Psychology Biopsychology

The Nervous System

- The nervous system is a specialised network of cells & the primary
communication system
- It has two main functions:
1. To collect, process & respond to info in the environment
2. To co-ordinate the working of different organs & cells in the body
- It’s divided into the central nervous system & the peripheral nervous system
- The structure & function of the Central Nervous System (CNS):
o Made up of the brain & spinal cord
o Brain is the centre of all conscious awareness
o The outer layer of the brain, the cerebral cortex, is highly developed in
humans & is what distinguishes our higher mental functions from those
of animals
o The spinal cord is an extension of the brain & is responsible for reflex
actions – passes messages to & from the brain & connects nerves to the
PNS
- The structure & function of the Peripheral Nervous System (PNS):
o Transmits messages, via millions of neurons, to & from the nervous
system
o Further sub-divided into the autonomic nervous system (ANS) & the
somatic nervous system (SNS)
 ANS governs vital functions in the body like breathing, heart rate,
digestion, sexual arousal & stress responses
 SNS controls muscle movement & receives info from sensory
receptors
Human Nervous
System

Peripheral Central Nervous

Nervous System System

Autonomic Somatic Nervous Brain Spinal Cord

Nervous System System

Sympathetic Parasympathetic
Nervous System Nervous System

The Endocrine System

- Works alongside the nervous system to control vital functions in the body
through the action of hormones – works much more slowly than the nervous
system but has widespread & powerful effects
- Glands are organs in the body that produce hormones
o the major endocrine gland is the pituitary gland, located in the brain – it’s
called the ‘master gland’ because it controls the release of hormones
from all the other endocrine glands in the body
- Hormones are secreted in the bloodstream & affect any cell in the body that has
a receptor for that particular hormone
 o e.g., thyroxine produced in the thyroid gland affects cells in the heart &
cells throughout the body which increase metabolic rates (this in turn
affects growth rates)
- Often, the endocrine system & the ANS work together, for instance, during a
stressful event
o when a stressor is perceived, the hypothalamus triggers activity in the
sympathetic branch of the ANS – the ANS changes from its normal
resting state (the parasympathetic state) to the physiologically aroused
sympathetic stage
o the stress hormone adrenaline is released from the adrenal medulla
(inner part of the adrenal gland) into the bloodstream
o adrenaline triggers physiological changes in target organs in the body &
causes, e.g. increased heart rate, dilation of pupils, decreased saliva
production – this is called the fight or flight response
o once the threat has passed, the parasympathetic nervous system returns
the body to its resting state – this acts as a ‘brake’ & reduces the
activities of the body that were increased by the actions of the
sympathetic branch (sometimes referred to as the ‘rest & digest’
response)
Sympathetic State Parasympathetic State
Increases heart rate Decreases heart rate
Increases breathing rate Decreases breathing rate
Dilates pupils Constricts pupils
Inhibits digestion Stimulates digestion
Inhibits saliva production Stimulates saliva production
Contracts rectum Relaxes rectum

Neurons
Structure & Function of Neurons
- There are 100 billion nerve cells (neurons) in the human nervous system, 80% are
located in the brain
- By transmitting signals electrically & chemically, they provide the nervous system
with its primary means of communication
- There are 3 types of neurons:
1. motor neurons = connect the CNS to effectors likes muscles & glands –
have short dendrites & long axons
2. sensory neurons = carry messages from the PNS to the CNS – have long
dendrites & short axons
3. relay neurons = connect sensory neurons to motor or other relay
neurons – have short dendrites & short axons
- Neurons vary in size but all share the same basic structure:
o cell body (or soma) – includes a nucleus which contains the genetic
material of the cell
o dendrites – branch-like structures that protrude from the cell body –
carry nerve impulses from neighbouring neurons towards the cell body
 o axon – carry the electrical impulses away from the cell body down the
length of the neuron
 covered in a fatty layer of myelin sheath that protects the axon
 gaps in the axon called nodes of Ranvier speed up the
transmission of the impulse
o terminal buttons at the end of the axon communicate with the next
neuron in the chain across a gap called the synapse

