NEUROBIOLOGICAL BASIS OF PSYCHOLOGY

RIGHT BRAIN OR LEFT BRAIN?

Responds to verbal instructions

Logical and sequential thinking

Planned and structured

Thinks first before they act

Prefers talking and writing

Controls feelings

Good with sports and art

Dreamer, philosophical

Sees the big picture Fluid and

spontaneous Free with feelings Responds with

demonstrations and hunches

THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

The Neuron Nerve cell =

cell body(soma) + axons + dendrites

Neurons receive, conduct, & transmit electrochemical signals.

TYPES OF NEURONS

Sensory or Afferent Neuron Impulses > Brain Touch, pain, pressure, thermal senses

Motor or Efferent Neuron Brain neural impulses > Peripheral Organs

(muscles, glands, etc.) Writing, walking, playing an instrument,

picking an object

NEUROTRANSMITTERS

Acetylcholine Norepinephrine Dopamine Serotonin GABA (Gamma Aminobutyric Acid)

SYNAPTIC TRANSMISSION

DIVISONS OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM

The Spinal Cord Main pathway of

sensory or afferent impulses to the brain and motor or efferent impulses from the brain

THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM

The Brain

PARTS OF THE BRAIN

Cerebellum Somatic and motor

activity speech

Thalamus Relay station of

sensory impulses Sleep and wakefulness

Hypothalamus Stress, fight or flight

PARTS OF THE BRAIN

The Limbic System Hippocampus

memory Amygdala

Appetite, sex, aggression

Hypothalamus Example

PARTS OF THE BRAIN

Cerebrum Cerebral Cortex Gyrus Corpus

Callosum 4 lobes

Temporal Parietal Occipital Frontal

FUNCTIONS OF CORTICAL AREAS

Motor area Somatosensory

area Somesthetic

Area Primary Visual

Area Primary Auditory

Area Association Area

THE ENDOCRINE SYSTEM

THE ENDOCRINE SYSTEM

Pituitary gland Thyroid gland Adrenal Glands Pancrease (Islets of Langerhans) Testes Ovaries Connected to the hypothalamus

GENES AND BEHAVIOR

46 chromosomes 23 pairs from father 23 pairs from mother XX female XY male

Turner’s Syndrome Klinefelter’s Syndrome