Psychology 2030A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Peripheral Nervous System, Central Nervous System, Abnormal Psychology
Document Summary
2 main parts of the nervous system: central nervous system: brain and spinal cord, peripheral nervous system. Cells found throughout the body and brain that send and receive messages. Tree-like branches that receive messages from the neurons. Tube-like structures that carry messages to the cells. Brain stem (controls fundamental biological functions, e. g. breathing) Medulla, pons, and cerebellum (regulates breathing, heartbeat, motor control, balance) Thalamus (relay station, directs nerve signals that carry sensory data to cortex) Limbic system: amygdala, cingulate gyrus, and hippocampus deals primarily with emotions and impulses, hippocampus memory formation linked with memory deficits. Higher cognitive functioning = reasoning, abstract thought, perception of time, and creativity. Temporal lobe understanding auditory/verbal information, and verbal memory. Parietal lobe integrates sensory information from various sources; visuospatial processing. Occipital lobe center of visual processing. Frontal lobe reasoning, impulse control, judgement, memory, problem solving, and sexual and social behaviour. Corpus callosum allows both hemispheres to communicate.