The Incredible Nervous System

Collage by Manuel
 Nervous system
• Cordlike bundles of neuron fibers are called
nerves. The nerves form a network of
pathways that conduct information rapidly
throughout the body.
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 4: Incredible Nervous System

ORGANIZATION OF THE Nervous system

• Major divisions of
the nervous system
– central nervous
system - CNS
– peripheral
nervous system -
PNS
 LO 2.5 Brain and spinal cord

Organization of the Nervous System

• Central nervous system (CNS) - part of
the nervous system consisting of the
brain and spinal cord.
–Spinal cord - a long bundle of
neurons that carries messages
–to and from the body to the
–brain that is responsible for
very fast, lifesaving reflexes. Menu
 Organization of the Nervous System
• Peripheral nervous system - PNS
– includes all the nerves that
extend from the spinal cord and
carry messages to and from
various muscles, glands, and
sense organs located throughout
the body
• Subdivisions of the PNS
– somatic nervous system
– autonomic nervous system - ANS
sympathetic division
parasympathetic division
 Organization of the Nervous System
• Somatic nervous system
– network of nerves that connect either to sensory
receptors or to muscles that you can move voluntarily,
such as muscles in your limbs, back, neck, and chest
– nerves contain two kinds of fibers
• Afferent
– sensory fibers; carry information to the brain
• Efferent
– motor fibers; carry information from brain or
spinal cord to the muscles
 Organization of the Nervous System
• Autonomic nervous system - ANS
– regulates heart rate, breathing, blood pressure,
digestion, hormone secretion, and other functions
• Sympathetic division
• triggered by threatening or challenging physical or
psychological stimuli, increases physiological arousal
and prepares the body for action
• Parasympathetic division
– returns the body to a calmer, relaxed state and is
involved in digestion
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 4: Incredible Nervous System

STUDYING THE LIVING BRAIN

• Brain scans
– techniques that can
look through the thick
skull and picture the
brain with
astonishingly clarity
yet cause no damage
to the extremely
delicate brain cells
– MRI and fMRI
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 4: Incredible Nervous System

• MRI STUDYING THE LIVING BRAIN (CONT.)

– magnetic resonance imagery
– involves passing nonharmful
radio frequencies through the
brain
• fMRI
– functional magnetic resonance
imaging
– measures the activity of
specific neurons that are
functioning during cognitive
tasks, such as thinking,
listening
p70 MRI
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 4: Incredible Nervous System

STUDYING THE LIVING BRAIN (CONT.)

– PET scan
positron emission
tomography
– involves injecting a
slightly radioactive
solution into the
blood and then
measuring the
amount of radiation
absorbed by brain
cells called
neurons
p71 PET
p71 THINK OF ANIMALS BRAIN
p71 THINKING OF TOOLS BRAIN
Major Parts of the Brain

Hindbrain
Forebrain
Midbrain
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 4: Incredible Nervous System
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 4: Incredible Nervous System

ORGANIZATION OF THE BRAIN (CONT.)

• Hindbrain
– Has three distinct
structures:
• Pons
• Medulla
• cerebellum
• Pons
– functions as a bridge to interconnect messages between the
spinal cord and brain
– Damage to this area may result in double vision
and partial paralysis of the body.
• Medulla
– located on top of the spinal cord
– includes a group of cells that control vital reflexes, such as
respiration, heart rate, and blood pressure
– Damage to this area may cause death. It also may
create loss of pain and temperature sensation
and make swallowing difficult.
 Cerebellum

– located in the very back and bulging out behind the

pons
– involved in coordinating voluntary rapid and fine
motor movements (driving, typing, walking) but not in
initiating voluntary movements.
• Damage to this area may influence body
movements and hinder walking. Sitting upright may
become impossible. Some evidence also suggests
that damage can cause cognitive problems.
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 4: Incredible Nervous System

ORGANIZATION OF THE BRAIN (CONT.)

• Midbrain
– has a reward or
pleasure center,
stimulated by
food, sex,
money, music,
looking at
attractive faces,
and some drugs
(cocaine)
 reticular formation

Brainstem (midbrain,
pons, medulla) contains
the reticular formation.
RAS arouses the
forebrain so that it is
ready to process
information from the
senses.
Serious injury—
irreversible coma
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 4: Incredible Nervous System

ORGANIZATION OF THE BRAIN (CONT.)

• Forebrain
»largest part of the
brain
– divided into two halves called
– hemispheres. Hence, the
cerebral hemispheres are
– the right and left halves of
the cerebrum
The corpus callosum
is the structure that connects
the two cerebral
hemispheres.
 hemispheres
Lateralization--specialization
We use both for almost every
activity and appears nearly
identical, yet has unique functions
Cerebral dominance
Dominant for language
left hemisphere dominant –right-
handed
Ambidextrous --dyslexia
Language Feeling

Logical
Intuitive

Analytical
Synthesizin

Objective
Fantasy/art
Looks at
parts Holistic
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 4: Incredible Nervous System

CONTROL CENTERS: FOUR LOBES

• Wrinkled
cortex
– a thin
layer of
cells that
essentially
covers the
entire
surface of
the
forebrain
The cerebral cortex is the
convoluted
outer layer of the cerebrum.
The cortex is
folded and bent, so that its
large surface area—about
1.5 square feet—can be
packed into the limited
volume of the skull
 +Cerebral cortex

