Biopsychology Flashcards
(104 cards)
The nervous system
-Specialised netwrok of cells in the human body and is our primary internal communication system
-Based on electrical and chemical signals
-Average response time is 0.25s but can be as quick as 100milliseconds
Functions: to collect, process and respond to information in the environment
- To coordinte the working of different organs and cells in the body
Divided into 2 subsystems : Central nervous system and Peripheral nervous system
The Central nervous system
-Brain and spinal cord
-Brain is the centre of all conscious awareness.
-The brains outer layer, Cerebral cortex only found in mammals
-Brain is highly developed in humans and distinguished our higher mental functions of other animals.
-Brain divided into 2 hemispheres
-Spinal cord is an extension of the brain that passes messages to and form the brain and connects nerves to the PNS. Also responsible for reflex actions
The peripheral nervous system
-Transmits messages, via millions of neurons (nerve cells) to and from the CNS
-Afferent (sensory) neurons to CNS
-Efferent (Motor) neurons away from CNS
Divided into:
-Automatic nervous system: Governs vital functions in the body such as breathing,heart rate,digestion,sexual arousal and stress responses , involuntary
-Somactic nervous system: Governs muscle movement and recieves infromation from sensory receptors, voluntary, controls skeletal movement
Automatic nervous system
Sympathetic nervous system:Increases bodily activities like Noradrenaline.
-Activates in stress response (gifht or flight) e.g heart rate increase,sweat increase, dilates pupils
Parasympathetic nervous system:Decreases bodily activities . Releases acetylcholine . Activates in rest .e.g heart rate decrease ,sweat decrease
Homeostatis
Regulation of internal environment so balanced between parasympethic and sympathetic systems
Nervous system diagram
The endocrine system parts
Glands and Hormones
Endocrine system and ANS working together: flight or fight
Glands and hormones in the endocrine sytem
-Work alongside nervous system to control vital functions in the body
-Acts more slowly than nervous system but has widespread and powerful effects
-Glands produce hormones e.g Thyroid gland
-Hormones are secreted into bloodstream and affect any cell in the body that has a receptor for that particular hormone
-Most hormones affect cells in more than one body organ leading to many diverese and powefful responses
e.g Thyroid gland produces hormone thyroxine
-This affects cells in the heart (increases heart rate)
-Also affects cells throughout body increasing metabolic rates (the chemical procsesses taking place in the cells)
-This affects growth rates
-Key endocrine gland is the pituitary gland, in brain
-Often called master gland as it controls the release of hormones from other endocrine glands in the body
Main endocrine glands in the body
Endocrine and ANS working together : Fight or flight
Work together during a stressful event
-When a stressor is percieved, the hypothalamus (in brain) activates the pituritary gland and triggers activity in the sympathetic branch of the ANS
-ANS changes from Parasympathetic state (resting) ti the sympathetic state (physiologically aroused)
-Adrenaline is released form the adrenal medulla into the bloodstream
-Adrenaline triggers physiological changes in the body e.g increased heart rate which creates the physiological arousal necessary fr the fight or flight response
-Happens immediately and automatically
-When threat passes, the parasympathetic nervous system returns the body to its resting state.
-PNS works antagonistically to the sympathetic system
-Reduces activities of the body that were increased by actions of the sympathetic branch aka Rest and Digest
Neurons transmit how
Electrically and chemically
3 Types of neurons
Sensory neurons, relay neurons and motor neurons
Types of neurons diagram
The structure of a neuron
-From less than a millimetre to a metre long
-Cell body/soma includes a nucleus which contains the genetic material of the cell
-Branchlike structures called Dendrties protude from the cell body that carry nerve impulses from neighbouring neurons towards the cell body
-Axon carries the impulses away from the cell body down the length of a neuron
-Axon is covered in myelin sheath that protects the axon and speeds up electrical transmission of the impulse
-If myelin shath was continious it would reverse effect and slow down the electrical imlse so it is segmented by gaps called Nodes of Ranvier. They speed up the transmission of the impulse by forcing it to jump across the gaps along the acon
-At the end of the axon are terminal buttons that communicate with the next neuron in the chain across a gap called the synapse
Location of neurons
-Cell bodies of motor neurons may be in the Central Nervous system but axons form part of the Peripheral nervous ststem
-Sensory neurons locates outside of central nervous system, in the Peripheral nervous system in clusters known as Gangla
-Relay neurons make up 97% of most neurons and are found within the brain and visual system
Electrical transmission of neurons
When neuron is in a resting state the inside of the cell is negatively charged compared to the outside
-When a nueron is activated by a stimulus, the inside of the cell becomes positively charged for a split second, causing an action potential to occur
-This creates an electrical impulse that travels own the axon towards the end of a neuron
Neuron
Basic building blocks of the nervous system, nerve cells that process and transmit messages through electrical and chemical signals
Sensory neuron
Carry messages from the PNS to the CNS. They have long dendrites and short axons
Relay neuron
Connect the sensory neuron to the motor or other relay neurons.
Short dendrites and short axons
Motor nueron
Connect the CNS to effectors such as muscles and glands. Short dendrites and long axons
Synaptic transmission parts
Chemical transmissions
Neurotransmitters
Excitation and inhibtiion
Summation
Synaptic transmission : Chemical transmission
Neurons communicate with eachother within groups known as neural networks
-Neurons are sepereated by gaps from the next called synapse
-Signals between neurons are transmitted chemically across the synapse
-When the electrical impulse reaches the endof the neuron (the presynaptic terminal) it triggers the release of neurotransmitter from tiny scas called synaptic vesicles
Chemical transmision diagram
Synaptic transmission: Neurotransmitters
-Neurotransmiters are chemicals that diffuse across the synapse to the next neuron in the chain
-Once a neurotransmitter crosses the gap, it is taken up by a postsynaptic receptor site on the dendrites of the next neuron
-The chemical message is converted back into an alectrical impulse and the process of transmission begins again in this other neuron
-Direction of travel is one way because the neurotransmitters are released from the presynaptic neuron terminal and recieved by the post synaptic neuron (at the receptor sites)
-Several dozen types of neurotransmitter have been identified in the brain as well as the spinal cord and glands
-Each neurotransmitter has its own specific molecular structure that fits perfectly into a postsynaptic receptor site
-They also have specialist functions e.g Acetylcholine (ACh) is found at each point where a motor neuron meets a muscle and upon its release, it will cause muscles to contract