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- Glossary
Somatosensory system
Somatosensory perception is the body's sensory perception: temperature, pressure, and pain are typical sensations of the skin. However, somatosensory perception also includes depth perception, i.e., position in space, movement, and the position of muscles and joints.
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- Glossary
Mirror neurons
Nerve cells in the brains of primates that fire just as strongly when their owners observe an action as when they perform it themselves. Italian researchers discovered these special neurons in the early 1990s while experimenting with macaques. Mirror neurons were later also detected in the human brain. Among other places, they occur in Broca's area, which is responsible for language processing. Mirror neurons could provide an explanation for why we are able to understand the feelings and intentions of others. The discussion on this topic is still ongoing.
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- Glossary
Spinal nerves
Spinal nerves are the nerves that emerge from the spinal cord. The cell bodies of their neurons are located in the gray matter of the spinal cord.
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- Glossary
Spinocerebellum
The area of the cerebellum that includes the cerebellar vermis and its adjacent areas. Involved in muscle tone and walking movements.
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- Glossary
Rods
The rods are light-sensitive cells with high light sensitivity. They react even to weak light and are therefore responsible for scotopic vision, black-and-white vision, and vision at dusk. The rods are concentrated in the outer areas of the retina and therefore do not provide high visual acuity.
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- Glossary
Stirrup
The stapes is the third ossicle in the middle ear and the smallest bone in the human body. It transmits its vibrations to the oval window, behind which the inner ear begins.
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- Glossary
Stigma
The term refers to a characteristic that is viewed negatively by society or a group and leads to the discrediting of individuals who possess this characteristic. Stigmas can refer, for example, to members of certain ethnic groups or marginalized social groups. Even a diagnosis of a mental disorder or an illness such as AIDS can be accompanied by stigmatization, depending on the social environment.
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- Glossary
Stress hormone system
During the stress response, the sympathetic nervous system and a number of hormone glands – the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and adrenal cortex – work together to prepare the body for increased demands. The sympathetic nervous system uses the hormones adrenaline and noradrenaline as messenger substances. Their activity increases breathing and heart rate while improving blood flow to the muscles. During the stress response, the adrenal cortex releases the hormone cortisol. It acts via negative feedback on the hypothalamus and pituitary gland, thereby slowing down further cortisol release. When the stressor subsides and the sympathetic tone decreases, the parasympathetic nervous system can regain the upper hand and bring the organism into a state of rest.
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- Glossary
Striatum
The striatum is a central structure of the basal ganglia. It consists of the caudate nucleus and putamen; the nucleus accumbens is also functionally part of it as its ventral portion. As the most important input structure of the basal ganglia, the striatum plays an essential role in controlling movement sequences as well as in cognition, motivational processes, and the reward system.
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- Glossary
Subiculum
The transition zone between the cornu ammonis and the entorhinal cortex is called the subiculum.
