Inform tell notify update enlighten Explain details clarify explicate Justify
| |||||||||||||||||
1 H Hydrogen 1.0079 |
ATOMIC
NUMBER SYMBOL NAME ATOMIC MASS |
2 He Helium 4.003 | |||||||||||||||
3 Li Litium 6.941 |
4 Be Beryllium 9.012 |
5 B Boron 10.811 |
6 C Carbon 12.011 |
7 N Nitrogen 14.007 |
8 O Oxygen 15.999 |
9 F Fluorine 18.998 |
10 Ne Neon 20.180 | ||||||||||
11 Na Sodium 22.990 |
12 Mg Magnesium 24.305 |
13 Al Aluminum 26.982 |
14 Si Silicon 28.086 |
15 P Phosphorus 30.974 |
16 S Sulfur 32.066 |
17 Cl Chlorine 35.453 |
18 Ar Argon 39.948 | ||||||||||
19 K Potassium 39.098 |
20 Ca Calcium 40.08 |
21 Sc Scandium 44.956 |
22 Ti Titanium 47.88 |
23 V Vanadium 50.942 |
24 Cr Chromium 51.996 |
25 Mn Manganese 54.938 |
26 Fe Iron 55.847 |
27 Co Cobalt 58.933 |
28 Ni Nickel 58.69 |
29 Cu Copper 63.546 |
30 Zn Zinc 65.39 |
31 Ga Gallium 69.723 |
32 Ge Germanium 72.61 |
33 As Arsenic 74.922 |
34 Se Selenium 78.96 |
35 Br Bromine 79.904 |
36 Kr Krypton 83.80 |
37 Rb Rubidium 85.47 |
38 Sr Strontium 87.62 |
39 Y Yttrium 88.906 |
40 Zr Zirconium 91.224 |
41 Nb Niobium 92.906 |
42 Mo Molybdenum 95.95 |
43 Tc Technetium (98) |
44 Ru Ruthenium 101.07 |
45 Rh Rhodium 102.91 |
46 Pd Palladium 106.42 |
47 Ag Silver 107.87 |
48 Cd Cadmium 112.41 |
49 In Indium 114.82 |
50 Sn Tin 118.17 |
51 Sb Antimony 121.75 |
52 Te Tellurium 127.60 |
53 I Iodine 126.90 |
54 Xe Xenon 131.29 |
55 Cs Cesium 132.90 |
56 Ba Barium 137.33 |
57 La Lanthanum 138.91 |
72 Hf Hafnium 178.49 |
73 Ta Tantalum 180.95 |
74 W Tungsten 183.85 |
75 Re Rhenium 186.21 |
76 Os Osmium 190.2 |
77 Ir Iridium 192.22 |
78 Pt Platium 195.08 |
79 Au Gold 196.97 |
80 Hg Mercury 200.59 |
81 Tl Thallium 204.38 |
82 Pb Lead 207.2 |
83 Bi Bismuth 208.98 |
84 Po Polonium (209) |
85 At Astatine (210) |
86 Rn Radon (222) |
87 Fr Francium (223) |
88 Ra Radium (226) |
89 Ac Actinium (227) |
104 Unq _____ (261) |
105 Unp _____ (262) |
106 Unh _____ (263) |
107 Uns _____ (262) |
108 Uno _____ (265) |
109 Une _____ (266) |
110 Uun _____ (267) |
58 Ce Cerium 140.12 |
59 Pr Praseodymium 140.91 |
60 Nd Neodymium 144.24 |
61 Pm Promethium (145) |
62 Sm Samarium 150.36 |
63 Eu Europium 151.96 |
64 Gd Gadolinium 157.25 |
65 Tb Terbium 158.92 |
66 Dy Dysprosium 162.50 |
67 Ho Holmium 164.93 |
68 Er Erbium 167.26 |
69 Tm Thulium 168.93 |
70 Yb Ytterbium 173.04 |
71 Lu Lutetium 174.97 |
90 Th Thorium 232.04 |
91 Pa Protactinium 231 |
92 U Uranium 238.03 |
93 Np Neptunium (237) |
94 Pu Plutonium (244) |
95 Am Americium (243) |
96 Cm Curium (247) |
97 Bk Berkelium (247) |
98 Cf Californium (251) |
99 Es Einsteinium (252) |
100 Fm Fermium (257) |
101 Md Mendelevium (258) |
102 No Nobelium (259) |
103 Lr Lawrencium (260) |
_________________________________________________________________
Atom - tiny basic building block of matter. All the
material on Earth is composed of various combinations of atoms. Atoms are the
smallest particles of a chemical element that still exhibit all the chemical
properties unique to that element. A row of 100 million atoms would be only
about a centimeter long. See also Chemical Element.
Source: http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761567432/Atom.html
_________________________________________________________________
Acid Property #1. The word acid comes from the Latin word acere, which means "sour." All acids taste sour. Well known from ancient times were vinegar, sour milk and lemon juice. Aspirin tastes sour if you don't swallow it fast enought. Its scientific name is acetosallicylic acid! Other languages derive their word for acid from the meaning of sour. So, in France, we have acide. In Germany, we have säure from saure and in Russia, kislota from kisly.
Base Property #1. The word "base" has a more complex history (see below) and its name is not related to taste. All bases taste bitter. Mustard tastes bitter. Many medicines, cough syrup is one, taste bitter. This is the reason cough syrups are advertised as having a "great grape taste." The taste is added in order to cover the bitterness of the active ingredient in cough syrup.
Source: http://dbhs.wvusd.k12.ca.us/webdocs/AcidBase/Acid-Base-Properties.html
_________________________________________________________________
1.
The amount of a substance that contains
as many atoms, molecules, ions, or other elementary units as the number of
atoms in 0.012 kilogram of carbon 12. The number is 6.0225 × 1023, or
Avogadro's number. Also called gram molecule.
2.
The mass in grams of this amount of a
substance, numerically equal to the molecular weight of the substance. Also
called gram-molecular weight.
_________________________________________________________________
The Ideal Gas Equation – Pressure*Volume=mole*R*temperature (PV=nRT) The
value and units of R depend on the units used in determining P, V, n and T, but
it is usually .0821, or this number multiplied by a unit of ten.? This equation come from a series of other gas
laws; Boyles law Va(1/P), Charles law VaT, and Avogadro's
law Van.
_________________________________________________________________
One meter equals
39.37 inches
3.2808 feet
1.0936 yards
One centimeter equals
.3937 inch
One millimeter equals
.03937 inch
One kilometer equals
3280.84 feet
1093.61 yards
.62137 mile
.53996 nautical mile
One nautical mile equals
1.852 kilometers
1852 meters
6076.115 feet
2025.372 yards
1.15078 miles
One inch equals
.0254 meter
2.54 centimeters
25.4 millimeters
One foot equals
.3048 meter
30.48 centimeters
304.8 millimeters
12 inches
One yard equals
.9144 meter
91.44 centimeters
914.4 millimeters
36 inches
3 feet
One mile equals
1.609344 kilometers
1609.344 meters
5280 feet
1760 yards
.868976 nautical mile
One metric ton equals
1.10229 U.S. tons
2204.59 pounds
One kilogram equals
2.2046 pounds
35.273 ounces
One gram equals
.035273 ounce
15.432 grains
One U.S. ton equals
907.2 kilograms
.9072 metric tons
2000 pounds
One pound equals
453.6 grams
.4536 kilograms
16 ounces
7000 grains
One ounce equals
28.35 grams
.02835 kilograms
437.5 grains
One grain equals
64.8 milligrams
To convert Celsius to Fahrenheit, multiply by 1.8, then add 32.
To convert Fahrenheit to Celsius, subtract 32, then divide by 1.8.
One meter per second equals
3.6 kilometers per hour
2.2369 miles per hour
1.9438 knots
3.2808 feet per second
One kilometer per hour equals
.27778 meters per second
.62137 miles per hour
.53996 knots
.91134 feet per second
One kilometer per second equals
3600 kilometers per hour
2236.94 miles per hour
1943.84 knots
3280.84 feet per second
.62137 miles per second
One mile per hour equals
.44704 meters per second
1.6093 kilometers per hour
.86898 knots
1.4667 feet per second
One knot equals
.51444 meters per second
1.852 kilometers per hour
1.1508 miles per hour
1.6878 feet per second
One foot per second equals
.3048 meters per second
1.09728 kilometers per hour
.68182 miles per hour
.59248 knots
One mile per second equals
1609.344 meters per second
5793.6384 kilometers per hour
3600 miles per hour
3128.31 knots
5280 feet per second
One kilopascal equals
.2953 inches of mercury
7.5006 millimeters of mercury
.14504 pounds per square inch
One hectopascal (used in U.S. aviation
weather reports) equals
.1 kilopascal or 100 pascals
One inch of mercury equals
3.38638 kilopascals
25.4 millimeters of mercury
.49115 pound per square inch
One millimeter of mercury equals
.133322 kilopascal
133.322 pascals
.03937 inch of mercury
.019337 pound per square inch
One pound per square inch equals
6.894757 kilopascals
2.036 inches of mercury
51.715 millimeters of mercury
One square meter equals
1550 square inches
10.7639 square feet
1.19599 square yards
One square centimeter equals
.155 square inch
One square millimeter equals
.00155 square inch
One hectare equals
107639.1 square feet
11959.9 square yards
2.471 acres
.003861 square mile
.0029155 square nautical mile
One square kilometer equals
247.105 acres
.3861 square mile
.29155 square nautical mile
One square inch equals
6.4516 square centimeters
645.16 square millimeters
One square foot equals
.0929 square meter
929.03 square centimeters
144 square inches
One square yard equals
.83613 square meter
1296 square inches
9 square feet
One acre equals
4046.86 square meters
.4047 hectare
.004047 square kilometers
43560 square feet
4840 square yards
.0015625 square mile
.0011799 square nautical mile
One square mile equals
258.9988 hectares
2.59 square kilometers
640 acres
.75512 square nautical mile
One square nautical mile equals
342.9904 hectares
3.4299 square kilometers
847.55 acres
1.3243 square miles
One fluid ounce equals
29.5735 milliliters
6 teaspoons
2 tablespoons
.125 cup
1.8047 cubic inches
One liquid cup equals
236.588 milliliters
48 teaspoons
16 tablespoons
8 fluid ounces
.5 pint
.25 quart
14.4375 cubic inches
One liquid pint equals
.47318 liter
473.176 milliliters
96 teaspoons
32 tablespoons
16 fluid ounces
2 cups
.5 quart
.125 gallon
28.875 cubic inches
One liter equals
202.88 teaspoons
67.628 tablespoons
33.814 fluid ounces
4.2268 cups
2.1134 pints
1.0567 quarts
.26417 gallon
.11377 peck
61.0237 cubic inches
One milliliter equals
.20288 teaspoon
One cubic meter equals
264.172 gallons
113.765 pecks
28.4413 bushels
35.3147 cubic feet
1.30795 cubic yards
One teaspoon equals
4.9289 milliliters
.30078 cubic inch
One tablespoon equals
14.7868 milliliters
3 teaspoons
.5 fluid ounce
.90234 cubic inch
One liquid quart equals
.94635 liter
946.353 milliliters
192 teaspoons
64 tablespoons
32 fluid ounces
4 cups
2 pints
.25 gallon
57.75 cubic inches
One liquid gallon equals
3.7854 liters
768 teaspoons
256 tablespoons
128 fluid ounces
16 cups
8 pints
4 quarts
231 cubic inches
One dry peck equals
8.79 liters
.25 bushel
536.4 cubic inches
One dry bushel equals
35.16 liters
4 pecks
2145.6 cubic inches
1.2417 cubic feet
One cubic inch equals
16.3871 milliliters
3.3247 teaspoons
1.1082 tablespoons
.55411 fluid ounce
One cubic foot equals
28.3168 liters
7.48052 gallons
3.22148 pecks
.80537 bushel
1728 cubic inches
One cubic yard equals
764.555 liters
.76455 cubic meter
201.974 gallons
86.98 pecks
21.745 bushels
27 cubic feet
One gram per cubic centimeter equals
1000 kilograms per cubic meter
62.4269 pounds per cubic foot
998.83 ounces per cubic foot
One pound per cubic foot equals
16.0187 kilograms per cubic meter
One ounce per cubic foot equals
1.00117 kilograms per cubic meter
LeChatelier Principle
and Spectrophotometry
Abstract
This experiment was designed to prove the Le Chatetlier principle.
