psyc week 4 Flashcards
nervous system first breaks down into
central nervous system & peripheral nervous system
the peripheral nervous system breaks into
the somatic nervous system and autonomic nervous system
somatic nervous system
oversees processing of sensory information and functions permitting voluntary action
autonomic nervous system
oversees functions our bodies do naturally or automatically - blood vessels, glans, organs
autonomic nervous system breaks into
the sympathetic nervous system and parasympathetic nervous system
sympathetic nervous system
mobilizes body for action and energy output - “fight or flight”
parasympathetic nervous system
helps body conserve and store energy - “rest or digest”
phrenology
18th-19th century practice of localizing psychological qualities to regions of the brain
CAT and MRI
capture pictures of detailed structures in the brain using X-rays or magnetic energy
PET
fMRI
Medulla
controls life-sustaining functions (heartbeat, breathing)
Pons
connects the cortex to the cerebellum - influences the sleep-wake cycle, REM sleep, and dreaming
Reticular formation
runs through the pons and medulla (band of nerves) - allows us to selectively attend to and ignore unchanging info (crying baby, parent wakes up but would ignore certain noises like fans, and TV during sleep)
cerebellum
“little brain” - dominant role in balance and coordination of movement - learning motor skills
thalamus
relay station for incoming sensory information: sends it on to the somatosensory cortices
hypothalamus
regulates hormones and hunger, thirst, temperature, sleep, and sex
hippocampus
long-term memory formation and storage - spatial memory (physical layout of the environment)
amygdala
involved in excitement, arousal, and fear and aggression perceptions and reactions
fear connditioning
learning to predict when something scary is about to happen
the corpus callosum
band of connecting fibers - allows left and right hemispheres to communicate
lobes of the brain
occipital, parietal, temporal, frontal
occipital lobe
processes and interprets visual information (reading, taking notes, visual data, visual memory)
parietal lobe
spatial awareness; processes info from skin and receptors for touch, temp, and body position
temporal lobe
processes and interprets auditory and olfactory information (listening to lectures, language comprehension)
frontal lobe
higher mental functions: planning, memory, decision making, language, impulse control (critical thinking, academic planning, time management, memory strategies)
the case of Phineas gage
railroad accident drove a steel rod through gages skull (frontal lobe) - survived brain damage but had major personality and behavior changes
neurons
central building blocks of the nervous system - neural communication underlies all behavior
how neurons communicate
a neuron receives input from another neuron
threshold of excitation
membrane potential that must be reached to trigger an action potential
action potential
1-2 milliseconds long - brief change in electrical voltage when neuron is stimulated
what happens after a neuron fires
release of neurotransmitters
neurotrasmitters
chemical messengers that either excite of inhibit the nervous system
