the pituitary gland and often referred to as the "love hormone," this chemical messenger promotes trust, empathy, and social bonding during physical affection like hugging.
What is oxytocin?
Jacob had to repeatedly increase the dose of his pain medication because his body experienced this phenomenon, where decreasing responsiveness requires larger doses for the same effect.
What is tolerance?
This field studies how environmental triggers can turn gene expression on or off through chemical reactions without altering the actual DNA sequence.
What is epigenetics?
Operating like a parachute floating to Earth, this system calms the body, lowers heart rate, and restores energy in a "rest-and-digest" state.
What is the parasympathetic nervous system?
This neural principle states that once excitatory signals reach the required threshold, a neuron fires completely; it cannot fire half-way or with partial strength.
What is the all-or-none response (or principle)?
While adrenaline handles acute stress, long-term elevated levels of this primary chronic stress hormone can suppress immune function and raise blood pressure.
What is cortisol?
Upon stopping an addictive opiate painkiller that mimics endorphins, Pierce experienced intense physical distress and pain, illustrating this phenomenon.
What is withdrawal?
This historical concept represents an unethical, discriminatory application of evolutionary principles aimed at selectively breeding or controlling human populations.
What is eugenics?
When a performer experiences sweaty palms and a racing heart before stepping on stage, their sympathetic system is active; when their body automatically maintains life-sustaining functions like breathing without conscious thought, it relies on this broader division of the peripheral nervous system.
What is the autonomic nervous system?
Immediately after an action potential fires, a neuron experiences this brief resting pause during which it is temporarily incapable of firing again.
What is the refractory period?
When antidepressant or therapeutic drugs cause neurotransmitters to linger in the synaptic gap, they inhibit this normal biological reabsorption process.
What is reuptake?
Cocaine produces an intense euphoric rush followed by a severe crash because it blocks the reuptake of these three specific neurotransmitters. Give one of the neurotransmitters.
What are dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin?