A niche is an organism's role in its ecosystem, describing how it utilizes the resources and interacts with living and nonliving factors of its environment.

Niche broadening is when a species expands its roles in its habitat, as a tool for survival.

In response to lack of food and increased populations, animals broaden the scope of species they interact with beyond their original interactions.

An animal that eats primarily fruit

When the behavior between species in one area differs from the behaviors between species in another location.

Plants or animals not originally from that area

A new relationship or pattern of behavior between plants and animals.

The distribution or spreading of seeds throughout an area

A drug that blocks the binding of acetylcholine to its nicotinic receptors.

Formation of new neurons.

Neo- meaning new, synaptogenesis referring to the formation of connections between neurons.

Referring to a case where the neurotransmitter and the receptors are present on the same cell. The released neurotransmitter binds to the receptor on the same cell.

A quantitative measurement of a neuron size, shape, or density.

Refers to the group of neurons present in the pons of the brain.

Pons is a brain region that links medulla and the mid-brain. It serves as a message station between several areas of the brain.

Stands for standard error, a measure to test how far the mean of the sample is different from the estimated mean of the population.

Brain cells in a group of nerves found at the base of the skull. The nodose and petrosal neurons are part of the vagus and glossopharyngeal nerves, respectively.

No change; unaltered.

These are receptors that respond to the neurotransmitter, acetylcholine.

Introduces a methyl (CH₃) group. Here, PNMT adds a CH₃ group onto norepinephrine creating epinephrine (also known as adrenaline).

Refers to the connections and interactions between the pituitary gland and adrenal glands. 

Situated in the tail part of the body.

Precursors.

Neuroendocrine cells are the cells that receive input from neurons and release a hormone into blood for output. Any hormone produced and released by neuroendocrine cells are referred as neurohumoral products.

Sodium channel blocker. It blocks the influx of sodium into the cell.

Act of flowing in.

Example: An influx of tourists was observed over the holidays.

A neurotransmitter that can be released from exocrine glands; for instance, sweat glands.

Functions include relaxation of smooth muscles in stomach, gall bladder, and contraction of heart muscles.

It has been shown that in sweat glands, both VIP and acetylcholine (or cholingeric) are released from same population of neurons.

Refers to the cell group that releases one of the neurotransmitters, dopamine or norepinephrine.

An enzyme responsible for the conversion of tyrosine (an amino acid) to dopamine, a neurotransmitter.

Refers to the measurement of quantities, a countable amount of something. For example: A baby weighs 7 pounds and 4 ounces.

Refers to the measurement of qualities, a describable trait of something. For example: The girl has brown eyes.

Here, referring to the physical characteristics of the neurons.

Widely accepted class of neurotransmitters.

Read more about the different neurotransmitters here.

A chemical that is released by brain cells called neurons. These chemicals aid in communication or passing messages between neurons.

Drug that increases the influx of sodium into the cell.

The ability to change.

For example, think of a caterpillar, which has the ability to change to butterfly.

Maintaining the body’s temperature within the normal limits.

Functions of the body that are essential for life–e.g. sleeping, eating, breathing, bladder activity.

These are a class of neurotransmitters. Peptides are made of amino acids or chain of amino acids.

Read more about the different neurotransmitters here.

Set of codes that helps the organism to adapt and maintain life. 

In this instance, regulation occurs at the gene level to adapt to environmental conditions.

A regulation that controls the conversion of DNA to RNA in organisms. Learn more with this HHMI BioInteractive video.

Normal or minimum level.

Research that can be useful to prevent or treat disease

Relating to the growth of the individual.

Following.

The response prompted by cocaine.

Response prompted by nicotine.

Prone to; susceptible.

Treatment received prior to something in advance

Evaluate; measure.

Given.

Pushed; urged; required.

Reduced.

Outcome

Strengthening of synapses between neurons

before birth; during pregnancy

mimicked; acted similarly

only for a short time

normal

help; make the process easy

modified

signaling pathways that help in gene regulation

adding phosphate residues

happening at the same time

not enough acetylation

removal of acetyl groups

increase or excessive acetylation

DNA sequences that define where the transcription should start in a gene

restrain

prompt or trigger

drugs that cause an increased behavioral or motor response

widely used

a model designed to perform behavioral experiments

Process by which acetyl groups are added to preferred residues in a protein.

For instance, acetyl groups are added to lysine residues in a protein structure

components of chromatin that helps in gene regulation

DNA + histone

it is one of the transcription factors that help in gene expression

the process by which a copy of genetic information is made from DNA to RNA

A synapse is a space between the neurons that allows passage of electric or chemical signals between the neurons.

