PSYC 2000 Chapter : Ch 2 The Biological Perspectives Copy
Document Summary
The nervous system: parts of the brain: brain stem, cerebellum, lobes (frontal, temporal, occipital, parietal) sulci or sulcus (creases, gyri or gyrus (bulges, corpus collosum connects the hemispheres. Brain cells: neurons- the basic unit, there may be 100 billion neurons in your brain, each neuron has many connections, but there are many, many glial cells (the 90%, glial cells: comes from the greek word "glue". Help neurons in many ways (facilitate communication, cleaning up, etc. ) Myelin: speeds neurotransmission, insulates neurons from each other, makes neurotransmission more efficient. Neural communication: action potential, a neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon, threshold, the level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse. Synapse: the gap between the axon terminals and the dendrites of another neuron, firing neurons release neurotransmitters that cross the synapse, synaptic vesicles, hold the neurotransmitter, neural firing drives them to the synapse, where they release their chemicals.
