CHAPTER 3:

BIOPSYCHOLOGY
Agenda for today:
• The nervous system from a macro-level

• The nervous system from a micro-level

• Communication in the nervous system

• Old and new brain structure and function

• Brain lateralization and neuroplasticity

• Imaging techniques
 BEFORE WE START!!!
You should be able to recognize (conceptually) and apply (to specific examples) the following outcomes.

• The structure and function of: dendrites, axons, myelin sheath, glial cells and synapses
• Where neurotransmitters are produced, what function they perform (in general), and how they interact with dendrites
on post-synaptic neurons
• The parts of the neural communication process: resting potential, action potential, refractory period, threshold, all-or-
nothing response
• What happens during an action potential and what happens in the synaptic gap when an action potential is fired
• The basic difference between the central and peripheral nervous systems
• The basic difference between the autonomic and the somatic nervous systems
• The basic difference between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems
 BEFORE WE START!!!
You should be able to recognize (conceptually) and apply (to specific examples) the following outcomes.

• The meaning of the term neuroplasticity (often just plasticity)

• How sensory/motor functions are lateralized in the brain
• The general location and basic functions of the following regions: occipital lobes, parietal lobes, temporal lobes, frontal
lobes (and prefrontal cortex), and the corpus callosum
• What happened to Phineas Gage and what that tells us about the brain
• The general location and functions of the following structures: brainstem, thalamus, reticular formation, medulla,
cerebellum, the limbic system (hippocampus, amygdala, hypothalamus)
• What the following tools of discovery measure physically: EEG, CT, PET scan, MRI/fMRI
The relevance of the nervous system in Psychology
• Our nervous system is linked to and controls many different bodily systems, including the
digestive, endocrine, and immune systems
• In order to understand behavior, we need to understand how the brain functions
• The nervous system allows us to:
- Feel pain and pleasure
- Experience emotions
- Learn and use language
- Plan goals
- Have thoughts and memories
- Control our movement and coordination
The nervous system
• The nervous system is divided into the:
- Central nervous system (CNS): Made of the brain and the spinal cord
- Peripheral nervous system (PNS): Includes all the nerves that branch
out from the brain and spinal cord

• The CNS receives, processes, and responds to sensory stimuli

• The PNS sends sensory information from the body to the CNS and
transmits commands from the CNS to the rest of the body
 The nervous system

CNS PNS

Somatic nervous system Autonomic nervous system

Sympathetic nervous system Parasympathetic nervous system

The somatic vs autonomic nervous system
• The somatic nervous system:
- Is associated with the voluntary control of body movements using
skeletal muscles
- Also includes the nerves that carry information from senses
- Examples include swallowing, blinking, walking
- Also includes the somatic reflex arc

• The autonomic nervous system:

• Regulates involuntary physiological processes
• Connects the brain to the visceral organs
• Examples include respiration, digestion, heart rate, blood pressure
The sympathetic vs parasympathetic nervous system
• The sympathetic nervous system:
- Activates bodily processes that alert us
- Also known as the fight or flight response
- Its purpose is to prepare individuals for danger
- Examples include: increase in heart rate, increase in cardiac output,
skeletal muscle vasodilation, bronchial and pupillary dilation, and
gastrointestinal vasoconstriction.

• The parasympathetic nervous system:

- Helps our body enter into a state of relaxation and recovery
- Also known as the rest and digest response
- Its purpose is to return the body back to a calm state of balance
- Examples include: gastrointestinal vasodilation, decrease in heart rate
and blood pressure, pupillary constriction.
 The basic building blocks of the nervous system
dendrites • The neuron is the fundamental unit of the nervous system
• Neurons send and receive information – communication is
electrochemical
• The neuron has 3 main components:
- Dendrites: thin fibers that extend from the cell body and receive signals
Cell body - Cell body: contains the nucleus and carries out most of the basic cellular
functions
- Axon: long thin fiber that carries nerve impulses to other neurons

Myelin sheath Axonal terminal

axon
 The basic building blocks of the nervous system
Dendrites • other important neuronal components:
- Myelin sheath: insulating layer covering the axon. It speeds up the
electrical transmission along the axon.
- Synapse: gap where neurons connect and communicate with each other

Cell body

Synapse

Myelin sheath

Axon

Axonal terminal
Communication in the nervous system
• Communication between neurons is “electrochemical”
- electrical: via action potential
- Chemical: via neurotransmitters

• Neurotransmitters: chemical messengers used to amplify, transmit, and convert signals between neurons. Many different
neurotransmitters have been discovered and these have been linked to multiple processes including emotions, memory,
thoughts, learning, and movements. Some examples of neurotransmitters include:
- Excitatory neurotransmitters: like glutamate, acetylcholine, epinephrine, histamine, dopamine
- Inhibitory neurotransmitters: like GABA, serotonin, dopamine

• Excitatory neurotransmitters: increase the likelihood that the neuron will fire an action potential
• Inhibitory neurotransmitters: decrease the likelihood that the neuron will fire an action potential
Communication in the nervous system
• Communication between neurons is “electrochemical”
- electrical: via action potential
- Chemical: via neurotransmitters

