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Chapter 2Notes
Psychology
Ms. Litza
Page 1
Name:_________________________
Chapter 2: The Biological Basis of Behavior
Section 1: Neurons-The Messengers
 What “Language” do neurons speak?
o The average human brain contains as many as ___100__________billion nerve cells, or
Neurons
o Neurons vary widely in size in shape, but they are all specialized to ______receive
___________and ___________transmit __________ (send) information
o Like all cells, they are made up of:
 __________________: the complete set of chromosomes and genes
 Cytoplasm: keeps the cells alive
 Cell Membrane: encloses the whole cell
o What makes them different?
 ________________: short fibers that branch out from the cell body and pick up
incoming messages
 ________________: Single long fiber extending from the cell body; carries outgoing
messages to other neurons, muscles or glands
 All neurons only have one axon but at the end they branch off into many
terminal branches
o Nerves: group of axons bundled together like wires
o ___________________: white, fatty covering around the axon Pinched in intervals
 Two Functions:
 Provides insulation so signals from adjacent neurons so they do not interfere
with each other
 Increases the speed that a signal is transmitted
 Other Neurons
o _____________________: Neurons that collect messages from sense organs and carry them to
the spinal cord or the brain
o Motor Neurons: Neurons that carry messages from the spinal cord/brain to muscles and glands
o Interneurons (Association) Neurons: Carries messages from one neuron to another
o The Nervous System also contains numerous _____________________ or glia
 Greek word for glue
 Hold the neurons in place, provide nourishment and waste product, prevent harmful
substances from passing from the blood stream to the brain, and forms the Myelin
Sheath
 The Neural Impulse
o Neurons “speak” with simple electrochemical ___________________
o When a neuron is at rest and not “speaking” they are in a state
of__________________________—the condition of a neuron when the insides is negatively
charged outside
 A guitar string that has been pulled but not released
Chapter 2Notes
Psychology
Ms. Litza
Page 2

o To generate a signal the tension needs to be release
o _________________________: when an area of the cell membrane is stimulated enough by
messages , pores (channels) allow positively charged ions come in; allowing the inside to be
positive
 Creates an electrical charge, or a neural impulse, that travels down the axon
o When this happens the Neuron has “fired”—sent a signal
 This entire process takes only a millisecond
o __________________________: incoming messages that cause a small, temporary shift in the
electrical charge leaving the neuron in its polarized state
 For a Neuron to fire, graded potentials must exceed a certain minimum threshold of
excitation—level an impulse must exceed to cause a neuron to fire
 Each time a neuron fires it is the same strength
 Called ________________________________ Law
 However, the neuron is more likely to fire more often when stimulated by a strong
signal
 _________________________________Period: After a neuron fires, for the next
thousandth of a second it will not fire again regardless of the strength of the incoming
message's
 Relative Refractory Period: during the resting state of a cell the neuron will only fire if
the incoming message is considerably stronger than normal
 Otherwise after a neuron fires it returns to its resting state and waits for the next
incoming message
The Synapse
o Neuron are not directly connected like a chain, instead there are tiny gaps—called
_______________________________
o When a neuron fires, an impulse travels down the axon, out though the terminal branches into
a tiny swelling that looks like a light bulb
 Called Terminal Button or ______________________________
o ______________________________: area composed of the axon terminal of one neuron, the
synaptic space, and the dendrite (cell body) of the next neuron
o When the neural impulses reaches the end of the terminals it causes the vesicles to release
varying amounts of chemicals called neurotransmitters
 Synaptic vesicles: tiny bags in the terminal button that release chemicals into the
synapse
 ______________________________: chemicals released by the synaptic vesicles that
travel across the synaptic space
o Neurotransmitters each have a specific matching receptor site on the other side of the synaptic
cell
 ___________________________: location on a receptor neurotransmitter; fits like a key
into a lock
 Once their job is done they detach from the receptor site
 Recycled to make new neurotransmitters, or disposed in the body as waste
Chapter 2Notes
Psychology
Ms. Litza
Page 3
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Neurotransmitters
o There are hundreds of neurotransmitters , but their exact function is still unknown
o Some Neurotransmitters are:
 Acetylcholine: involved in arousal, attention, memory, motivation, and movement.
 Can lead to Alzheimer’s disease
 _________________________: variety of behaviors and emotions, including pressure.
 Implicated in schizophrenia and Parkinson’s disease
 _________________________: regulates sleep, dreaming, mood, eating, pain, and
aggression
 Implicated in depression
 Endorphins: inhibition of pain, released during strenuous exercise
 Responsible for “runner’s high”.
