9. Neurons release neurotransmitters to communicate
• Receive information by
capturing neurotransmitters
released in the synaptic cleft
1) Dendrites:
• Integrates information from the
dendrites. Contains the nucleus
and controls hereditary
characteristics
2) The cell body or soma:
• tube-like structure that
transmits information
3) Axon:
10.
11. Fatty
substance acts
as an insulator
Speeds up
conduction
Glial cells
Hold neurons
together
Provide
neuron with
nutrients
Remove
cellular debris
15. Negative resting
state
Potassium and
Sodium ions switch
places which
releases
neurotransmitters at
the synaptic cleft
All or none
principle: If
sufficiently
stimulated, will fire
to its full extent
17. Dived into two categories:
Classical neurotransmitters
Peptide neurotransmitters
Substances that impact NT:
Agonist: enhances effect of NT
Antagonist: inhibits effect of
NT
Action Potential categories:
Excitatory: Acetylcholine,
norepinephrine increase
likelihood of action potential
Inhibitory: GABA, endorphin
decrease likelihood of action
potential
18. Neurotransmitter Function Problems with Excess
or Deficit
Acetylcholine Motor Movement Lack: Alzheimer’s
Dopamine Motor movement and
alertness
Lack: Parkinson’s
Excess: Schizophrenia
Endorphins Pain control Addictions
Serotonin Mood control Lack: Depression
GABA Inhibitory Seizures; Sleep problems
Glutamate Excitatory and memory Migraines; Seizures
Norepinephrine Alertness and arousal Depression
24. Correlates of Serotonin:
Involved with mood disorders
Aggression
Sexual activity
Sleep onset
Pain perception
Possibly schizophrenia
Permissive Hypothesis of Serotonin Functioning
1) Deficiency in serotonin is necessary for a mood
disorder
2) Norepinephrine determines whether mood disorder is
mania (too much NE) or depression (too little NE
26. GABA, Glycine and Glutamate
Gaba:
Majory inhibitory
neurotransmitters in the CNS,
Calming effect
Benzodiazepines are GABA
agonists
Glutamate
Mediator of fast excitatory
synaptic transmission
Abnormal glutamate transmission
is suspected in Schizophrenia
27. Excitatory
Long-term potentiation
Excessive can lead to
seizures and may
contribute to stroke related
brain damage,
huntington’s, Alzheimer’s,
other neurodegenerative
disorders
28. Dozens of them
consisting of long
chains of amino acids
Enkephalins and
Endorphins also known
as endogenous opioids,
regulate stress and pain
31. All behavior results
from activity in the
cells of the nervous
system
Two divisions:
Central nervous
system
Peripheral nervous
system
32.
33. The Somatic Nervous
System
Autonomic Nervous
System
Sympathetic
Parasympathetic
12 Pairs cranial nerves, 31
sets of sensory and
motor nerves
34. Sends and receives
sensory messages that
control voluntary motor
movement of the
skeletal muscles
35. ANS Functions:
Smooth muscles
Digestion
Heart rate
Breathing
Sympathetic:
Mobilizing
Fight or flight
Parasympathetic
Energy
conserving
Decreases
arousal
36. Sympathetic
Arousal and expenditure of
energy
External threat
Fight or flight
Parasympathetic
Conservation of energy
Rest/relaxation
Meditation, hypnosis,
biofeedback
Can work together, not just
in opposition!
37. Spinal cord and
brain
Sensory
neurons carry
info to CNS
Motor neurons
carry info away
from CNS to
muscles and
glands
38. Brain and Spinal Cord
Spinal Cord
Hindbrain or Brain Stem
Midbrain & Thalamus
Forebrain
Cerebral Cortext
Lateralization
Left Hemisphere
Right Hemisphere
Contralateral Control
39. Quadraiplegia: all four
limbs
Paraplegia: paralysis in
legs
Paresis: muscle weakness
40. Bundles of myelinated axons
Damage can impact mobility
Total versus partial severing
Reflexes stay in tact
Still can have erection
42. EEG: Detects brain
waves; sleep research
CAT Scan: View brain
structure, 3-D picture,
sophisticated X-Ray
PET scan: Measures
chemicals (aka) glucose;
functional capacity of
brain
MRI: radio waves to see
structures
fMRI: Cobmines MRI
and PET scan; details of
structure and activity
44. Control center for all
voluntary and most
involuntary behavior
Brain Areas:
Cerebrum
Cerebellum
Brain Stem
Brain Divisions:
Forebrain
Midbrain
Hindbrain
47. Second largest structure
Coordinates habitual muscle
movements
Tracking target with eyes
Playing saxophone
Excitatory inputs for
maintaining smooth
movement and coordinating
motor activity
Ataxia: lack of coordination
49. Pons:
• Sleep
• Respiration
• Movement
• Cardiovascular activity
• Facial expressions
Medulla
• Blood pressure
• Heart rate
• Breathing
Damage to medulla & Pons
• Failure can lead to death and loss of
bodily functions
50. Smallest region of the brain
Relay station for auditory and visual
information.
