Psy Ch 3 Set B: The Nervous System

contains all the neural structures that lie outside of the brain and spinal cord; two divisions: somatic and autonomic nervous systems

a system of sensory and motor neurons that sense and respond to our environment; controls the voluntary movements of skeletal system

a system that senses the body's internal functions; controls many glands and smooth muscles; involuntary activities of your internal organs; two divisions: sympathetic division/nervous systems and parasympathetic division/nervous system

activation or arousal function (fight or flight); when you are intensely aroused (emergency situation occurs); heart begins to pound, your breathing quickens, and perspire

slows down the body; maintains a state of internal equilibrium; causes the opposite of sympathetic changes; homeostasis

a delicately balanced or steady internal state

composed of two parts: spinal cord and brain

connects most parts of the peripheral nervous system with the brain; a densely packed bundle of nerve fibers; handles simple reflexes; everything going to brain must pass through spinal cord

three major subdivisions of the brain: hindbrain, midbrain, and forebrain

contains brain stem, medulla, pons, cerebellum, and reticular formation (RF)

supports vital life functions

life sustaining functions such as heart rate, blood pressure, swallowing and respiration (breathing)

"bridge"; higher and lower levels of the nervous system; plays a crucial role in triggering dreams; produces chemicals that help maintain the sleep-wake cycle

called the "little brain"; concerned with muscular movement-coordination, learning, and memory; contains more neurons than rest of brain; regulates movements requiring precise timing; threading a needle, dancing, playing an instrument, surgery, athletics, etc.

drunken state; when cerebellum is affected; balance and coordination functions are easily disrupted by alcohol (boxing, drugs...etc)

alerts you that messages are coming then either blocks or allows those messages; also signals importance of message; plays a role in arousal and attention; tones down during sleep; leads to activity in locus coeruleus

small nucleus in RF/RAS

sleep-like coma state; abnormalities linked to ADHD, depression, sleep disorders and PTSD

contains clusters of sensory and motor nucleus; important for hearing and sight; particularly auditory and visual reflexes; one place where pain is registered; keeps eyes focused on object while moving your head; allows you to reflexively turn your head; smooth beginning of movements

the brain's most advanced portion from an evolutionary standpoint; parts: thalamus, hypothalamus, limbic system; and cerebrum (cerebral hemispheres)

two egg-shaped structures; functions like a "switchboard"; organizes inputs from sensory organs; sends to appropriate areas of the brain; sensory relay center or station/switchboard; relays pain signals from spinal cord

plays major role in: hunger, thirst, body temperature and sex drive; connected to ANS - reactions to stress; connected to endocrine system; two parts: lateral and ventromedial

tells you to eat/drink

tells you to stop eating/drinking

plays role in emotional behavior; three parts: hippocampus, amygdala, and septum

"seahorse" - involved in forming and retrieving memories; particularly new memories; Alzheimer's disease

"almond" - formation of emotional memories; self-preservation (aggression); fear

plearsure (equivalent to "O" word); anger suppression

major structure of the forebrain; consists of two large hemispheres that wrap around the brain stem; cortex forms the outermost layer

(band of white fibers); a neural bridge; serves as communication link between the two hemispheres; allows them to function as a single unit

valley(s) in the cerebral cortex; landmarks; central and lateral sulci (fissure); separate the brain into four lobes: frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital

plays role in planning and goal setting behavior, concentration, moral decision making, abstract thinking, language (left hemisphere)

controls the 600 or more muscles involved in voluntary body movements; contains broca's area

an area in the frontal lobe; the productions of speech through its connections witht he motor cortex region (left hemisphere)

feeling temperature - heat or cold; touch and pressure; body sense; contains somatosensory cortex

receives sensory input that gives rise to our sensations of heat, touch and cold to our senses of balance and body movement

plays a role in hearing, facial recognition, and speech comprehension; contains wernicke's area

an area in the temporal lobe primarily involved in speech comprehension (understanding); "Broca speaks so Wernicke can understand"

plays a role in vision or sight; each eye feeds info to the occipital lobe in each hemisphere by way of the optic nerves

principle of opposite control; each hemisphere governs movement on the opposite side of the body; left hemisphere = right side of body, right hemisphere = left side of body

the relatively greater localization of a function in one hemisphere or the other

language (frontal lobe); verbal abilities, speech, mathematical and logical abilities

spatial relations, faces, mental imagery, musical and artistic abilities

research on people with severed corpus callosa due to epilepsy; found it did have impact on behavior

input on right side of EACH eye is sent to right hemisphere and input on left side of EACH eye is sent to left hemisphere