Psychology 1000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Central Nervous System, Spinal Cord, Somatic Nervous System

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 1000
• Professor: Lynda Hutchinson

Document Summary

Gather and process information, produce responses to stimuli, and coordinate the workings of different cells. Contains billions of cells two main parts: Central nervous system (cns): brain and spinal cord. These operation centers send out messages to muscles, glands, organs. Peripheral nervous system (pns): areas outside of the brain and spinal cord. handles input and output from the cns. Spinal cord is a bridge between the brain and parts of the body below the neck. Spinal nerves protected by the spinal column. Enables spinal reflexes (automatic, require no conscious effort) Made up of two components: the brain, and the spinal cord, which is an extension of the brain. Stores income sensory information about tastes, smell, colour, pressure on the skin, and that state of internal organs. Nerve impulses bring message to the spinal cord. When touching something hot, your spinal cord sends out a command via the other nerves, telling your muscles to pull away from the heat.