By placing differing dilution factors of hydrochloric acid into six
tubes, we then took the tube that was the most in-between and performed a
series of tests to see whether we could prove that a reaction can be
reversed. We found that it could. We then took the most extreme two of these
liquid dilutions and placed them in a spectrophotometer. This tested to see what wavelengths were
being left behind as the light pasted thought the liquid.
Intro
In 1888, Le Chatetlier gave a succinct statement of the principle he had announced 4 years prior. It is: Every change of one of the factors of an equilibrium occasions a rearrangement of the system in such a direction that the factor in question experiences a change in a sense opposite to the original change. This experiment proved his theory. It also proved that light, when passed through a given substance, absorbs some of the wave lengths, providing colored light.
Experimental section
We first placed 5 ml of cobalt nitrate into six labeled test tubes. From there we added hydrochloric acid and water to each tube as is in the chart on the next page. Stirring well, we recorded the colors. After we had recorded all the colors we took the tube which had the most in-between color and divided the contents into three equal parts. The first part we cooled. The second part we warmed in hot water, and the third one we kept the same. After these had sat for a while, we took them out and again looked at the color of them. Next, the tube that had been in cold water was put in hot water, and the tube that was in hot water was put in cold water. For the umpteenth time we looked at the color. After all that was done, we got in line to use the spectrophotometer and while we were waiting, went over our results thus far. We also transferred test tubes 1 through 6 (look at the chart) into two cuvettes so that when we go there, we could use the light device right away. Finally we got there and put the samples into the spectrophotometer after having set the device to the correct zero by using clear water. After having gotten charts of the visible spectrum of light which passed though the substance, we printed them out and handed them to the all powerful chemistry professor to have copies magically made of them.
Results &
discussion
As a result of the experiment we found that the test tube that had no HCl in it was pink and the test tube that had the greatest amount of HCl in it was violet and that the test tubes which less HCl were colors in-between the to extremes. The test tube which was the most in-between when cooled (turned fuchsia) or heated (turned violet) could be then reversed to show the opposite color, proving that almost every action has an equal and opposite reaction. There was a slight error however, for when we switched the tubes, they did not go quite back to the exact same color as they should have been. The most probable reason for that is because the first time they were heated and cooled, they were at room temperature, and the second time they were at much higher and lower temperatures, so they had a longer time in which to switch, but we kept them in for about the same length of time as before. When we tested the spectrophotometry, we found that the violet sample had much more of an absorbance value. This makes some sense, seeing as how the violet was much darker than the pink. These results could almost be predicted because, just looking at the color, if pink can be seen coming through this means that blue is being blocked (absorbed), and if blue can be seen coming through, this means that that red is being blocked.
Conclusions (main points)
Like the ying and the
yang, so science has its reactions to its results. Whether you wether is a fair
weathered weather, or whether he weathers the storm, hither and thither or
wander, together youll never go wron-g.
Whether it is a neutered male goat or cobalt nitrate, both can produce differing
results, given the parameters put in place by you or someone/something else. The one constant is that the beginning of the
tale and the tail end of the story both, almost always, have to be equal, have
to leave nothing out. Also, the
perception of color can be adapted, based on the color being left out as a
result of the light passing through a given substance.
Reverences (full)
Park, John L. Intro. to Henri Le Chatelier's Principle. 1999, 2003. Park, John L. 11/3/04 <http://dbhs.wvusd.k12.ca.us/webdocs/Equilibrium /LeChatelier-Intro.html>
John
Mionczynski. The Pack Goat. Pruett
Publishing Company, September 1, 1992.
Abducent nerve (CN VI): The sixth cranial nerve. Innervates the lateral rectus muscle,
which abducts the eye, or rotates it outward. See the Cranial Nerve
Table.
Ablation: The removal or destruction of
tissue.
Acetylcholine: A neurotransmitter that is important
for memory and muscle movement.
Acoustic neuroma: A tumor which results from the
growth of Schwann cells surrounding the acoustic
nerve, CN VIII.
Activation Synthesis Hypothesis: a theory suggesting that dreams
are a result of random activation of the cortex.
Acupuncture: A technique used principally for
pain management and anaesthesia. An acupuncture practioner uses fine needles to manipulate the body's
endogenous pain repression mechanisms.
Adenosine: A nucleotide consisting of
adenine linked to the sugar ribose.
Adrenaline: Also called epinepherine,
a neurotransmitter that is important for regulating heart rate.
Adrenocorticotrophin (ACTH): A peptide hormone released by
the pituitary that stimulates the production of steroid hormones in the adrenal
gland.
Agoraphobia: An extreme fear of open spaces. An anxiety disorder characterized by extreme fear of leaving home
due to increased likelihood of having a panic attack outdoors.
Agnosia: Literally "not knowing," agnosia
is the condition of not recognizing sensory stimuli. For example, someone with
visual agnosia would have no trouble seeing an
object, but lacks the ability to understand the image.
Allocentric: A spatial system referencing objects external to the
body, as opposed to an egocentric system.
Alpha
Motor Neuron:
Large neurons in the ventral horn of the spine which innervate the
force-producing skeletal muscle fibers.
Alphabetic principle: The principle that each letter represents a unit of
sound (a phoneme).
Alzheimer's disease: A degenerative, age-related form of dementia.
Amacrine cell: A type of neuron in the retina which helps to shape the receptive
fields of retinal bipolar cells through inhibitory influence.
Amblyopia: A condition resulting from strabismus in one eye. Vision
in the deviated eye is lost due to weakened connections with visual cortex,
resulting in a loss of focus in an otherwise healthy eye.
Amnesia: A cognitive disorder involving
memory loss, typically as a result of a traumatic injury or a degenerative
brain condition.
Amygdala: A part of the basal ganglia named for its almond shape.
The amygdala is thought to be involved with emotion
and memory formation.
Analgesic: The property of diminishing pain
Anencephaly: A terminal, developmental disorder
that occurs when the neural tube fails to close at the front end, resulting in
malformation of the brain.
Aneurysm: The swelling or rupture of an
artery, resulting from increased arterial pressure due to a clot or
obstruction.
Angular
Gyrus: A section of the left temporal lobe involved in language
processing, integrating information about letter shape, word recognition,
meaning, and sound. It connects the occipital cortex with Wernicke's
Area.
Anoxia: A lack of adequate oxygen,
typically resulting in tissue injury and cell death; oxygen starvation.
Anterior cingulate gyrus: An area of the brain associated with motor control, pain perception,
cognitive function and emotional arousal. A component of the
limbic system.
Anthropometry: The comparative study of human
body measurements.
Antonyms: Words that mean the opposite of
each other.
Aphasia: Partial or total loss of the
ability to express ideas or comprehend spoken or written language, resulting
from damage to the brain caused by injury or disease.
Aqueous
humor: Literally
"water-like fluid," the aqueous humor fills the space between the
cornea and the iris in the eye.
Asperger's Syndrome: A diagnosis given to
high-functioning individuals with autism who have normal or above-average IQs
and no clinically significant delays in language acquisition, age-appropriate
self-help skills, or cognitive development.
Aspiration: Audible breath that accompanies
some sounds when speaking.
Astigmatism: Aberrations in the surface of
the cornea occurring during development. The resulting uneven corneal surface
causes difficulties in focusing.
Astrocytes: Star-shaped glia cells that
help form the blood-brain barrier and provide a support system for central
nervous system axons.
Ataxic
palsy: A type of
motor control disorder characterized by uncontrolled muscle movement and loss
of balance.
Athetoid palsy: A type of motor control disorder characterized by repeated
involuntary slow, writhing movements.
Attention
Deficit Disorder (ADD): A syndrome characterized by short attention span and poor impulse
control.
Attention
Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): A syndrome generally characterized by inattention,
distractibility, impulsivity, and hyperactivity.
Attachment theory: Theory, first articulated by John Bowlby,
that humans attach themselves to their primary caregiver, in a way similar
tothough much more complicated thanimprinting in goslings and other animals.
Attachment theory was arguably the first scientific approach to understanding
things like separation anxiety, and has influenced much of the discussion in
the area of child development in the latter twentieth century.
Atrophy: A wasting away of part of the
body.
Atypical depression: a type of depressive illness whose symptoms may include
oversleeping, overeating, mood brightening in response to positive events, and
extreme sensitivity to rejection or adversity.
Auditory feedback: The process by which humans learn to speak utilizing hearing and
vocalization. In auditory feedback sounds heard are repeatedly mimicked and
fine-tuned until they can be perfectly reproduced.
Auditory
Nerve: The eighth
cranial nerve, also called the acoustic nerve, or the vestibulocochlear
nerve. Bundled nerve fibers extending from the cochlea of the
ear to the brain. The bundle contains two branches: the cochlear nerve,
which transmits sound information, and the vestibular nerve, which delivers
information about balance. See the Cranial Nerve Table.
Autism: The three core features of this
pervasive developmental disorder which appears early in life are: qualitative
impairments in social interactions; repetitive, restricted and stereotyped
behavior patterns; and impairments in communication.
Autistic Savant: The name given to an individual with autism who also possesses
extraordinary skills not generally exhibited by others.
Autistic spectrum: Term used to describe a range of symptoms generally associated with
autism.
Autobiographical Self: a term used by Antonio Damasio
to represent our notion of self in terms of traits we consider part of our
identity. It depends on systematic memories of facts and experiences that we
consider the essence of who we are.
Automatic word recognition: The ability to instantly
recognize a word and access its concept.
Autonomic Nervous System: Also called the visceral nervous system. Located outside the brain and spinal cord. Obtains sensory
information from internal organs and provides output to them.
Autoreceptor: A receptor that resides near the presynaptic
terminals; when activated, it usually prevents further transmitter release.
Axon: An extension of a neural cell
that transports information to and from the cell body, usually by an electrical
impulse.
Balanced bilingualism: Equal fluency in both languages across contexts.
Basal Forebrain: the bottom surface of the forebrain, a region of the brain
associated with emotional decision-making.
Basal Ganglia: A series of subcortical structures in the
center of the brain that are principally responsible
for motor tasks.
Basilar Membrane: A membrane inside the cochlea on which the hair cells rest. It is
between the scala tympani and the scala
media.
Behaviorism: School of psychological thought
limited to the study of observable and quantifiable aspects of behavior.
Benign
Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo: Disorder which causes dizziness, nausea, and imbalance. Results from the movement of calcium carbonate crystals in the ear.
Benzodiazepines: Drugs such as valium and librium,
most frequently prescribed for anxiety.
Binaural: Relating to both ears.
