The Brain And Neuropsychology Flashcards
What is the nervous system
Network of nerve fibres and nerve cells that pass information around the body
What is the Central Nervous System
coordinates incoming information and makes decisions about movement or other activities. It consists of the brain and the spinal cord.
What is the peripheral nervous system
(PNS) collects information from, and sends information to, different parts of the human body. The peripheral nervous system consists of two sections which are the somatic nervous system (SNS) and the autonomic nervous system (ANS).
What is the somatic nervous system
The somatic nervous system is a network of nerve fibres running throughout the body, and sense receptors such as those in our skin, muscles and internal organs. The nerve fibres pass information to and from the CNS using sensory and motor neurons that are myelinated (covered with a myelin sheath which is a fatty wrapping), which helps the messages travel faster.
What the autonomic nervous system
The autonomic nervous system (ANS) takes information to and from the CNS but more slowly as the nerve fibres are not myelinated.
Controls involuntary functions of the body heart rate, blood pressure
The ANS uses information from our internal organs to coordinate our general physiological functioning while also responding directly to information such as stressful or emotional events.
What are the two autonomic nervous system
The sympathetic division
The parasympathetic
What is the sympathetic division
The sympathetic division sets off arousal, in response to stress (so the body’s in a state of physiological arousal) which can be mild like a feeling of anxiety, or extreme such as the fight or flight response. This is activated when an individual feels “under threat”.
- increases heart rate
-stimulates glucose production
What is the parasympathetic nervous system
This is our normal resting state
• Counteracts the sympathetic nervous system to restore normal functioning
• Also known as rest and digest
State the order of the nervous systems thingie sry soap
Peripheral nervous system > autonomic nervous system > sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system
