divisions of the nervous system

• central nervous system- brain and spinal cord
• peripheral nervous system- somatic, autonomic
• autonomic- fight or flight, sympathetic, adrenaline,
• Parasympathetic- rest and digest
• central nervous system- provides complex processing
• cns- brain spinal chord
• spinal cord- recieves and transmits information, some reflex processing
• brain- all conscious and unconscious processing
• peripheral NS- body wide network of messenger neurons, sensory neurons to CNS, and motor neurons away from CNS
• Somatic nervous system- controls skeletal muscles (movement), voluntary system (under conscious control)
• autonomic nervous system- controls actions of internal organs and glands, involuntary system (not under conscious control)
• sympathetic nervous system- increases bodily activities, releases noradrenaline, activates in stress response (fight or flight), heart rate increase, sweat increase, breathing rate increase, inhibits digestion, dilates pupils
• parasympathetic- rest and digest, release of acetylcholine, decreases bodily activities
• homeostasis- regulation of internal environment, in normal conditions there is a balance between sympathetic and parasympathetic systems, this is called maintaining homeostasis
• brain- responsible for perception, motor control, regulating bodily processes and maintaining homeostasis, sleep
• Spinal cord- connects with brain in peripheral nervous system, connects brain with the rest of the body and with the external world, the spinal cord is also responsible for some unconscious movements such as reflexes
• peripheral nervous system- goes beyond the central nervous system to connect it to the rest of the body and the external world. it consists of 2 parts- the somatic nervous system, and the autonomic nervous system.
• somatic- responsible for voluntary movement, transmits information between the central nervous system and the senses and is under conscious control.
• autonomic- responsible for transmitting information between the central nervous system and the internal organs, unlike somatic, it is involuntary and under conscious control.
• The functions of the autonomic nervous system can be divided into two categories: sympathetic and parasympathetic, which oppose each other. For example:

  Organ

  Sympathetic

  Parasympathetic

  Heart

  Increase heart rate

  Decrease heart rate

  Digestive system

  Decrease stomach acid and digestion

  Increase stomach acid and digestion

  Eyes (iris)

  Dilate pupils

  Constrict pupils

  Lungs

  Dilate bronchioles

  Constrict bronchioles
• outer layer of brain- cerebral cortex
• cerebral cortex- highly developed in humans, distinguishes us from other animals
• spinal cord- transport messages to and from peripheral ns, responsible for reflexes
• peripheral ns- made up of autonomic and somatic ns
• encocrine system works alongside nervous system to control vital functions in the body
• endocrine system is responsible for instructing various glands to release hormones into the blood eg adrenal gland- adrenaline, thyroid- thyroxine, testicles- testosterone, ovaries- oestrogen, pineal gland- melatonin
• hormones affect any cells throughout the body that have receptors for that particular hormones
• nervous system uses electrical impulses
• biopsychologists assume that behaviour and experiences are caused by activity in the nervous system
• functions of the nervous system- a specialised network of cells in the body and is our primary internal communication system. functions- to collect process and respond to info from environment, and to coordinate the working of different organs and cells
• the central nervous system passes messages to and from the brain and connects nerves to the peripheral nervous sytem.
• somatic nervous system- this is the part of the PNS responsible for carrying sensory and motor information to and from the spinal cord