PSYCHOLOGY UNIT 3 CHAPTER 05- The Peripheral Nervous System

Question 0

❓❓❓What are the two main functions of the PNS?

Answer 0

• to carry information TO the CNS from the body’s muscles, organs and glands
• to carry information FROM the CNS to the body’s muscles, organs and glands

Question 1

❓❓❓Define the Peripheral Nervous System

Answer 1

PNS = the entire network of nerves, located outside the Central Nervous System

Question 2

❓❓❓What are the two branches of the PNS?

Answer 2

• the somatic nervous system

- the autonomic nervous system

Question 3

❓❓❓What is the Somatic Nervous System?

Answer 3

• A subdivision of the PNS that carries sensory information TO the CNS and motor information FROM the CNS
• deals with voluntary movements (skeletal muscles)

Question 4

❓❓❓What is the Autonomic Nervous System? What are its subdivisions?

Answer 4

-a subdivision of the PNS that connects the CNS to internal organs and glands, providing feedback about their activities
SUBDIVISIONS = sympathetic, parasympathetic

Question 5

❓❓❓What is ‘biofeedback’?

Answer 5

-A process where a person receives info about the state of an internal bodily activity that normally occurs automatically, and then uses thought processes to exert control over that activity

Question 6

❓❓❓Describe the fight-or-flight response

Answer 6

-An instinctual response that increases the chance of survival in stressful or threatening situations

Question 7

❓❓❓What is the role of the Sympathetic Nervous System and what are some examples of its functions, and why they occur?

Answer 7

-prepares body for stressful and threatening situations

FUNCTIONS

Increased heart rate
-to pump blood faster around the body

Bronchioles of lungs dilate
-to allow more oxygen to enter the lungs

Pupils dilate
-to allow more light to enter the eyes

Breathing rate increases
-to take in more oxygen

Bladder relaxes
-to allow for other, more important functions to occur

Question 8

❓❓❓What is the role of the Autonomic Nervous System and what are some examples of its functions, and why they occur?

Answer 8

-calms the body after stressful or threatening situations

FUNCTIONS

• pupils contract
• bronchioles in lungs contract
• heart rate slows
• breathing rate slows
• bladder increases contractions

all done to restore body to original position