Done by : Bahaa B.

Period : 1st

Chapter 3 : Neural and Hormonal Systems                 

I. Every person is composed of subsystems, which are composed of even smaller subsystems.
II. Biology is linked to our behavior and mental processes.
III. Biological psychology – a branch of psychology concerned with links between biology and
behavior.
IV. We start biology from neurons.
V. Neurons and Neural Impulses
A. Our body’s building blocks are neurons; each consists of a cell body and its branching fibers.
B. A bushy dendrite fiber receives information, and axon fibers pass it along to other neurons or
to muscles or glands. Unlike the short dendrites, axons are sometimes very long, projecting
several feet through the body.
C. Motor neurons; control muscles – neural system’s giant redwoods
D. A layer of fatty tissue, myelin sheath, insulates the axons of some neurons and helps speed their
impulses (multiple sclerosis – myelin sheath degenerates; loss of muscle control).
E. A neuron fires an impulse when it receives symptoms sense receptors stimulated by pressure,
heat, light, or stimulation by chemical messages; action potential – a brief electrical charge that
travels down the axon.
F. Neurons generate electricity from chemical events; chemistry-to-electricity process involves the
exchange of electrically charged atoms – ions; fluid interior of resting axon – negative ions;
fluid outside axon membrane; more positive. Positive-outside/negative-inside – resting
potential; axon’s surface is selective about what it allows in – selectively permeable (block
positive sodium ions).
G. Threshold – the level of stimulation required triggering a neural impulse; each neuron receives
depolarizing and hyperpolarizing currents from many neurons.

VI. Neural Communication

A. Neurons interweave so intricately that even with microscope it’s hard to see where one neuron
ends and another begins.
B. Santiago Ramon y Cajal (1852-1934) concluded that individual neurons must function as
independent agents within the nervous system.
C. Sir Charles Sherrington (1857 – 1952) noticed that neural impulses were taking an
unexpectedly long time to travel a neural pathway, and inferred that there must be a brief
interruption in the transmission.
D. Synapse- the junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body
of the receiving neuron. The tiny gap at injection is called synaptic gap.
E. Neurotransmitters – chemical messengers that traverse 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 the neuron will generate a
neural impulse.
F. Within 1/10,000 of a second, the neurotransmitter molecules cross the synaptic gap and bind to
th

receptor sites on the receiving neurons.

 G. An acetylcholine (ACh) (neurotransmitter that, among its functions, triggers muscle
contraction) is one of the best-understood neurotransmitters. If it’s blocked, our muscles cannot
contract.
H. Acetylcholine: enables muscle action, learning, and memory.

1-dopamine- influences movement, learning, attention, and emotion.

2. Serotonin – affects mood, hunger, sleep, and arousal.

3- GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) – a major inhibitory neurotransmitter.

                 4- Glutamate – a major excitatory neurotransmitter; involved in memory.

VII. The Endorphins

          A-In 1973 Candace Pert and Salomon Snyder discovered that the morphine, an opiate drug
that elevates mood and eases pain, was taken up by receptors in areas linked with mood and pain
sensations.

         B-It was concluded that brain contains several types of neurotransmitter molecules similar to
morphine.

                     C-Endorphins – “morphine within” – natural opiate like neurotransmitters linked to pain
control and to pleasure.

VIII. How Drugs and Other Chemicals Alter Neurotransmission

A. When flooded with opiate drugs such as heroin and morphine, the brain may stop producing its
own natural opiates.
B. Various drugs affect communication at the synapse, often by either exciting or inhibiting
neuron’s firing. Agonists excite. Antagonists inhibit.
C. A blood-brain barrier enables the brain to fence out unwanted chemicals circulating in the
blood, and some chemicals don’t have the right size to slither through this barrier.