Alfred Binet: (1857-1911) French psychologist
credited with creating the first psychometric intelligence scale (1905).
Binet-Simon Scale: Testing device created by Alfred
Binet and Theodore Simon in France in 1905; the
precursor to the modern intelligence test.
Binocularity
of vision: Vision
with two eyes (or sensors) allowing the apprehension of stereoscopic depth.
Bipolar
cell: A type of
neuron in the retina which exhibits either on-center or off-center response
properties. Bipolar cells are thought to be responsible for contrast and edge
detection.
Bipolar disorder: manic-depressive illness, symptoms of which include alternating
periods of depressive moodiness and high-energy activity.
Blastula: An early stage in animal
embryology; in many species, a hollow sphere of cells surrounding a central
cavity.
Blind
spot: A spot in
the visual field of each eye where the eye cannot see. The blind spot
corresponds to the point in the retina where the optic nerve exits the eye, and
which is devoid of photoreceptors.
Joseph
Bogden: U.S. surgeon involved in the development of successful commissurotomy for the treatment of epilepsy in the early
1960s.
Bone conduction: Conduction of sound through bones directly to the cochlea, which is
housed in the mastoid, a part of the temporal bone.
Bound morphemes: suffixes and prefixes; bound morphemes cannot stand alone.
Brain Hemisphere Laterality: The differences in the abilities
of the right and left hemispheres of the brain.
Brainstem: The major route by which the
forebrain communicates with the spinal cord and peripheral nerves. The
brainstem controls, among other things, respiration and regulation of heart
rhythms.
Broca's Area: The central region for the production of speech. Located in the
frontal lobe, typically in the left hemisphere, Broca's
area is responsible for the production of words, word sound, syntactic
comprehension, and working memory.
Paul
Broca: (1824-1880) French surgeon and anthropologist who first
located a center of motor and speech in the brain, a region now known as Brocas Area.
Brodmann Area 17: An area of cortex in the
occipital lobe. Also called the V1, or primary visual cortex,
because it receives the earliest information from the eyes by way of the
thalamus. Also called striate cortex because in cross
section, it has a distinct band of white myelin within the cell layer.
Capillaries: the smallest of blood vessels,
often just big enough to allow red blood cells to move in single file.
Capillary beds are the site of nutrient and waste exchange for most tissues.
Capsaicin: The substance found in the white
"ribs" of chili peppers which provide the peppers with their
characteristic hot flavor.
Carbohydrate: The nutritional group consisting
of simple and complex sugarspasta, sweets, and many fruits and vegetables fall
into this category.
Causal inference: A hypothesis about the cause of an event.
CAT
(Computerized Axial Tomography) Scan: A computer-mediated x-ray image depicting a
cross-section of the body.
Cataract: A clouding of the eyes lens,
typically a result of the aging process. Cataract causes dim or unfocused
vision.
Causative
comprehension:
Understanding cause and effect.
Central executive: A component of the working memory models associated with
coordinating cognitive functions.
Central
Gray: Region of
the midbrain that controls freezing during times of fear.
Cerebral Aqueduct: A channel for cerebrospinal fluid running near the brainstem. The
cerebral aqueduct connects the third and fourth ventricles, which are fluid
reservoirs within the brain.
Cerebral
palsy: A
developmental disorder characterized by motor control difficulties; cerebral
palsy results from perinatal damage to brain tissue.
Central Nervous System (CNS): The "Central Station"
to which the peripheral and visceral (autonomic) systems send their sensory
information. The CNS takes that sensory information and responds to the
peripheral and visceral systems with motor instructions. The two main
structures of the CNS are the brain and the spinal cord.
Central Sulcus: A deep groove within the
convolutions of the cerebral cortex that runs from the midline down the side of
the brain and delineates the frontal lobe from the rest of the cortex.
Cephalometry: The science of measuring the heads of living humans.
Cerebellum: A large structure located high
inside the hindbrain. Connected to the pons,
medulla, spinal cord and thalamus. Helps control movement and some
aspects of motor learning.
Cerebral Cortex: The outer, highly convoluted layer of the cerebral hemispheres. Responsible for perception, emotion, thought and planning.
Cerebral Hemispheres: The halves of the brain, each with its own
specific functions. The left hemisphere is typically associated with speech,
writing, language and calculation, and the right hemisphere is typically
associated with spatial perception, visual recognition, and aspects of music
perception and production.
Cerebrospinal fluid: a fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord,
providing nutrients to nerve tissue, removing cellular waste products, and
cushioning the brain.
Cervical
Level (of the spine):
Portion of the spine that lies closest to the brainstem, there are 7 cervical
vertebrae.
Childhood Disintegrative Disorder: A pervasive developmental
disorder related to autism characterized by regression to severe disability
following development that is initially normal.
Cholesteatoma: Benign tumor in the middle ear resulting from the
overgrowth of tissue during repair of a tear in the ear drum.
Cholinergic: Uses the neurotransmitter
acetylcholine.
Noam Chomsky (1928-): American linguist whose book Syntactic
Structures (1957) revolutionized the discipline of linguistics. Also an outspoken political critic, particularly of American
foreign policy.
Chopper response pattern: An activity pattern exhibited by neurons in the
cochlear nucleus called "chopper units." The chopper response pattern
is characterized by repeated, rhythmic bursts of action potentials separated by
relatively fixed time intervals.
Chromosome: thread-like structure of the
cell nucleus that contains genetic information; they occur in characteristic
matched pairs for each species, humans have 23 pairs.
Cingulate Gyrus: A cortical structure, part of
the limbic system, that is directly over the corpus callosum along the medial side of each hemisphere. It is
involved with emotion and attention.
Circadian rhythm: From the Latin "circa" meaning "about" and
"diem" meaning "day", the term refers to any event that
occurs cyclically every 24 hours.
Classical Conditioning: A type of learning in which an organism comes to
associate different events; also called Pavlovian
conditioning or associative conditioning.
Cleft
transformation: A
structure where a single clause is divided into two clauses, each with its own
verb (It was the juice that the girl drank). Cleft transformation is
challenging to understand because the object is moved to the beginning of
sentence.
Cochlea: The inner ear. The location where the mechanical energy of sound is transduced into electrical signals that can be carried by
the nervous system. The cochlea also contains the semicircular canals
that are responsible for our sense of balance.
Cochlear Implant: A prosthetic, implanted, device that replaces the function of the
cochlea in order to restore hearing. A microphone outside the head captures the
sound and then transforms it into electrical signals which are sent to the
auditory nerve directly.
Cochlear
Nerve: The part
of the VIIIth Cranial Nerve (auditory-vestibular or vestibulocochlear nerve) that carries information about
hearing from the cochlea to the brainstem.
Cochlear Nucleus: One of the auditory nuclei in the brainstem.
Cognition: The mental processes by which
knowledge or awareness is applied tor comprehension
and problem-solving.
Cognitive interference: The theory that certain cognitive processes in
the brain may conflict with other cognitive processes. See "Stroop Effect."
Cognitive map theory: One theory concerning how the brain represents physical
spaces.
Commissurotomy: Surgery, generally for sufferers
of severe epilepsy, in which the hemispheres of the brain are disconnected from
one another by the severing of the corpus callosum,
and occasionally the many other commissuries, or
connectors.
Concept-driven logic: The student using concept-driven
logic relies on the sentence's context and on common sense, rather than
comprehending the words and the syntax, and sometimes does not understand the
sentence correctly.
Conceptual system: Located all across the cortex, the conceptual system brings
cognitive skills to bear on a word or concept for the purpose of comprehension.
Concussion: Changes of cerebral function
caused by a direct or indirect force transmitted to the head. Symptoms include
headaches, dizziness, confusion, vision impairment, nausea/vomiting or loss of
consciousness.
Conditioned Stimulus (CS): In classical conditioning, an originally neutral
stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus, comes to
trigger a conditioned response.
Conditioned Response (CR): In classical conditioning, the learned response to a
conditioned stimulus.
Conductive Hearing Loss: Hearing loss which disrupts the conduction of
sound to the auditory nerve-involves pathology of the outer or middle ear.
Conjoined-clause analysis: The strategy that assumes two
clauses of a sentence are joined by a conjunction.
Cone
cell: A type of
photoreceptor in the retina. Cone cells are responsible for high-acuity color
and black and white vision.
Consolidation: A stage of memory formation
during which long-term memories are created.
Content words: The nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.
Context Conditioning: A type of learning in which an organism associates its
surroundings with a particular stimulus.
Contralateral: Related to the opposite side, as when functions
on the right side of the body are controlled by the left side of the brain.
Cornea: A thin, clear layer of tissue
which protects the front of the eye. The cornea provides the eye with most of
its optical focusing power.
Corneal blink reflex: A normal reflex blinking induced by touching the cornea
lightly.
Corpus Callosum: A large bundle of nerve fibers
that connects the left and right cerebral hemispheres.
Cortex: The surface of the brain.
Corticospinal Tract: Direct pathway from the cortex
to the spine, involved in voluntary motor control.
Cortisol: A steroid hormone produced by the adrenal cortex.
Craniometry: The science of measuring skull volume.
Cortical
Plasticity: The
ability for connections between neurons to be modified within the cortex.
Critical period, or sensitive period: The period of development during
which an individual can permanently acquire certain behaviors or attributes;
during this period, the individual is sensitive to the experiences or
environmental influences that foster these capacities.
Cranial
nerves: A series
of twelve large nerve bundles that control a variety of functions in the head
and neck. See the Cranial Nerve Table.
Cytokines: Non-antibody proteins released
by certain cells (maternal and fetal during pregnancy) that may have
stimulating, repressive, or even toxic effects on other cells and tissues.
DNA: see Deoxyribonucleic Acid
Declarative memory: Memory for semantic information that can be consciously (and
verbally) recalled.
Decode: To use the alphabetic principle
(that each letter represents a sound) to sound out the phonemes of a word and
then blend those phonemes into a recognizable word.
Decussation: A crossing over of nerve fiber tracts from one side of
the body's midline to the other. Decussations
typically result in the right hemisphere of the brain controlling the left side
of the body, and the left hemisphere controlling the right side of the body.
Demyelination Disease: A disease of the nervous system
in which myelin is damaged. Must be differentiated from dysmyelination disease. In the former, normal myelin
is damaged; in the latter, the myelin is probably abnormal in the first place.
Dendrite: A branching extension from the
neuron cell body that receives information from other neurons.
Dendritic Branching: The process in which the neuron
is stimulated to produce new dendrites, which increase the neuron's
communicative ability.
Dendritic sprouting: A process in which the branches
of a neuron that receive information (dendrites) multiply to increase the
communicative power of the neuron.
Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA): A long, thread-like molecule contained in the nucleus of
cells that encodes the genetic information of an organism. DNA is a remarkable
molecule because it can self-replicate. Half of a child's DNA contains genetic
information from the mother, and half from the father.
Derivational
morphemes: An
affix added to a word that changes the root word's meaning and often its part
of speech.
Derived
word: A word
formed by adding a derivational morpheme to a root word.
Rene Descartes: (1596-1650) French philosopher who founded analytic geometry; often
remembered for his ideas about a split between mind and body.
Derivational morphemes: Suffixes and prefixes that change the word's
meaning and can change the word's part of speech.
Derived word: A word formed by adding a derivational morpheme to a
root word.
Diathesis-Stress Model: A model for all types of illness that suggests
one can have a certain predisposition for a particular disorder that may or may
not manifest itself, depending on the environmental conditions.
Diencephalon: That part of the forebrain which gives rise to the
thalamus, hypothalamus, infundibulum (pituitary
stalk), and part of the pituitary gland.
