PSY 3120 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuron Doctrine, Cerebral Cortex

• School: Vanderbilt University
• Department: Psychology (A&S)
• Course: PSY 3120
• Professor: Seiffert Adriane

Document Summary

A field of psychological science that finds answers to cognitive questions using neuroscience methods. Diencephalon: in middle of brain, includes thalamus. Brain stem: holds pons, midbrain, important for regulatory functions. Neuron doctrine = brain is made up of individual cells that transmit signals from one another and to the nerves. Discovery: santiago ramon y cajal (1899) drew neurons using stain from golgi. Structure: dendrites (input, get information), axon (long path for info flow), synapse (end of axon, small space between neurons where signals pass), cell body (allows accumulation of signals before going down axon) Function: neurons work with electrical and chemical signals. Action potentials: change in electrical energy, caused by change in potential (na+ and k+), travels from cell body down axon to synapse. Neurotransmitters: chemical released in the synapse to affect the neighboring neurons; can cause excitatory or inhibitory responses; reuptake back into the neuron must occur.