Complete Study Guide with Updated Exam Prep & Practice Questions"

CLEP Introductory Psychology:
Chapter 3: Biological Bases
of Behavior
Behavioral Neuroscience -->A field concerned with how this communication happens
and how behavior is influenced by it.


Nervous System -->An organization of neurons, neurotransmitters, and brain
structures that serves as the framework for moving information throughout the
body.


Sense Receptors -->Detect heat, or light, or touch and then pass information about
those stimuli on to the brain.


Sensory Neurons (afferent neurons) -->Take in information from the body tissues
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and sense organs, and transmit it to the spinal cord and brain.
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Motor Neurons (efferent neurons) -->Take information from the spinal cord and
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brain, and transmit it to the body tissue and sense organs.
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Interneurons (association neurons) -->Neurons that communicate with other
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neurons.


Dendrites -->Short, bushy fibers, that take information in from outside the cell.
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Axons -->Relatively long fibers- some extending up to several feet- that pass
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information along to other nerve cells, to glands, or to muscles.
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Myelin Sheath -->A fatty tissue that surrounds the axon and accelerates transmission
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g of information.
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, Action Potential -->An electric impulse.
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Ions -->Electrically charged ions.
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Refractory Period (phase) -->Time interval, usually following a response, during
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which almost no stimulus will produce another response.
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Synapse -->The junction where the end of one neuron meets the beginning of
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another.


Synaptic Gap -->The gap between synapse- less than one millionth of an inch.
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Neurotransmitters -->Chemical molecules contained in vesicles, or sacs, within the g g g g g g g g g g




axon terminal.
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Serotonin -->Helps control arousal and sleep.
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Agonists -->Drugs that mimic a particular neurotransmitter or make more of it
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available by blocking it's reuptake.
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Antagonists -->Drugs that block a neurotransmitters receptor sites or inhibits it's
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release.


Central Nervous System -->Includes the brain, which of course controls many
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physiological and psychological functions, and the spinal cord, which enables
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reflexive behaviors and relays information to the brain from elsewhere in the body.
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Peripheral Nervous System (PNS) -->Includes the sensory and motor neurons that
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g connect the brain and spinal cord to the rest of the body. The PNS is then
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divided g into the somatic nervous system and the autonomic nervous system.
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