• Action potential: The rapid change in membrane potential across the membrane of neurons via ions (charged particles).
- Charged ions of interest: Sodium (Na+), Potassium (K+), Chloride (Cl-)
- The rapid change in charge from negative to positive and then back to negative in the membrane represents the action
potential
Changes in membrane potential during action potential
Communication in the nervous system
• To elicit a response (i.e. action potential), there needs to be a stimulus
• The stimulus can be the release of a neurotransmitter from the presynaptic neuron to the post-synaptic neuron
- excitatory neurotransmitters produce an action potential and inhibitory neurotransmitters inhibit one from forming
- The action potential is an all-or-none phenomenon: A threshold of excitation should be reached to elicit an action potential.
The role of glial cells in the nervous system
• In addition to neurons, the nervous system is also made of glial cells
• Glial cells: Non-neuronal cells that support and protect the neurons
• Different types of glial cells exist:
- Oligodendrocytes: Responsible for producing myelin in CNS
- Schwann cells: Responsible for producing myelin in PNS
- Microglia: Provide immune functions in the CNS
- Astrocytes: help in neurotransmitter clearance from synapse, maintaining blood brain barrier, and maintaining ion
and water homeostasis

Myelin sheath: Insulates the neuron and aids in action potential propagation
The anatomy and physiology of the brain
Hindbrain Structures
Medulla: controls automated processes like breathing, blood pressure, and heart rate.
Pons: connects the brain and the spinal cord; involved in regulating brain activity
during sleep
Cerebellum: controls our balance, coordination, movement, and motor skills, and it is
thought to be important in processing some types of memory.

Midbrain Structures
Reticular formation: important in regulating the sleep/wake cycle, arousal,
alertness, and motor activity. Reticular
formation
Substantia Nigra: where dopamine is produced; involved in control of movement.
Ventral tegmental area (VTA): where dopamine is produced; associated with
mood, reward, and addiction.
Forebrain Structures
• The largest part of the brain and it contains:

- The cerebral cortex (cerebrum): carries out higher-level functions

- The limbic system: the emotion and memory circuit in the brain

- The thalamus: sensory relay station

- The hypothalamus: maintains homeostasis

- The pituitary gland: the master gland in the endocrine system

The cerebral cortex
• This is the surface of the brain that is associated with our highest mental capabilities such as
consciousness, thought, emotion, reasoning, language and memory.
• It can be broken up into four lobes, each with a different function.
The corpus callosum
• The corpus callosum connects the left and right hemispheres of the brain and allows them to
communicate.
• It is made of a bundle of myelinated nerve fibers
The frontal Lobe
• Involved in executive functioning (planning, organization, judgement, attention,
reasoning), motor control, emotion, and language.
It contains:
- The Motor cortex: strip of cortex involved in planning and coordinating movement.
- The Prefrontal cortex: responsible for higher-level cognitive functioning.

The parietal Lobe

• Involved in processing various sensory and perceptual information.
• Contains the primary somatosensory cortex.
• Somatosensory cortex: essential for processing sensory information from across the
body, such as touch, temperature, and pain.
The temporal Lobe
• Associated with hearing, memory, emotion and some aspects of language.
• It contains the auditory cortex: strip of cortex in the temporal lobe that is
responsible for processing auditory information.

The occipital Lobe

• Associated with visual processing.
• Contains the primary visual cortex which is responsible for interpreting incoming
visual information.
Lateralization of function
• The left hemisphere controls the right side of the body and the right hemisphere controls the left
side of the body
• Hemispheric lateralization is the idea that each hemisphere is responsible for different functions.
Each of these functions is localized to either the right or left side.
• Each hemisphere in the brain is also believed to be specialized to attend to different information
- For example: monitoring for predators (carried out by right hemisphere) and searching for food
(carried out by left hemisphere)
- This optimizes cognitive capacity so we can analyze objects while also attaining to the overall
holistic picture
Damage to the cerebral cortex: A case study

• Before the accident - Well-mannered and soft-spoken.

• After the accident - Started behaving in odd and inappropriate ways.
These changes were consistent with loss of impulse control (a function
of the frontal lobe).

 This study provided proof for localization of function in the brain

Phineas Gage
Neuroplasticity
• The brain’s ability to adapt to change and adapt due to experiences
• The brain can reorganize its wiring, remove connections that are not needed, and grow new
neurons and glial cells to adapt to changing environments or to brain injury

Girl who survives with only half of her brain

The limbic system
• The Limbic system is involved in mediating emotional response and memory.

It is made up of a number of different structures, some of the most important ones being:
Thalamus
- Amygdala: involved in our experience of emotion and tying emotional meaning to our
memories. Involved in processing fear and aggression.
- Hippocampus: structure associated with learning and memory (in particular spatial memory).
- Hypothalamus: regulates homeostatic processes including body temperature, appetite and
blood pressure.
- Thalamus: serves as the relay center of the brain where most senses (excluding smell) are
routed before being directed to other areas of the brain for processing.
The pituitary gland

• The master gland of the endocrine system and is controlled by the hypothalamus

• Releases hormones that aids in:

- Growth
- Metabolism
- Sexual maturity
- Reproduction
Imaging techniques
• Imaging techniques that use radiation
- CT scans
- PET scans
• Imaging techniques that use magnetic fields
- MRI
- fMRI
• Imaging techniques that use electrical activity
• EEG
CT and PET scans
CT scans (computerized tomography)
• Involves x-rays and creates an image through x-rays passing through varied densities within
the brain.
• A CT scan be used to show brain tumors.

PET scans (positron emission tomography)

• Involves injecting individuals with a mildly radioactive substance and monitoring changes in
blood flow to different regions of the brain.
• A PET scan is helpful for showing activity in different parts of the brain.
MRI and fMRI scans
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
• magnetic fields used to produce a picture of the tissue being imaged.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

• MRI that show changes in metabolic activity over time.
EEG scans
• Stands for electroencephalography
• Involves recording the electrical activity of the brain via electrodes on the scalp.
• Using caps with electrodes, modern EEG research can study the precise timing of overall brain
activities by tracking amplitude and frequency of brainwaves.