- Electric Transmission (firing of a neuron)

o when a neuron is in a resting state, the inside of the cell is negatively
charged compared to the outside
o When a neuron is activated, the inside of the cell becomes positively
charged for a split second causing an action potential
o This creates an electrical impulse that travels down the axon towards the
end of the neuron

Synaptic Transmission
- Each neuron is separated from the next by a gap called the synapse
- Chemical transmission (events occurring at the synapse)
o Signals within the neurons are transmitted electrically; however, signals
between neurons are transmitted chemically across the synapse
o When the electrical impulse reaches the end of the neuron (presynaptic
terminal) it triggers the release of neurotransmitter from tiny sacs called
synaptic vesicles
o Once the neurotransmitter crosses the gap, it’s taken up by the
postsynaptic receptor site on the next neuron
o The chemical message is converted back into an electrical impulse & the
process of electric transmission begins
 - Neurotransmitters are chemicals that diffuse across the synapse to the next
neuron in the chain – several dozen neurotransmitters have been identified &
each has its own specific molecular structure that fits perfectly into a post-
synaptic receptor site (like a lock & key)
- Each neurotransmitter has a specific function, for example:
o Acetylcholine (ACh) found where a motor neuron meets a muscle, causes
muscles to contract
o Serotonin affects mood & social behaviour (among other things) which is
why it’s been implicated as a cause of depression
- Neurotransmitters generally have either an excitatory or inhibitory effect on the
neighbouring neuron
o Adrenaline – generally excitatory, increasing the positive charge of the
postsynaptic neuron, making it more likely the neuron will fire
o Serotonin – generally inhibitory, increasing the negative charge of the
postsynaptic neuron, making it less likely the neuron will fire
o Dopamine – is an unusual neurotransmitter as it’s equally likely to have
excitatory or inhibitory effect on the next neuron in the chain
- Excitatory & inhibitory influences are summed & must reach a certain threshold
in order for the action potential of the postsynaptic neuron to be triggered – if
the net effect of the neurotransmitter is inhibitory then the postsynaptic neuron
is less likely to fire, if it’s excitatory, it’s more likely to fire

Localisation of Function in the Brain

- 19th century scientists supported the holistic theory that all parts of the brain
were involved in processing thought and action – but specific areas were later
linked with specific physical and psychological functions (localisation theory)
- If an area of the brain is damaged through illness/injury the function associated
with that area is also affected
- The brain is divided into the left and right hemispheres
- Lateralisation = some physical and psychological functions are controlled by a
particular hemisphere – generally, the left side of the body is controlled by the
right hemisphere and the right side of the body by the left hemisphere
- the outer layer of the brain is called the cerebral cortex and it covers the inner
parts of the brain – it’s about 3 mm thick and is what separates us from lower
animals as it’s highly developed
- the cortex appears grey due to the location of cell bodies – hence ‘grey matter’

Area Lobe Function Damage

Motor Frontal Voluntary movement Loss of control over fine motor
movements
Cortex of Somatosensory Parietal Sensory info from the Somatosensory area loses sensitivity
both HSP is skin (touch, heat, etc)
divided into Visual Occipital Visual info from the Damage to the left HSP can produce
four lobes eyes blindness in the right visual field
Auditory Temporal Speech-based info Partial hearing loss – more extensive
 damage = more extensive loss

- Broca’s Area = Speech production

o Identified by Broca in the 1880s, in the left frontal lobe
o Damage to the area cases Broca’s aphasia which is slow, laborious
speech lacking in fluency
o Broca’s patients may have difficult findings words/ naming certain objects
– difficulty with prepositions & conjunctions (e.g. ‘a’, ‘the’, ‘and’)
- Wernicke’s Area = Language comprehension
o Identified by Wernicke in the 1880s, in the back of the temporal lobe
o Patients produce language but have problems understanding it, produce
fluent but meaningless speech
o Patients with Wernicke’s aphasia will often product nonsense words
(neologisms)

