PSYC 100: Biological basis

Sessions 3 & 4

What is the human nervous system?

A complex network of neurons and glial cells all signalling to each other

What is the central nervous system?

-Brain: Control center for entire nervous sytsem

-Spinal cord: Connects the brain and PNS and enables spinal reflexes

What is the peripheral nervous sytsem?

Consists of the somatic and autonomic nervous system

What is the somatic nervous system?

-Conduit for incoming sensory input and outgoing commands from brain to muscles

-What you’re aware of

What is the autonomic nervous system?

-Regulates internal bodily environment (ex: heart and stomach)

-What you’re unconsciously aware of

What is the sympathetic nervous system?

-“Fight-or-flight” system

-Controls the body when aroused/alerted

What is the parasympathetic nervous system?

-“Rest and digest” system

-Controls body during normal resting state

What is the endocrine system?

A network of glands that produces and releases hormones into the bloodstream to regulate the body’s activities

What is a glial cell?

-Cells that supports neurons

-Surveys immune system

What is a microglia?

A type of glial cell that eats dead tissue

What is a astroglia (astrocytes)?

A type of glial cell that connects neurons to blood vessels

What is an ogliodendrocyte?

A type of glial cell that is focused on mylein sheath production

What is the sodium potassium pump?

-pumps sodium (Na+) out and potassium (K+) in

What are ion channels?

-proteins in cell membranes, allowing ions like sodium, potassium, and calcium to pass through to regulate cell function

-important for electrical signalling in the nervous system

What is an action potential?

-A rapid change in voltage created by a neuron when it is sufficiently stimulated to surpass a threshold

-Serves as basis for neural signaling

What is a synaptic cleft?

-synapse

-space between two neurons where they communicate to turn an electrical signal to a chemical signal

What is a synaptic vesicle?

-vesicle

-a sac in the cell membrane that stores/transports neurotrasmitters

What is an inhibitory neurotransmitter?

-Chemical messenger in a neuron that decreases the likelihood of an action potential being fired

What is an exhibitory neurotransmitter?

-Chemical messenger in a neuron that increases the likelihood of an action potential being fired 

What is a presynaptic membrane?

Cell that transmits signal to another cell

What is a postsynaptic membrane?

Cell that receives a signal from another cell

What is a hemisphere?

What is a sulcus?

A groove, furrow, or fissure found on the surface of the brain

What is a gyrus?

A ridge or fold on the surface of the cerebral cortex of the brain

What is the corpus callosum?

A large bundle of nerve fibers that connects the left and right hemispheres of the brain, acting as a bridge for communication between them

What is the contralateral hemispheric organization?

The principle that the left and right hemispheres of the brain control and receive sensory input from the opposite sides of the body

What is the neocortex?

The largest, evolutionarily newest part of the cortex, characterized by its six distinct layers

What is the frontal lobe and its functions?

-Motor control

-Concentration, planning, problem solving

-Speech (Broca’s area)

-Smell

What is the parietal lobe and its functions?

-Touch & pressure

-Taste

-Body awareness

What is the temporal lobe and its functions?

-Hearing

-Facial recognition

What is the occipital lobe and its functions?

Vision

What is the pons and its function?

-Controls breathing

-Relays sensations such as hearing, taste, balance to the cortex and subcortex

What is the medulla and its function?

Controls autonomic reactions such as heart rate and blood pressure

What is the reticular activating system and its function?

-Regulation of arousal and attention

-Regulates sleep and wakefulness

Where is the cerebellum and its functions?

Coordination, balance, precise movements, accurate timing

Where is the thalamus and its functions?

Acts as hub of information to and from all sensory systems except smell

Where is the basal ganglia and its functions?

Planning, executing and stopping movement