- Acetylcholine A
neurotransmitter that plays an important role in
attention, learning, and memory.
- Amygdala Part
of the limbic system always alert to threats.
- Axon The
long branch of a nerve cell that transmits information
to other cells.
- Conditioning A
learned response to a stimulus that always precedes
an event, as if the stimulus were the event itself.
- Cortex The
wrinkled layers of cells covering the surface of
the brain, sometimes called gray matter.
- Declarative
Memory The conscious recollection
of facts and events; also called explicit memory.
- Dendrite A
branch of a nerve cell that receives information
from other cells.
- Dopamine A “pleasure” neurotransmitter
that plays a central role in the brain’s
internal reward system.
- Episodic
Memory Conscious memory for
what happened, where. Sometimes called “autobiographical
memory.”
- Frontal
Lobes The
most recently evolved section of the brain,
used for conscious planning, problem solving,
and control of emotion.
- Glutamate A
neurotransmitter that plays a central role in creating
learning and memory pathways between brain cells.
- Gray
matter See cortex.
- Habituation An
unconscious form of learning by which our brain
learns to ignore a repeatedly-applied stimulus
once it has been categorized as non-threatening.
- Hippocampus A
part of the limbic system crucial for creating
and accessing long-term memories.
- Limbic
System A collection of structures
that play important roles in emotion, memory,
and attention.
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- Long-term
Potentiation The process underlying
learning and memory by which one brain cell becomes
sensitive to stimulation from a neighbor cell.
- Myelin The
insulation surrounding a brain cell’s axon.
- Neurogenesis The
production of new brain cells.
- Neuron A
nerve cell, or cell in the nervous system (which
includes the brain). Often used interchangeably with brain
cell.
- Neurotransmitter A
chemical messenger that brain cells use to communicate
with one another.
- Nondeclarative
Memory Unconscious forms of memory
and learning that influence behavior without
our being aware of it. Also called implicit
memory.
- Priming A
form of subliminal memory in which one piece of information
can cue recall of another.
- Procedural
Memory Automatic memory for skills
and habits, such as how to ride a bike or sign
one’s name; also “muscle memory.”
- Serotonin A “feel-good” neurotransmitter
linked to mood, raised by antidepressants such as
Prozac.
- Subliminal Below
the level of consciousness
- Synapse The
tiny gap between brain cells across which neurotransmitter
chemicals convey messages.
- White
Matter The part of the brain
beneath the cortex that consists mostly of brain
cell axons sheathed in myelin.
- Working
Memory A short-term memory system
for holding information “online” and
manipulating it to solve problems.
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