PSYCHOLOGY: Biopsychology

What is included in the CNS (central nervous system)?

Brain

Spinal cord

What is the brain?

Centre of all conscious awareness

What is the spinal cord?

An extension of the brain responsible for all reflex actions

What is included in the PNS (peripheral nervous system)?

Sensory Divison

Motor Division

What is the Sensory Division?

Send sensory info from the PNS to the CNS

What is the Motor Division?

Sends info from CNS out to the body

What is included in the Motor Division?

Somatic nervous system

Autonomic nervous system

What is the Somatic nervous system?

Controls voluntary muscle movement (conscious control)

Controls skeletal muscles

What is the Autonomic nervous system

Controls involuntary functions such as heart rate and digestion

Controls ‘smooth’ muscles and glands

What is included in the Autonomic nervous system?

Parasympathetic branch

Sympathetic branch

What is the Parasympathetic branch?

Calms the body after an emergency state (rest and digest)

What is the Sympathetic branch?

Prepares the body for emergencies (fight or flight)

What does the Parasympathetic branch do post-emergency?

Resting heart rate

Resting breathing rate

Pupils not dilated

Digestion, salivation as normal

Muscles relaxed

What does the Sympathetic branch do in emergencies and how does this help in ‘fight or flight’?

Increase heart rate - ‘heart pounding’ - increased blood flow = increased oxygen

Increased breathing rate - increased oxygen

Pupil dilation - enhanced vision

Reductio of non-essential functions i.e. digestive systems slows down - ‘feeling sick’ - energy conservation

Muscle tension - increased strength and endurance - think of people lifting cars off babies!

Label the following image:

Answer:

What does the Cell Body (Soma) to?

Contains the nucleus, which holds he cell’s genetic material (DNA)

Acts at the neuron’s metabolic centre

What do Dendrites do?

Branch-like extensions from the soma

Receive signals from adjacent neurons via postsynaptic receptors

What does the Axon do?

A long fibre that transmits electrical impulses away from the cell body

TO REMEMBER: ‘A’xon goes ‘A’way

What does the Myelin Sheath do?

A fatty layer that insulates the axon

Prevents signal loss and protects against external interference

What do the Nodes of Ranvier do?

Gaps in the myelin sheath, which enable saltatory conduction, allowing impusles to jump between nodes—speeding up transmission

What do Terminal Buttons do?

Located at the end of axon

Involved in synaptic transmission: release neurotransmitter from vesicles in the presynaptic membrane into the synaptic cleft

Explain the following diagram:

What are the three types of neuron and where are they located?

Sensory Neuron—PNS

Relay Neuron—CNS

Motor Neuron—PNS

What is the function of the Sensory neuron?