THE BRAIN AND NERVOUS

SYSTEM
PSYC 1001 | SUMMER 2020| DR. MACURA
NEURONS: THE ORIGIN OF ALL BEHAVIOR

OBJECTIVES
• Explain the function of neurons
• Outline the components of the neuron
• Differentiate the three major types of neurons by their function
NEURONS: THE ORIGIN OF ALL BEHAVIOR

NEURONS
Cells in the nervous system that communicate with one another to perform
• Process
• Take information and produce output
WHAT’S IN A NEURON?

CELL BODY
Coordinates information-processing tasks and keeps the cell alive

DENDRITE

AXON
Transmits information to other neurons, muscles, or glands
WHAT’S IN A NEURON?

MYELIN SHEATH
Provides insulating layer of fatty material around

SYNAPSE
Junction or region between the axon of one neuron and the dendrites or
WHAT’S IN A NEURON?

GOLGI’S METHOD
•
• Discovered by Camillo Golgi, Italian physician, in 1873
SO HOW DO NEURONS COMMUNICATE?
THE SYNAPSE

• The is the junction between the dendrites of one neuron and the
axon or cell body of another.

• There is a small synaptic space between neurons across

NEURONS SPECIALIZED BY FUNCTION

SENSORY NEURONS
Receive information from the external world;

MOTOR NEURONS
Cary signals from spinal cord to muscles to produce movement

INTERNEURONS
Connect sensory neurons,
NEURONS: INFORMATION TRANSMITTERS

ELECTROCHEMICAL ACTIONS OF NEURONS

• : Within neurons
• : From one neuron to another across synapse
NEURONS: ELECTRIC SIGNALING

Difference in electric charge between the inside and outside of a neuron’s cell
membrane

Neurons “fire” or produce a response

ACTION POTENTIAL PROPERTIES

ALL-OR-NONE LAW
The size of the action potential is unaffected by
increases in the intensity of stimulation beyond the

A period during which further stimulation can not

cause another action potential
ACTION POTENTIAL ACROSS NEURON

• Domino effect
• Conduction facilitated by myelin sheath
TRANSMISSION BETWEEN NEURONS

Information is passed between neurons through chemicals called…

NEUROTRANSMITTERS
Chemicals that transmit information across the synapse to a receiving neuron’s
dendrites
• Reuptake
Presynaptic
neuron

Postsynaptic
neuron
TYPES OF NEUROTRANSMITTERS
ACETYLCHOLINE (ACH)
DOPAMINE (DA)

GABA

SEROTONIN (5-HT)
ENDORPHINS
HOW DO NEUROTRANSMITTERS CREATE A
FEELING OF A “RUNNER’S HIGH?”
WHAT ABOUT DRUGS?

Increase, interfere with, or mimic the manufacture or function of

neurotransmitters.

Agonists: Increase action of

Antagonists: Block function of

DRUGS: AN EXAMPLE

PROZAC
• Used to treat
• Clinical depression = reduced levels of
• Blocks reuptake of serotonin from one neuron to the next
• More remains in the synapse longer
•
• Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI)
ORGANIZATION OF NERVOUS SYSTEM

OBJECTIVE
• Differentiate function of the central and peripheral nervous systems
NERVOUS SYSTEM

Central Nervous System (CNS)

• Brain and
• Receives sensory information from external world
•
• Commands skeletal and muscular systems for action
REGIONS OF THE SPINAL CORD

Divided into four main sections

Each controls

Damage higher on the spinal cord usually

means greater
 Brain
(CNS)

NERVOUS SYSTEM Spinal

Nerves
Cord
(PNS)
Peripheral Nervous System (PNS) (CNS)

• Spinal and cranial nerves

• Connects the body’s sensory receptors
to the CNS and
• Contains sets of nerve fibers
• Somatic nervous system
• Autonomic nervous system
NERVOUS SYSTEM

Divisions of the Peripheral Nervous System

• A subdivision of the peripheral nervous system that connects the CNS to the skeletal
muscles and skin
NERVOUS SYSTEM

Divisions of the Peripheral Nervous System

• Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)
•
• connects sensory receptors to the CNS and the CNS to muscles and
glands
NERVOUS SYSTEM

Divisions of the Autonomic Nervous System

• Sympathetic nervous system
•
• Prepares body for action
• Parasympathetic nervous system
•
STRUCTURE OF THE BRAIN

