Blood–brain barrier. The system that dismisses most chemicals from the vertebrate brain.

Microglia perform as part of our immune system, as it get rid of viruses and fungi from the brain.
All-or-None Law states that the amplitude and velocity of an action potential are independent of the
intensity of the stimulus that initiated it, provided that the stimulus reaches the threshold.

Saltatory conduction The jumping of action potentials from node to node

presynaptic neuron - The neuron that delivers transmission

postsynaptic neuron- The neuron that receives transmission

Reuptake. The process wherein the presynaptic neuron takes up much or most of the released
neurotransmitter molecules intact and reuses them.

Movements

Mirror neurons, which are active both during preparation for a movement and while watching someone
else perform the same or a similar movement (Rizzolatti & Sinigaglia, 2010).

The cerebral cortex is particularly important for complex actions such as talking or writing. It has much
less control over coughing, sneezing, gagging, laughing, or crying (Rinn, 1984).

Parkinson’s disease (also known as Parkinson disease), which strikes 1 to 2 percent of people over age 65,
results from the gradual loss of dopamine-releasing axons from the substantia nigra to the striatum (part
of the basal ganglia)

Huntington’s disease (also known as Huntington disease or Huntington’s chorea) is a severe neurological
disorder. Motor symptoms usually begin with arm jerks and facial twitches.

Sleep

Brain death is a condition with no sign of brain activity and no response to any stimulus.

orexin or hypocretin- enhances wakefulness and activity (Sakurai, 2007).

hypothalamus releases the excitatory neurotransmitter histamine (Lin, Hou, Sakai, & Jouvet, 1996), which
enhances arousal and alertness throughout the brain

Periodic limb movement disorder, characterized by repeated involuntary movement of the legs and
sometimes the arms during sleep. (nrem)

Sex

Müllerian ducts (precursors to female internal structures)

Wolffian ducts (precursors to male internal structures), as well as undifferentiated gonads

Organizing effects produce long lasting structural effects. During a sensitive period in early development,
for example, the first trimester of pregnancy for humans, sex hormones determine whether the body
develops female or male genitals, and they alter certain aspects of brain development.

Activating effects are more temporary, continuing only while a hormone is present or shortly beyond. For
example, current hormone levels influence the degree of sex drive.

Emotions

James-Lange theory (James, 1884), the autonomic arousal and skeletal actions come first. What you
experience as an emotion is the label you give to your responses: You feel afraid because you run away,
and you feel angry because you attack.

behavioral activation system (BAS), marked by low to moderate autonomic arousal and a tendency to
approach, which could characterize happiness or anger.

behavioral inhibition system (BIS), which increases attention and arousal, inhibits action, and stimulates
emotions such as fear and disgust