Neuroscience Terms
Neuroscience studies the nervous system, from single nerve cells to the brain. These terms cover how neurons carry and pass on signals, the main regions of the brain and the divisions of the nervous system, how the brain changes with learning, and disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.
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- AcetylcholineNeuroscienceAcetylcholine is the neurotransmitter motor neurons use to make skeletal muscles contract, and a key messenger in the autonomic nervous system and brain.
- Action potentialNeuroscienceAn action potential is a brief, all-or-none reversal of the voltage across a nerve or muscle cell membrane that travels along the cell as a signal.
- Alzheimer's diseaseNeuroscienceAlzheimer's disease is a progressive brain disease that destroys neurons and their connections and is the leading cause of dementia in older adults.
- AmygdalaNeuroscienceThe amygdala is an almond-shaped cluster of nuclei deep in each temporal lobe that processes emotion, especially fear, and colors memories with feeling.
- AnesthesiaSurgeryAnesthesia is a medically induced loss of sensation or awareness, produced by drugs called anesthetics, that prevents pain during surgery and other procedures.
- Autonomic nervous systemNeuroscienceThe autonomic nervous system is the division of the nervous system that runs involuntary functions such as heart rate, digestion and gland secretion.
- AxonNeuroscienceAn axon is the single long projection of a neuron that carries electrical impulses away from the cell body toward other neurons, muscles or glands.
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- Blood–brain barrierNeuroscienceThe blood–brain barrier is the tightly sealed lining of the brain's capillaries that controls which substances can pass from the blood into brain tissue.
- Brachial plexusHuman AnatomyThe brachial plexus is the network of nerves formed from spinal nerves C5 to T1 that supplies movement and feeling to the shoulder, arm and hand.
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- Central nervous systemNeuroscienceThe central nervous system is the brain and spinal cord, the part of the nervous system that takes in sensory input, integrates it and sends out commands.
- CerebellumNeuroscienceThe cerebellum is the folded hindbrain structure below the cerebrum that coordinates movement, balance and posture and helps us learn motor skills.
- Cerebral cortexNeuroscienceThe cerebral cortex is the thin, folded layer of gray matter covering the cerebrum, where perception, movement, language and thought are processed.
- Circadian rhythmNeuroscienceA circadian rhythm is a roughly 24-hour cycle in an organism's body and behavior, driven by an internal clock and reset each day mainly by light.
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- DendriteNeuroscienceA dendrite is one of the short, branching extensions of a neuron that receive signals from other cells and carry them toward the cell body.
- DopamineNeuroscienceDopamine is a catecholamine neurotransmitter made from tyrosine that helps control movement, motivation and learning from reward.
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- EpilepsyMedicineEpilepsy is a long-term brain disorder in which a person has repeated unprovoked seizures caused by bursts of abnormal electrical activity in neurons.
- ExocytosisCell BiologyExocytosis is the release of substances from a cell when a membrane-bound vesicle fuses with the plasma membrane and empties its contents outside.
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- NeuronNeuroscienceA neuron is a nerve cell, the basic signaling unit of the nervous system, which receives information and passes it on as electrical and chemical signals.
- NeuroplasticityNeuroscienceNeuroplasticity is the nervous system's ability to change its structure and connections in response to experience, learning, development or injury.
- NeurotransmitterNeuroscienceA neurotransmitter is a chemical messenger that a neuron releases at a synapse to excite or inhibit a target neuron, muscle cell or gland cell.
- NeurulationDevelopmental BiologyNeurulation is the embryonic process in which a strip of ectoderm folds up into the neural tube, the forerunner of the brain and spinal cord.
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- Parasympathetic nervous systemNeuroscienceThe parasympathetic nervous system is the autonomic division that conserves energy and controls rest-and-digest activities such as digestion.
- Parkinson's diseaseNeuroscienceParkinson's disease is a progressive brain disorder in which dopamine-producing neurons die, causing tremor, stiffness, slow movement and poor balance.
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- SerotoninNeuroscienceSerotonin is a chemical messenger made from tryptophan that acts as a neurotransmitter in the brain and as a signal in the gut and blood.
- Spinal cordHuman AnatomyThe spinal cord is the column of nerve tissue in the vertebral canal that relays signals between the brain and the body and runs many reflexes.
- StrokeMedicineA stroke is a sudden loss of brain function that happens when an artery supplying the brain is blocked or bursts and bleeds.
- Sympathetic nervous systemNeuroscienceThe sympathetic nervous system is the division of the autonomic nervous system that readies the body for action, producing the fight-or-flight response.
- SynapseNeuroscienceA synapse is the junction where a neuron passes a signal to another cell, usually by releasing a neurotransmitter across a narrow gap.
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