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Neuron and Nervous System Biological Psychology: concerned with the links between biology and behavior (also called neuropsychology) Neuron: a nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system Action Potential: a neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon **Neurons that are stimulated cause a brief electrical charge; if strong enough, the nerve fires **ALL OR NOTHING Threshold: level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse; excitatory signals minus inhibitory signals must equal a minimum intensity Neural Communication Neurotransmitters: chemical messengers that traverse the synaptic gaps between neurons Agonist – mimic neurotransmitters Example: Morphine mimics endorphins Antagonist – block neurotransmitters Example: Poison blocks muscle movement Acetylcholine (Ach) – Enables muscle action, learning, and memory **Brains of those suffering from Alzheimer’s have deteriorating Achproducing neurons Endorphins – natural neurotransmitters linked to pain control and pleasure **”Runner’s High” is an example of endorphin release The Nervous System Nervous System – body’s speedy, electrochemical communication network consisting of nerve cells Central Nervous System (CNS) – brain and spinal cord **Neural networks – interconnected neural cells; more connections made as experience gained Peripheral Nervous System (PNS) – sensory and motor neurons that connect the CNS to the rest of the body Sensory Neurons – sends incoming information from sense receptors to CNS CNS FEW MILLION Interneurons – CNS internal communication neurons; intervene b/w sensory & motor CNS BILLIONS Motor Neurons – sends outgoing information from CNS to muscles and glands CNS FEW MILLION Reflex – automatic response to sensory stimulus; motor neuron reacts to sensory neuron w/o going to brain Dendrites – receive messages from other cells and conduct impulses toward the cell body Cell Body – the cell’s life-support center Axon – the extension of a neuron through which messages are sent to other neurons or to muscles or glands Myelin Sheath – a layer of fatty cells covering the axon, helps speed neural impulses Terminal branches of axon – form junctions with other cells Language Aphasia: impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage to Broca’s area (impaired speaking) or to Wernicke’s area (impaired understanding) Broca’s area: controls language Wernicke’s area: controls language expression; involved in speech reception; involved in language **BROKEN SPEECH (often comprehension and expression telegraphic speech) **MEANINGLESS WORDS Is this caused by damage to Broca’s area or Wernicke’s area?: ”Mother is away her working her work to get her better, but when she’s looking the two boys looking the other part. She’s working another time.” - ___________ Angular Gyrus: receives visual information and recodes it into auditory form ENDOCRINE SYSTEM Endocrine System: set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream **Snail mail (ES) vs. E-mail (NS) Pituitary Gland: ES’s most influential gland; regulates growth and controls other ES glands **under the influence of the hypothalamus Hormones: chemical messengers that are produced in one tissue and affect another **Can influence our interest in sex, food, and aggression Adrenal Glands: secrete epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline) to arouse body in times of stress GENETICS Chromosomes: threadlike structures made of DNA molecules that contain the genes; get 23 from each parent Identical Twins: twins who develop from a single zygote (fertilized egg) that splits in two, creating two genetic replicas Fraternal Twins: twins who develop from separate zygotes; genetically no closer than brothers and sisters How can we study these types of twins to tell us about the nature vs. nurture debate? Heritability: the proportion of variation among individuals that we can attribute to genes