Practice Flashcards
Flip to reveal answersWhat is a chemical messenger?
Track your progress — Sign up free to save your progress and get smart review reminders based on spaced repetition.
All 12 Flashcards — Chemical messengers
Sign up free to track progress and get spaced-repetition review schedules.
Question
What is a chemical messenger?
Answer
A chemical the brain or body uses to carry a signal that affects behaviour — a neurotransmitter or a hormone.
Question
What is a neurotransmitter?
Answer
A chemical that carries a signal across the synapse (gap) between two nerve cells.
Question
What is a hormone?
Answer
A chemical messenger carried in the blood to affect the body; slower but longer-lasting than a neurotransmitter.
Question
What is a synapse?
Answer
The tiny gap between two nerve cells that a neurotransmitter crosses.
Question
What is a receptor?
Answer
A part of a cell that a chemical messenger fits into, like a key in a lock, to pass on the signal.
Question
How does a neurotransmitter pass on its message?
Answer
It is released, crosses the synapse, and fits a receptor on the next cell; left-over is cleared by reuptake.
Question
One example of a neurotransmitter and its behaviour?
Answer
Dopamine — released in the reward pathway, giving pleasure and making a behaviour more likely to repeat.
Question
Which concept do chemical messengers most raise?
Answer
Causality — a chemical is linked to a behaviour, but a link is not proof that it causes the behaviour.
Question
Why is a chemical-behaviour link often only a correlation?
Answer
The two occur together, but the behaviour could cause the chemical change, or a third factor could cause both.
Question
How is a neurotransmitter's role measured?
Answer
Indirectly — e.g. by giving a drug that changes its level and watching behaviour, or by brain imaging.
Question
One strength of the chemical-messenger explanation?
Answer
It is precise and testable, and has led to real treatments such as medicines for low mood.
Question
One limitation of the chemical-messenger explanation?
Answer
Behaviour usually involves many chemicals, and a link is often only a correlation, not proof of cause.
Read the notes
Full study notes for Chemical messengers
Topic 2.1 hub
Biological approach
More from Topic 2.1
All flashcards in this topic
Psychology exam skills
Paper structures & tips
Track your progress with spaced repetition
Sign up free — Aimnova tells you exactly which cards to review and when, so you remember everything before your IB exam.
Start Free