Neuroscience Neurons and the Brain 9 17 The nervous system is divided into the brain and the spine Divided into the somatic and the autosomatic The sympathetic nervous system ght or ight The parasympathetic nervous system There are many types of neurons Motor neurons muscles Sensory neurons sensory info from the outside world Interneurons sending signals back and forth Dendrites are the listeners they receive signals Axons are the talkers they send signals During development myelin forms around the axons allows signals to move quickly down the axon if myelin is destroyed it causes problems such as multiple schlorosis Synapses Gaps Neuro transmitters Neurons have two states At rest Firing does not happen in light speed There is also a refractory period it takes them a little while to re again Synaptic Transmission How do electrical signals cross the synapse Neurons communicate with each other using neurotransmitters Serotonin neurons that are serotonin responding involved in mood depression sleep appetite perception temperature regulation prozac is a selective serotonin reactive inhibitor Dopamine voluntary movement an arousal neuro transmitter not necessarily sexual an oversupply shows schizophrenia an undersupply shows Parkinson s disease drugs for either disease affect the dopamine neuro transmitter Acetylcholine when muscle cells contract acetylcholine is involved drugs that block this can result in paralysis also involved in longterm memory formation Alzheimer s disease is affected by levels of acetylcholine Norepinephrine heart rate mood learning memory function An undersupply has been linked to depression GABA an undersupply is associated with seizures tremors insomnia Glutamate memory the retina of your eye perception of pain and oversupply overstimulates the brain and can result in seizures or migranes Endorphins painkillers we have receptors that respond to opiates The Hindbrain Medulla Breathing heartrate swallowing coughing sneezing Once in a while a baby will be born without a forebrain they are missing all the components of thinking essential to life damage death Pons Involved with sleeping an dreaming sleep paralysis the part that shuts down your body so you don t move very much while you sleep Integrates movement and sensation in your face Cerebellum Involved in balance and coordinated muscle movement alcohol affects the cerebellum fail eld sobriety tests bc alcohol is going through the cerebellum Playing piano cerebellum The Midbrain Reticular activating system Sensory information The Forebrain The cost is child birth we are born earlier Sensory function directs information to the appropriate areas in the cortex Allows us tool use thinking speaking Thalamus Hypothalamus Biological urges hunger thirst temperature regulation sex may or may not be involved in sexuality Fighting eeing feeding mating Limbic System Amygdala evaluates sensory information fight or flight anxiety and depression Hippocampus memory function involved in switching incoming info into long term memory alcohol can damage this part especially through binge drinking Corpus Callosum Thick band of tissue that connects the two halves of the brain allows the halves to act quickly in unison Basal Ganglia Regulates smooth muscle movement if you have a problem Parkinson s disease Huntington s disease fatal born with it dont see symptoms until mid adulthood Cerebrum Cerebral cortex involved in higher functioning Cerebral Cortex Projection primary areas Involved in relatively small Sensory projection areas Involved in sensations where all the different sensory data is going relatively small Motor projection areas Coordinating movements relatively small Cerebral Cortex Association areas nonprimary areas Thinking reasoning problem solving making connections Apraxia Disorders of coordinated movement cannot cut up food and eat it cannot dress yourself Agnosia Disorders linked to sensory information very specific can see hear but cannot interpret information couldn t recognize people Aphasia Disorders of language need it to transmits our thoughts to other people use our language based thoughts to guide us Types of aphasia Aphasia Expressive aphasia nonfluent Broca s area working with patients patient had a horrible lesion all he said was Tan couldn t express himself his expressive language became nonfluent have trouble talking some can talk a little but speech is slow sometimes it messes up the ability to write as well Receptive aphasia fluent Wernicke s area can talk fluently but you don t understand what others are saying not responsive Lateralization Lateralization Hemispheric specialization Do we really have two brains Have more of a mirror of each other if you have damage to one side its possible for the other half of the brain to pick up the skill Right handers Left handers Tend to be more bilateral Issues in the study of the brain Gender differences Generally not that different the brains lights up differently women tend to be more bilateral men tend to be better at spacial tasks women use non spacial strategies to describe places directions if men and women were timed there would be a difference not timed no difference Ethics in research
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