chapter 3 biopsychology

range of reaction

Asserts our genes set the boundaries within which we can operate, and our environment interacts with the genes to determine where that range will fall.

what are the 2 parts to the nervous system?

central and peripheral nervous system

Central nervous system (CNS)

receives from peripheral nervous system

what does the CNS do?

• processes, interoperates, and stores incoming sensory info (5 senses)

• sends out msgs to involuntary organs

what are the 2 components of the CNS

Brain and Spinal cord

spinal cord

bridge between brain and parts o/ body

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

Bundle of nerves

2 subdivisions of PNS

stomatic (bodily) and autonomic

stomatic

conscious & voluntary relay motor info from CNS

autonomic

internal organs and glands, involuntary

2 subdivisions of autonomic nervous system

sympathetic, parasympathetic

sympathetic

stress related activity’s “fight or flight”

parasympathetic

day to day operations, calm and relaxed

neuron

interconnected information processors - communicating specialist

3 parts to neuron

dendrite, axon, cell body

dendrite

branch extension from stoma, receives info from other neurons

cell body (stoma)

part that keeps signal alive and determines if it will fire

axon

extension of stoma/ carries info away from cell body to other neurons

neurotransmitters

chemical messengers, mood, perception, behavior, and thought process

myelin sheath

fatty substance that insulates axon

synaptic cleft 

space between where neurons communicate

synapse

entire area where 2 neurons communicate

receptors

protein on cell surface, lock and key relationship

threshold of excitation

lvl of change that causes neuron to become active

action potential 

electrical signal that moves down neuron axon 

all or non

phenomenon that incoming signals from another neuron is either sufficient or insufficient to reach threshold of excitation

acetylcholine

• muscle action/ memory

• inc arousal/ cognition

• dec = Alzheimer's

Beta- endorphine

• pain, pleasure

• dec in anxiety & tension

• Inc falling in love/ playing through injury

dopamine

• mood, sleep, learning

• inc pleasure, suppressed appetite

• low=Parkinson's, high=Schizophrenia

GABA

• brain function & sleep

• dec anxiety & tension

• low=poor sleep

glutamate

• memory & learning

• inc learning & enhanced memory

norepinephrine

• heart, illness, alertness

• inc arousal, suppressed appetite 

• low= depression & anxiety 

seritonin

• mood/ sleep

• modulated mood, suppressed apitite

• low = anxiety/ depression

mood disorder

low norepinephrine/ serotonin

hormones

chemical messengers released my endocrine glands

Pituitary gland

master gland

thyroid gland

release hormones, regulate growth, metabolism, and appetite

adrenal

adrenaline - emotion / stress, when released activates sympathetic nervous system preparing you for action

gonads gland

secrete sex hormones

2 hemispheres of brain 

left and right

left

logical thinking

right

aesthetics/ creativity

many supposed gender differences are ___

exaggerated

a brain difference ____ a difference in behavior or performance

does not necessary mean

sex differences in brain could be the ___ the cause of behavioral differences

the result of rather than

forebrain

• largest part o/ brain

• cerebral cortex, thalamus, limbic system

cerebral cortex

• surface o/ brain

• high lvl consciousness, thought, emotion, reasoning, language, memory

1a frontal lobe

involved in - reasoning, motor control, emotion, language

1b motor cortex

coordination of movement

1c prefrontal cortex

higher level cognitive thinking

1d broca’s area

language production

2a parietal lobe

process

2b somatosensory cortex

touch, temp, pain

3a temporal lobe

hearing, memory

3b auditory cortex

sound goes to auditory cortex

3c wernicke’s area

understanding of words

4 occipital lobe

sight

thalamus

sensory info

1A) limbic system

emotional/ memory , collection of structures involved in processing emotion/ memory

2a) amygdala

approach withdraw

3a) hippocampus

new information in memory 

4a) hypothalamus

liaison between body & brain

hindbrain

back of head connection to spinal cord containing medulla, pons, cerebellum

medulla

automated hindbrain structure processing like brathing

pons

connects brain to spinal cord, regulates brain activity during sleep 

brain stem

made of medulla, pons, and midbrain

cerebellum

controls balance coordination movement motor skill & processes some memory