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TEPnervoussystem
Vocabulary Word | Defintion |
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Neuron | impulse conducting cell. functional unit of the nervous system |
Soma | cell body; nerve |
Dendrite | any of the short branched threadlike extensions of a nerve cell, which conduct impulses towards the cell body |
Synapse | the region of communication between neurons |
Multipolar neuron | neuron with one axon and three or more dendrites. |
Bipolar neuron | neuron that has two processes arising from opposite poles of the cell body |
Unipolar neuron | cell body that emits a single axonal process |
Anaxonic neuron | multiple dentrites and no axons |
Schwann Cell | a cell that forms spiral layers around a myelinated nerve fiber |
Myelin sheath | insulating covering that surrounds an axon with multiple spiral layers of myelin |
Electrical potential | the potential energy of a positive unit. |
Current | a flow of electric charge |
Polarized | fewer positive ions sitting on the inner face of the neuron’s plasma membrane than there are on its outer face in the tissue fluid that surrounds it |
Neurotransmitter | transmits nerve impulses across a synapse |
Dopamine | neurotransmitter in the brain and as an intermediate in the biosynthesis of epinephrine |
Serotonin | powerful vasoconstrictor and is found especially in the brain |
Somatic reflex | all reflexes that stimulate the skeletal muscles |
Visceral reflex | a reflex mediated by autonomic nerves and initiated in the viscera |
Meninges | The three membranes that enclose the vertebrate brain and spinal cord |
Dura mater | tough fibrous membrane that envelops the spinal cord and brain. |
Gray matter | The gray area of the central nervous system; contains |
White matter | White substance of the central nervous system; the myelinated nerve fibers. |
Cerebrum | the largest part of the brain; consists of right and left cerebral hemispheres |
Cerebellum | part of the hindbrain; involved in producing smoothly coordinated skeletal muscle activity |
Gyrus | an outward fold of the surface of the cerebral cortex |
Sulcus | a furrow on the brain, less deep than a fissure |
Brainstem | the portion of the brain consisting of the medulla, pons and midbrain |
Cortex | the outer suface layer of an organ |
Blood-brain barrier | a mechanism that inhibits passage of materials from the blood into brain tisues |
Medulla oblongata | the lowest or hindmost part of the brain, continuous with the spinal cord |
Thalamus | a mass of gray matter in the the diencephalon of the brain |
Hypothalamus | the region of the diecephalon forming the floor of the third ventricle of the brain |
Occipital lobe | lobe in the back of the brain. contains the visual area |
Parietal lobe | middle area of the brain contains the somatic sensory area |
Frontal lobe | in the front of the brain. |