| action potential | An electric nerve impulse that travels through a neuron when it is set off by a "trigger," changing the neuron's charge from negative to positive
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| all-or-none law | The rule that neurons are either on or off
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| association areas | One of the major areas of the brain; the site of the higher mental processes such as thought, language, memory, and speech
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| autonomic division | The part of the nervous system that controls involuntary movement (the actions of the heart, glands, lungs, and other organs) autonomic_division (200.0K)
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| axon | The part of the neuron that carries messages destined for other neuronsaxon (102.0K)
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| behavioral genetics | The study of the effects of heredity on behavior
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| biofeedback | A procedure in which a person learns to control through conscious thought internal physiological processes such as blood pressure, heart and respiration rate, skin temperature, sweating, and constriction of particular muscles
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| central core | The "old brain," which controls such basic functions as eating and sleeping and is common to all vertebrates
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| central nervous system (CNS) | The system that includes the brain and spinal cord
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| cerebellum | The part of the brain that controls bodily balancecerebellum (93.0K)
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| cerebral cortex | The "new brain," responsible for the most sophisticated information processing in the brain; contains the lobescerebral_cortex (184.0K)
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| dendrites | A cluster of fibers at one end of a neuron that receive messages from other neurons
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| endocrine system | A chemical communication network that sends messages throughout the nervous system via the bloodstreamendocrine_system (139.0K)
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| evolutionary psychology | The branch of psychology that seeks to identify behavior patterns that result from our genetic inheritance from our ancestors
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| excitatory message | A chemical message that makes it more likely that a receiving neuron will fire and an action potential will travel down its axons
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| hemispheres | The two symmetrical left and right halves of the brain; each controls the side of the body opposite to it
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| hormones | Chemicals that circulate through the blood and affect the functioning or growth of other parts of the bodyhormones (141.0K)
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| hypothalamus | A tiny part of the brain, located below the thalamus of the brain, that maintains homeostasis and produces and regulates vital, basic behavior such as eating, drinking, and sexual behaviorhypothalamus (254.0K)
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| inhibitory message | A chemical message that prevents a receiving neuron from firing
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| interneurons | Neurons that connect sensory and motor neurons, carrying messages between the two
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| lateralization | The dominance of one hemisphere of the brain in specific functionslateralization (111.0K)
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| limbic system | The part of the brain located outside the "new brain" that controls eating, aggression, and reproduction
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| lobes | The four major sections of the cerebral cortex: frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital
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| motor (efferent) neurons | Neurons that communicate information from the nervous system to muscles and glands of the body
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| motor area | The part of the cortex that is largely responsible for the voluntary movement of particular parts of the body
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| myelin sheath | Specialized cells of fat and protein that wrap themselves around the axon, providing a protective coatingmyelin_sheath (180.0K)
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| neurons | Nerve cells, the basic elements of the nervous systemneurons (95.0K)
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| neurotransmitters | Chemicals that carry messages across the synapse to the dendrite (and sometimes the cell body) of a receiver neuronneurotransmitters (176.0K)
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| parasympathetic division | The part of the autonomic division of the nervous system that acts to calm the body after the emergency situation is resolvedparasympathetic_division (186.0K)
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| peripheral nervous system | The part of the nervous system that includes the autonomic and somatic subdivisions; made up of long axons and dendrites, it branches out from the spinal cord and brain and reaches the extremities of the body.peripheral_nervous_system (285.0K)
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| pituitary gland | The "master gland," the major component of the endocrine system, which secretes hormones that control growth
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| reflexes | Unlearned, involuntary responses that occur automatically in the presence of certain stimuli
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| resting state | The state in which there is a negative electrical charge of about -70 millivolts within the neuron
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| reticular formation | The part of the brain from the medulla through the pons made up of groups of nerve cells that can immediately activate other parts of the brain to produce general bodily arousalreticular_formation (238.0K)
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| reuptake | The reabsorption of neurotransmitters by a terminal button
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| sensory (afferent) neurons | Neurons that transmit information from the perimeter of the body to the central nervous system
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| sensory area | The site in the brain of the tissue that corresponds to each of the senses, with the degree of sensitivity relating to the amount of tissue
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| somatic division | The part of the nervous system that specializes in the control of voluntary movements and the communication of information to and from the sense organs
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| spinal cord | A bundle of nerves that leaves the brain and runs down the length of the back and is the main means for transmitting messages between the brain and the body
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| split-brain patient | A person who suffers from independent functioning of the two halves of the brain, as a result of which the sides of the body work in disharmony
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| sympathetic division | The part of the autonomic division of the nervous system that acts to prepare the body in stressful emergency situations, engaging all the organism's resources to respond to a threat
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| synapse | The space between two neurons where the axon of a sending neuron communicates with the dendrites of a receiving neuron using chemical messages
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| terminal buttons | Small bulges at the end of axons that send messages to other neurons
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| thalamus | The part of the brain located in the middle of the central core that acts primarily as a busy relay station, mostly for information concerning the senses
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