Chapter 3: Neuroscince + Behaviour Flashcards
Why learn about the brain?
Knowing how our brain works allows us to understand people’s behaviour
Santiago Raman y Cajal
Invented the procedure of staining a neutron
Structure of a neuron
Cell body
Dendrite
Axon
Cell body (Soma)
- Information processing
- Keeps the cell Alice (provides energy)
- nucleus: DNA chromosomes
Dendrite
- Receives information from other neurons
- relay information to the cell body
Axon
- Carries information from cell body
- carries information to other neurons
- many covered in myelin sheath
Myelin sheath
Insulating fatty material: boosts transmission speed
Composed of glial cells
Support cell for neurons
Sinapse
Gap between axon of one neuron to the dendrite or the next
Synapses allow us to
Think, move, feel
Sensory neurons
Take input from the environment and send it to the brain, via spinal cord
Motor neurons
From spinal cord to muscles
Interneurons
Connect neurons to neurons
Most common kind
Neurons specialized to certain locations
Purkinje cells
Cerebellum to the rest of the brain and spinal cord
Neurons specialized to certain locations
Pyramidal cells
- Cerebral cortex
- One long single dendrite
Neurons specialized to certain locations
Bipolar neurons
Retina of the eye
-single axon, single dendrite
How do neurons talk to each other?
Electrochemical action
1) conduction
2) transmission
Conduction
- Within a neuron
- electrical
Transmission
- Neuron to neuron
- Chemical signals across synapse
Electrical signalling from neuron
3 points
Resting potential
Action potential
Refractory period
The myelin sheath helps move the ______
Action potential down the axon
Breaks in the Myelin sheath
nodes of Ranvier
Types and function of neurotransmitters
Acetylcholine (ACH)
Voluntary motor control
Attention and learning, play a roll in sleeping and memory
Dopamine
- Regulates motor behaviour
- pleasure, emotion arousel
Too little dopamine results to
Parkinson’s disease
Too much dopamine results to
Schizophrenia
Glutamate
Helps move everything in your body
Too much glutamate may
result in seizures
GABA: Gamma Aminobutryic acid
The stop button
Opposite of Glutamate
Norepinephrine
- The “danger” neurotransmitter
- makes you viligent
Serotonin
- Mood and arousel
- wakefulness and sleeping
- regulates aggressive behaviour
Endorphins
- Natural painkiller
- Antidepressant
Drugs mimic neurotransmitters!
Don’t do drugs 🙈
Agonist
Increases an action of a neurotransmitter
Antagonist
Block the function of a neurotransmitter
Organization of the nervous system
Interacting network of neurons that convert electrochemical information throughout the body
2 systems
Central nervous system
Peripheral nervous system
Central nervous system
Consist of the brain and spine
Peripheral nervous system
Connects CNS to rest of body
2 kinds
1) autonomic
2) Somatic
Somatic
Conscious control
Sympathetic
Fight of flight
Parasympathetic
Calming (counteracts fight or flight)
Components of the central nervous system
- Spinal reflexes
- disrupted if problems with myelin sheath
Structure of the brain
- hindbrain
- midbrain
- forebrain
Hindbrain
Coordinates info into and out of spinal cord
Has 4 parts
1) Medulla
2) Recticular formation
3) Cerrebellum
4) Pons
Medulla
Life support system, heart rate circulation
Reticular formation
Sleep, wakefulness, arousel
If damaged, instant comma
Cerrebellum
Fine motor skills and balence
Pons
The “bridge”
Relay system between Cerrebellum and the other brain structures
The midbrain
Has 2 parts
1) Tectum
2) Tegmentum
Tectum
Orientation within the environment
Tegmentum
Central location of neurotransmitters involved in arousel, mood, and motivation
Forebrain
Develops last and has the highest functions
2 parts:
1) cerebral cortex
2) Subcortical Structures
Cerebral cortex
Outer layer- two hemispheres (compare your fists)
Has:
Gyri: Smooth parts
Sulci: Indentations
Subcortical structures
Middle of your brain
Thalamus Hypothalamus Hippocampus Amygdala Basal Ganglia
Thalamus
Every sense but smell goes here!
- organizedand send out to other sections of brain
- filters info by urgent first for survival
Hypothalamus
Regulates hunger, thirst, temperature, sex drive
Hippocampus
Creates new memory
Integrates them into network
Amygdala
Strong emotion commutes to hippocampus
Formation of emotional memory
Basal ganglia
Directs intentional movement
Works with the Cerrebellum
Endocrine system
Network of glands produce secrets hormones
Controlled by pituitary gland
Hemispheres
Left hemi controls the right side of body
Right hemi controls the left side of body
Corpus callousum
Transmits info super fast (makes the two hemis speak to each other
4 lobes
Occipital lobe
Temporal lobe
Parietal lobe
Frontal lobe
Occipital lobe
Visual processing: object recognition
Temporal lobe
Auditory processing: language comprehension
Parietal lobe
Processing sensory information, body orientation
Frontal lobe
Decision making, problem solving, deliberate movement, consciousness, emotion
Within each lobe
Primary areas: for fine detail
Association areas: sense making for change making
Mirror neurons
Brain plasticity
Notion that your brain is like plastic
It forms to your environment
Evolution of nervous system
Ontogeny: evolution within individual
Phylogeny: development within your species
Action potential
An electric signal that is conducted along a neurons axon to a synapse
