PSY1011 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Myelin, Behavioral Neuroscience, Action Potential
4 May 2018
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Behavioral Neuroscience in Psychology
1. Biological psychology is the scientific study of the links between biological (genetic, neural,
hormonal) and psychological processes.
• Some biological psychologists call themselves behavioral neuroscientists,
neuropsychologists, behavior geneticists, physiological psychologists, or
biopsychologists.
2. A neuron is a nerve c ell; it is the basic building block of the nervous system.
• Dendrites are a euro’s ofte ush, rahig etesios that reeie
messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body.
• Axons are the neuron extension that passes messages through its branches to
other neurons or to muscles or glands.
o The myelin sheath is a fatty tissue layer segmentally encasing the axons
of some neurons; enables vastly greater transmission speed as neural
impulses hop from one node to the next.
▪ Glial cells are cells in the nervous system that provide myelin. They
support, nourish, and protect neurons; they may also play a role in
learning, thinking, and memory.
• Action potential is a neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an
axon.
o Threshold is the level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse.
o The refractory period is a brief resting pause that occurs after a neuron
has fired; subsequent action potentials cannot occur until the axon
returns to its resting state.
o The all-or-none response is a euro’s reatio of either firig (ith a
full-strength response) or not firing.
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• A synapse is the junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the
dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron.
o The tiny gap at this junction is called the synaptic gap or synaptic cleft.
3. Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gaps between
neurons.
• When released by the sending neuron, neurotransmitters travel across the
synapse and bind to receptor sites on the receiving neuron, thereby influencing
whether that neuron will generate a neural impulse.
• Reuptake is the reabsorption of excessive neurotransmitter by the sending
neuron.
• Endorphins are natural, opiate-like neurotransmitters linked to pain control and
to pleasure.
• An agonist is a oleule that ireases a eurotrasitter’s atio.
• An antagonist is a oleule that ihiits or loks a eurotrasitter’s atio.
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4. The nervous system is the od’s speed, eletroheial ouiatio etork,
consisting of all the nerve cells of the peripheral and central nervous systems.
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Document Summary
Interneurons are neurons within the brain and spinal cord; communicate internally and process information between the sensory inputs and motor outputs: the endocrine system is the (cid:271)od(cid:455)"s (cid:862)slo(cid:449)(cid:863) (cid:272)he(cid:373)i(cid:272)al (cid:272)o(cid:373)(cid:373)u(cid:374)i(cid:272)atio(cid:374) s(cid:455)ste(cid:373). But having lost some of the neural tracts that enabled his frontal lobes to control his emotions (van horn et al. , The hypothalamus helps to control the endocrine system. The hypothalamus is part of the limbic system, lying below (hypo) the thalamus; it directs several maintenance activities (eating, drinking, body temperature) and also helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland. The limbic system includes all but which of these: the amygdala, the medulla, the hypothalamus, the hippocampus. The limbic system is the neural system that includes the amygdala, hypothalamus, and hippocampus. The medulla is part of the brain stem. Sensory (afferent) neurons are neurons that carry incoming information from the sensory receptors to the brain and spinal cord.