Psychopharmacology
o Most psychoactive drugs and toxins work by either blocking or enhancing the transmission of
chemicals across synapses
o Others do the exact opposite
 ________________________activity for neurotransmitters
 Increasing the release of transmitter
o Some substances __________________________ with the removal of neurotransmitters from
the synapse after they have don’t their job so that they can stimulate receptor neurons
 Ex: Cocaine—prevents dopamine from being reabsorbed…lead to the excess amounts of
dopamine in your system
Neural Plasticity
o _____________________: the ability of the brain to change in response to the experience
o __________________ loop—experience lead to changes in the brain, which facilitate new
learning…which leads to the brain changing to accept what we newly learned
 Ex: Deaf people’s brains have shown changes in the areas responsible for hearing to
rewired to read lips and sign language
o Studies done in the 1990’s showed that adult brains ere capable of
_______________________________– growth of new neurons
Chapter 2Notes
Psychology
Ms. Litza
Page 4
Section 2: The Central Nervous System
 Organization of the Nervous system
o Every part of the central nervous system is connected to every other part
o 2 parts
 The central nervous system includes the ___________________ and
__________________ cord
 Contains 90% of the brain’s neurons
 The Peripheral Nervous System consists of the nerves that connect the brain and spinal
cord to every other part of the _____________________________________
 Carries messages back and forth between the central nervous system and the
sense organs, _________________________________ and glands
 Subdivided into 2 other parts
o ________________________________Nervous System: transmits
information about the body movements and external environment
o ________________________________ Nervous System: transmits
information to and from the internal organs and glands
 The Brain
o Place where learning, ________________, and emotions are centered
o Decides what to do and whether the decision was right or wrong
o Imagines how things might have been if we had acted differently
o 3 layers of the Brain
 Central Core
 ______________________________________________
 Cerebral Hemispheres
o The Central Core
 At the point where the spinal cord enters the skull, it becomes the
____________________________
 Earliest part of the brain to evolve
 Parts and Functions
 Medulla: regulates respiration, heart rate, and blood pressure
 ________________: Regulates sleep/wake cycle
 Cerebellum: regulates reflexes and balance, and coordinates movement
 ____________________________: Major sensory relay center, and regulates the
brain centers and the peripheral nervous system
 Hypothalamus: Emotions and motivations, and stress reactions
o The Limbic System
 ____________________________of structures that play a role in learning and
emotional behavior
 Parts and functions
 Hippocampus: Formation of new memories
 _______________________________________: Governs emotions related to
self-preservation
Chapter 2Notes
Psychology
Ms. Litza
Page 5
o The Cerebral Cortex
 Outer surface of the 2 __________________________________ hemispheres that
regulates complex behavior
 Processes thought, ___________________, language, memory, and emotions
 What most people think of when we think of the brain
o Divided into 2 hemispheres, __________________ and ____________________
 Each hemisphere is divided into 4 lobes
 Four lobes
o ________________________ Lobe
 Receives and processes visual information
o _________________________ Lobe
 Smell, hearing, balance and equilibrium, emotion and motivation,
 some language comprehension, and complex visual processing
o __________________________ Lobe
 Goal-directed behavior, concentration, emotional control and
temperament, motor projection and association areas,
 coordinates messages from other lobes, complex problem
solving, and involved in many aspects of personality
 Primary Motor Cortex: section of the frontal lobe responsible for
voluntary movement
o Hemispheric Specialization
 Humans have a “Right half-brain” and a “Left half- brain”
 ___________________________________________: thick band of nerve fibers
connection the left and right cerebral cortex
 Language
 Left hemisphere
 Two major language areas are Broca’s Area and Wernicke’s area
o __________________________________Area is in the back of the
temporal Lob
 Processes and understands what other are saying, and overall
listening
o _________________________________ Area found in the frontal lobe
 Essential in our ability to talk
 Cognitive and Emotional Style
 Left side of the brain dominates the ________________________ tasks, such as
identifying spoken and printed words and ___________________________
o Also operates more analytically, logically, rationally, and sequentially
 Right Hemisphere dominates ______________________l and spatial tasks,
nonverbal imagery (visual images, music, ad environmental noises), face
recognition, and perception and expression of _________________________
 More involved in solving problems that require insight or creative solutions
Chapter 2Notes
Psychology
Ms. Litza
Page 6
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University of Wisconsin- Madison Study
 People with more active left frontal lobes then the right front lobes tend to be
more cheerful, sociable, and self-confident
o also respond more positively to events, enjoy being around other people
, and don’t get upset or aggravated in unpleasant events
 More active Right Frontal Lobes are more easily stressed, frightened, and upset
and threatened by unpleasant events around them
o They tend to spend more time alone
The Spinal Cord
o We talk of the brain and the spinal cord as __________distinct structures, but in fact, there is
no clear boundary between them
o At the upper end the spinal cord enlarges into the brain stem
o ________________________________: complex cable of neurons that runs down the spine,
connecting the brain to the most of the rest of the body
 Made up of soft, jellylike bundles of long axons, wrapped in insulating myelin and
surrounded and protected by vertebral bones
Section 3: The Peripheral Nervous System
 Somatic Nervous System
o Somatic Nervous System: part of the PNS that carries messages from the sense to the CNS and
between the CNS and skeletal muscles
o All the things that we sense—sights, sounds, smells, temperature, pressure etc.
o Voluntary Actions—eating and drinking, reading and writing, etc.
 Automatic Nervous System
o Automatic Nervous System: part of the PNS that carries messages between the CNS and the
internal organs
o Consists of 2 branches
 Sympathetic
 Parasympathetic
 Sympathetic Division
o Branch of the automatic Nervous System; it prepares the body for quick action in an emergency
o In response, your heart pounds, you breath faster, your pupils enlarge, and your digestion stops
 Parasympathetic Division
o Branch of the automatic nervous system; it calms and relaxes the body