PSYC 1020H Chapter 4: Chapter 4. The Brain
Document Summary
Neuropsychologists and neuroscientists study the brain and the rest of the nervous system to gain a better understanding of behaviour. They concern themselves with biological foundations of consciousness, perception, memory, emotion, stress, and mental disorders of everything humans can feel and do. The function is to gather and process information, produce responses to stimuli, and coordinate the workings of different cells. It is divided into two main parts: central nervous system and the peripheral (outlying) nervous system. Receives, processes, interprets, and stores incoming sensory information about tastes, sounds, smells, colour, pressure on skin, state of internal organs, etc. Sends out messages to the muscles, glands, and internal organs. Has two parts: the brain and the spinal cord. Spinal reflexes are automatic and require no conscious effort as nerve impulses send a message to the spinal cord which sends out a command via the other nerves.