OBJECTIVES
• Differentiate the functions of the major divisions of the brain.
• Describe the main glands of the endocrine system.
• Explain the functions of the cerebral cortex according to organization across
hemispheres, within hemispheres, and within specific lobes.
• Define brain plasticity.
STRUCTURE OF THE BRAIN

Three major divisions of the brain

•
Coordinates information coming into and out of the spinal cord; it also and
controls the basic functions of life
• Midbrain

• Forebrain
Highest level of brain; critical for complex cognitive, emotional, sensory, and
motor functions
HIGH ON A WIRE

High wire artist Freddy Nock relied

on his cerebellum to coordinate the
movements necessary to walk on
the rope of the Corvatsch cable car
from more than 10,000 feet over
sea level down to the base station
in Silvaplana, Switzerland on
January 29, 2011.
SUBCORTICAL STRUCTURES

Thalamus
Receives inputs from major senses (sight, sound, etc)

Set of subcortical structures that directs intentional movements

Hypothalamus
Regulates body temperature,
SUBCORTICAL STRUCTURES: LIMBIC
SYSTEM

Amygdala
plays a central role in many emotional processes, particularly the

Critical for creating new memories and integrating them into a network of
knowledge so that they can be stored indefinitely in other parts of the cerebral
cortex
WHY ARE YOU LIKELY TO REMEMBER
DETAILS OF A TRAUMATIC EVENT?
THE ENDOCRINE SYSTEM

The endocrine system is

• Influence several basic functions, such as metabolism, growth, sexual maturation
Pituitary gland
“Master gland” of the body’s hormone-producing system; it releases hormones
that direct the functions of many other glands in the body
THE CEREBRAL CORTEX

•
• Cortex has four lobes in each
hemisphere
• Three levels of organization
• Across hemispheres
•
• Within specific lobes
THE CEREBRAL CORTEX

Organization level 1: hemispheres

•
• Connected by commissures
• largest is the corpus callosum: a thick band of nerve
fibers that connects large areas of the cerebral cortex on
each side of the brain
THE CEREBRAL CORTEX

Organization level 2: Organization within hemispheres

: Processes visual information
Parietal lobe: Processes information about touch
: Responsible for hearing and language
Frontal lobe: Specialized areas for movement, abstract thinking,
planning, memory, and judgment
SOMATOSENSORY CORTEX

• Strip of brain tissue running from the top of the brain down the sides.
• Represents

Homunculus
a rendering of the body in which each part is shown in proportion to how much
of the somatosensory cortex is devoted to it.
MOTOR CORTEX & PARALYSIS
SCI-FI OR REAL LIFE?
THE CEREBRAL CORTEX

Mirror Neurons
• Found in the frontal and parietal lobes and have been identified in other
species in addition to humans
• Activated when an
BRAIN PLASTICITY

The brain is
Functions that were assigned to certain areas of the brain may be capable of
being reassigned to other areas of the brain to accommodate changing input
from the environment.
• Use it or lose it
• Exercise!
INVESTIGATING THE BRAIN

OBJECTIVE
• Identify the three main ways that researchers study the human brain
STUDYING THE DAMAGED BRAIN

The of the Frontal Lobes

Much research in neuroscience correlates loss of specific functions to

• Wernicke’s area
• Broca’s area
• Phineas Gage and the emotional frontal lobe
THE CASE OF PHINEAS GAGE

• Importance of connections between frontal lobes and the limbic system

• Role in inhibition of emotion
• Phineas Gage was a foreman working on a railroad in Vermont in 1848
• One day there was a little accident…
STUDYING THE DAMAGED BRAIN

The Distinct Roles of the Left and Right Hemispheres

• Split-brain studies
• Two hemispheres perform different
functions and
STUDYING THE DAMAGED BRAIN

• Clip to watch if you would like to know more about the studies.
• Severed Corpus Callosum: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awLy9cflpfs
STUDYING THE BRAIN’S ELECTRICAL
ACTIVITY

Electroencephalograph (EEG)
Device used to record electrical activity in
the brain
BRAIN IMAGING

Functional Brain Imaging

Insights
• See types of information processing that take place in specific area of the
brain
• Confirmation of theories derived over last century
TRANSCRANIAL MAGNETIC STIMULATION

Can (ethically) mimic brain damage

• Temporarily deactivates neurons in the cerebral cortex
•
• Manipulation can provide causal explanations