Unit 4 Notes

The Nervous System-it all starts with an individual nerve cell called a neuron

·         Resting Potential

-slightly negative charge

-reach the threshold when enough neurotransmitters reach dendrites

·         How a neuron Fires-it is an electrochemical Process

-chemical outside the neuron (in the synapse in the form of a neurotransmitters)

-electrical inside the neuron

-the firing is called action potential

·         The All-or-None Response – the idea that either the neuron fires or it does not, no part way firing; like a gun

·         Neurotransmitters (4 types)- chemical messengers released by terminal buttons through the synapse

-Acetylcholine (ACH)- deals with motor movement and memory, lack of ACH has been linked to Alzheimer’s disease

-Dopamine-deals with motor movement and alertness, lack of dopamine has been linked to Parkinson’s disease, too much has been linked to schizophrenia

-Serotonin- involved in moved control, lack of serotonin had been linked to clinical depression

-Endorphins- involved in pain control, many of our most addictive drugs deal with endorphins

·         Drugs can be two things…

-Aghast: make neuron fire

-Antagonist: stop neural fire

·         Sensory Neurons (Afferent Neurons)- take information from the senses to the brain

·         Inter Neurons- Take messages from sensory Neutrons to the other parts of the brain Motor Neurons

·         Motor Neuron- take information from the brain to the rest of the body

·         Central Nervous System (CNS)- the brain and the spinal cord

·         Peripheral nervous System (PNS)-all nerves that are not enclosed in bone, everything but the brain and spinal cord, is divided into two categories

-Somatic Nervous System (SNS): Controls voluntary muscle movement uses motor (efferent) neurons

-Autonomic Nervous System (ANS): controls the automatic functions of the body, divided into two categories…

    -Sympathetic Nervous System: flight or fight response, automatically accelerates heart rate, breathing, dilates pupils, slows down digestion 

    -Parasympathetic Nervous System: automatically slows the body down after stressful event, heart rate and breathing slows down, pupils constrict and digestion speeds up

·         Reflexes

-Normally sensory (afferent) Neurons take info up through spine to the brain

     -Some reactions occur when sensory neurons reach just the spinal cord

·         The Brain

-Made up of neurons and glial cells, glial cells support neural cells

      -Lesion: cut into the brain

-Brain sections:

      -Medulla Oblongata: heat rate, breathing blood pressure

      -Pons: Connects the brain, mid brain and forebrain together, involved in facial expressions

      -Cerebellum: Located in the back of out head, means little brain coordinates muscle movements

      -Midbrain: Coordinates simple movements with sensory information

     - Contains reticular formation arousal and the ability to focus attention

     - Thalamus: In forebrain, receives sensory information and sends them to appropriate areas of the forebrain like a switch board, everything but smell.

·         Limbic System-Emotional control center of the brain

-Hypothalamus: pea sized in brain, but plays a not so pea sized role, body temperature, hunter thirst and sexual arousal (libido)

    -Amygdala: vital for our basic emotions

    - Hippocampus: involved in memory

·         Cerebral Cortex

-Top layer of our brain

-Contains wrinkles called fissures

-The fissures increases surface area of our brain

-Laid out it would be the size of a pizza

·         Hemispheres

-Divided into left and right hemispheres

-Contralateral controlled: left controls right side of the body and vice versa

·         Split- Brain Patients

-Corpus coliseum attaches the two hemispheres of cerebral cortex

-When removed you have split brain patient

 

·         The cerebral cortex is made up of four lobes

1- Frontal Lobe: Deals with thoughts and emotional control contains

     -Motor cortex: Sends signals to our body controlling muscle movements.

     - Broca’s Area: Controlling muscles that produce speech; damage to Broca’s area is called Broca’s Aphasia

2- Parietal Lobe: Deals with feeling

      -Sensory cortex: Receives incoming touch sensations from the rest of the body

      -Mostly made up of association areas; any area not associated with receiving sensory information or coordination muscle movements

3- Occipital Lobes: Deals with vision

       -Visual Cortex: Interprets messages from our eyes into images we can understand

4- Temporal Lobe: Processes sound sensed by our ears.

