AP Psych: Unit 1

AP Psychology

Peripheral Nervous System

-Outside the spine and brain

-Neurons

Central Nervous System

-Brain and spine (center of body)

Somatic

nervous system responsible for voluntary movements and sensory information processing.

Autonomic

-Automatic

-Involuntary movements

Sympathetic

Fight or flight response

Parasympathetic

Parasympathetic → Parachute

Calms your body’s response after fight or flight response

Sensory Neuron

-Sensation

-Receive raw material from the body’s sense organs, like free nerve endings in epidermis

-Different for each sense

-Respond to non-chemical stimulation

-Sensory neurons send afferent signals

-Afferent signals arrive at the brain

Motor Neuron

-Reflex

-Connected to all our muscles → causes them to contract

-Neurons in the arm muscle respond to voluntary and involuntary signals

-Motor neurons receive efferent signals

-Efferent signals exit the brain

Glia

-More than 10x glia than neurons

-Support neurons

-Communicates with other cells, but not with electricity

Neurons

-Building blocks of the nervous system

-Jobs:

• Receive messages

• Carry messages

• Send messages

Soma

Neuron’s body

Dendrites

Receive messages from other neurons and convey them to the soma.

Axon

Carry neural messages or electrical impulses down the length of the axon.

Myelin Sheath

A fatty substance encasing most neurons of the brain.

-Protects and insulates the axon, speeding up transmission of nerve impulses

-Disorders caused from deterioration of myelin sheath: Multiple Sclerosis

Axon Terminal

Contains terminal buttons

-Communicate with other neurons

Synapse/ Synaptic Gap

-After each terminal button

-Neurotransmitters cross this gap and lock into the dendrite of the postsynaptic neuron.

DSATs

Acronym for the order of neural firing:

Dendrites

Soma

Axon

Terminal Button

synapse (synapses are small = little s)

Neurons fire when…

shift in energy → creating action potential

Neuron

-terminal button → action potential = neurotransmitters released into the synapse.

-Neurotransmitters lock into the dendrites of the next neuron

Excitatory Neurotransmitters

Makes the neuron more likely to fire again

Inhibitory Neurotransmitters

Makes the neuron less likely to fire again

Resting Potential

-negative 70 millivolts

-Polarized (Po = Positive Outside)

All or None Law

Once neuron reaches threshold, it will fire with the same intensity every time.

Action Potential

Electric impulse that travels down the axon.

Depolarization

-Change in electricity creates a positive charge inside the neuron (+30 millivolts)

-During action potential

Refractory period

brief period where neuron can’t fire again.

Reuptake

-The sending neurons recollects neurotransmitters (up- take).

-The neurotransmitters can be reused in successive neural firings

Firing Threshold

Step 1 (Firing Threshold)

Threshold is reached → neuron fires → action potential travels down the axon to the terminal

Step 2 (Firing Threshold)

Terminal buttons → electrical impulses cause the synaptic vesicles to open → neurotransmitters travel across the synapse.

Step 3 (Firing Threshold)

Neurotransmitters lock into the dendritic receptors/ postsynaptic receptor site (like lock and key) → reuptake

Glutamate

-Most abundant excitatory neurotransmitters

-Enhances learning and memory by strengthening synaptic connections.

-Mnemonic: Glued to your mate = excitement

GABA

-Most abundant inhibitory neurotransmitter.

-Brakes of CNS

-Associated with anxiety disorders

-Mnemonic: Get A Brake Adjustment

Acetylcholine (ACh)

-Found in CNS and PNS

-Movement, learning, and memory

-Diminished ACh → Alzheimer’s

-Mnemonic: To ACE psych test, you need ACh; to hit an ACE in tennis, your body needs ACh

Dopamine

-Linked to the anticipation of pleasure or reward

-Movement, attention, and learning

-Lack of dopamine → Parkinson’s

-Excess → schizophrenia

-Mnemonics:

• Dopamine, pleasure, Parkinson’s

• DopaMINE- mine, mine, mine (pursuit of pleasure)

Endorphins

-Natural painkiller; reward

-Stimulated by intense exercise → euphoric feelings

-Mnemonic: End pain

Epinephrine aka Adrenaline

-Both a neurotransmitter and a hormone

-Boosts energy

-Fight or flight

Norepinephrine (noradrenaline)

-Alertness, arousal

-Heightened sensitivity of what’s around you

-Sleep cycle

-Low levels associated with depression

Serotonin

-Mood, appetite, dreams, sleep

-Low level associated with depression

-Mnemonic: roton = rotten → avoid rotten foods, moods, and nights of sleep

Agonists

-Enhance/ stimulates neurotransmitters

Direct agonists

-Mimic the neurotransmitter and binds with the receptor of the next neuron

Indirect agonist (Reuptake inhibitor)

-Blocks the reuptake of a neurotransmitter

-Enhances communication between neurons

Antagonist

-Inhibit neurotransmitters

-Often binds to receptors but doesn’t stimulate it (slows the neurotransmitter)

-Blocks neurotransmitters from being released by a terminal or from binding to the receptor site

Drugs…

-Activate dopamine-producing neurons in the brain’s reward system

-Increase in dopamine → greater reward → desire more drug intake

-Creates tolerance, physical dependence → withdrawal symptoms

Influence of Drugs on Synaptic Transmission

-Impact AT the synapse

Blood-brain Barrier

-Allows some chemicals to pass from the blood into the brain but prevents other chemical structures from entering.

Depressants

-Slow or inhibit CNS functions

-Creates drowsiness, sedation, or sleep

-Relieve anxiety and lower inhibition

-Combining them can be deadly

Alcohol

-GABA inhibitor