BioPsychCh4

Anatomy of the nervous system

Consists of the brain and spinal cord

Consists of nerves outsides the brain and spinal cord

• Part of the PNS
• Contains axons conveying messages from sense organs to the CNS and from the CNS to the muscles

• Part of PNS
• Controls the heart and intestines

Towards the back

Toward the stomach

Toward the front end

Toward the rear end

Above another part

Below another part

Toward the side, away from the midline

Toward the midline, away from the sides

Shows brain from above

Shows brain from the side

shows brain from the front

On the opposite side of the body

On the same side of the body

More distant from the point of origin

Closer to the point of origin

One of the first discoveries about the functions of the nervous system, the entering dorsal roots carry sensory info, and the exiting ventral roots carry motor info

• H shaped
• packed with cell bodies and dendrites

Loaded with myelinated axons

• Part of ANS
• Prepares the organs for activity

• Part of ANS
• Facilitiates vegetative- non emergency responses
• Decreases heart rate, increases digestive rate, conserves energy

• Medulla
• Pons
• Cerebellum

Controls some vital reflexes- sneezing, coughing swallowing, etc

Sends axons to much of the forebrain which modifys the brains readiness to respond to stimuli

• Control of movement
• Balance and coordination

Vision

Hearing

Controls muscles on opposite sides of the body

Takes in sensory info and sends it out to the cerebral cortex

Conveys messages to the pituitary gland which alters its release of hormones

Membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord

Main target for visual information

Main target for auditory information

control of fine movements

• 1) Relationship between anatomy and behavior
• 2) Record brain activity during behavior
• 3) Examine effects of brain damage
• 4) Examine effects of stimulating some brain area

• Franz Gall
• Reading skull anatomy

• Dye is injected in blood
• Head scanned from all angles
• Picture of brain is made

Magnetic field aligns axis and tilts them w/ brief radio frequency

Records electrical activity of the brain - electrodes attached to scalp

Measures faint electrical fields and activities

High resolution imge of activity in living brain (most active areas)

Damage to brain area

Removal of brain area - doesnt tell what structure does or what brain could do in it's absence

• 1) Physiological: Emphasis on brain and organs
• 2) Genetic: Development of a structure/behavior
• 3) Evolutionary: History of behavior
• 4) Functional: Why/how a behavior occurred