Jessica Nguyen

Kraft Pd. 3

AP PSYCHOLOGY TERMS
(UNITS: Biological Basis of Behavior)

TERM

DEFINITION

APPLICATION OF
TERM/SIGNIFICANCE (IN
YOUR OWN WORDS AND
IN A SENTENCE)

Sensory
Neurons

Receive information from the

environment.

Smelling fresh baked bread

from a bakery.

Motor Neurons

Carry information away from the

spinal cord and the brain and
toward the body parts that are
supposed to respond to the
information in some way.

Feeling something on your

palm, and moving your hand
from it.

Interneurons

Serve as intermediaries between

sensory and motor neurons.

Communication.

Action Potential

The stage at which a neuron

"fires".

Like a gun; being shot.

Threshold

The minimum amount of

stimulation needed to start a
neural impulse.

Allows electrical impulses

that travel throughout your
body carrying important
information.

Synapse

The important gap between

neurons through which
messages are transmitted.

Allows information to get

through to each other.

Neurotransmitters

A chemical messenger that

carries information from one
neuron to others.

Allows information to go
throughout the body.

Dopamine

Seems to influence such

important activities as
movement, attention, and
learning.

Too much= Schizophrenia.

Too little = Parkinson's disease.

Serotonin

Appears to be related to
arousal and sleep as well as
to regulation of mood,
appetite, and sensitivity to

Ecstasy.

3A

pain.
Norepinephrine

Chemical which is excitatory,

similar to adrenaline, and affects
arousal and memory; raises blood
pressure.

Helps maintain arousal and

alertness.

Acetylcholine

Enables muscle action,

learning, and memory.

Found in large quantities in

milk, eggs, liver, and peanuts.
Helps us remember events, and
information.

Endorphins

Chemical inhibiting the

transmission of pain.

Runners high.

Reuptake

A process by which excess

neurotransmitters are
reabsorbed by the terminal
buttons.

Like rain that falls, and gets

reabsorbed by the
atmosphere.

Somatic
Nervous
System

In charge of quick, deliberate

movements by our roughly
400 skeletal muscles.

Having a reflex when the

doctor hits our knee, and
jerking our leg.

Autonomic
Nervous
System

Controls the movement of our

non-skeletal muscles.

Controls our breathing, and

heart rate.

Sympathetic
Nervous
System

The division of the autonomic

nervous system that arouses
the body, mobilizing its
energy in stressful situations
and other reserves stored in
the body.

Quickened heartbeat from

getting chased by a dog.

Parasympatheti
c Nervous
System

The division of the autonomic

nervous system, the division
of the autonomic nervous
system that calms the body,
conserving its energy.

After a heavy sprint, jogging

it off to breathe and calm
your breath and heart down.

Hormones

Chemical messengers, mostly

those manufactured by the
endocrine glands, that are
produced in one tissue and
affect another.

Influence of sex, food, and

aggression.

3B
Lesion

A region in an organ or tissue that

has suffered damage through injury
or disease.

A wound, or bruise.

Electroencephalogra
m

Measure the electrical activity of the

entire living brain.

Significant because it
watches brain activity.

CT Scan

A painless X-ray test in which a

computer generates cross-section
(Same as CAT views of a patient's anatomy.
Scan)

Significant because it
examines the humans
insides to make sure
there isnt anything
wrong.

PET Scan

An imaging test that uses a

Look for things like
radioactive substance called a tracer cancer, brain, and heart
to look for disease in the body.
problems.

MRI

Resembles a CAT scanner and

reveals much of the same
information using a magnetic field
instead of radiation.

Looks for brain tumors,

and other brain
situations like nerve
injury.

fMRI

A functional neuroimaging
procedure using MRI technology that
measures brain activity by detecting
associated changes in blood flow.

Examines the anatomy

of the brain.

Cerebral
Cortex

A 2-millimeter-deep layer of tissue

that covers the surface of the brain.

Most information
processing in the brain
takes place in the
cerebral cortex.

Frontal Lobes

The location of higher thought

processes.

Being able to process

memories.

Parietal
Lobes

The home of somatosensory

processing of sensations in the skin
and muscles of the body.

Feeling someone hit

your arm.

Occipital
Lobes

Home of the visual processing.

Seeing a football
coming to your face,
and then dodging it.

Temporal
Lobes

Home of the auditory processing.

Hearing a book fall in a

silent room.

Motor Cortex

The part of the cerebral cortex in the Moving your hands on

brain where the nerve impulses
the steering wheel to
originate that initiate voluntary
swerve, and switch
muscular activity.
lanes.

Sensory
Cortex

The region of the cerebral cortex

concerned with receiving and
interpreting sensory information
from various parts of the body.

Feeling the breeze chill

when you open your
refrigerator.

Association
Areas

Process sensory information more

elaborately than do the primary
sensory areas of the brain.

Being able to plan, and

execute.

Aphasia

Loss of ability to understand or

express speech, caused by brain
damage.

Losing memories.

Brocas Area

A structure in the left frontal lobe, is

involved in the movements of the
mouth needed for speech. It is also
involved in our ability to speak
grammatically.

Allows us to know how

to speak, and let words
come out correctly.

Wernickes
Area

An area in the temporal lobe of the

brain known for languagecomprehension.

Allows us to understand
words.

Plasticity

The brains capacity for

modification.

Allows our brains to

relearn things; rehab.

Corpus
Callosum

A dense body of nerve fibers,

connects the two cerebral
hemispheres.

Keeps both hemispheres

together, working
efficiently.