Brain Parts
The part of the sub-cortex involved in emotions, stress, and eating.
What is the hypothalamus?
The part of the nervous system responsible for the "fight or flight" response.
What is the sympathetic nervous system (or SNS)?
The type of glutamate receptor with a magnesium ion (it's a key part of learning).
What is an NMDA receptor?
Reduced activity of the frontal lobe; typical among people with schizophrenia.
What is hypofrontality?
A specialized neuron that signals the central nervous system about potential damage to the body.
What is a nociceptor?
Part of the frontal lobe that integrates information into a conscious experience of emotion.
A system of glands that produce chemicals which travel through the bloodstream to communicate with other organs.
What is the endocrine system?
Category of drugs that causes symptoms similar to the positive symptoms of schizophrenia (e.g., distorted perceptions, disorganized thinking)
What are CNS disruptors (or psychedelics or hallucinogens)?
An impaired state of consciousness in which the patient is fully aware but cannot move.
What is locked-in syndrome (or, LIS)?
The part of the medulla that receives ascending messages from the vagus nerve.
What is the nucleus of the solitary tract (or NST)?
Part of the brainstem that influences wakefulness and alertness.
What is the reticular formation?
The system that increases relaxation, digestion, and sexual arousal.
What is the parasympathetic nervous system (or PNS)?
A type of ion that enables long-term potentiation (by increasing post-synaptic dendritic spines and AMPA receptors).
What is calcium or Ca or Ca2+?
Loss of ability to either form new memories or access old ones.
What is amnesia?
The theory relating intelligence to how efficiently information travels around the brain.
What is the PFIT or Parieto-Frontal Integration Theory?
Part of the hindbrain that produces noradrenaline and is overactive in people with anxiety disorders.
What is the locus coeruleus (or, blue spot)?
The system of neurons that controls the speed of digestion.
What is the enteric nervous system (or gut brain)?
The chemical that is released by the SAM axis to prepare the body for an immediate response to threats.
What is norepinephrine (or noradrenaline or NE)?
Syndrome characterized by memory impairment and confabulation; usually found among alcoholics.
What is Korsakoff's syndrome?
A bilateral, subcortical structure (medial to the temporal lobe) that is involved in disgust, pain, and consciousness.
What is the insula (or insular cortex)?
The forebrain "sad center" that is overactive in people with major depressive disorder.
What is the subgenual cingulate gyrus (or SCG or SGC)?
What is the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (cortex) axis (or HPAc)?
The tip of a DNA molecule that shortens with chronic stress, therefore limiting how many times a cell can divide.
What is a telomere?
A rare genetic disorder characterized by high ghrelin levels.
What is Prader-Willi Syndrome?
A chemical released in the spinal cord that increases ascending pain signals (hint: it's not glutamate).
What is Substance P?