IX. The Nervous System

A. Neurons communicating with other neurons form our body’s primary information system, the
nervous system – the body’s speedy, electrochemical communication system, consisting of all
the nerve cells of the peripheral and central nervous systems.
B. Central nervous system (CNS) – the brain and spinal cord.
C. Peripheral nervous system (PNS) – the sensory and motor neurons that connect central nervous
system (CNS) to the rest of the body.
D. Nerves – neural “cables” containing many axons. These bundled axons, which are part of the
peripheral nervous system, connect the central nervous system with muscles, glands, and sense
organs.
 E. Sensory neurons – neurons that carry incoming information from the sense receptors to the
central nervous system.
F. Interneurons – central nervous system neurons that internally communicate and intervene
between the sensory inputs and motor outputs.
G. Motor neurons – neurons that carry outgoing information from the central nervous system to
the muscles and glands.

X. The Peripheral Nervous System

A. Our peripheral nervous system is made up of two components – somatic and autonomic.
B. Somatic nervous system – the division of the peripheral nervous systwm that controls the
body’s skeletal muscles – also called the skeletal nervous system.
C. Autonomic nervous system –the part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands
and the muscles of the internal organs (such as the heart). Its sympathetic division arouses its
parasympathetic division claims.
D. Sympathetic nervous system arouses us for defensive action – the division of the autonomic
nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situations.
E. When the stress subsides, the parasympathetic nervous system produces opposite effects – the
division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving its energy.

XI. The Central Nervous System

      A- Tens of billions of neurons, each communicating with thousands of neurons, yield an ever-
changing wiring diagram that dwarfs a powerful computer.

XII. Spinal Cord and Brain

    A-A central nervous system’s spinal cord is an information highway connecting the peripheral
system to the brain.

    B- Reflex – a simple, automatic, inborn response to a sensory stimulus, such as the knee-jerk
response.

     C-The neural pathway governing our reflexes, our automatic response to stimuli, illustrate the spinal
cords work.

XIII. Neural Networks

A. The brain functions like a commuting machine.

B. Neural networks – interconnected neural cells. With experience, networks can learn, as
feedback strengthens or inhibits connections that produce certain affects.
C. Neurons network with nearby neurons. Encoded in these networks of interrelating neurons is
your own enduring identity, your sense of self that extends across the years.

The Endocrine System

A. Interconnected with the nervous system is the second of body’s communication systems, the
endocrine system – the body’s “slow” chemical communication system; a set of glands and
secrete hormones into bloodstream.
 B. Hormones – chemical messengers, mostly those manufactured by the endocrine glands that are
produced in one tissue and affect one another.
C. The endocrine system’s hormones influence many aspects of our lives – growth, reproduction,
metabolism, mood – working to keep everything in balance while we respond to stress,
exertion, and our own thoughts. They are a pair of endocrine glands just above the kidneys,
secrete the hormones epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline), which help
to arouse the body in times of stress.
D. Pituitary gland – the endocrine system’s most influential gland. Under the influence of the
hypothalamus, the pituitary regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands.
E. Neurotransmitters can drift in the brain’s fluid to nerve receptors at distant sites, affecting
overall alertness or mood. Distinction between certain neurotransmitters and their chemical
twins (hormones) conducting our brain.

 
 

Module 4: The Brain

I. THE BRAIN enables the mind: seeing, hearing, remembering, thinking, feeling, speaking, and
dreaming. It is the brain that self-reflectively analyzes the brain. When we’re thinking with our
brain-by firing millions of synapses and releasing billon of neurotransmitters molecules.

A. Lesion-tiny clusters of normal defective brain cells, leaving their surrounding unharmed.

B. Electroencephalogram (EEG)-  is an amplified tracing of such waves by an instrument called an

electroencephalograph. Studying an EEG of the gross activity of the whole brain is like
studying the activity of a car engine by listening to the hum of its motors.

II. PET SCAN (Positron emission tomography) - depicts brain activity by showing the brain area’s
consumptions of its chemical fuel, the sugar glucose.

 
 III. MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) - scans, the head is put in strong magnetic field, which
aligns the spinning atoms. Then a brief pulse of radio waves disorients the atoms momentarily.
When the atoms return to their normal spins, they release detectable signals, which become
computer generated images of their concentrations.