Digraphs: A combination of two letters
that represent one sound when spoken, such as the ch
in child.
Diphthongs: The vowel sound produced when
the tongue glides from one vowel sound toward another, such as the oy in boy.
Direct retrieval route: The route a word takes through the brain when its
meaning is automatically accessed.
Discrimination: In classical conditioning, the organism will only respond to cues
that are very similar to the conditioned stimulus.
Diurnal: An organism that is generally
awake during daytime and asleep during night.
Dopamine: A neuromodulator acting principally through structures
of the basal ganglia. Dopamine is associated with reward pathways, and low
levels of dopamine are characteristic of Parkinson's disease.
Dorsal: In humans, closer to the back of
the body.
Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex: An area on the lateral aspect of
the brain near the front that is associated with executive function, decision
making, and working memory.
Drosophila: Genus name of the common fruit
fly; extremely useful in the study of genetics.
Dyscalculia: A "number blindness"
that is an impairment of the ability to recognize or manipulate numbers.
Dyskinesia: A condition characterized by abnormal involuntary
movements.
Dyslexia: A reading impairment affecting
the ability to identify, sound out, or understand written letters and words
that is not attributable to sensory deficit or cognitive impairment.
Dystonia: Sustained muscle contractions causing abnormal motor
control. For example, co-contraction of flexors and extensors (opposing muscle
groups) resulting in the lack of motor control of a limb.
Eardrum: Also referred to as the tympanic
membrane. The membrane separating the external ear canal from
the middle ear.
Ectoderm: The outermost of the three
embryonic tissue layers first delineated during gastrulation; gives rise to the skin, sense organs and
nervous system.
Ectopic cells: Cells that have migrated incorrectly and cannot develop into
functioning cells as a result P a minor brain malformation.
Edema: Swelling caused by the accumulation
of an excessive amount of fluid in cells, tissues or cavities.
Thomas Edison: (1847-1931) US inventor responsible for the creation of the
incandescent electric light (1879) and the phonograph (1877).
Ego: According to Sigmund Freud, the
rational part of human consciousness.
Egocentric: A spatial system referencing the
self, as opposed to an allocentric system.
Albert Einstein: (1879-1955) German-born (Swiss/U.S.
citizen) physicist. Discovered Special Theory of Relativity (1905); won Nobel
Prize in Physics in 1921.
Electroencephalogram
(EEG): A record
of the summed activity of cortical cells picked up by wires placed on the
skull.
Embedded clause: A clause that refers to the subject or object of another
clause within the sentence.
Embolism: Obstruction of a vessel by a
transported clot or mass, called an embolus.
Embryo: A young organism while it is
still contained within a protective structure such as a seed, egg or uterus.
Encephalopathy: a disease or injury of the brain
Endocrine system: System of glands that release hormones into the circulatory system;
regulated by the hypothalamus.
Endoderm: The innermost of the three
embryonic tissue later first delineated during gastrulation; gives rise to the digestive and respiratory
systems.
Endolymph: Fluid in the scala media.
Endorphins: molecules in the body that are
part of the pain signalling pathway; endorphins supress pain sensation.
Enlightenment: Eighteenth century philosophy of
reason and individualism.
Entorhinal cortex: evolutionary older cortex in the
temporal lobes, located near the hippocampus; may be
involved in learning and memory.
Enzyme: Protein molecule that catalyzes
reactions between other substances.
Epidermis: In plants and animals, the
outermost cell layers.
Epilepsy: A neurological disorder caused
by uncontrolled electrical activity that spreads throughout the brain, causing
seizures that can last from seconds to several minutes.
Equilibrium: Sense of balance.
Etymology: The study of word origin.
Eugenics: The science of improving
hereditary qualities (of a race or breed) through mating control.
Eustachian Tube: Thin tube which connects the middle ear to the back of the throat
and acts to drain the ear and to equalize the air pressure across the ear drum.
Executive processes: Cognitive tasks related to decision-making, associated
with the frontal lobe of the brain.
External auditory meatus: The ear canal.
Extrastriate: Visual areas in the cerebral cortex which are
"downstream" of primary visual cortex. Extrastriate
areas are associated with higher order features of vision, such as face
recognition and spatial awareness.
Facial
nerve (CN VII): The seventh cranial nerve, responsible for facial
movements, taste, salivation, and lacrimation. See
the Cranial Nerve Table.
Finger
agnosia: Confusion in identifying individual fingers, literally
"not knowing" one's own fingers.
fMRI: functional magnetic resonance
imaging, which uses a scanning machine to measures changes in the brain's
metabolic activity.
Focal
dystonia: A localized dystonia such as
one affecting just the hand.
Factor Analysis: Analytical process of converting two or more
measurements into linear combinations of usually independent variables.
Forebrain: (See Prosencephalon)
Fovea: A region near the center of the
retina which has the highest concentration of photoreceptors. The fovea is the
part of the retina used to read or to analyze detailed stimuli.
Free
morphemes: Root
words; free morphemes can stand alone.
Free
radicals:
unusually charged ions that are highly chemically reactive. The free radical
form of oxygen (O-) is responsible for a type of damage to neurons called
"oxidative injury."
Frontal
cortex: An area
of the brain associated with higher cognitive functions including planning and
motor control.
Frontal lobe:
One of the four divisions of each hemisphere of the cerebral cortex that
include the parietal, temporal, occipital. The site of
emotions, personality, cognitive and motor functions.
Fusiform gyrus : Holds the functional regions
responsible for color, identification of a face and recognition of facial
expression . Damage to any of these areas leads to a deficit
specific for that mode of visual function.
Functional Magnetic
Resonance Imaging (fMRI): A technique for imaging brain
activity using magnets. fMRI
is able to detect brain activity by taking advantage of the fact that deoxyhemoglobin has a different magnetic profile than oxyhemoglobin. Deoxyhemoglobin is
concentrated in areas of high cellular metabolism, which correlates to high
cellular activity.
Ganglion
cell: A type of
neuron in the retina. These are the only retinal neurons which communicate
directly with the rest of the brain.
Joseph
Gall:
(1758-1828): German physician who founded phrenology.
Gamma
Motor Neuron:
Motor neurons in the spine which innervate muscle spindles.
Howard
Gardner: (1943-) Harvard psychologist whose
1983 book Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences revolutionized
thinking about intelligence testing.
Gene: The smallest hereditary unit. A
gene is a section of DNA that encodes a protein, and proteins in turn control
many characteristics of an organism.
General Intelligence Factor: Psychometric measurement that
suggests a global capacity for intelligence.
Generalization: In classical conditioning, the organism will
repond to cues that approximate the conditioned
stimulus, e.g., a tone that is very close in pitch to the CS.
Generalized
Anxiety Disorder (GAD): A psychological disorder characterized by long lasting, intense
worry and a pervasive sense of dread.
Genome: The complete set of genes within
an organism.
Genomics: The study of the structure and
function of the genome within an organism.
Glial Cells: A range of cell types that act to support the neural network by
providing structure and nourishment. In some cases, glia
may be involved in modulating neural signals.
Globus pallidus: A nucleus of the basal ganglia
that is involved in the coordination of voluntary movement.
Glottalization: the closing of the gap between
the vocal folds when speaking.
Glial cells: Cells found only in the nervous system that do
not conduct action potentials; they provide a support system for the neurons.
Glossopharyngeal nerve (CN
IX): The ninth
cranial nerve, responsible for taste and swallowing. See the Cranial Nerve
Table.
H.H. Goddard: The first scientist to translate the Binet-Simon
scale into English; father of the American eugenics movement
Golgi Tendon Organ: Stretch receptor located in the tendon connecting muscle
to bone, provides information on contractile force.
Stephen Jay Gould: (1941-) Harvard paleontologist, geologist
and biologist best known for his popular science writing in Natural History.
Grand mal seizure: In epilepsy, a type of seizure characterized by loss of
consciousness, muscle spasms and rigidity.
Graphesthesia: Ability to recognize letters traced on the hand.
Growth
cone: Located at
the tip of a sprouting axon, uses chemical messages to determine the axon's
correct path.
Gyrus (Plural, Gyri): Any rounded external
partbulgeof the convolutions on the cortex of the brain (as opposed to a
valley).
Helicotrema: The channel at the tip of the cochlea where the scala vestibuli and the scala tympani are continuous.
Hemisphere: Half of the brain, the right or
left.
Richard J. Hernstein: Co-author of 1994s controversial
book, The Bell Curve, which is about intelligence and race in the United States
Herschel, Sir John: (1792-1871) English Astronomer who charted the southern hemisphere's
stars from South Africa and pioneered celestial photography. He was the son of
Sir William Herschel, the discover of Uranus.
Herschel, Sir William: (1738-1822) German-born astronomer who later became
private astronomer to George III of England. He discovered the planet Uranus in
1781.
Hertz
(Hz): A unit
describing the frequency with which something occurs. Measured
in occurrences per second.
Hindbrain: (See Rhombencephalon)
Hippocampus: A cortical structure near the center
of the brain which plays an important role in memory. The hippocampus is named
for its seahorse-like shape in cross section.
Homeobox genes: Genes containing a special segment of DNA that seems to regulate the
expression of other genes and thus controls large-scale developmental
processes.
Homeostasis: Balance or equilibrium,
typically between the chemical environment of the body and the external
environment.
Homeothermic: Describes animals with the ability to maintain a
constant body temperature that is relatively independent of environmental
temperature. Also known as warm-blooded which is a bit of a misnomer because
the key feature of a homeothermic animal is that it
can regulate a constant body temperature, not that it has a particularly high
body temperature.
Homographs: Words that are spelled the same
but mean different things and are sometimes pronounced differently.
Homophones: Words that sound the same but
mean different things.
Horizontal cell: A type of neuron in the retina which is responsible for shaping the
receptive field of retinal bipolar cells through inhibitory influences.
Hormone: a chemical that helps regulate
the body's internal environment by traveling through the blood stream and
binding to cells in target tissues. Hormones control metabolism, growth, sexual
rhythms, and reproduction.
Hydrocephaly: Also called "water on the
brain." A condition characterized by increased intracranial pressure due
to excessive acccumulation of fluid in the cerebral
ventricles.
Hypertrophy: Overgrowth of the branches of a
neuron.
Hypoglossal nerve (CN XII): The twelfth cranial nerve,
innervating the muscles of the tongue. See the Cranial Nerve Table.
Hyperopia: Also known as farsightedness, because far objects appear in focus
while near objects are blurry. Hyperopia is the
result of an overly short eyeball.
Hypothalamus: A brain structure providing
specific functions such as regulating the activities of internal organs,
monitoring information from the autonomic (peripheral) nervous system and controlling
the pituitary gland.
Id: According to Sigmund Freud, the
unconscious, selfish part of human motivation.
Idiomatic compounds: Compound words that cannot be understood literally
(e.g., "red herring," "soft-headed").
Immediate memory: A type of very short-term memory used to maintain information
"online" during an experience. Immediate memory occurs over time
scales of a second and less.
Incus: One of the three middle ear bones -- the center bone.
Infantile amnesia: The term used to describe the profound lack of memories from ages
0-3 years.
Infarct: An area of tissue death caused
by loss of blood flow to the tissue.
Inference: A hypothesis based on given
facts.
Inferential
comprehension:
The ability to create a hypothesis based on given facts.
Inferior Colliculus: A cluster of cells responsive to
sound. Found in the brainstem below the superior colliculus.
