Neuroscience 101: Anatomy and Function of the Nervous System and Neurotransmitters - Prof. | Study notes Psychology

Cell body Life support center

Dendrites Receive messages from other neurons

Axons Covered with myelin sheath, sends messages through neurons

Action potential A neural impulse; brief electrical charge that travels down an axon generated by movement

of positively charged atoms in and out of the channels in axon’s membrane

Depolarization Positive ions enter the neuron making it more susceptible to an action potential

Hyperpolarization Negative ions enter the neuron making it more susceptible to an action potential

Threshold When the depolarizing current minus the hyper exceed minimum intensity, the neuron fires

an action potential

All-or-none

response

In order to receive a response, the threshold must be exceeded

Synapse Gap between 2 neurons

Neurotransmitters Chemical messengers released from sending neuron, travel across synapse and bind to

receiving neuron, influencing it to fire and action potential

Acetylcholine Enables muscle action, learning, and memory (Alzheimer’s)

Dopamine Influences movement, learning, attention and emotion (Schizophrenia)

Serotonin Affects mood, hunger, sleep, and arousal (undersupply linked to depression)

Norepinephrine Helps control alertness and arousal (undersupply can depress mood)

GABA Inhibitory (undersupply leads to seizers, tremors or insomnia)

Glutamate Excitatory, involved in memory (over produces migraines or seizers)

Endorphins Pain perception; positive emotions

Agonist Excite. Similar enough in structure to the neurotransmitter molecule that it mimics it effects

on the receiving neuron and stimulates receptor

Antagonist Inhibit. Similar enough to neurotransmitter to occupy its receptor site and block its action,

but not enough to stimulate

Motor cortex At rear of frontal lobe; controls voluntary movements

Sensory cortex At front of parietal lobe; registers and processes body touch and movement sensations

Broca’s area Controls language expression/directs muscle movements involved in speech

Wernicke’s area Controls language reception/ language comprehension and expression

CNS Brain and spinal cord

Peripheral Nervous

system

Sensory and motor neurons that connect CNS to the rest of the body

Autonomatic Controls glands and muscles of internal organs

Somatic Enables voluntary control of skeletal muscles

Sympathetic Arouses. Fight-or-flight.

Parasympathetic Calming. Rest & digest.

Sensory neurons Incoming information from sense receptors to the CNS

Motor neurons Carry outgoing information from CNS to muscles and glands

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Cell body Life support center Dendrites Receive messages from other neurons Axons Covered with myelin sheath, sends messages through neurons Action potential A neural impulse; brief electrical charge that travels down an axon generated by movement of positively charged atoms in and out of the channels in axon’s membrane Depolarization Positive ions enter the neuron making it more susceptible to an action potential Hyperpolarization Negative ions enter the neuron making it more susceptible to an action potential Threshold When the depolarizing current minus the hyper exceed minimum intensity, the neuron fires an action potential All-or-none response In order to receive a response, the threshold must be exceeded Synapse Gap between 2 neurons Neurotransmitters Chemical messengers released from sending neuron, travel across synapse and bind to receiving neuron, influencing it to fire and action potential Acetylcholine Enables muscle action, learning, and memory (Alzheimer’s) Dopamine Influences movement, learning, attention and emotion (Schizophrenia) Serotonin Affects mood, hunger, sleep, and arousal (undersupply linked to depression) Norepinephrine Helps control alertness and arousal (undersupply can depress mood) GABA Inhibitory (undersupply leads to seizers, tremors or insomnia) Glutamate Excitatory, involved in memory (over produces migraines or seizers) Endorphins Pain perception; positive emotions Agonist Excite. Similar enough in structure to the neurotransmitter molecule that it mimics it effects on the receiving neuron and stimulates receptor Antagonist Inhibit. Similar enough to neurotransmitter to occupy its receptor site and block its action, but not enough to stimulate Motor cortex At rear of frontal lobe; controls voluntary movements Sensory cortex At front of parietal lobe; registers and processes body touch and movement sensations Broca’s area Controls language expression/directs muscle movements involved in speech Wernicke’s area Controls language reception/ language comprehension and expression CNS Brain and spinal cord Peripheral Nervous system Sensory and motor neurons that connect CNS to the rest of the body Autonomatic Controls glands and muscles of internal organs Somatic Enables voluntary control of skeletal muscles Sympathetic Arouses. Fight-or-flight. Parasympathetic Calming. Rest & digest. Sensory neurons Incoming information from sense receptors to the CNS Motor neurons Carry outgoing information from CNS to muscles and glands

Endocrine system Body’s “slow” chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream Hormones Chemicals synthesized by endocrine glands and secreted into the blood stream brainstem oldest and central core of the brain, beginning where spinal cord swells as it enters the skill; responsible for automatic survival functions Left hemisphere Language Right hemisphere Global spatial information Medulla base of brainstem; controls heartbeat and breathing Reticular formation nerve network in the brainstem; helps control arousal Thalamus sensory switchboard ; located on top of the brainstem; directs messages to the sensory receiving areas in the cortex; coordinating movement output and balance Cerebellum attached to rear of brainstem; processing sensory input and coordinating movement output and balance Limbic system associated with emotions such as fear and aggression and drives such as those for food and sex; includes hippocampus, amygdale and hypothalamus Amygdale 2 lima bean-sized neutral clusters; influence aggression and fear Hypothalamus below the thalamus; directs eating, drinking, body temperature; helps govern the endocrine system and linked to emotion Cerebral cortex thin layer on your cerebral hemispheres; ultimate control and information processing center Hippocampus in limbic system; helps process explicit memories for storage Spinal cord pathway for neural fibers traveling to and from the brain; controls simple reflexes Pituitary master endocrine gland Corpus callosum axon fibers connecting 2 cerebral hemispheres Frontal lobe speaking and muscle movements; making plans and judgments Parietal lobe receives sensory input for touch and body position Occipital lobe visual area; receive visual information from the opposite visual field; Colors and shapes. Temporal lobe auditory area; receives auditory information primarily from the opposite ear Sensation Sensory receptors take in information Perception Taking in information and interpreting/ organizing Absolute threshold Minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time Signal detection theory Predicts when we will detect weak signals, depends on a person’s experience/expectations Just noticeable difference Minimum difference a person can detect between any 2 stimuli ½ the time Weber’s law To be perceived as different, 2 stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percent Inattentional blindness The phenomenon of not being able to see things that are actually there Change blindness Inability to perceive features in a visual scene when the observer is not attending to them Parallel processing Processing of several aspects of the stimulus simultaneously

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