Psychology Chp. 2

allows us to gain information about things outside of the body and to make appropriate responses

provide information aobut the environment

influence muscles and organs to respond

• 1. receive input
• 2. integrate sensory info with previous info
• 3. output (guide actions)

encased in bone (skull, spinal cord) - the body's central information processor

not encased in bone - receives and transmits info throughout the body

transmits info from skin, senses, and muscles to CNS and carries messages from CNS to muscles=movement

carries messages back and forth between the CNS and the heart, lungs, and other organs

prepares body for action "emergency responding"

monitors and regulates various physiological functions

somatic and autonomic

special nerve cells which have the ability to communicate with one another

carry/transmit signals away from cell body to connections with other nerve cells

receive signals from axons of other neurons and carry signal to cell body

• 1. negatively charged molecules in axon come into contact with positively charged molecules outside of axon
• 2. axon becomes electrically charged (action potential)
• 3. neuron shoots action potential down axon
• 4. patterns of repeated action potentials make a coded message (diff messages for diff activities)

gap between brain cells

chemical released across synapse

• norepinephrine and acetylcholine
• serotonin
• dopamine
• others

brain and spinal cord

trunk line of nerve cells connecting brain with rest of the body through PNS (carries messages back and forth)

simple behaviors organized completely within spinal cord

hindbrain, midbrain, and forebrain

• extension of spinal cord
• controls blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing

controls blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing

back to front (develops in womb - breathing, heart rate, body temp)

controls balance and motor coordination (makes snap shots flow) "little brain'

"relay station" - info from senses relayed through midbrain (auditory and visual cues): visual info coordinated with motor movement (makes us aware of world around us)

highly developed brain regulates many complex aspects of behavior and mental phenomena (memory planning decision making and inhibits behavior)

regulates eating, drinking, body temp, sex drive, hunger (autonomous)

receives sensory info and routes it ot higher brain centers (not smell) "mail man"

helps to form new memory

creates associations between sensory and emotion (aggression/fear: memory w/ emotion)

outer surface of the forebrain

speech and motor behavior - front (behavior, behavior planning, and voluntary muscle movement)

body sensations (touch, pressure, and temp) - middle

vision - back

hearing - right above ears

connecting bridge of nerve fibers between hemispheres

localization of specific brain functions

language and logic

spatial abilities and pattern recognition

• right controls left and left controls right
• (hemispheres can function independently)

ability of neurons to change in structure and function (due to injury)

• 50% more brain synapses than adults
• allow undamaged neurons to pick up slack for dead brain tissue (brain damage less traumatic in children than adults)

• 1. grouwing new branches of dendrites
• 2. extending axons from surviving neurons to form new synapses
• 3. releasing more neurotransmitters

• immature cells that can mature into any type of neuron the brain needs
• (travels to developing areas and can detect defective or impaired cells)

• central nervous system
• peripheral nervous system

forebrain

takes sensory data (light, color, texture) and combines it w/ past memory and experiences allowing us to form meaning perceptions

• frontal
• parietal
• occipital
• temporal

neurons

dendrites, cell body, axons

synaptic terminal

receptors

a property that allows the brain to heal itself