Inferior Parietal Lobe: A region of the parietal lobe associated with
object recognition.
Infereotemporal Cortex: The lower part of the temporal
lobe, an area of the brain involved in object and number recognition.
Inflectional morphemes: Bound morphemes that indicate number, tense,
person, and case, and do not generally change the word's part of speech.
Inhibitory: Referring to a synaptic connection
that decreases the electrical excitability of the postsynaptic neuron.
Inner
Ear: The part of
the auditory system which includes the cochlea-site of the transformation of
the mechanical representation of sound to electrical signals.
Insomnia: A disorder characterized by
prolonged periods with little or no sleep.
Intelligence Quotient: The product of dividing mental age by
chronological age. I.Q. is a revision by German psychologist W. Stern of Alfred
Binets original formula of subtracting mental age
from chronological age.
Interneuron: The generic term for a cell in a
local network of neurons. Interneurons typically
modify the response properties of the cells that they connect to.
Inversion Effect: Difficulty in remembering faces when they are presented upside-down.
Ions: small, electrically charged
elemental molecules. Some important ions for neural function are sodium (Na+),
potassium (K+), chlorine (Cl-), and calcium (Ca2+).
Ipsilateral: Related to the same side, as when stimuli presented to
the left side of the body are detected by the left hemisphere of the brain.
Iris: A circular structure with an
opening in its center and muscles that dilate or constrict the pupil in order
to control the amount of light that enters the eye.
Isocortex: Literally meaning "same cortex," because it
has similar structure throughout. Also known as neocortex. Located in the dorsal,
or front part of the brain, the isocortex is
especially large in higher primates and is responsible for sensory and motor
processing as well as abstract reasoning and association.
Arthur Jensen: (1923-) U.C.-Berkeley
educational psychologist whose explosive 1969 Harvard Educational Review
article on intelligence suggested that whites are on average more intelligent
than blacks.
Kinesthesis: The sense by which muscular motion, weight, position,
etc., are perceived.
Kluver-Bucy Syndrome: A pattern of complex behavioral changes (e.g. tameness
and hypersexuality) that is induced in several
species by bilateral damage to the anterior temporal lobes.
Knockout
Mouse: A mouse
which has been genetically engineered to no longer express a particular gene.
Scientists use these mice to determine the role of a gene by studying what
happens to behavior and physiology when the gene is removed.
L-dopa
(also called Levodopa): A drug used to replenish the
dwindling supply of the neurotransmitter dopamine. L-dopa can cross the
blood-brain barrier to be converted into dopamine by nerve cells.
Lamarck, Jean-Baptiste: (1744-1829) French naturalist
and pre-Darwinian evolutionist. Professor at the Museum of Natural History,
Paris, Lamarck's major works were Philosophie
Zoologique (1809) and Natural History of
Invertebrate Animals (1815-22).
Larynx: The organ of voice production,
also called the "voicebox."
Lateral Hypothalamus: A nucleus within the hypothalamus that helps regulate blood pressure.
Lateralization: Result of cerebral dominance of one hemisphere or the other for a
specific function as demonstrated in the opposite side of the body, as in
handedness.
Lateral: Referring to a structure that is
closer to the side or surface of another structure, as opposed medial. For
example, the lateral part of an egg is the egg white, and the medial part is
the yolk.
Lateral Connections: Synaptic connections between neighboring neurons that
modify information flow through those neurons. Lateral connections tend to be
inhibitory.
Lateral Fissure: A deep sulcus (groove) within the
convolutions of the cerebral cortex. Delineates the temporal
lobe from the rest of the cortex.
Lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN): A region of the thalamus which receives information from the retina
and projects to primary visual cortex. Also called the LGN.
Lateral hypothalamus: a nucleus in the hypothalamus involved in functions
including metabolic regulation.
Lateral lemniscal nucleus: A cluster of cells responsive to
sound. Found in the brainstem above the superior olivary
nucleus and below the inferior colliculus.
Lateral superior olivary nucleus: A cluster of cells responsive to
sounds. Localizes sound by comparing the amplitude of the sound at one ear with
the amplitude of the sound at the other ear.
Lateral
White Matter (of the spine): Lateral portion of the white matter, includes the descending corticospinal tract.
Lens: A part of the eye which adjusts
the focus of an image to allow us to see near or far objects.
Letter-sound correspondences: The principle that each letter
represents a unit of sound (a phoneme).
Lexical meaning: The meaning of a base word, independent of its use in another
construction (for example, "play" is the lexical meaning of the words
"plays," "played," and "playing").
Limbic System: A group of brain structures that work to regulate emotions, memory
and certain aspects of movement. Includes the amygdala, hippocampus, cingulate gyrus, septum and basal ganglia.
Literal compounds: Compound words that can be understood by defining the words making
up the compound (e.g., "seabound,"
"birthday").
Literal comprehension: Understanding the facts.
Lobotomy: The surgical removal of a
cortical lobe.
Logographic: The system of writing that uses
symbol-meaning correspondence rules; the Chinese writing system is logographic,
and Arabic numerals are logographic.
John
Locke:
(1632-1704) English philosopher whose "Essay
Concerning Human Understanding" (1689) declared that humans entered the
world with no prior knowledge, or with a "tabula
rasa."
Long-term memory: A type of memory that lasts from a few hours to many years.
Long-term potentiation: A long-lasting increase in the
efficacy of a synapse.
Longitudinal fissure: A deep sulcus (groove)
that runs down the middle of the cortex and provides a prominent landmark for
separating the brain into the left and right hemispheres.
Lou
Gehrig's Disease: A common name for Amyotrophic
Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a disease that attacks the
neurons of the brain and spinal cord. Typically, patients with ALS lose voluntary control over a period of years, and
experience muscle atrophy.
Lower
Brain: Term used
to describe the evolutionarily older part of the brain.
Lumbar
Level (of the spine):
3rd level of the spine following cervical and thoracic.
Luminal surface: The innermost layer of cortical cells, where mitosis takes place
during cortical development.
Lyell, Sir Charles: (1797-1875) English naturalist whose
The Principles of Geology (1830-33) argued for a uniformitarian,
or gradual, approach to geology, and that forces producing geological change
were still at work.
Lymphocytes: A major class of white blood
cells important in the immune response.
Macula: A photoreceptor-rich region in
the center of the retina.
Macular
degeneration: A
retinal disease associated with old age, and characterized by a loss of cells
from the macula.
Magnetic
Resonance Imaging (MRI): A technique for imaging soft
tissues, especially the brain, using magnets. While MRI
provides a static image of the brain, a related technique called fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) can image
changing activity within the brain.
Magnocellular: The large cells in the thalamus that are involved
in processing of rapidly changing information to the cerebral cortex.
Magnocellular layer: One of the two lower layers of
the lateral geniculate nucleus,
also called an M layer. M layer cells receive visual information that concerns
motion.
Magnocellular pathway: A group of nerve fibers carrying
high-contrast visual information, including information about motion in the
visual field. The magnocellular pathway originates
from M-type ganglion cells in the retina and terminates principally in the magnocellular layer of the lateral geniculate
nucleus.
Main clause: Also known as the independent
clause, the main clause is a sentence unto itself.
Malleus: one of the three middle ear bones -- the one closest to
the eardrum.
Medial: Referring to a structure that is
closer to the midline of another structure, as opposed to a lateral. For
example, the medial part of an egg is the yolk, while the lateral part is the
egg white.
Medial superior olivary nucleus: A cluster of cells responsive to
sound. Localizes sound by comparing the time the sound arrives at one ear with
the time it arrives at the other ear.
Medulla oblongata (myelencephalon): Located within the brainstem, or
rhombencephalon (Hindbrain). Responsible
for controlling respiration, circulation and other bodily functions.
Memory space theory: A theory of hippocampal
function, suggesting that the hippocampus acts to encode environmental episodes
rather than spaces in particular. As opposed to the cognitive
map theory.
Melatonin: A hormone synthesized by the
pineal gland that is implicated in the regulation of sleep, mood, puberty, and
ovarian cycles.
Meniere's Disease: Hearing and Balance problems
resulting from a rupture of the basilar membrane.
Mesencephalon (Midbrain): Links forebrain and hindbrain; contains cerebral
aqueduct.
Mesoderm: The middle layer of the three
embryonic tissue layers first delineated during gastrulation;
give rise to skeleton, circulatory system, muscles, and reproductive system.
Metalinguistic awareness: The abilities to think about
language and comment on its characteristics and functions.
Metencephalon: Structure located in the rhombencephalon,
or hindbrain. Origin of the pons
and cerebellum.
Microgyria: One of several minor brain malformations that may be
linked to reading disorders.
Midbrain: (See Mesencephalon)
Middle
Ear: The part of
the auditory system between the eardrum and the cochlea. This includes the ossicles.
Migration: The travelling
of neural cells to an endpoint somewhere in the nervous system.
Minimum-distance Principle: The strategy that assumes that a word refers to the
closest related word.
Mitosis: Nuclear division in eukaryotic
cells leading to the formation of two daughter nuclei each with a chromosome
complement identical to that of the original nucleus.
Mnemonic: A mental procedure used to assist
recollection. For example, making up a rhyme to remember an
address, or a bizarre image to remember a name.
Modality: A mode of sensation, for
example, hearing, touch, smell, taste, or vision.
Modality-specific: A brain process specific to a type of sensory information, for
example a process particular to hearing.
Monoamine oxidase inhibitors: Drugs that increase levels of
neurotransmitters in the brain by preventing their decomposition.
Monaural: Relating to one ear.
Morphemes: The smallest unit in language
that carries meaning. A morpheme can be a word or a word ending (like a
grammatical ending, eg. past tense -ed.).
Morphine: an opioid
drug that is used to attenuate pain.
Morphological Awareness: The ability to understand and correctly use small
words, letters, and letter combinations that change the meaning of a word.
Morphology: The word structure and the rules
used to form new words; more specifically, it refers to the changes wrought by
small word elements that affect word meaning, such as prefixes and suffixes.
Morphophonological: Based on meaning and sound;
English is a morphophonological language because the
spellings of many words contain letters that show the root of the word (e.g.,
"bomb," "bombard")
Multimorphemic: Words with three or more letter
combinations that change word meaning (e.g., "incomparable,"
"hopelessness")
Samuel George Morton: (1799-1851) American physician and naturalist who
utilized his own extensive collection of human skulls in his comparative
anthropology research. His major publication was Human Anatomy (1849).
Motor
Cortex: A part of
the brain that is responsible for executing movements of the body.
Motor Homunculus: A disproportionate map of the body representing the amount of motor
cortex devoted to each body part.
Motor
Program: A plan
of action including the sequence of muscles needed and the level of contraction
required for each muscle.
Mozart
effect: An effect
first described in 1993 by Drs. Gordon Shaw and Frances Rauscher,
who showed that undergraduates who listened to 10 minutes of a Mozart sonata
performed better on cognitive tests. The improvement lasted for around 10-15
minutes, and the implications of the finding are still debated.
Multiple Intelligences Theory: The view championed by Dr.
Howard Gardner that intelligence is not a singular property, but "the
potential to solve problems or to fashion products that are valued in at least
one cultural context." (Gardner, 1983).
Charles Murray: (1943-) Co-author of 1994s controversial
book, The Bell Curve, which is about intelligence and race in the United
States.
Muscle
Fiber: Single,
elongated cell in skeletal muscle.
Muscle
Spindle: Stretch
receptor within skeletal muscles which provides information about the length of
the muscle.
Myelencephalon: Located in the hindbrain and
origin of the medulla oblongata.
