PSYCH 7A Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Visual Cortex, Corpus Callosum, Motor Cortex

• School: UC-Irvine
• Department: Cognitive Sciences
• Course: PSYCH 7A
• Professor: John Hagedorn

Document Summary

Lecture 3: neuron- basic building blocks of the nervous system. Transmit messages throughout the brain and between the brain and the rest of the body. Parts of the neuron- cell body, dendrites, axon, neural impulse, myelin sheath, terminal branches. Resting potential- the liquid outside the axon has more positively charged ions, and the solution inside the axon has more negatively charged ions. Refractory period- positive ions are forced out of the first section, returning the axon to its natural polarized state. Synapse- a tiny junction in which electrical impulses travel from one neuron to another. Neurotransmitter- release from vesicles and bind to receptor sites on the receiving neuron. Excitation & inhibition- excitation=more likely to cause an action potential (make inside of cell more positively charged compared to outside). Inhibition=less likely to cause an action potential (make inside of cell more negatively charged compared to outside: agonists & antagonists- agonists=a drug that enhances a neurotransmitter"s activity.