Division of the nervous system that consists of the brain and spinal cord
peripheral nervous system (PNS)
the sensory and motor neurons that connect the CNS to the rest of the body
somatic nervous system
division of the peripheral nervous system that control's the body's skeletal muscles.
neuron
a nerve cell; basic cell of the nervous system
sensory (afferent) neurons
neurons that carry information from the receptors to the spinal cord and brain
motor (efferent) neurons
neurons that carry information from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles
autonomic nervous system (ANS)
division of the peripheral nervous system involved in the control of (generally unconscious/automatic) bodily functioning through organs and glands; its sympathetic division arouses while the parasympathetic division calms
sympathetic nervous system
subdivision of the autonomic nervous system responsible for mobilizing the body in times of stress, and preparing for flight or fight
parasympathetic nervous system
subdivision of the autonomic nervous system responsible for calming the body
reflex
automatic behavior in response to a specific stimulus; does not involve communication with the brain
brainstem
the oldest part and central core of the brain; responsible for automatic survival functions and composed of medulla, pons, and reticular formation.
pons
structure of the brainstem that allows for communication between the cerebellum, cerebral cortex, & brain stem; has nuclei that are important for sleep and arousal
Paul Broca
responsible for discovering the area on the left frontal lobe responsible for coordinating muscle movements involved in spoken language
motor cortex
located on the rear of the frontal lobes; responsible for directing voluntary movement on the opposite side of the body
Carl Wernicke
discovered a brain area responsible for interpreting meaning of language
depolarization
process of neural firing; when action potential is generated and the neuron briefly takes on a positive charge
all-or-none response
neuron will only fire (if threshold is reached) OR not fire (if stimulation is insufficient)
amygdala
the two almond-shaped nerve clusters in the limbic system believed to be responsible for fear and aggressive responses
cerebral cortex
wrinkled, gray covering of the brain that accounts for 80% of brain weight is responsible for complex processing of information, planning, learning, memory storage, etc
Phineas Gage
famous case study in neuroscience; sustained catastrophic damage to his frontal lobes