Myelin: A glassy, white sheath
surrounding the axons of some neurons. Myelin acts as an insulator, and helps
neural signals travel more quickly and over greater distances than they could
in an uninsulated axon. Myelin is composed of Schwann cells that wrap themselves concentrically around
the neural axon.
Myelination: The process of insulating axons in the nervous system.
Myopia: Also known as nearsightedness
because near objects appear in focus while far objects are blurry. Myopia is
the result of an overly long eyeball.
Natural
Selection: A
theory stating that individual organisms that survive to produce viable
offspring pass on the genes that made the survival possible. On average, the
fittest traits in a population are thereby transmitted to descending
generations causing the selection for fitness to drive the evolution of the
species.
Neocortex: Literally meaning "new cortex," because it
evolved later than other brain areas. Also known as isocortex. Located in the dorsal,
or front part of the brain, the neocortex is
especially large in higher primates and is responsible for sensory and motor
processing as well as abstract reasoning and association.
Neospinothalmic Tract: a bundle of nerve fibers in the
spinal cord that carries mixed sensory and motor information.
Neural crest cells: Cells that mirgrate away from the neural
tube to form a variety of peripheral tissues.
Neural
groove: In
development, the stage just before the neural plate closes to form the neural
tube.
Nerve
Growth Factor: A neurotrophin that is typically found in the peripheral
nervous system, and the first neurotrophin
discovered.
Neural
plate: A
thickened strip of ectoderm along the dorsal side of the early vertebrate
embryo; gives rise to the central nervous system.
Neural
tube: Formed
during development when the neural plate folds in on itself.
Neurodegenerative Diseases: Any disease which causes a slow decay of the nervous
system and its activity, for example, Alzheimer's disease.
Neuroepithelium: The cells inside the nerual tube that go on to form the brain and spinal cord.
Neurofeedback, or EEG
biofeedback: A therapy for Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity
Disorder, among other disorders. It is based on self-regulation of brain wave
activity when given visual and auditory feedback.
Neuron: The cellular unit of the central
and peripheral nervous systems.
Neurotoxin: Any chemical that poisons neurons.
Neurotransmitter: A chemical released by neurons to relay information to other cells.
Neurotrophins: Powerful molecules that affect the survival,
growth, and differentiation of neurons, for example, Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) and Brain-Derived Neurotrophic
Factor (BDNF).
Newton,
Sir Isaac:
(1642-1727) English physicist and mathematician most often remembered for his
Law of Gravity, which is said to have been brought about by his witnessing a
falling apple. Among his many other accomplishments, he deduced that white
light is a mixture of colors, and he devised the first reflecting telescope.
Nondeclarative memory: A type of memory that cannot be
verbally recalled, also called procedural memory. For example, catching a
baseball or riding a bicycle.
Norepinephrine: a neurotransmitter arising
principally from neurons located in the locus ceruleus
and projecting to many areas of the brain, including
the limbic system. Deficient amounts of norepinephrine
are associated with depression, and overabundant amounts with mania.
Nucleus: 1. An
intracellular organelle that houses the cells DNA; 2. In neuroanatomy,
a group of neurons that acts together to perform a specific function, most
often referring to neurons in the brainstem.
Nursery Rhyme Effect: the effect achieved by introducing children to patterns
of sounds, through nursery rhymes and early stories, so the child's brain
receives the input it will need to categorize words by their internal
structure.
Nystagmus: Rhythmic oscillation of the eyeballs, usually
horizontally. Caloric nystagmus is a normal reaction
to cold or warm water squirted into the ear; nystagmus
can also be induced by rapidly turning the head to one side.
Occipital Cortex: Located at the back of the brain, the occipital cortex is primarily
responsible for vision-related functions such as recognizing letters.
Occipital Lobe: Mostly devoted to vision. Contains the primary
visual cortex. Delineated by the preoccipital
notch and the parieto-occipital sulcus.
Occipital Notch: A sulcus, or groove, within the cerebral
cortex that marks the ventral boundary of the occipital lobe.
Ocular dominance column: A stack of cells in primary visual cortex that receives
input from only one of the two eyes.
Oculomotor nerve (CN
III): The third
cranial nerve, responsible for movement of the eye in its orbit. See the
Cranial Nerve Table.
Off-Center: A receptive field shaped like
two concentric discs, in which stimuli in the center disc are inhibitory and
stimuli in the outer disc are excitatory. Off-center fields occur in bipolar
and ganglion cells in the retina, as well as in M and P layer cells of the
lateral geniculate nucleus.
Olfactory: Of or relating to the sense of
smell.
Olfactory nerve (CN I): The first cranial nerve,
responsible for the sense of smell. See the Cranial Nerve Table.
Olfactory Tract: Nerve route that carries the sense of smell from the olfactory bulb
to the cerebral cortex.
Oligodendrocytes: Glial
cells that myelinate the central nervous system
axons.
On-Center: A receptive field shaped like
two concentric discs, in which stimuli in the center disc are excitatory and
stimuli in the outer disc are inhibitory. On-center fields occur in bipolar and
ganglion cells in the retina, as well as in M and P layer cells of the lateral geniculate nucleus.
Onset: an optional part of a syllable
that contains any consonant sounds which precede the vowel. For example, in
"bet" the onset is b-, while in "spoke" the onset is sp-.
Some syllables, such as "it", do not contain onsets.
Optic
Chiasm: The point
at which the optic nerves from each eye meet and partially cross hemispheres.
Optic
Nerve: The second
cranial nerve. A thick bundle of nerve fibers (axons from ganglion cells)
extending from the retina to the thalamus. See the Cranial Nerve Table.
Optic Radiation: The bundle of fibers that connects the LGN
to other areas of the brain, such as the occipital lobe.
Orbitofrontal Cortex (aka
Brodmann's Area 47): A region of the frontal cortex which is involved
in motor function and communicates with the basal ganglia as well as other
limbic structures. This structure may be involved in mood-related disorders as
well as motor dysfunction.
Orientation column: A stack of cells in primary visual cortex that all respond best to
lines of the same orientation.
Orthography: The written system that
describes a spoken language; spelling is an orthographic feature of written
English, as is punctuation.
Ossicles: The three bones in the middle ear.
Otitis Externa: Inflammation of the outer ear
resulting from infection or physical injury.
Otitis Media: Infection of the inner ear which blocks the eustachian
tube and puts pressure on the ear drum.
Otosclerosis: The overgrowth of bones in the middle ear, most
commonly, the stapes.
Outer
ear: The
cartilage that guides sound into the ear canal and the ear canal. The pinna.
Oval
Window: An
opening into the scala vestibuli
of the cochlea, the oval window is covered by a membrane. The stapes fits into
the oval window.
Paleospinothalamic Tract: a bundle of nerve fibers in the
spinal cord that carries mixed sensory and motor information.
Panic
Disorder: An
anxiety disorder characterized by strong somatic symptoms of fear (increased
heart rate, sweating, etc.) that come on with no apparent trigger.
Papillae: Small protuberances that cover
the top and side surfaces of the tongues. The papillae contain the taste buds.
Parasympathetic ganglia: A collection of neurons in the parasympathetic
nervous systems.
Paraventricular Nucleus: A nucleus within the
hypothalamus that regulates the release of hormones from the pituitary gland.
Parietal Cortex: Located at the top and middle of the brain, the parietal cortex
contains the supramarginal gyrus
and the angular gyrus, both important for reading.
Parietal Lobe: Contains somatosensory areas and sensory
integration areas. Separated from the frontal lobe by the
central sulcus, separated from occipital lobe by the parieto-occipital sulcus.
Parieto-occipital sulcus: A groove within the cerebral
cortex that marks the dorsal boundary between the occipital and parietal lobes.
Parkinson's disease: A degenerative disease of the nervous system
characterized by muscle tremors, altered gait, and partial paralysis.
Parvocellular Layer: One of the four upper layers of the lateral geniculate nucleus, also called a
P layer. P layer cells receive visual information about color and fine
structure.
Pathway: A route of information flow in
the nervous system.
PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Not Otherwise
Specified: A
diagnosis given to individuals who do not meet the criteria for autism in one
of its three categories.
Karl Pearson:
(1857-1936) English biometrician, mathematician, and statistician who
introduced the chi-squared test and standard deviation.
Perfect
pitch: The
capacity to recognize and name any note on the musical scale (i.e., middle C, E
flat, A sharp) without hearing it in relation to other notes.
Perilymph: Fluid in the scala vestibuli and scala media.
Perinatal: Relating to the time just before, during, and just after
birth.
Peripheral Nervous System: Located outside the brain and
spinal cord. Obtains sensory information from the external world and provides
motor output to the voluntary muscles that allow us to move.
Perirhinal cortex: evolutionary older cortex in the
temporal lobes, located near the hippocampus; may be
involved in learning and memory.
Pervasive Developmental Disorder: A severe disruption in a child's
cognitive, behavioral, social and emotional growth that results in widespread
distortion of the processes of development; example: childhood autism.
Phase-lock: A correspondence between the
activities of two oscillating events. If these activities are represented as
waves, then the peaks of the waves will be correlated at regular intervals. In
the auditory system, the response of hair cells in the basilar membrane is
phase-locked to low frequency sound waves.
Phase-shift: When the activity of one cycling
event is displaced in time, or shifted, from the activity of another cycling
event. If these activities are represented as waves, then one wave will lead
the other.
Phineas Gage: A famous brain-damaged patient from the 19th century; he
survived an explosion that drove a lead pipe through his brain but suffered a
serious personality shift as a result of the accident.
Phonemic awareness: The ability to distinguish amongst and manipulate the smallest
sounds in language that can change meaning.
Phonemes: The smallest recognizable speech sounds and root of all spoken language. When added
together, phonemes create syllables, which allows the creation of words; for
instance, "ox" is made up of three phonemes: /aa/,
/k/, and /s/ (English contains 44 phonemes).
Phonological Code: A code that uses sound as the basis for encryption and decryption.
Phonological Decoding Route: The route a word takes through
the brain when its sound is activated.
Phonological Properties: The attributes of the different sounds within a
word.
Phonological Awareness: The understanding that words are composed of
sounds and the ability to identify and manipulate the sounds of language.
Phonological Skills: The ability to recognize and use all sizes of sound
units, such as words, syllables and phonemes. Phonological processing, and
particularly phonemic awareness, is a critical skill for learning to read or
becoming a better reader.
Phonology: A language's sound system,
including the rules for combining sounds to produce meaningful utterances.
Phosphenes: Spots of light that are produced when pressure is placed
on the eyeball.
Photoreceptor: A cell in the retina which can
convert light into electrochemical signals.
Photosynthesis: The process by which green plants and certain other organisms
transform light energy into chemical energy.
Phrenology: The study of using bumps on the
skull to determine human behavior and characteristics.
Phylogenetic: Measured across species, a way of determining the
chronological appearance of biological features (i.e., the older the species in
terms of evolution, the longer the feature has been around).
Pial surface: The outermost layer of cortical cells.
Pineal
gland: An
endocrine gland located in the cerebrum, which regulates the production of the
hormone melatonin.
Stephen
Pinker (1954-): American psychologist noted for his books The
Language Instinct and How the Mind Works. Currently
a professor of psychology and Director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience
at MIT.
Pinna: The cartilage that guides sound into the ear canal.
Pituitary Gland: A small gland at the base of the brain which secretes hormones that
regulate most of the other glands in the body. Often referred
to as the "master gland."
Place
cell: A term used
to describe neurons in the rat hippocampus that appear to respond
preferentially to discrete places in an environment.
