PSYCH 2010 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Peripheral Nervous System, Midbrain
Document Summary
General areas: forebrain, midbrain, hindbrain, reticular formation, cerebellum, locus coeruleus, medulla, spinal cord. Involved in simple reflexes that bypass brain: peripheral nervous system, somatic nervous system. Sends sensory information to central nervous system for processing. Sends messages from cns to muscles to direct motion. Somatic comes from the latin word soma. Controls activities that are generally autonomous or independent of one"s: autonomic: control. Ex: breathing, digestion, blinking, heart beat. Sympathetic: pumps body up, mobilizes the body for action in face of stress, fight or flight response, arousing! Parasympathetic: regulates the body"s functions to conserve energy, relaxing, cools body down. Located at the base of the brain. Medulla: the medulla is at the base of the brainstem that controls heartbeat and breathing. Thalamus: reticular formation is a nerve network in the brainstem that plays an important role in controlling arousal ( awakeness ), the brain"s sensory switchboard, located on top of the brainstem.
