Brain FUNctions
The part of the brain that directs messages to the sensory receiving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla.
What is the thalamus?
A recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur. Also known as paradoxical sleep, because the muscles are relaxed (except for minor twitches) but other body systems are active
What is REM sleep?
A fatty tissue layer segmentally encasing the axons of some neurons; enables vastly greater transmission speed as neural impulses hop from one node to the next.
What is the myelin sheath?
A technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer-generated images of soft tissue; it shows brain anatomy.
What is an MRI?
The brain and spinal cord.
What is the central nervous system?
The base of the brainstem which controls the heartbeat and breathing.
What is the medulla?
Our biological clock; regular bodily rhythms that occur on a 24-hour cycle.
What is circadian rhythm?
The neuron extension that passes messages through its branches to other neurons or to muscles or glands
What is the axon?
A visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task.
What is a PET scan?
The sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system to the rest of the body.
What is the peripheral nervous system?
A nerve network that travels through the brainstem into the thalamus and plays an important role in controlling arousal.
What is reticular formation?
The large, slow brain waves associated with the deep sleep of NREM-3.
What is a delta wave?
The part of a neuron that contains the nucleus; the cell's lifesupport center
What is the cell body?
A technique for revealing blood-flow and, therefore, brain activity by comparing successive MRI scans; these scans show brain function as well as structure.
What is an fMRI?
The division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy.
What is the sympathetic nervous system?
The oldest part and central core of the brain, the beginning where the spinal cord swells as it enters the skull.
What is the brainstem?
The relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state.
What is an alpha wave?
A neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon
What is action potential?
A series of X-ray photographs taken from different angles and combined by computer into a composite representation of a slice of the brain's structure.
What is a CT scan?
The division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving its energy.
What is the parasympathetic system?
The intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells covering the cerebral hemispheres; it is the body's ultimate control and information-processing center.
What is the cerebral cortex?
Bizarre experiences, such as jerking or a feeling of falling or floating weightlessly, while transitioning to sleep.
What is a hypnagogic sensation?
The junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron.
What is the synapse?
An amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity sweeping across the brain's surface; these waves are measured by electrodes placed on the scalp.
What is an EEG (electroencephalogram)?
The body's "slow" chemical communicating system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream.
What is the endocrine system?