Anything that occurs between synapses is referred to as synaptic

the ability of the neurons (brain cells) to change and learn new things by changing their synaptic strength

Medium sized neurons that have dendritic branches

slowing down, hold back, restrain, negatively affecting a response

neurons that contain inhibitory neurotransmitter, GABA

Part of the frontal cortex in the brain. Its function includes planning, organization, and decision making

A brain region present in the temporal lobe. It is almond In shape. It plays an important role in emotions.

Eg. When we see a lion, we immediately run due to fear. The fear response is due to the amygdala.

A brain region in the midbrain. Serves as a center for the origin of dopaminergic neurons

neurons that can modulate (or alter or modify) the neurotransmitter, glutamate. Glutamate is an excitatory neurotransmitter

neurons that contain neurotransmitter, dopamine. Dopamine plays a vital role in the reward pathway

to combine the similarities together

bringing together two different concepts that share similarities

recognition of one’s work or effort

contains the brain region, nucleus accumbens

A brain region in the forebrain. It has two parts: core and shell

causing someone to become dependent

Recreational drug. Referred as coke.

primary chemical present in tobacco

dependency, craving

modify

increased

preferred choice of one place over another

trained or habituated

Repeated administration of a stimulus can cause a response to the stimulus.

Eg. If you give your cat piping hot milk the first day, the cat may not drink it as it will burn its mouth. However, if you continue to give your cat hot milk for several days in a row, the cat will eventually start drinking the milk as it is habituated to the new stimulus (hot milk) and will not complain

the movement of a living being from one place to another

one by one; logical order

a key factor

not important

study of the structure and function of genes involved in the behavior

observing the electrical properties of neurons in the mouse brain

observing the behavior of the mouse

influence

the substances are mild and not addictive on consumption. However, the continuous consumption of these mild substances can lead to the use of other addictive drugs. They are also known as ‘habit-forming drug.’

Eg. Alcohol, Cigarettes.

Deals with incidence and distribution of diseases and societal issues

Substances that are addictive to the central nervous system.

These substances are illegal to be possessed, have no documented therapeutic effect, and are referred to as drugs of abuse.

Eg. Cocaine, Heroin

‘weed’ or ‘pot.’

Read more about marijuana here: https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/marijuana/what-marijuana

A specific branch of knowledge, such as physics or biology.

A graphical representation (usually lines through a point on the graph that run parallel to one of the axes) showing the amount of uncertainty there is in the location of that point. All scientific data collection includes uncertainty--error bars allow researchers to show how confident they are in their results. Large error bars mean there is a lot of uncertainty (lower confidence), while smaller error bars mean there is less uncertainty.

A z-score is a measure of the number of standard deviations above or below the average score a raw, individual score is. The higher the z-score, the more different a data point is from the average.

Continuous variables have an infinite number of possible values. This is in contrast to categorical variables, which have a discrete number of defined values (for example, in this study "man" or "woman" for gender).

Standard deviation, a measure of the amount of variation in data.

It can be used to quantify how far an individual's data is from the average of a data set.

A condition in which when the value of one variable goes up (endorsement of the gender stereotype), the value of the other variable goes down (exam scores).

A function defines one variable in terms of another. Here, the more strongly a woman in the control group endorsed the gender stereotype, the lower her exam scores were.

Defining y "as a function of" x means that y varies based on the level of x.

Repeating a scientific experiment and finding the same results

Chi-squared, a test which tells whether there is a statistically significant difference between the distribution of two categorical variables (for example, gender).

Refers to standard error, which is a measure of how far away the mean of your data is likely to be from the true mean of the population.

The P value is a measure of how likely it is that your null hypothesis (that values affirmation has no effect) is true.

Beta. Beta refers to the probability that you can accept the null hypothesis (which states that values affirmation has no effect) when in fact the null hypothes.is is wrong.

Tools used to assess a subject's performance.

Assigned group, either the intervention group or the control group. In this case, the control group contained students who did not participate in the values affirmation intervention.

Based on a hypothesis that may have been supported in laboratory experiments, but has not yet been shown to work in practice

Perception, attention, learning, memory, and problem solving

Effects that result from interactions within groups, and between both groups and individuals.

How course material is taught, such as through context-rich problems or curricular materials

Participants are randomly assigned to different test conditions.

In this case, participants are equally likely to end up in the control group and the values affirmation test group.

The difference in test scores, course performance, and job prospects between people of different genders

An intervention in which people reflect on and write about the beliefs and values (e.g., family, integrity) that are important in their life

Any activity used to modify behavior, emotional state, or feelings

Binary calculations are a straightforward form of measurement that states the presence or absence of an interaction.

Weighted networks assign some form of quantitative value, in this case frequency, as a measure of the interaction in a network.

