Biological Bases of Behavior : Vocab
Neuron-✔✔a nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system
Dendrite-✔✔a neuron's bushy, branching extensions that receive
messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body
Axon-✔✔the neuron extension that passes messages through its
branches to other neurons or to muscles or glands
Myelin sheath-✔✔a fatty tissue layer segmentally encasing the axons of
some neurons; enables vastly greater transmission speed as neural
impulses hop from one sausage-like node to the next
Nodes of Ranvier-✔✔gaps in the myelin sheath
Action potential-✔✔a neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels
down an axon
Refractory period-✔✔a period of inactivity after a neuron has fired
Threshold-✔✔the level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse
Depolarization-✔✔The process during the action potential when sodium is
rushing into the cell causing the interior to become more positive.
Synapse-✔✔the junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and
the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron
Neurotransmitter-✔✔chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gaps
between neurons
Agonist-✔✔a molecule that, by binding to a receptor site, stimulates a
response
Antagonist-✔✔a molecule that, by binding to a receptor site, inhibits or
blocks a response
Central nervous system-✔✔brain and spinal cord
Peripheral nervous system-✔✔connects the CNS to the rest of the body
Sensory (afferent) neurons-✔✔carry signals from the body's sensory
receptors to the brain
Motor (efferent) neurons-✔✔carry signals from brain to the body
Interneurons-✔✔within the brain they process info
Somatic nervous system-✔✔enables control of skeletal muscles
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