The Functions:
• Visual and auditory systems
• eye movement.
Parts of Midbrain
• Red nucleus: Control of body movement
• Superior and Inferior Coliculus
• Motor nucleus
• Substantia nigra:
• Control of body movement.
• Large number of dopamine-producing neurons
• The degeneration of neurons in the substantia nigra is
associated with Parkinson’s disease.
52. Extends from spinal cord through hypothalamus to forebrain
Awareness, attention and sleep
Part of reticular formation that projects to the thalamus, Reticular
activating system involved in sleep-wake cycle, wake you up
Damage: disrupt sleep, permanentn coma-like sleep
Anesthetics deactivate the neurons
55. Our primitive brain
Within the cerebrum,
system of various
structures in forebrain
Emotions
Basic drives
Learning
Influence autonomic
nervous system and
endocrine system
56. Sensory relay center
Sensory signals come from up the spinal cord and are
sent to appropriate areas in rest of forebrain
57. Wernicke-Korsakoff
Syndrome
• Thiamine deficiency
• Atrophy of neurons
• Result of chronic alcoholism
• Begins with Wernicke’s
encephalopathy: mental
confusion, abnormal eye
movements, ataxia
Korsakoff’s Syndrome
• Severe anterograde,
retrograde amnesia
• Confabulation
62. Adrenal glands
• Produce adrenaline:
prepares body for
fight/flight
Ovaries and Testes
• Produce sex
hormones
• Estrogen for women
• Testoterone for men
63.
64. Regulation and coordination
of movement
The Basal Ganglia are
inhibitory, and put brakes on
movement
Basil Ganglia
Problems:
Huntington’s:
• Degeneration of
caudate nucleus
& putamen
• Unwanted
thrusting
movements
Parkinson’s:
• Loss of
dopaminergic
neurons in
Substantia Nigra
• Tremor, rigidity,
bradykinesia
65. Gives emotional significance
to sensory input
Amygdala/Aggression
Kluver-Bucy syndrome if
destroyed
74. Outside surface of
brain, Folds (gyri)
Two hemispheres
connected by the
corpus callosum
(thick band of fibers)
Four lobes separated
by grooves (sulci)
75. Left controls right, right controls left side of body
Important distinctions of respective functions
76. Contralateral
representation
Left controls right, right
controls left
Except olfactory
Brain lateralization
95-99% of right handed
people are left brained
50-60% of left handed are
left brained
Hempisphereic
specialization
84. Top front of brain
3 main areas
Prefrontal cortex
Personality
Planning
Inhibition
Premotor area
Planning movement
Motor area
Instigate voluntary
movement
Damage:
Loss movement
Personality, attention,
thinking problems
Inability to express
language (Broca’s aphasia)
85. Primary motor cortex
Precise control
Supplementary motor
area
Planning and controlling
movement
Premotor cortex
Primary motor control
Broca’s: left frontal lobe
90. Somatosensory
Information
Sensory cortex: top
receives sensations
from bottom of
body and
progresses down
Gerstmann’s
syndrome
Right
Parietal
Lesions
Contralateral
neglect
Left
Parietal
Lesions
Ideational
apraxia
Ideomotor
apraxia
Gerstmann’s
syndrome
95. Primary visual cortex, sight,
reading and visual images
Visual cortex
Visual Agnosia
Hallucinations, cortical
blindness
Prosopagnosia
Inability to recognize familiar
faces
Simultanagnosia
Can’t see more than one thing
or aspect of object at a time