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Key Concepts for Chapter 2
Module 5: Neurons: The basic elements of
Behaviour
Module 6: The Nervous System and the
Endocrine System: Communicating
Within the Body
Module 7: The Brain
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Module 5:
Neurons: The Basic Elements of Behaviour
Learning Objectives
Why do psychologist study the brain and
nervous system?
What are the basic elements of the nervous
system?
How does the nervous system communicate
electrical and chemical messages from one
part to another?
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The Neuron
Driving a car,
watching Jason Spezza score a goal for the
Ottawa Senators,
and/ or
holding your pen in class.
These human abilities are a result of our
complex nervous system.
We will look at the functions of the neurons-the cells that
make up
the nervous system.
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Neuron: Basic Structure
The primary components
Neuron: Basic Structure
Dendrites
Receive messages from other neurons
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Neuron: Basic Structure
 Axon: Carries messages destined for other cells
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Neuron: Basic Structure
Myelin Sheath
Cells that wrap themselves around the axon providing
a protective coating and increase velocity of the
electrical impulse
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How Neurons Fire
All-or-none law
Neurons are either on or off
Resting State
Negative electric charge within the
neuron
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How Neurons Fire
Action Potential:
An electric nerve impulse that travels
through a neuron, changing the cell’s
charge from negative to positive
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How Neurons Fire
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Neuron: Basic Structure
Excitatory
messages:
A chemical message
that makes it more
likely that a
receiving neuron will
fire and an action
potential will travel
down its axon.
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Neuron: Basic Structure
Inhibitory
Messages
A chemical
message that
prevents or
decreases the
likelihood of
a receiving
neuron firing.
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Where Neurons Meet: Bridging The Gap
Neurotransmitters
Chemicals that
carry messages
across the
synapse to the
dendrite (and
sometimes the
cell body) of a
receiver
neuron.
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Where Neurons Meet: Bridging The Gap
Synapse
The space
between two
neurons where
the axon
communicates
by using
chemical
messages.
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Neurotransmitters:
Multitalented Chemical Couriers
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Michael J. Fox
• Canadian born Michael J. Fox
was Diagnosed with Parkinson's
disease at the age of 30.
• In 1998 he began his public
crusade for this disease.
• In 2008, he receive an honourary
degree from the University of
British Columbia: an honour that
he said made him feel deeply
humbled and honoured.
• Fox was born in British Columbia
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Recap/Evaluate/Rethink: Module 5
1. Each single neuron is comprised of three key
parts. What are they?
Answer: Axon, dendrites and cell body
2. How do neurons communicate with each other?
Answer: Neurotransmitters
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Module 6:
The Nervous System and the Endocrine System:
Communicating Within the Body
Learning Objectives
How are the structures of the nervous
system linked together?
How does the endocrine system affect
behaviour?
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The Nervous System
Central
and
Peripheral Nervous
Systems
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The Nervous System
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The Central Nervous System
•Is composed of the brain and spinal
cord
•The spinal cord is about the thickness
of a pencil
•contains a bundle of neurons
•leaves the brain and runs down the
length of the back
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Reflex
An automatic, involuntary response to
an incoming stimulus
Three Types of Neurons Involved in Reflexes
1. Sensory (afferent) neurons
Brings in information from the perimeter of the
body to the central nervous system
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Three Types of Neurons Involved in Reflexes
2. Motor (efferent) neurons
Communicate information from the nervous
system to muscles and glands.
Interneurons
Connect sensory and motor neurons, carrying
messages between the two
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pic
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The Evolutionary Foundation of the
Nervous System
Evolutionary Psychology
The branch of psychology that
seeks to identify behaviour patterns
that are a result of our genetic
inheritance from our ancestors.
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Behavioural Genetics
The study of the effects of heredity
on behaviour.
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The Endocrine System
is a chemical communications
network that is controlled and
monitored by the hypothalamus
via the
pituitary gland.
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The Endocrine System
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Pituitary Gland.
The major component of the endocrine
system,
or “master gland”
which secretes hormones that control
growth and other parts of the endocrine
system.
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Hormones
are chemicals
that are produced by the
endocrine system and secreted
into our bloodstream.
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Recap/Evaluate/Rethink: Module 6
1. What branch of psychology seeks to
identify behaviour patterns that are
a result of our genetic inheritance
from our ancestors.
Answer: Evolutionary psychology
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Module 7: The Brain
Learning Objectives
How do researchers identify the major parts and
functions of the brain?
What are the major parts of the brain, and for what
behaviours is each part responsible?
How do the two halves of the brain operate
interdependently?
How can an understanding of the nervous system
help us find ways to alleviate disease and pain?
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The Brain
Is responsible for
our loftiest
thoughts
and
our most
primitive urges
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Studying the Brain’s Structure and Functions:
Spying on the Brain How do we do it?
Research Methods
1. Electroencephalogram (EEG)
2. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
3. Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
4. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
5. Case Studies
6. Neurological Surgical Procedures
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Spying on the Brain
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The Central Core: Our “Old Brain”
The part of the brain
which controls basic
functions such as eating
and sleeping and is
common to all
vertebrates
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CerebelIum: The part of
the brain that controls
bodily balance.
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The Major Structures in the Brain
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The Limbic
System:
Beyond the
Central Core
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The Cerebral Cortex:
Our “New Brain”
• Responsible for the most sophisticated
information processing in the brain;
contains four lobes
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Association Areas of the Brain
The site of higher mental processes such as thought,
language, memory, and speech
Aphasia
Broca’s aphasia
causes interference
with speech
production
Wernicke’s aphasia
produces difficulties
both in
understanding
others’ speech and
the production of
language
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Model of
Injuries
sustained by
Phineas Gage.
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The Specialization of the Hemispheres
Hemispheres
two symmetrical left and
right halves of the brain that
control the side of the body
opposite to their location
Lateralization
the dominance of one
hemisphere of the brain in
specific functions
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Lateralization
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Recap/Evaluate/Rethink: Module 7
1. Which part of the brain is responsible for the
most sophisticated information processing in
the brain.
The Cerebral Cortex: which has also been
referred to as our “New Brain”
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