- Strength of localisation theory is brain scan evidence = Petersen et al (1988)

used brain scans to show rain activity in Wernicke’s area during listening task &
in Broca’s area during reading task – long-term memory study by Tulving et al
(1994) revealed semantic & episodic memories are located in different parts of
the frontal cortex; sophisticated & objective method for measuring brain activity
- Strength is case study support = Phineas Gage received serious brain damage in
an accident - survived but brain damage affected his personality (went from calm
& reserved to quick-tempered, rude, ‘no longer Gage’); change in temperament
suggests frontal lobe may be responsible for regulating mood
- Limitation is existence of contradictory research = Lashley (1950) suggests
higher cognitive functions (e.g. learning processes) aren’t localised but
distributed in a more holistic way in the brain – Lashley removed 10% and 50%
of the cortex in rats and no area was more important than others in terms of
their abilities to learn the maze; learning requiring every part of the cortex
rather than particular areas suggests learning is too complex to be localised
- Limitation is neural plasticity challenges the localisation theory = when the brain
has been damaged & a function has been compromised/lost the rest of the brain
is able to reorganise itself to recover the function – Lashley called is the law of
equipotentiality; there’s several case studies of stroke victims recovering
seemingly lost abilities as a result of the illness

Law of Equipotentiality
Other areas of the brain ‘chip
in’ so the same neurological
action can be achieved
Plasticity and Functional Recovery of the Brain
Brain Plasticity
- During infancy, the brain experiences a rapid growth in synaptic connections
(peaking at about 15,000 at 2-3yo) according to Gopnik et al 1999
- As we age, rarely used connections are deleted and frequently used
connections are strengthened – synaptic pruning
- It was thought changes were limited to childhood but research suggests changes
can happen at any point due to learning & experience
- Maguire et al (2000) found more volume of grey matter in the posterior
hippocampus in London taxi drivers than in a matched control group (this area of
the brain is linked to the development of spatial and navigational skills)
o The longer they had been in the job, the more pronounced was the
structural difference)
- Graganski et al (2006) imaged brains of medical students three months before
and after final exams – learning-induced changes were seen in the posterior
hippocampus and the parietal cortex (presumable as a result of the exam)

Functional recovery of the brain

- Functional recovery of the brain after trauma is an important example of neural
plasticity – healthy brain areas take over damaged area functions (+ destroyed
or missing)
- Neuroscientists suggest this occurs quickly after trauma (spontaneous recovery)
and then slows down – at which point the person may require rehabilitative
therapy
- The brain can rewire/ reorganise itself by forming new synaptic connections
close to the area of damage
- Secondary neural pathways that wouldn’t typically be used are
activated/unmasked to enable the functions
- Further structural changes may include:
o Axonal sprouting – growth of new nerve endings which connect with
other undamaged cells to form new neuronal pathways
o Reformation of blood vessels
o Recruitment of homologous (similar) areas on the opposite side of the
brain to perform specific tasks

- Strength of neural plasticity is support from animal studies = Hubel and Wiesel
(1963) sewed a kitten’s eye shut and analysed the brain’s cortical responses –
the area of the visual cortex associated with the shut eye was not idle but
continued to process of info from the eye; demonstrates how loss of function
leads to compensatory activity in the brain
- Limitation is potential negative consequences = the brain’s ability to rewire itself
can have maladaptive behavioural consequences e.g. prolonged drug use can
result in worse cognitive functioning & increase dementia risk (Medina et al
2007) – 60-80% amputees develop phantom limb syndrome (continued
sensations in the missing limb – as if it were still there), thought to be the
 reorganisation in the somatosensory cortex (Ramachandran & Hirstein 1998);
such evidence suggests the structural and physical processes involved in recovery
may not be beneficial
- Limitation is relationship between age and plasticity is complex = functional
plasticity tends to reduce with age – the brain has a greater tendency for
reorganisation in childhood (as it adapts to new experiences & learning) –
Benzzola et al (2012) demonstrated that golf training between 40-60 yo
produced changes in the neural representation of movement; shows that neural
plasticity does continue throughout our lifespan