PSY 102 Chapter Notes - Chapter 12: Resting Potential, The Fluid, Myelin
27 Apr 2016
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Document Summary
In the most basic sense, every idea, mood, memory, and behaviour that one experiences is a biological phenomenon. The theory that linked our mental abilities to bumps on the skull was phrenology. Researchers who study the links between biology and behaviour are working from the biological perspective. Our body"s neural system is built from billions of nerve cells, or neurons. Neurons: basic building blocks of the nervous system. Neural impulses, or action potential, is a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon. The fluid interior of an axon carries mostly negatively charged ions, while the fluid outside has mostly positively charged ions. This polarization, called the resting potential, occurs because the cell membrane is selectively permeable. An action potential occurs when the first part of the axon opens its gates and positively charged ions rush in, causing that part of the neuron to become depolarized.
