Download The Nervous System - AP Psychology-NWHS

The Nervous System
“coordinates voluntary and
involuntary actions and
transmits signals between
different parts of the body”
The decision and
communication center
Central Nervous System (CNS)
 Makes decisions
 Brain and Spinal Cord
 “Happens in the center (middle) of your
body”
Fun Facts:
- Average adult brain weighs about 3 lbs
-Contains about 100 billion neurons
- The spinal cord is about 43 cm long in
adult women and 45 cm long in adult
males
The Brain
 Top part of the brain (forebrain)
 Cerebral Cortex: outer layer of nerve tissue of the two cerebral
hemispheres (left and right), regulates most complex behaviors,
cerebral cortex plays a key role in memory, attention,
perceptual awareness, thought, language, and consciousness
 Thalamus: relays and translates incoming messages from the
sense receptors except for smell
 Hypothalamus: Governs motivation and emotional responses,
controls secretion of pituitary hormones, maintains homeostasis
(eating, drinking, sexual behavior, sleeping, and body temp).
Central role during stress
The Brain
 “Hindbrain”
 Cerebellum: controls certain reflexes and coordinates body
movement (reflexes, balance, and coordination)
 Damage = jerky movements, loss of balance, lack of
coordination
 Pons: connects cerebral cortex to the cerebellum, chemicals
produced here help maintain sleep/wake cycle
 Medulla: controls vital functions like breathing, heart rate
and blood pressure
The Lobes
 Frontal Lobe
 Behind your forehead
 Involved in:
 Speaking
 Muscle Movements
 Making plans and
judgments
 Emotions
 Problem Solving
The Lobes
 Parietal
 At the top and back of
your head
 Receives sensory input for:
 Touch
 Pain
 Body position
Movement
Orientation
The Lobes
 Temporal
 Lies roughly above the ears
 Includes the Auditory areas
 Each receiving information
primarily from the opposite ear
 Regulates hearing, balance and
equilibrium and certain
emotions (anxiety, pleasure and
anger) and motivations
 Ability to understand and
comprehend langauage
The Lobes
 Occipital lobe
 At the back of the
head
 Receives and
interprets
information from the
visual fields
https://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=QPLZ
_WUsK88
Peripheral Nervous System
 Gathers info and sends it to the rest of
the body
 Made up of nerves
 Motor Neurons (efferent): transmit
information from the brain to the
muscles of the body
 Sensory Neurons (afferent): carry
information from the sensory
receptor cells throughout the body
to the brain
Autonomic Nervous System
 Carries messages between CNS and internal organs, “fight or
flight”
 Has two major subsystems
 Parasympathetic Nervous System: “rest and digest”; brings
peace to the body, calms and relaxes the body after an
emergency
 EX: eye pupil will constrict, slows heartbeat
 Sympathetic Nervous System: “fight or flight”; reacts to “stress,”
prepares the body for quick action in an emergency
 EX: eye pupil will dilate, increased heart rate
Somatic Nervous System
 Send sensory information to the central nervous
system AND motor nerve fibers that project to
skeletal muscle.
 Afferent nerves are responsible for relaying
sensation to the central nervous system while
efferent nerves are responsible for
stimulating muscle contraction
Wernicke’s Area
 Located in the Left
Temporal lobe behind
the auditory cortex.
 Functions:
 Language
Comprehension
 Semantic Processing
 Language Recognition
 Language Interpretation
Wernicke’s Apasia
 Aphasia
 A deficit in understanding and/or producing language
Damage = problems with output of speech , word salad
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKTdMV6cOZw
Broca’s Area
 Located in the lower
portion of the left
frontal lobe
 Functions:
 Speech Production
 Facial Neuron Control
 Language Processing
Broca’s Apasia
 Aphasia
 A deficit in understanding and/or producing language
Damage = not being able to comprehend and produce proper
sentences and language
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2IiMEbMnPM
The Nervous Security System
 How does the Nervous system relate to a modern
day security system? What does each part exactly
relate to?
 Give an overall sense of the organization and function
of nervous system. Tell how it acts as security system
complete with sensors that tell the body there is
something wrong.
 Your brochure must include the following
vocabulary: cell body, dendrites, neuron, axon,
impulse, central nervous system, cerebellum, and
peripheral nervous system.