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Apex Glossary
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Question | Answer |
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accommodation | the lens of the eye changes shape in response to changing external conditions, so that the object remains in focus. |
adrenal glands | Small glands that produce steroid hormones, adrenaline, and noradrenaline, which help control heart rate, blood pressure, and other important body functions. There are two adrenal glands, one located on top of each kidney. |
affective (mood) disorder | one of a group of disorders involving persistent disturbances in mood as well as associated symptoms. Mood disorders can be unipolar (as in unipolar depression), or bipolar (as in bipolar disorder). |
afferent | The part of the peripheral nervous system that carries information from the organs and muscles to the central nervous system. |
algorithm | A step-by-step mehtod for solving a problem that guarantees a solution, but may take too long to implement in some situations. |
allele | different forms of the same gene. For example, a gene for eye color might have an allele for brown eyes, one for green eyes, and one for blue eyes. A child inherits one allele from each parent to form a pair of alleles for that gene. |
amphetamines | A stimulant to the central nervous system that increases energy and decreases appetite; used to treat narcolepsy and some forms of depression. |
amygdala | A portion of the limbic system of the brain that is necessary fcor processing emotions and forming long-term memories. |
anterograde | Loss of memory for events that have occurred since the event that caused the memory loss. |
antidepressant | one of a class of medications that is used to treat the symptoms of mood and anxiety disorders. Example of antidepressant medications include selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), such as Prozac or Zoloft. |
anxiety disorder | one of a group of disorders characterized by uusually high levels of anxiety that interfere with one's functioning. Anxiety disorders include specific phobias, social phobia, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. |
attnetion deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) | a disorder that is characterized by inability to sustain attention, overactivity, and impulsivity. The onset of this disorder is usually in childhood, but may be diagnosed in adolescence or adulthood as well. |
attitude | a dispostion toward a particular situation or object. Attitudes typically have congnitive, behavioral, and affective (emotional) components. |
auditory canal | Either of the passages in the outer ear from the auricle to the tympanic membrane. |
auditory cortex | The portion of the cerebral cortex that is responsible for processing auditory information. It is located in the temporal lobes of the cerebral corex. |
authoritarian | One of Baumrind's styles of parenting, characterized by a low amount of responsiveness and a high amount of control. |
axis | an area of diagnosis. DSM-IV requires that a diagnosis include five axes, although some axes may have no diagnosis. |