Ch. 2 Neuroscience and behavior 10 Everything psychological is simultaneously biological.

Its your brain not your heart that falls in love. (Discredited Aristotle mind in heart) Early 1800s Gall invented phrenology that bumps on head reveal our mental abilities. Biological Psychology- a branch of psychology concerned with the links btw biology and behavior. Sect. 1 Neural Communication Bio-psycho-social systems. Human brains are complex they follow principles govern all the animal world. Neurons: Neurons- a nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system. Each has cell body with branching fibers. Two types of fibers: bushy dendrites: branching extensions of a neuron that receive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body. Axons: the extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers, through which messages are sent to other neurons or to muscles, or glands. Myelin sheath a layer of fatty tissue segmentally encasing the fibers of many neurons enables vastly greater transmission speed of neural impulses as the impulse hops from one mode to the next. 2-200mphmilliseconds Chemistry to electricity process exchange of charged atoms called ions. Fluid of interior of a resting axon has an excess of negatively charged ions while the fluid outside the axon membrane has more positively charged ions. Positive outside/negative inside polarization is called RESTING POTENTIAL. Gates that positive sodium ions cannot go through. When a neuron fires the first bit of the axon gates open the sodium ions flood in. This depolarizes that part of the axon causing the next channel to open and the next. RESTING / REFRACTORYperiod the neuron pumps positively charged sodium atoms back outside. Then it can fire again. Excitatory- pushing a neurons accelerator away. Inhibitory pushing the brake. Excitatory inhibitory > threshold IMPULSE OCCURS. ACTION POTENTIAL. ^^^^ Stimulus cannot trigger a stronger neuron or faster impulse but it can trigger more neurons to fire and fire more often. How Neurons Communicate: Synapse-tiny gap. When action potential reaches synapse it releases neurotransmitters (messengers) it either unlocks tiny channels to let ions in. Excess neurotransmitters are reabsorbed by sending neuron in a process called reuptake. If it receives many more excitatory than inhibitory messages it fires more often. More electrical impulses release more packets of neurotransmitters. How Neurotransmitters Influence Us: Dopamine: movement, learning, attention, and emotion. Schizophrenia. Serotonin: affects mood, hunger, sleep, and arousal. Prozac etc. for antidepressant. Norepinephrine: control alertness and arousal. Gamma- aminobutyric acid- GABA- inhibitory functions linked to eating and sleeping disorders. Acetylcholine (Ach) muscle action, learning, and memory, Alzheimers disease. MUSLCE CONTRACTION Endorphins- natural opiates release in response to pain and exercise. Agonists- excite by mimicking a particular neurotransmitter and blocking reuptake. Antagonists- blocking neurotransmitters or diminishing their release. Blood brain barrier- brain to fence of unwanted chemicals circulation. The Nervous System: Peripheral autonomic (sympathetic arouses) or somatic (parasympathetic calming) The Central nervous System:

Spinal Cord and Brain: Central Nervous System: Information highway connecting the peripheral nervous system to the brain. Neural tracts send sensory info. And descending tracts send back motor control info. You lose all sensation and voluntary movement in body regions whose sensory motor neurons connect with the spinal cord below the injury. Simple pain reflex pathway runs through the spinal cord before your brain responds to inform that causes pain. Neural Networks Central Nervous system- Brain part receive s different images. Neural networks are fast short connects to. Each sub network contributes a little bit of info to the whole info processing system that we call the brain. THE BRAIN: Brain mind connections by observing the effects of brain injuries and establishing a map. Electrically stimulate the brain. Or by producing Lesion: tissue destruction Electroencephalogram (EEG) electrical activity waves CT scan is x-ray PET- sugar glucose MRI-magnetic field and spinning atoms. The Brainstem: oldest Medulla controls heartbeat and breathing then the reticular formation that controls arousal! The Thalamus: Directs messages from the all senses and routes to higher brain parts. The Cerebellum: coordinating voluntary movement. The Limbic System: amygdala fear and aggression Hypothalamus: reward center intense hormone collaboration directs emotion. PLEASURE Cerebral Cortex: Thin layer over the cerebral hemispheres OCCIPITAL LOBE- visual cortex TEMPORAL LOBE- auditory cortex Associative area Language: Aphasia- impairment of language left hemisphere Brocas area impairing speaking or Wernickes area impairing understanding. Reading aloud involves a third brain area angular gyrus receives visuals info form the visual area and recodes it into the auditory form which Wernickes area uses to derive its meaning. Reading 1) registered in visual area 2 ) relayed in angular gyrus that transforms words into auditory code 3) received and understood in the nearby Wernickes area $) sent to Brocas area 5) controls motor cortex creating the pronounced word. Minds subsystems are localized in particular brain regions but brain acts as a whole. Brain reorganization: Plasticity Children have higher plasticity because you are born with a surplus of neurons. Divided Brains: Left hemisphere is the interpreter. Language verbal Right visual perception and recognition of emotion