Biological Psych & Science Inquiry

• The nervous system is composed of:

  CNS and PNS
• The brain receives information from body sense organs and sends information to the body sense organs
• Five senses includes: eyes, nose, ears, skin, nose and tongue
• Central nervous system is composed of the brain and the spinal cord
• CNS controls the body by processing and responding to sensory input from PNS
• Peripheral nervous system (PNS) consists of all nerves outside CNS
• Autonomic Nervous System regulates involuntary actions such as heart rate, breathing, digestion, etc.
• Somatic Nervous System controls voluntary movements like walking or writing
• Spinal cord starts at the base of the brain and is connected to the brain stem
• Enables brain communication with the rest of body and conveys message to the PNS
• Somatic are composed of two nerves:

  motor and sensory
• Autonomic is composed of:

  Symphatetic and Parasymphatetic
• Somatic are responsible for voluntary movement of skeletal muscles and communicates sensory information to the CNS
• Sensory information that is carried to the CNS id carried by sensory neuron
• Parasympathetic division slows down activity of organs while sympathetic speeds up activity
• The autonomic nervous system controls involuntary actions such as heart rate, digestion, breathing, etc.
• Motor neurons carry motor commands from the CNS to effectors (muscles or glands)
• The somatic nervous system controls voluntary movements like walking or writing
• Sympathetic controls the fight or flight response, preparing the body for action
• Parasympathetic controls the rest and digest response.
• Features of neuron contains, dendrites, axon, axon terminals, myelin sheaths and soma
• Synapses are gaps between two neurons where neurotransmitters are released into the synaptic cleft
• Neuronal communication is through electrical impulses called action potentials that travel down the axon
• Neurotransmitter is a chemical that carries signals across the synapse
• Receptors are proteins on the postsynaptic membrane that bind with specific neurotransmitters
• The brain has three main parts - cerebrum (thinking), cerebellum (balance) and medulla oblongata (breathing)
• Cerebral cortex is responsible for higher cognitive functions such as language, memory, perception, attention, problem solving, decision making, creativity, and consciousness
• Three types of neuron are sensory, motor and interneurons.
• the function of sensory neuron are to detect stimuli and send the information to the CNS
• the function of motor neuron is to carry motor messages from the CNS to the muscles, glands and organs of the body
• interneurons connect sensory and motor neurons within the CNS
• Dendrites are the branching extensions of neurons that receive information from other neurons.
• Soma contains nucleus that controls activities of a neuron
• axon: the long threadlike part of a nerve cell along which impulses are conducted from the cell body to other cells.
• axon terminals are the end of the axon that is covered in a myelin sheath
• myelin sheaths are fatty covering around axons that insulate axons and speed up impulses
• pre synaptic neuron is the neuron that releases neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft
• post synaptic neuron: neuron that receives the signal from the presynaptic neuron
• The brains consists of forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain
• hindbrain coordinates the sensory and motor messages from the brain to the spinal cord, responsible for balance and coordination