Introduction to psychology/Key words for chapter three
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This is a list of jargon for psychology. There is a short statement about what the term is and possibly a link to wipedia or wiktionary.
Action Potential [edit]
- A signal passing through a neuron is considered an action potential.
Afferent [edit]
- In the nervous system, afferent neurons--otherwise known as sensory or receptor neurons--carry nerve impulses from receptors or sense organs toward the central nervous system.
All-or-none principle [edit]
- Theory that once a signal is started that it will always travel the length of a neuron at a fixed intensity, not getting stronger or weaker.
Amygdala [edit]
- The part of the limbic with a primary role in the processing and memory of emotional reactions.
Autonomic nervous system [edit]
- The part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the function of many glands and smooth-muscle organs.
- It is divided into the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems.
Axon [edit]
- The single long fiber extending from the cell body of a neuron; carries the signal to the synapse
Saltatory conduction [edit]
Cell body [edit]
- See soma
Central nervous system (CNS) [edit]
- The brain and the spinal cord.
Cerebellum [edit]
- Region of the brain that plays an important role in the integration of sensory perception and motor output.
Cerebrum [edit]
- The cerebrum deals with language and communication, movement, olfaction (smelling), memory formation, and emotion.
Computed tomography [edit]
- A medical imaging method employing tomography where digital geometry processing is used to generate a three-dimensional image of the internals of an object from a large series of two-dimensional X-ray images taken around a single axis of rotation.
- Helps reveal structural abnormalities.
Corpus callosum [edit]
- The corpus callosum connects the left and right cerebral hemispheres.
- Most (but certainly not all) communication between regions in different halves of the brain are carried over the corpus callosum.
Cortex [edit]
- The outer layer of the cerebral hemispheres; controls complex cognitive processes.
Cortical lobes [edit]
- Four arbitirarily deignated divisions of the cortex.
Dendrite [edit]
- The recieving portion of a neuron
Depolarization [edit]
- A process that the nueron goes through after the passage of an action potential.
- Depolarization is when a cell is moving farther away from 0mV while hyperpolarization is when the cell is moving closer to 0mV.
Efferent [edit]
- In the nervous system, efferent nerves – otherwise known as motor or effector neurons – carry nerve impulses away from the central nervous system to effectors such as muscles or glands.
Grade potential [edit]
Neurotransmitter [edit]
- Neurotransmitters are used to relay, amplify and modulate electrical signals between a neuron and another cell.
- Amino acids are an example of a neurotransmitter.
Neuron [edit]
Nodes of Ranvier [edit]
- Nodes of Ranvier are regularly spaced gaps in the myelin sheath around an axon or nerve fiber.
Organelle [edit]
- An organelle is a discrete structure of a cell having specialized functions.
Refractory phase [edit]
- After the action potential the refractory phase marks a period where the neuron is less excitable.
Synapse [edit]
- Synapses, or chemical synapses, are specialized junctions through which cells of the nervous system signal to one another and to non-neuronal cells such as muscles or glands.
Synaptic vesicle [edit]
In a neuron, synaptic vesicles, also called neurotransmitter vesicles, store the various neurotransmitters that are released during calcium-regulated exocytosis at the presynaptic terminal into the synaptic cleft of a synapse.