IV. OLDER BRAIN STRUCTURES

A. Brainstem- The oldest part and central core of the brain, beginning where the spinal cord swells
as it enters the skull; the brainstem is responsible for automatic survival functions.

B. Medulla- the base f the brainstem; controls heartbeat breathing.

C. Reticular formation- a nerve network in the brainstem that plays an important role in controlling
arousal.

D. Thalamus- the brain’s sensory switchboard, located on top of the brainstem; it directs messages
to the sensory receiving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla.

V. Cerebellum- the “little brain” attached to the rear of the brainstem; it helps coordinate voluntary
movement and balance.
VI. The limbic system- A doughnut-shaped system of neural structures at the border of the
brainstem and cereal hemispheres; associated with emotions such as fear and aggression and
drives such as those for food and sex. Includes the hippocampus, amyglada, and hypothalamus.
VII. Amygdala- two almond- shaped neural clusters that are components of the limbic system and
are linked to emotion.
VIII. Hypothalamus- a neural structure lying below the thalamus; it directs several maintenance
activities (eating, drinking, body temperature,) helps govern the endocrine system via the
pituitary gland, and is linked to emotion.
IX. Cerebral cortex- the intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells that cover the cerebral
hemispheres; the body’s ultimate control and information- processing centers.
 X. STRUCTURE OF THE CORTEX
A. Frontal lobes- the portion of the cerebral cortex lying just behind the forehead; involved the
speaking and muscle movements and in making plans and judgments.
B. Parietal lobes- the portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the top of the head and toward the rear;
includes sensory cortex.
C. Occipital lobes -the portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the back of the head; it includes the
visual areas, which receive visual information from the opposite visual field.
D. Temporal cortex- the portion of the cerebral cortex lying roughly above the ears; includes the
auditory areas, each of which receive auditory information primary the opposite ear.

XI. FUNCTIONS OF THE CORTEX

A. Motor cortex- an area at the rear of the frontal cortex that controls voluntary movements.
B. Sensory cortex- the area at the front of the parietal lobes that registers and processes body
sensations.

XII. LANGUAGE
A. Aphasia- impairments of language usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca’s
are (impaling speaking) or to Wernicke’s area (impairing understanding).
B. Broca’s area- controls language expression-an area of the frontal lobe, usually in the left
hemisphere, that directs the muscle movement involved in speech.
C. Wernicke’s area- controls language reception- a brain area involved in language comprehension
and expression, usually in the left temporal lobe.
XIII. PRASTICITY- the brain’s capacity for modification, as evident in brain reorganization
following damage (especially in children) and in experience on brain development.
XIV. OUR DIVIDED BRAINS
A. For more than a century, clinical evidence has shown that the brain’s two sides serve different
functions.
B. Left hemisphere- Accidents, strokes, and tumors, generally impair reading, writing, speaking,
arithmetic reason, and understanding (DOMINANT or MAJOR).
C. Right hemisphere- Functions in a non-verbal manner and excels in visual, spatial, perceptual,
and intuitive information (SUBORDINATE or MINOR).

XV. SPLITTING THE BRAIN

A. Corpus callosum- the large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and
carrying messages between them.
B. Spilt brain- a condition in which the two hemispheres of the brain are isolated by cutting the
connecting fibers (mainly those of the corpus callosum) between them.
XVI. Brain organization and handedness- About 90% of the human population is right-handed. 10%
left-handed. Tests reveal that about 95% of right-handers process speech primary in their left
hemisphere, which tend to e slightly larger (Springer& Deuthch, 1985).
XVII. Is it all right to be left handed?
A. Left -handers are more numerous than usual among those with reading disabilities, allergies,
and migraine headaches.
B. Musicians, cricket players, artists, architects, mathematics, and professional baseball players are
mostly left-handers.
C. Left handers seem to disappear with age (die earlier).