Place
field: The
receptive field of a place cell. The place field of a place cell is a spot in
the environment that the place cell responds to most strongly.
Placenta: A fetal organ, approximately 9
inches in diameter, that is tightly attached to the
inner lining of the uterus. The placenta consists of a root-like complex of
fetal vessels coming from the uterine wall, bathed in maternal blood and
supplied with fetal blood through the umbilical cord. The placenta is
responsible for delivering nutrients from the mother to the fetus.
Planum Temporale: A cluster of neurons believed to
be important for language processing; in most people, it is larger in the left
hemisphere than in the right.
Plasticity: The ability of a neural network
to be reconfigured or rewired; changing connections within a neural network.
Polysomnography: The study of sleep using
measures of electrical brain activity, eye movements, and muscle activity.
Pons: A structure at the top of the brain stem containing a
number of nuclei and many fiber tracts connecting the cerebellum and medulla to
the higher brain areas.
Posterior
Parietal Cortex:
Posterior portion of the parietal cortex involved in transforming visual
information to motor commands.
Positron
Emmision Tomography (PET): A technique for imaging brain
activity using radioactive dyes injected into the bloodstream.
Post-Encephalitic
Parkinson's Disease: Name used to describe the mysterious
"sleeping sickness" that evolved out of the encephalitis epidemic of
the 1920s.
Postsynaptic: On the receiving side of the
synapse. A postsynaptic cell receives neurotransmitter from a presynaptic neuron.
Post-traumatic
Stress Disorder (PTSD): A disorder that causes people to
relive emotionally stressful events as though they were actually occurring;
most common in rape victims, disaster survivors and war veterans.
Pragmatics: Language as it is used in social
contexts and as it affects those in conversation.
Precentral Gyrus: Bump of cortex in the frontal
lobe located anterior to the central sulcus, site of
the primary motor cortex.
Prefrontal Cortex: An area of the brain associated with higher cognitive functions
including planning and working memory.
Prefrontal Lobes: The front part of the brain, associated with complex
decision-making, behavioral inhibition, and judgement.
Premotor Cortex: Region of cortex in the frontal
lobe involved in the sensory guidance of movement and activating proximal and
trunk muscles.
Prenatal: Relating to the time before
birth.
Presbyopia: A condition in which the eyes lens thickens and loses
its ability to contract as a result of aging. Presbyopia
is optically similar to hyperopia because it causes
difficulty in focusing on near objects.
Presynaptic: On the sending side of the synapse. A presynaptic neuron secretes neurotransmitter onto a
postsynaptic target cell.
Pretectum: A nucleus in the midbrain that controls the pupillary light reflex.
Primary-like response pattern: An activity pattern exhibited by
some neurons in the cochlear nucleus. The primary-like response pattern is
characterized by a large burst of action potentials at the stimulus onset,
followed by little activity for the stimulus duration.
Primary
Motor Cortex:
Cortical area in the frontal lobe which is directly involved in producing
muscle contraction.
Primary Visual Cortex: Located in the occipital lobe. Receives
the earliest information from the eyes by way of the thalamus. Also called Brodmann Area 17, after the
anatomist who identified the region, or Striate Cortex, because in cross
section the primary visual cortex has a distinct band of white myelin within
the cell layer.
Priming
Effect: The
effect from seeing a word frequently, which results in increased sensitivity to
that word, which makes future recognition of that word easier
.
Procedural memory: a type of unconscious memory for motor skills that does not require
the hippocampus for formation.
Progenitor cells: Cells of a specific type that give rise to many other cells of the
same kind.
Proprioception: Sensation of movement in joints
and muscles.
Prosencephalon (Forebrain): Believed to be the site of the
highest intellectual functions. Includes structures such as
the thalamus, hypothalamus, and the cerebral cortex.
Prosody: Rhythmical and musical aspects
of language.
Prosopagnosia: An inability to recognize faces following brain
injury.
Prozac: A trademark for an
antidepressant drug that inhibits the uptake of serotonin by the central
nervous system.
Psychometric: measurement of mental processes.
Psychophysical study: Psychological tests which determine behavioral responses
to certain physical stimulisuch as behavioral responses to tastes or to sounds.
Pupil: A hole in the middle of the iris
which can be dilated or constricted to adjust the amount of light that shines
on the retina.
Pupillary light reflex: The response of the pupil to
changing lighting conditions. The pupil constricts in response to bright light,
and dilates in response to dim light. In the direct pupillary
light reflex, light shining into one eye causes the ipsilateral
pupil to constrict. In the consensual pupillary light
reflex, light shining into one eye causes the contralateral
pupil to constrict.
Putamen: a nucleus of the basal ganglia located deep within the
brain. The putamen is involved in sensorimotor
integration and motor control.
R-controlled vowel: The vowel immediately preceding
an r within the same syllable; that vowel's pronunciation is affected by the r.
Radial glial cells: Connective tissue cells that
guide the migration of neurons during development.
Raphi nuclei: Groups of cells located in the brain stem that have been
implicated in sleep behavior.
Rapid
eye movement (REM) sleep: A sleep state that occurs about every 90 minutes through the night;
characterized by frequent eye movements and often associated with dreaming.
Receptive field: The set of stimulus characteristics that a neuron responds to
optimally. For visual neurons, this might be a particular shape or a particular
region of space. For auditory neurons, it might be a particular range of sound
frequencies.
Reinforcement: The use of reward,
encouragement, and repetition to promote learning and memory.
Reissner's membrane: Membrane separating the scala vestibuli from the scala media.
Relative clause: Also known as the dependent
clause, a relative clause refers to the main clause and cannot stand alone as
an independent sentence.
Relativism: The theory that morals and truth
are not universal, but are relative to the groups holding them.
Resonant frequency: Energy delivered to an oscillating system at the resonant frequency
will increase the amplitude of the oscillations. For example, when a child is
on a swing, she tends to time her kicks to the resonant frequency of the swing
so that she can go higher.
Reticular formation: A network of neurons that are part of the brainstem;
mediates aspects of arousal.
Retina: A sheet of tissue at the back of
the eye which converts light into electrochemical signals, pre-processes those
signals to detect contrast changes, edges, and color, and then sends the
pre-processed information on to the brain.
Retinitis
pigmentosa: An inherited condition in which the retina's rod cells
degenerate, resulting in the loss of peripheral and night vision.
Retinotopic: Organized in a point-to-point representation of the
retina.
Retrograde amnesia: A condition resulting from injury or disease in which the patient
forgets events ocurring prior to the injury, but can
remember events that occur after the injury.
Retrograde Signal: A neural signal that is transported in the opposite direction of
normal electrochemical impulses, e.g. from a postsynaptic neuron to a presynaptic neuron.
Rett's Disorder: A pervasive developmental disorder related to autism; a
progressive neurological disorder occurring in females only.
Reuptake: the process by which a neuron
returns certain amounts of a neurotransmitter back to the neuron that released
it.
Reversible nouns: Two nouns within a sentence that
can be substituted for one another without making the sentence inconsistent or
unreasonable. A sentence like The monkey pays the
snake has reversible nouns because the snake can just as reasonably pay the
monkey as vice versa. However, The mouse ate the
cheese does not have reversible nouns; it isn't reasonable to think that cheese
can eat a mouse.
Rhombencephalon (Hindbrain): Often
referred to as the brainstem. Includes the pons, cerebellum and medulla oblongata.
Rhombencephalon (Hindbrain): Often referred to as the
brainstem. Includes the pons,
cerebellum and medulla oblongata.
Rime: An obligatory part of a syllable
that contains the vowel and any consonant sounds that follow it. For example,
in "bet" the rime is -et. Single-syllable
words with the same rime typically rhyme with one another: bat, sat, flat, and
splat all contain the rime -at.
Ritalin: A brand name form of the drug
methylphenidate, a mild central nervous stimulant used in the treatment of
narcolepsy in adults and attention deficit disorder in children.
Rod
cell: A type of
photoreceptor in the retina which is insensitive to color. Rod cells are very
sensitive to dim light, and are responsible for our night vision.
Root
Word: The base
word, which stands alone as a word and can change number, part of speech,
and/or meaning through the addition of morphemes.
Round
window: A
membrane covered opening at the base of the cochlea opening into the scala tympani.
Saccade: A high velocity eye movement
from one point to another point. When primates pan their gaze over a scene, their
eyes move in saccades rather than in a continuous, smooth motion.
Saccule: Along with the utricle, a vestibular organ in the inner
ear. Specifically, the saccule responds to vertically
directed movement.
Scala media: The middle compartment of the cochlea. Contains
the endolymph which surrounds the cilia of the hair
cells.
Scala tympani: One of the compartments of the cochlea. Contains endolymph. One end is the
round window, the other end is continuous with the scala vestibuli through the helicotrema.
Scala vestibuli: One of the compartments of the
cochlea. Contains perilymph.
One end is the oval window, the other end is
continuous with the scala tympani through the helicotrema.
Schema: A term introduced by Jean Piaget
that refers to an internal representation of external experience in terms of a
symbol, a representational outline, a percept or a concept.
Schizophrenia: A neuropsychological disorder
characterized by any combination of inappropriate affect, hallucinations,
delusions, and psychotic episodes. Development of schizophrenia has a genetic
component, and is associated with excess dopaminergic
transmission.
Schwann cells: Cells which wrap around nerve fibers to form myelin, an electrical
insulator.
Scoville units: A system of units used to rate the "hotness" of chili
peppers.
Secondary
Motor Cortices:
Regions of cortical motor function besides the primary motor cortex; posterior
parietal cortex, premotor cortex, supplementary motor
area.
Secondary
Visual cortex:
Also called V2, responsible for perceiving color and form.
Selective
Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI): a class of drugs, used to treat depression, that regulate the movement of serotonin in the
nervous system. Examples include Luvox, Paxil, Prozac, and Zoloft.
Semantics: The expressed meaning of
sentences, and words.
Semicircular canals: A fluid-filled part of the cochlea. Tiny hair cells in
these canals detect the motion of the fluid, providing information that gives
our brain a sense of balance and head position.
Sensorineural hearing loss: Hearing loss due to problems in
the cochlea where the mechanical signal is changed to an electrical signal.
Separation Anxiety: A universal fearful response to separation often from a parent.
Septum: part of the limbic system;
located on the midline just in front of the hypothalamus.
Serotonin: The oldest neurotransmitter in
the brain; important for emotional processing and sleep
Soma: The main part of a neuron cell;
term comes from the Greek word for "body."
Somatic
Nervous System:
Also called the voluntary nervous system, the somatic nervous system is a
component of the peripheral nervous system that controls voluntary actions by
carrying signals to skeletal muscles to make them contract.
Somatic
marker: An
association between a type of event and an emotional response, which is stored
in memory.
Somatosensory: Relating to information perceived through sensory
organs in the skin and muscles including tactile, temperature, pressure, and
position information.
Somatotopic: Organized in a point-to-point representation of the
surface of the body.
Spastic
palsy: A type of
motor control disorder characterized by stiff, awkward movement.
Spatial
memory: A type of
memory concerned with representing physical places.
Spatial-temporal intelligence: The ability to see patterns in
space and time, or to form mental images from physical objects and to
manipulate (i.e., rotate, or turn) such images in one's mind.
Charles Spearman: (1863-1945) English psychologist who proposed in 1904 a general
intelligence factor (g) with which other mental abilities correlate.
Speciation: The process by which new species
are formed.
