PSYC 318 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Pylorus, Hindbrain, Triglyceride

• School: McGill University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 318
• Professor: Wayne Sossin

Document Summary

so as to maintain a constant internal environment. constant struggle to maintain balance: others have proposed mechanisms in the body that detect these losses/gains and initiate compensatory actions. System variable which needs to be controlled (e. g. , body temperature, blood glucose, water balance, co2 levels) Set-point: point at which the variable needs to be maintained, detectors (tell the brain whether variable level is too high or low) Example: body temperature too high, thermostat/thermoregulatory centre in hypothalamus activates cooling mechanisms. Includes dilation of blood vessels & activation of sweat glands: part of autonomic nervous system. Peripheral nervous system (pns): somatic+ autonomic nervous system. Autonomic nervous system connects smooth muscl/glands/heart to cns. Involuntary: this has a limit (you cannot stand in a -30 temperature indefinitely, behavioural regulation of body temperature, triggers conscious decisions in order to preserve thermal balance, much more powerful than physiological regulation, example: penguins huddle together. penguins act like a giant, well-regulated organism.