vocabulary


 * Thalamus- the middle part of the diencephalon through which sensory impulses pass to reach the cerebral cortex.
 * Medulla- the soft, marrowlike center of an organ, as the kidney or adrenal gland or the marrow of the bones
 * Hypothalamus- a region of the brain, between the thalamus and the midbrain, that functions as the main control center for the autonomic nervous system by regulating sleep cycles, body temperature, appetite, etc., and that acts as an endocrine gland by producing hormones, including the releasing factors that control the hormonal secretions of the pituitary gland
 * Limbic system- or Paleomammalian brain is a term for a set of brain structures including the hippocampus and amygdala and anterior thalamic nuclei and a limbic cortex that support a variety of functions
 * Hippocampus- an enfolding of cerebral cortex into the lateral fissure of a cerebral hemisphere, having the shape in cross section of a sea horse.
 * Amygdala- a ganglion of the limbic system adjoining the temporal lobe of the brain and involved in emotions of fear and aggression.
 * Cerebellum- a large portion of the brain, serving to coordinate voluntary movements, posture, and balance in humans, being in back of and below the cerebrum and consisting of two lateral lobes and a central lobe
 * Reticular Activating System- a part of the reticular formation that extends from the brain stem to the midbrain and thalamus with connectionsdistributed throughout the cerebral cortex and that controls the degree of activity of the central nervous system as in maintaining sleep and wakefulness and in making transitions between the twostates
 * anterograde amnesia- A condition in which events that occurred after the onset of amnesia cannot be recalled and new memories cannot be formed
 * Neuron- a specialized, impulse-conducting cell that is the functional unit of the nervous system, consisting of the cell body and its processes, the axon and dendrites.
 * Dendrites- the branching process of a neuron that conducts impulses toward the cell.
 * Axon- the appendage of the neuron that transmits impulses away from the cell body
 * Neural Impulse- the electrical discharge that travels along a nerve fiber; "they demonstrated the transmission of impulses from the cortex to the hypothalamus
 * Neural Transmitter- The arrival of electrochemical pulses at the synapse triggers the release of specialized **neural transmitter** molecules
 * Synapse- a region where nerve impulses are transmitted and received, encompassing the axon terminal of a neuron that releases neurotransmitters in response to an impulse, an extremely small gap across which the neurotransmitters travel, and the adjacent membrane of an axon, dendrite, or muscle or gland cell with the appropriate receptor molecules for picking up the neurotransmitters
 * Dopamine- a catecholamine neurotransmitter in the central nervous system, retina, and sympathetic ganglia, acting within the brain to help regulate movement and emotion
 * Serotonin- a neurotransmitter, derived from tryptophan, that is involved in sleep, depression, memory, and other neurological processes
 * Endorphins- any of a group of peptides occurring in the brain and other tissues of vertebrates, and resembling opiates, that react with the brain's opiate receptors to raise the pain threshold
 * Central nervous system- the part of the nervous system comprising the brain and spinal cord
 * Spinal cord- the cord of nerve tissue extending through the spinal canal of the spinal column
 * Spinal reflex- A reflex arc involving the spinal cord
 * Pain reflex- The reflex arc is an automatic, involuntary reaction to a stimulus
 * Peripheral nervous system- the portion of the nervous system lying outside the brain and spinal cord
 * Somatic nervous system- The part of the nervous system that controls voluntary movements in the body, such as those performed by the skeletal muscles
 * Autonomic nervous system- the system of nerves and ganglia that innervates the blood vessels, heart, smooth muscles, viscera, and glands and controls their involuntary functions, consisting of sympathetic and parasympathetic portions
 * Sympathetic nervous system- The part of the autonomic nervous system originating in the thoracic and lumbar regions of the spinal cord that in general inhibits or opposes the physiological effects of the parasympathetic nervous system, as in tending to reduce digestive secretions, speeding up the heart, and contracting blood vessels
 * Parasympathetic nervous system- The part of the autonomic nervous system originating in the brain stem and the lower part of the spinal cord that, in general, inhibits or opposes the physiological effects of the sympathetic nervous system, as in tending to stimulate digestive secretions, slow the heart, constrict the pupils, and dilate blood vessels