Sperry,
Roger (1913 1994):
Neurophysiologist who conducted Nobel-prize-winning research into brain
hemisphere laterality.
Spina bifida: A developmental disorder that results when the neural
tube fails to close at the back end; outcomes vary depending on how much of the
spinal cord is disrupted.
Spinal accessory nerve (CN XI): The eleventh cranial nerve,
innervating the larynx and the muscles of the neck. See the Cranial Nerve
Table.
Spinal
cord: A large
bundle of nerve fibers beginning at the base of the brainstem and continuing
down to the tail bone. The spinal cord is a part of the central nervous system,
and most of the fibers within it serve motor and sensory functions.
Split-Brain: The surgery in which the corpus callosum is completely severed to prevent the spread of
intractable epilepsy across the brain. A split-brain patient is one who has
undergone the surgery.
Stapes: One of the three middle ear
bones -- the one farthest from the eardrum and closest to the oval window.
Stereognosis: The ability to recognize objects by sense of touch.
Robert Sternberg: Yale psychologist responsible for the Triarchic
Theory of Intelligence, which poses that three facets make up what we call
intelligence, including analytical, creative and practical intelligences.
Strabismus: Also called "lazy eye",
strabismus is a failure of both eyes to maintain the same direction of gaze.
The disparity of the images entering the eyes causes one eye to be favored; the
result of prolonged strabismus is amblyopia.
Stretch Receptor: Structure reporting the degree of stretch.
Striate cortex: Structure located in the occipital lobe that, in cross section, has
a distinct band of white myelin within the cell layer. Also called Brodmann Area 17, after the anatomist who identified the
region, : or : V1, primary visual cortex, because it receives the
earliest information from the eyes by way of the thalamus.
Stroke: A sudden, acute attack or
injury.
Stroop Effect: A type of cognitive interference first described by Dr. J.R. Stroop in 1935. The Stroop Effect is an increase in reaction time evident when
a subject has to identify one stimulus property that conflicts with a more
salient stimulus property. For example, if the word "blue" is written
in red ink, a subject will have a hard time identifying the ink color.
Stroop task: A test that measures cognitive interference, the role that one
stimulus characteristic plays in the perception of another characteristic.
Subcortical: Literally located beneath the cortex, referring to brain
structures that are not a part of the cerebral cortex.
Subitization: The process of directly perceiving the number of a
collection of items, as distinct from counting.
Substantia nigra: A nucleus of the basal ganglia
named for its dark pigmentation in cross sections. Parkinson's disease is
characterized by a loss of cells in this nucleus.
Subthalamic nucleus: A group of neurons that resides
just below the thalamus and comprises part of the basal ganglia. These neurons
are in communication with neurons in the globus pallidus, and are a target for electrical stimulation in
the treatment of Parkinson's disease.
Sulci (singular, Sulcus): Grooves within the convolutions
of cerebral cortex, the deepest of which are sometimes called fissures.
Superior colliculus: A nucleus in the midbrain which
controls saccadic eye movements. The superior colliculus
is also responsible for turning the head and eyes to see a stimulus that is
heard or felt.
Superior olivary nuclei: A group of nuclei including the
lateral superior olivary nucleus and the medial
superior olivary nucleus, two auditory nuclei that
are involved in sound localization.
Superior Temporal Gyrus: Located within the temporal
cortex, the superior temporal gyrus helps process
morphemes that describe syntactic features, such as the "-s" in
"dogs" and the "-ed" in "barked"
.
Supplementary
Motor Area (SMA): Region of cortex in the frontal lobe involved in
the planning of complex movements and in two-handed movements.
Suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN): A group of cells in the
hypothalamus that are important for the maintenance of
biological rhythms.
Supramarginal Gyrus: Located in the parietal lobe,
the supramarginal gyrus
recognizes the words formed by written letters .
Syllabary: The system of writing that uses symbol-syllable
correspondence rules; languages with relatively few syllables are well-suited
for syllabaries (e.g., Hiragana, one of the Japanese
systems of writing).
Sympathetic ganglia: Collections of neurons in the symapathetic
nervous system.
Synapse: The physical structure that
makes an electrochemical connection between two neurons.
Synaptic proliferation: a process in which the developing brain creates
numerous connections between neurons (synapses) to prepare the brain for new
experiences.
Synaptic pruning: A process in which the brain removes ineffective connections between
neurons to make the remaining connections more efficient.
Synonyms: Different words that mean the
same thing.
Syntactic Skills: The abilitly to comprehend and use syntax.
Syntax: The structure of a language, or
the rules which specify how grammatical markers and words are combined to make
meaningful sentences; the part of speech of a word (for instance, noun or
adverb).
Telencephalon: Located in the forebrain and associated with
perception and initiation of action. Believed to be the site
of the highest intellectual functions and the origin of the entire cerebral
cortex.
Temporal Cortex: Located at the bottom and middle of the brain, the temporal cortex
stores meaning and associations for many words.
Temporal Lobe: Primarily responsible for hearing and memory/learning. Separated from the frontal lobe by the lateral sulcus.
Lewis M. Terman: (1877-1956) American educational
psychologist who updated Alfred Binets aptitude test,
the Binet-Simon Scale, creating the Stanford-Binet intelligence test (1916), which was widely used
throughout the twentieth century.
Tastant molecule: A molecule that can be sensed by cells in the taste
buds.
Taste Receptor Cells: Cells in the tongue which can sense molecules that carry
taste information. These cells respond to these tastant
molecules by changing their internal calcium concentration. This response is
then communicated to nearby nerves, which communicate the signal to the brain.
Taste
modality: One of
the five tastes that humans are known to perceive. These five tastes are: salt,
sour, sweet, bitter, and the taste named umami,
which is the taste of monosodium glutamateMSG.
Text-driven logic: The student using text-driven
logic comprehends the words in a sentence, comprehends the syntax, and
formulates the correct gist from the sentence.
Thalamocortical pathway: A fiber tract leading from the
thalamus to the cerebral cortex.
Thalamus: A structure in the brain that
traffics sensory information such as vision, hearing and touch coming into the
brain and distributes that information to appropriate areas of the cerebral
cortex.
Tinnitus:
A ringing in the ear.
Tissue:
A sheet of morphologically similar cells which acts together to perform a
function. Tissue is categorized into the four basic types of muscle, nerve, epidermal,
and connective.
E.L. Thorndike (1874-1949): American
psychologist who pioneered the study of animal intelligence. The author of some
450 books and articles, Thorndike was an influential force in twentieth century
educational psychology.
Thrombus:
A blood clot composed of platelets, fibrin, and red and white blood cells.
Tinnitus: Ringing of the ears.
Tonotopic: Organized in a progression of increasing sound
frequencies.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) : A cortical stimulation technique. Electromagnets
outside the head create fluctuating magnetic fields that induce electric
currents in specific areas of the brain.
Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS): a technique that uses a low
powered electrical device to stimulate nerve fibers without penetrating the
skin. TENS is typically used for pain management.
Transfer: The application of past learning
to new learning, and the extent to which new learning will be useful, or
generalized, to future learning.
Transmutation: Jean-Baptiste
Lamarck's 19th Century theory that the billions of
species on earth evolved by separating from each other from some central point
of origin.
Transporter: a molecule on the surface of a
neuron that returns certain amounts of a neurotransmitter back to the neuron
that released it.
Trapezoidal body: One of the auditory nuclei in the brainstem.
Triarchic Theory of Intelligence: Theory of intelligence which
posits that there are three main kinds of intelligence: analytical, creative
and practical.
Tricyclic antidepressants: Drugs that increase the levels
of neurotransmitter in the brain, especially serotonin; often used to treat
depression.
Trigeminal nerve (CN V): The fifth cranial nerve,
responsible for general sensation of the face, and for chewing. See the Cranial
Nerve Table.
Trochlear nerve (CN
IV): The fourth
cranial nerve, innervating the superior oblique muscle, which rotates the eye
downward and outward. See the Cranial Nerve Table.
Trophic Factors: An important class of molecules that causes cells to grow
or survive. Examples include molecules such as Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF) and Platelet-Derived Growth Factor (PDGF).
Tumor: An abnormal growth of cells.
Tympanogram: Record of ear drum movement.
Unconditioned Stimulus (US): In
classical conditioning, a stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a
response--no learning required.
Unipolar
disorder: major depressive illness, symptoms of which
include sad mood, insomnia, feelings of guilt, and thoughts of suicide.
Utricle: Along with the saccule, a vestibular organ in the inner ear. Specifically,
the utricle responds to linear acceleration in the horizontal direction or
tilting of the head.
V
Vagus nerve (CN X): The tenth cranial nerve,
responsible for swallowing and control of the larynx. See the Cranial Nerve
Table.
Ventral: In humans, closer to the front
of the body, the belly side.
Ventral
Horn (of the spine):
Location in the spine where corticospinal fibers
synapse, neurons are involve in motor function.
Ventromedial nucleus: a nucleus in the hypothalamus
responsible for metabolic regulation.
Vestibular: Referring to balance.
Vestibular nerve: A division of the vestibulocochlear nerve
that conveys information about the sense of balance from the ear to the
brainstem.
Vestibulocochlear nerve (CN
VIII): See
auditory nerve.
Visceral nervous system: Also known as the autonomic nervous system.
Receives input from, and sends output to, our internal organs. Responsible for controlling involuntary functions such as blood
flow, breathing and digestion.
Visual
cortex: Any area
of the cerebral cortex principally associated with vision.
Visual
Field: The
visible area, typically measured in degrees from a line through the center of
the head.
Visuospatial Perception: The perception of an object and
its movement through space.
Vitreous
humor: Literally
"glass-like fluid," vitreous humor is a thick liquid which fills up
most of the eyeball. It is contained between the lens and the retina.
Phillip
Vogel: U.S.
surgeon involved in the development of successful commissurotomy
for the treatment of epilepsy in the early 1960s.
Voluntary
nervous system:
Also called the somatic nervous system, the voluntary nervous system is a
component of the peripheral nervous system that controls voluntary actions by
carrying signals to skeletal muscles to make them contract.
von Humboldt, Alexander: (1769-1859) German-born naturalist whose
exploration of South America (1799-1804) produced many new scientific
discoveries. His Personal Narrative of the journey is a travel
literature classic and greatly influenced later scientist like Charles Darwin.
Wallace,
Alfred Russel: (1823-1913) English naturalist who produced a theory of
natural selection independent of Charles Darwin. A letter explaining his ideas
was read alongside an outline of Darwin's Origin of Species to an 1858 a
meeting of the Linnaean Society, thus introducing the world to modern
evolutionary theory.
J.B. Watson (1878-1958): American psychologist credited with founding
behaviorism.
Carl
Wernicke (1848-1905): German neurobiologist who
studied brain damage, particularly the form of aphasia in which language
comprehension is impaired. Discovered the region of the brain involved in this
illness, now known as Wernicke's Area.
Wernicke's area: An area of the left temporal lobe that is crucial for
language comprehension, Wernicke's area is where
words are associated with their meanings.
Working memory: The short-duration, limited-capacity memory system that
simultaneously stores and manipulates information in order to accomplish a
task; also called "scratch-pad" memory.
R.
M. Yerkes: (1876-1956) American psycho-biologist who promoted the
development of intelligence tests to classify servicemen during World War I. Also an important early figure in animal intelligence studies,
publishing a number of books on the subject.
Zeitgebers: German term for "time givers," meant to
describe exogenous cues that allign our internal
clocks.
Zygote: The cell created by the union of two gametes, in which the gamete nuclei are also fused; the earliest stage of the diploid generation.