Unit 3 neurobiology

• What does the central nervous system do?

  The central nervous system is responsible for receiving, processing and responding to sensory information.
• What does the peripheral nervous system consist of?

  The peripheral nervous system consists of nerves that branch out from the brain and spinal cord.
• What does the somatic nervous system do?

  The somatic nervous system controls the body's skeletal muscles, it controls voluntary movements.
• What does the somatic nervous system consist of?

  Spinal nerves.
• What two categories are the autonomic nervous system divided into?

  Sympathetic nervous system and parasympathetic nervous system.
• What does the sympathetic nervous system do?

  The sympathetic nervous system is known as the "fight or flight" system. When your body is in fight, your adrenal glad is stimulated which secretes and releases a hormone called adrenaline.
• What does the parasympathetic nervous system do?

  The parasympathetic nervous system is known as "rest and digest". This system returns the body back to normal, it conserves resources and energy to prevent excessive strain on organs. .
• What do receptors do?

  Receptors are a group of specialized cells that detect stimuli (changes in the internal environment).
• What do effectors do?

  Effectors are parts of the body such as muscles or glands that carry out motor responses such as vasoconstriction or vasodilation.
• What is homeostasis?

  Homeostasis is carried out by our nervous system and chemical responses. Our internal environment is kept at a constant level such as: blood glucose concentration, body temperature and water levels.
• What three interconnected layers are the brain split into?

  Central core, limbic system, cerebral cortex.
• What is the central core made up of?

  The medulla oblongata.
• What is the central core responsible for?

  The central core regulates, breathing, heart rate, sleep and arousal.
• What is the limbic system made up of?

  The hypothalamus.
• What is the limbic system responsible for?

  The limbic system processes information for memories, influences emotional and biological motivation.
• What does the hypothalamus do?

  The hypothalamus regulates homeostatic mechanisms such as body temperature, blood glucose levels and water balance.
• What is the cerebral cortex made up of?

  The cerebral cortex is made up of three areas: the sensory, association and motor areas. The cerebral cortex also has a layer called "grey matter" which covers both cerebral hemispheres and is 2mm to 4mm thick.
• What is the cerebral cortex responsible for?

  The cerebral cortex has a range of functions including, perception and awareness of sensory information, planning and initiation of motor activity.
• What is the grey matter layer made up of?

  Nerve cell bodies.
• What is an example of peristalsis?

  Contractions of the digestive system.
• In the cerebral cortex, what are the three areas divided into?

  Sensory, association and motor.
• What do cell bodies do in the hypothalamus?

  Cell bodies in the hypothalamus extend axons to the sympathetic and parasympathetic centers in the central core.
• What is Parkinson's disease?

  Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder characterised by the degeneration of dopamine producing neurons located in the substantia nigra.
• What is Broca's area?


  Speech delivery.
• What is Wernicke's area?


  Speech comprehension.
• How long does information stay in the short term memory (STM)?


  30 seconds.
• How many items can the short term memory (STM) hold at once?

  7 pieces of information at once.
• What helps information transfer from the short term memory to the long term memory.

  Rehearsal.
• How long does information last in sensory memory.

  A few seconds.
• What does connections between neurones allow?

  Connections between neurons allows for interpretation of several types of sensory impulses.
• What techniques helps information to be encoded?

  Rehearsal, organisation and elaboration of meaning.
• What does the term antagonistic mean?

  Antagonistic means that they affect many of the same organs but have opposite effects on these organs.
• What are the three levels of memory?

  Sensory memory (SM), short term memory (STM), long term memory (LTM).
• What does the term 'encoding' mean?

  Encoding allows information to be converted into a form the brain can process and understand.
• What does the term 'storage' mean?

  Storage means the retention of information over a period of time from a few seconds to permanently.
• What does the term 'retrieval' mean?

  Retrieval means the recovery of stored memories from the short term memory or long term memory.
• What is visual encoding?

  A technique used to remember a word, you could try forming a visual image of the word.
• What is acoustic encoding?

  A technique used to remember a word or information, you could form an acoustic image by saying the word several times to yourself.
• What is semantic encoding?

  A technique used to remember a particular word by thinking about the meaning of the word.
• What is an example of chunking?

  Phone numbers.