Calaunan, Rachel D.

Personhood Development
BEED-IV

CHAPTER 3: BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF PERSONALITY

Behavior – depends on the integration of nervous processes within the body.
BASIC UNITS OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
BRAIN – composed of some 10 to 20 billion specialized nerve cells called NEURONS.
NEURONS – form the basic units of the nervous system.
- responsible for the transmission of impulses.
SYNAPSE – junction between the axon of one neuron.
AFFERENT NEURONS –carry messages from the sense receptors to the brain and spinal
cord.
EFFERENT NEURONS –transmit signals from the brain and spinal cord to the effector
organs, the muscles and glands.
NERVES – grouped axon fibers.
GANGLIA – grouped nerve cell bodies.

ORGANIZATION OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

TWO MAIN DIVISIONS
1. Central Nervous System - includes all the nerves in the brain and the spinal cord.
2. Peripheral Nervous System – all the nerves leading from the brain and spinal cord to
the other parts of the body.
Subdivisions of Peripheral Nervous System
1. Somatic System- the nerves carry messages to the central nervous system from the
sense receptors, muscles and body surface.
- they make us aware of pain, pressure and temperature variations.
- also carry impulses from the central nervous system back to the body
parts where they initiate the action.
- they control the muscles we use in posture and balance.
2. Autonomic System- the nerves run to and from the internal organs, regulating such
processes as respiration, heart rate and digestion.
- plays a major role in emotion.
Three Neuron Arc (Afferent Neurons, Efferent Neurons and Interneurons) – carry out
the simple reflexes within the spinal cord.

THREE STRUCTURES OF THE BRAIN

1. Central Core
 Medulla – responsible for respiration and postural reflexes
 Cerebellum – concerned with motor coordination
 Thalamus – relay station for incoming sensory information
 Hypothalamus – important in emotion and in maintaining homeostasis.
 Reticular system – controls the organism’s state of arousal.
2. Limbic System
 Controls some of the “instinctive” activities which are regulated by the
hypothalamus.
 Also plays an important role in emotion and memory.
3. Cerebrum
 Divided into two cerebral hemispheres.
 Highly developed in human beings than in any other organism.
 Cerebral Cortex – thick layer of nerve cell bodies.
- controls discrimination, choice, learning and thinking (higher mental
processes)

How is the brain said to be divided?

Corpus Callosum – nerve fibers that connect the two cerebral hemispheres.

TWO CEREBRAL HEMISPHERES

1. Left Hemisphere – major, almost always larger than the right hemisphere, skilled in use
of language.
2. Right Hemisphere – minor, specialized for mental imagery and the understanding of
spatial relationships.

Paul Broca - anthropologist who examined the brain of a patient with speech loss and
found damage in an area of the left hemisphere (Broca’s Area)
Broca’s Area –Involved in the production of speech sounds.

How can unique thought patterns in sexual variations between boys and girls be
described?

Dr. Frank Duffy (Boston’s Children’s Hospital) – discovered sexual variations in the
brains of apes, monkeys, birds, rats and chicken.
 recorded the brain activity of boys and girls still in the womb and found
that even there they were on two different wavelengths.
Between the 18th and 26th week of pregnancy, something happens that forever separates
the sexes.
Using heat-sensitive color monitors, researchers have actually observed a chemical bath of
testosterone and other sex-related hormones wash over a baby boy’s brain. This cause
change that never happen to the brain of a baby girl.

Does this mean that men are basically brain damaged?

NOT EXACTLY. What occurs in the womb merely sets the stage for men and women to
“specialize” in two different ways of thinking.

Left brain – houses more of the logical, analytical, factual and aggressive centers of
thought.
 it is the side of the brain most men reserve for the majority of their waking
hours.
Right brain – most women spend the majority of their days and night camped out on the
right side of the brain.
 it is the side that harbors the center for feelings, as well as the primary
relational, language, and communication skills.

Divisions of the Autonomic Nervous System

1. Sympathetic Division – usually involved in excited action.
2. Parasympathetic Division – during quiescent states.
Importance of Endocrine Glands

Endocrine Glands – Ductless glands, important regulators of our behavior.

Pituitary – at the base of the brain is thought to exert a regulatory control over the
adrenals, thyroid and gonads.
-comes the “growth hormone”, (ACTH)
Glantism – Oversecretion of the hormone.
Dwarfism – undersecretion of the hormone.

Adrenal Glands – lying above or near the kidneys.

Two physical parts
1. Medulla – secretes adrenaline
2. Adrenal cortex –relates to salt and carbohydrate metabolism.
Norepinephrine – tends to slow down the very activity stimulated by the adrenaline.

Thyroid – at the trachea just below the larynx secretes thyroxin.

Thyroxin – helps to regulate the basal metabolic rate.
Undersecretion of thyroxin – person becomes lazy and easily tired, often gains excessive
weight.
Excessive secretion of thyroxin – causes elevation of metabolism, resulting in
overactivity, excitability, and sometimes loss of weight.
Goiter – enlargement of the thyroid gland.

Gonads – testes in the male and ovaries in the female.

Androgen – male hormone, voice change and skin problems.
Estrogen – female hormone
Both are related to the development of secondary sex characteristics, such as hair around
the organs.
Progesterone- female hormone, secreted by the ovary and placenta during pregnancy
helps to keep the uterus in a relatively quiet state during the development of the fetus.

Pancreas – secretes hormone insulin.

 When the blood sugar rises above a certain level, insulin causes the liver to absorb
and store the excess amount. When the blood sugar level drops, the liver releases
more blood sugar in the form of glucose.
 If insufficient insulin is produced by the pancreas, blood sugar escapes through the
kidneys instead of being stored in the liver. (Diabetes)