         -Wernicke’s Area: Interprets written and spoken speech

         -Wernicke’s Aphasia: Unable to understand language, the syntax and grammar is jumbled

Developmental Psychology –the study of you from womb to tomb

·         Nature versus nurture: you are who you are because of the way you were born

·         Physical Development: Focus on our physical changes over time

·         Prenatal Development : Conception begins with the drop of an egg and the release of about 200 million sperm

    -The sperm seeks out the egg and attempts to penetrate the egg, once there we have a fertilized egg…

    -The Zygote: The first stage of prenatal development lasts about 2 weeks and consists of rapid cell division

 -After two weeks the zygote develops into an...

    -Embryo: Lasts about 6 weeks heart rate begins to beat and the organs begin to develop

- By 9 weeks we have a fetus..

·             -About the 6 months the stomach and other organs have formed enough to survive outside of the mother, and hear and recognize sounds and respond to light

·         Reflexes- an born automatic responses rooting a babies tendency when touched on the check to open the mouth and search for a nipple; Grasping

·         Harmful

 -Chemical agents that can harm the prenatal environment, alcohol (FSA) other STD’s HIV and herpes.

·         Puberty: Period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes comparable of reproducing

·         Maturation- Physical growth regardless of the environment.

·         Primary Sexual Characteristics - body structures that make reproduction possible

·         Secondary Sexual Characteristics-  Non reproductive sexual characteristics

   -Widening of the hips

   -Deeper voice

   -Breast development

·         Landmark for puberty

 -Menarche for girls

 -First ejaculation for boys (spermarche)

·         Physical Milestones: Menopause

·         5 stages of Death

-Denial

-Anger

-Bargaining

-Depression

-Acceptance

·         Social Development- Up until about a year infants do not mind strange people, at about a year infants develop stranger anxiety and separation anxiety.

·         Attachment- the most important social construct an infant must develop is attachment

-Imprinting: some animals form an attachment (Lorenz)

-Harry Harlow and his monkeys, monkeys need touch to form attachment

-Critical Period: the optimal period shortly after birth when an organism’s exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces proper developments

-3 types of attachments (Mary Ainsworth’s)

   -Secure

  -Avoidant

  -Anxious/ Ambivalent

·         Parenting Styles

-Authoritarian: Parents are the boss

-Permissive: The child is the boss

-Authoritative/ Democratic: Mutual decision making

·         Erick Erikson- He thought that our personality was influenced by our experiences with others

-Trust vs. mistrust: they develop can carry with the child for the rest of their lives  

-Authority vs. shame or doubt; toddlers begin to control their bodies, control temper tantrums and the big word is “NO”

-Initiative vs. Guilt: the word turns from “NO” to “WHY?”

Want to understand the world.

-Industry vs. Inferiority: School beings are they worthless or successful?, we are for the first time evaluated

-Identity vs. role confusion: at around 13 years old we try out different roles, if not developed it can lead to identity crisis

-Intimacy vs. Isolation; Have to balance work and relationships

-Generatively vs. Stagnation: is everything going as planed will I succeed in life? If they don’t think so they will have a mid-life crisis

-Integrity vs. Despair: look back on life, was my life meaningful or do I have any regrets?

·         John Piaget

-Schemas- how we perceive the world

-Assimilation- how we fit into the world

-Accommodation –how we will help the world

-Cognitive development Stages:

    - Sensorimotor stages: experiences the world though out senses

    -Preoperational Stage: have object permanence, language and represent objects and ideas; egocentric

    -conservation: a quality remains the same despite changes in appearance and logical thinking

    -concrete operational stage: can demonstrate concept of conservation and deductive reasoning

    -formal operational stage: abstract reasoning, manipulate objects and hypothesis, not everyone gets here.

·         Types of intelligence

-Crystalized Intelligence: accumulated knowledge; increased with age

-Conventional Morality: look at morality based on how others see you, if your peers think it is wrong then so do you

-Post-Conventional Morality: based on self-determination defined ethical principles your own personal set of ethics.