COGSCI 115 Final 2025

[2] - how many pounds if your brain? - how many neurons in the brain? - how many synaptic connections for an average neuron to other neurons? - what percent of body oxygen and glucose is used by the brain? - Your brain uses up ten times more energy when you're thinking hard - -- 3 lbs - 86 billion - 1000 and up to 200,000 Purkinje cells - 20% - False [2] What is the level of organization of the nervous system? - -Cells: individual neurons Tissue: nerves, ganglia Organ: brain and spinal cord System: nervous system [2] soma - -cell body of a neuron [2] dendrite - -branched, treelike extensions attached to the soma of a neuron; receives information from neurotransmitters released from terminal button [2] axon - -extension of a neuron, ending with branching terminal fibers which send messages to other neurons or muscles or glands [2] terminal button - -bud at the end of a branch of an axon; forms synapses with other neurons; sends information to those neurons via neurotransmitters [2] neurotransmitter - -chemical released by a terminal button; has an excitatory or inhibitory effect on other neurons [2] myelin sheath - -- covers the axon with a layer and prevents messages from traveling between each sheath - composed of glial cells (support cells of CNS) - increases speed of neural impulses (jumps from each node of Ranvier to another) - decreases amount of energy needed for neural conduction [2] action potential - -all or none phenomenon; propagates a firing from one end of the axon to the other [2] synapse - -junction between terminal button of a neuron and membrane or dendrite of another [2] synaptic gap - -area where neurotransmitters are released into after an action potential makes it to the terminal button, triggering the release of presynaptic membrane (holding the neurotransmitters) - released into synaptic cleft [2] neurotransmitter - -chemical released to bind to receptor sites; may cause inhibitory or excitatory effects [2] reuptake - -transporters return neurotransmitters to the terminal button and the postsynaptic effects are stopped (back into cytoplasm) [2] enzymatic deactivation - -destruction of a neurotransmitter by an enzyme after its release (e.g. destruction of acetylcholine by acetylcholinesterase) [2] neurogenesis - -production of new neurons - stem cells in brain can divide and produce new neurons - in the hippocampus, olfactory bulb, amygdala, cerebellum - develops new synaptic connections [3] Central System System - -the brain and spinal cord [3] Peripheral Nervous System - -the sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system (CNS) to the rest of the body [3] sympathetic nervous system - -- part of the autonomic nervous system that controls functions that accompany arousal and expenditure of energy - stimulates increased heart rate, rise in blood sugar level, goosebumps (piloerection) [3] adrenal medulla - -portion of adrenal gland that secretes epinephrine and norepinephrine [3] parasympathetic nervous system - -- part of autonomic nervous system that controls functions that occur during relaxed state - secretes acetylcholine - involvement of activities that increase stored energy (salivation, intestinal and gastric motility) [3] anterior - -near or at the front [3] posterior - -near or at the back [3] dorsal - -in direction toward the top of head or back [3] ventral - -in direction toward bottom of skull or front surface of the body [3] lateral - -down side of body (away from middle) [3] medial - -toward middle of body (away from side) [3] coronal or frontal section - -a slice through the brain parallel to forehead [3] sagittal or lateral section - -a slice through the brain perpendicular to the groud and parallel to the temporal lobes [3] transverse or axial section - -a slice through the brain parallel to the ground [3] what are the three divisions of the brain? - -forebrain, midbrain, hindbrain [3] neocortex - -associated with rational or thinking brain [3] limbic brain - -associated with emotional or feeling brain [3] repitilian brain - -associated with instinctual or dinosaur brain [3] cerebral cortex - -- distinguishes humans from other animals - outmost layer of gray matter is 3mm thick - contains 26 billion neurons - mainly made of glia and cell bodies - includes neocortex and limbic cortex [3] frontal lobe - -involved with speaking, muscle movements, making plans, judgements, emotional control [3] primary motor cortex - -posterior part of frontal lobe that controls voluntary movements [3] prefrontal cortex - -anterior part of frontal lobe that is involved in formulating plans and making judgment [3] parietal lobe - -includes primary somatosensory cortex (anterior part of parietal lobe) - where surface of body is mapped on the surface of the brain [3] occipital lobe - -includes primary visual cortex (posterior part of occipital lobe) - receives visual information from the