Psychology Chp. 2

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  1. Human Nervous System
    allows us to gain information about things outside of the body and to make appropriate responses
  2. Sensory systems
    provide information aobut the environment
  3. motor systems
    influence muscles and organs to respond
  4. 3 functions of nervous system
    • 1. receive input
    • 2. integrate sensory info with previous info
    • 3. output (guide actions)
  5. Central Nervous system (CNS)
    encased in bone (skull, spinal cord) - the body's central information processor
  6. Peripheral Nervous system (PNS)
    not encased in bone - receives and transmits info throughout the body
  7. Somatic
    transmits info from skin, senses, and muscles to CNS and carries messages from CNS to muscles=movement
  8. Autonomic
    carries messages back and forth between the CNS and the heart, lungs, and other organs
  9. Sympathetic
    prepares body for action "emergency responding"
  10. Parasympathetic
    monitors and regulates various physiological functions
  11. Peripheral nervous system is divided into
    somatic and autonomic
  12. neurons
    special nerve cells which have the ability to communicate with one another
  13. Axons
    carry/transmit signals away from cell body to connections with other nerve cells
  14. Dendrites
    receive signals from axons of other neurons and carry signal to cell body
  15. How do axons work?
    • 1. negatively charged molecules in axon come into contact with positively charged molecules outside of axon
    • 2. axon becomes electrically charged (action potential)
    • 3. neuron shoots action potential down axon
    • 4. patterns of repeated action potentials make a coded message (diff messages for diff activities)
  16. synapse
    gap between brain cells
  17. neurotransmitters
    chemical released across synapse
  18. types of neurotransmitters
    • norepinephrine and acetylcholine
    • serotonin
    • dopamine
    • others
  19. The CNS includes
    brain and spinal cord
  20. spinal cord
    trunk line of nerve cells connecting brain with rest of the body through PNS (carries messages back and forth)
  21. reflexes
    simple behaviors organized completely within spinal cord
  22. Parts of the brain
    hindbrain, midbrain, and forebrain
  23. hindbrain
    • extension of spinal cord
    • controls blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing
  24. medulla
    controls blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing
  25. How does the brain develop?
    back to front (develops in womb - breathing, heart rate, body temp)
  26. Cerebellum
    controls balance and motor coordination (makes snap shots flow) "little brain'
  27. midbrain
    "relay station" - info from senses relayed through midbrain (auditory and visual cues): visual info coordinated with motor movement (makes us aware of world around us)
  28. forebrain
    highly developed brain regulates many complex aspects of behavior and mental phenomena (memory planning decision making and inhibits behavior)
  29. Hypothalamus
    regulates eating, drinking, body temp, sex drive, hunger (autonomous)
  30. Thalamus
    receives sensory info and routes it ot higher brain centers (not smell) "mail man"
  31. Hippocampus
    helps to form new memory
  32. Amygdala
    creates associations between sensory and emotion (aggression/fear: memory w/ emotion)
  33. cerebral cortex
    outer surface of the forebrain
  34. frontal
    speech and motor behavior - front (behavior, behavior planning, and voluntary muscle movement)
  35. parietal
    body sensations (touch, pressure, and temp) - middle
  36. occipital
    vision - back
  37. temporal
    hearing - right above ears
  38. corpus callosum
    connecting bridge of nerve fibers between hemispheres
  39. lateralization
    localization of specific brain functions
  40. left hemisphere
    language and logic
  41. right hemisphere
    spatial abilities and pattern recognition
  42. Which side does each hemisphere control?
    • right controls left and left controls right
    • (hemispheres can function independently)
  43. neural plasticity
    ability of neurons to change in structure and function (due to injury)
  44. neuron plasticity in infants and toddlers
    • 50% more brain synapses than adults
    • allow undamaged neurons to pick up slack for dead brain tissue (brain damage less traumatic in children than adults)
  45. surviving neurons restor functioning by
    • 1. grouwing new branches of dendrites
    • 2. extending axons from surviving neurons to form new synapses
    • 3. releasing more neurotransmitters
  46. stem cells
    • immature cells that can mature into any type of neuron the brain needs
    • (travels to developing areas and can detect defective or impaired cells)
  47. 2 parts of the nervous system
    • central nervous system
    • peripheral nervous system
  48. largest region of the brain (90% of mass)
  49. How does the forebrain work?
    takes sensory data (light, color, texture) and combines it w/ past memory and experiences allowing us to form meaning perceptions
  50. 4 lobes of cerebral cortex
    • frontal
    • parietal
    • occipital
    • temporal
  51. building blocks of nervous system
  52. neurons structure includes
    dendrites, cell body, axons
  53. end of axon
    synaptic terminal
  54. receive different neurotransmitters in a "lock and key" fashion
  55. plasticity
    a property that allows the brain to heal itself
Card Set:
Psychology Chp. 2
2010-02-25 04:26:13
The Brain

Brain structure and function
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