Living parts of an ecosystem, in this case, invasive species on the island

Non-living parts of an ecosystem, such as elevation of rainfall

The authors measured the overall dissimilarity between different locations by two factors: species turnover- when two locations do not share similar networks because they are inhabited by different species, and linkage turnover- when species found in both locations develop different interactions specific to their site

Impacts from the loss of the top-level consumers.

Widely felt.

Impacts that top-level predators have on the levels of the food web below them.

Feeding relationships.

Complex cycles of nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorous, carbon, and water involving the atmosphere, land, water, and organisms.

Research involving more than one field of science, e.g. biology and chemistry.

How a system works.

How quickly a community is able to recover from a change in the environment.

Based on data.

Periods of Earth's history when vast numbers of species went extinct in a short period of time.

Killing another organisms for food.

Eating only vegetation for food.

Number.

Location.

The interactions between organisms and the non-living environment (i.e. rocks, water) within an area.

Structure.

Conditions that allow for stability in an ecosystem.

When the direction of a ecosystem change cannot be reversed, i.e. an ecosystem cannot be returned to its previous state once it has gone through a phase shift.

Interactions of physiology and chemistry.

Change.

Altered.

Removed.

Not able to move far.

Self-feeding organisms such as plants, algae, many protists, and some bacteria.

Changes in abundance or dominance of species within an ecosystem.

Data collected from unintended consequences seen in nature.

Predators found in the middle of the food web—that is, they both eat prey and are eaten as prey.

Large, plant-eating organisms.

Collective.

A different persistent community structure from the original in an ecosystem, typically resulting from a disturbance.

Inability of seeds to germinate.

Grass-like plants.

Also known as top-down controls, these refer to the effects of predators that propagate downward through food webs across multiple trophic levels—where trophic level refers to an organism's position in the food chain.

A part of the brain.

The function of this area is poorly understood but is thought to regulate behavior of an animal in response to internal (such as hunger) and external (such as pain) sensory cues.

An inhibitory neurotransmitter. Neurons communicate with each other by releasing neurotransmitters. Neurons respond to inhibitory neurotransmitters by reducing their activity.

The CNO was injected into the peritoneum, the thin membrane that lines the walls of the abdominal cavity. It travels through the circulation and crosses the blood brain barrier and affects its target cells.

A light-sensitive competitive agonist of GABA_A receptors. It was originally isolated and identified over 40 years ago in the Dicentra cucullaria plant.

A progressive degenerative disorder primarily impacting motor control that can lead to tremors or stiffness. Pathologically characterized by the loss of dopamine-secreting neurons in two parts of the brain (the substantia nigra pars compacta and basal ganglia), as well as the presence of Lewy bodies—aggregates of a protein called alpha synuclein contained within the neuron.

The degree to which something is perceived as pleasurable (positive valence) or unpleasant (negative valence).

Activated by.

Occurring along the nerve processes away from the neuron body, as opposed to retrograde.

A region of the brain in close proximity to ZI known to promote food intake.

An excitatory neurotransmitter, which causes neurons to become activated.

A part of the brain located below the thalamus, which functions in motor control.

A hormone produced in the gut in response to food deprivation.

Also known as the "hunger hormone," ghrelin increases appetite and food intake and energy storage.

Neurons that express excitatory neurotransmitters cause downstream neurons to become activated.

Germinal centers are areas in the lymph nodes and spleen where B cells reside. Within these centers B cells replicate, mature and prepare to create antibodies.

An antigen on the surface of the virus that antibodies can attach to.

The characteristics that are representative of activated T cells.

This subset of T cells that aid in the production of antibodies by activating B cells.

An antigen is a part of a pathogen that stimulates an immune response. This may be a protein, lipid, or a carbohydrate.

A transcription event in which introns, which are frequently spliced out of mRNA, are instead added to the mRNA transcript.

Intron retention allows for more diversity of mRNA transcripts from the same DNA.

Catalysis is the initiation and acceleration of a chemical reaction.

In this case, the authors point to KDM6B as the catalyst for Dmrt1 expression and thus male sex development.

Morphology describes biological structures.

Relating to cell division that gives rise to sex cells.

An enzyme that produces estrogen.

Dimorphic indicates differences in characteristics between males and females of the same species other than the sex cells.

DNA is wrapped around proteins called histones for the organization and compaction of eukaryotic genomes.

The proteins that make up histones have multi-peptide "tails" that can be modified by small chemical groups like methyl or acetyl additions. These groups are added or removed by specific proteins, such as KDM6B.

Ectopic describes events occurring in locations that do not naturally have such events.

For example, expression of a brain-specific gene in a toenail would be considered ectopic gene expression.

Male sex cells that are required to form testes and sperm.

Progenitor sex cells that go on to make all the reproductive cells in an organism.