biopsychology

• What is the nervous system?

  • a complex system of nerve cells that carry messages to and from the brain and spinal cord to different parts of the body
• What are the two divisions of the nervous system?

  • CNS & PNS
• What are the two divisions of the central nervous system?

  • brain & spinal cord
• What are the two divisions of the peripheral nervous system?

  • SNS & ANS
• What are the two divisions of the autonomic nervous system?

  • sympathetic branch & parasympathetic branch
• What is the role of the brain?

  • it provides conscious awareness and controls behaviour and regulation of the body's physiological processes by receiving information from sensory receptors
• What is the role of the spinal cord?

  • it is responsible for relaying information between the brain and the rest of the body
• What is the function of the peripheral nervous system?

  • to relay nerve impulses to and from the CNS to the rest of the body
• What is the role of the somatic nervous system?

  • controls voluntary actions such as the reflex arc
  • this is done by receiving information from our senses and carrying sensory and motor information to and from the CNS
• What is the role of the autonomic nervous system?

  • controls involuntary actions such as heart rate
  • this is done by carrying motor information to and from the CNS
• What is the role of the sympathetic branch?

  • primarily involved in helping us deal with emergencies such as the fight or flight response
  • neurons travel to virtually every organ and gland within the body, preparing the body for rapid action
  • it inhibits less critical bodily processes such as urination
• What is the role of the parasympathetic branch?

  • primarily involved in returning the body to a rest state or homeostasis
  • the sympathetic branch returns all bodily processes that are inhibited by the sympathetic branch back to normal
• What are the two main functions of the CNS?

  • to control behaviour
  • to regulate the body's physiological processes
• What are neurons?

  • nerve cells that carry information throughout the body
  • they do this via neurotransmitters
• What are the three types of neurons?

  • sensory
  • relay
  • motor
• What is the structure of a neuron?

  • they typically consist of a cell body, dendrites and an axon
• What is the role of the myelin sheath?

  • it protects the axon and speeds up the electrical transmission of the impulse, and if its damaged, the impulse slows down
• How does information flow through neurons?

  • information flows through neurons as electrical impulses travel from the dendrites to the cell body, then down the axon to the synaptic terminal
  • at the synapse, these impulses trigger the release of neurotransmitters, which cross the gap and bind to receptors on the post-synaptic neuron, converting the chemical signal back into an electrical one to continue the transmission
• What is the function of a sensory neuron?

  • they carry messages from sensory receptors in the PNS to CNS
  • some terminate at the spinal cord to allow reflex arcs
• What is the function of a relay neuron?

  • they carry messages from one part of the CNS to another and allow sensory and motor neurons to communicate with each other
• What is the function of the motor neuron?

  • they carry messages from the CNS to directly or indirectly control muscles