Each half of brain represents a cerebral hemisphere. Cerebral

cortex
consists of an outer layer of gray matter, beneath which lies a
thick mass of white matter.
The grey matter contains billions of neurons with their
numerous dendritic ramifications and interconnections. The
white matter is composed of axons arising from these
neurons.
The white matter appears white because the axons are
ensheathed in wax-like myelin.
 +Cerebral cortex
The surface of the cortex is extensively convoluted (thrown into folds),
which allows a much larger surface area of the brain to be accommodated
in the limited space within the skull. The surface area of the human cerebral
cortex is estimated to be approximately 2200 cm2, which is about the
size of a full newspaper page. The ridges are called gyri (singular – gyrus)
and the furrows in between the ridges are called sulci (singular – sulcus).
The pattern and size of gyri and sulci are somewhat inconsistent with
individual variations, except for certain prominent deep furrows which
are distributed with considerable regularity in all human beings. Three of
them, called central sulcus (or Rolandic fissure), lateral sulcus (or Sylvian
fissure) and calcarine fissure, are present on each cerebral hemisphere,
which
help in demarcating the lobes
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 4: Incredible Nervous System

Three kinds of
functional areas
•Motor areas
•Sensory areas
•Association areas
mainly act to
integrate diverse
information for
purposeful actions
 CONTROL CENTERS: FOUR LOBES (CONT.)

• Frontal lobe
– involved with personality, emotions, and motor
behaviors
• Parietal lobe
– involved with perception and sensory experiences
• Occipital lobe
– involved with visual processing
• Temporal lobe
– involved with hearing and speaking
 CONTROL CENTERS

• Frontal lobe: functions

– Aids higher intellectual functioning like planning, problem

solving, and personality functioning
– motor cortex
– narrow strip of cortex that is located on the back edge of the
frontal lobe and extends down its side
– involved in the initiation of all voluntary movements
– right side controls left ; left side controls right
– organization and function of motor cortex
The entire body is represented spatially in primary motor
cortex of each hemisphere
 +motor homunculus

The area just in front of the central sulcus is called the

precentral gyrus, which forms the primary motor cortex (Brodmann’s Area).
This area contains a detailed topographical motor representation of the
opposite half of the body, and controls all the skeletal muscle movements
on that side. This area of left cerebral hemisphere controls the
movements of the right half of body; and that of the right controls the left.
A striking feature is that it represents all portions of the body, from head to
toe, but the actual extent of representation of each part of the body varies
greatly. For instance, the area of cortex representing the muscles of face,
tongue and hand occupies a much larger area than to the area of cortex
representing legs and toes – for the simple reason that the muscles of the
face, tongue and hands need many more neurons for finer movement
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 4: Incredible Nervous System

CONTROL CENTERS: FOUR LOBES (CONT.)

•Broca’s area -
• Other functions of located in left
frontal lobe frontal lobe
– much knowledge of necessary for
other frontal lobe
functions comes from combining
individuals who had sounds into
damage to that area words and
arranging words
Phineas Gage into meaningful
sentences
Damage to this lobe
• may alter a person’s
ability to execute plans
• may make them
inconsiderate or passive.
• may hurt movement.
 A story related in almost every introductory text in psychology
concerned the unfortunate fate of railroad worker Phineas Gage in
1848. An explosion at a construction site drove a three-foot tamping rod
upward through Gage’s left cheek, into his left temporal lobe, and out
the top of his head. Remarkably, Gage survived the accident (he even
remained conscious throughout) and recovered physically, but with
notable psychological results. His personality seemed affected by the
accident. He became irresponsible, his likes and dislikes changed, and
his moral sense was altered. Gage’s case seemed to indicate that not
only were cognitive processes and events directly linked to brain
function, but personality and social functioning might also be
influenced. (Neurologist Antonio Damasio asked of this incident
whether it would be fair to say that Gage’s “soul was diminished (by the
blow), or that he’d lost his soul?”
In front of the Premotor cortex
motor cortex
Memory bank for
skilled motor
activities
Coordinates the
movement of
several muscle
groups
Broca’s area
Directs muscles
involved in
speech
production
 Broca’s Area

If damaged, person knows what s/he

wants to say but can’t say the words
 CONTROL CENTERS: FOUR LOBES (CONT.)
• Parietal lobe:
function
– location of
somatosensory
cortex
– narrow strip of
cortex that is
located on the
front edge of
the parietal
lobe and
extends down
its side
responsible for
processing
information from
the skin and internal
body receptors for
touch, temperature,
body position, and
possibly taste.
p77 SENSORY HOMUNCULUS
 CONTROL CENTERS: FOUR LOBES (CONT.)

• Other functions of parietal lobe

– involved in several cognitive functions,
including recognizing objects, remembering
items, and perceiving and analyzing objects in
space
 parietal lobe

• Damage to this
lobe may
interfere with
the recognition
of touch and
pain. It also may
jumble
knowledge of
where the body
is in space.
 Association areas

• The association areas integrate information from

different receptors or sensory areas and relate the
information to past experiences. Then the brain makes
a decision and sends nerve impulses to the motor areas
to generate responses.

• Areas within each lobe of the cortex responsible for the

coordination and interpretation of information, as well
as higher mental processing.
 Somatosensory association cortex

• Major function
to integrate sensory inputs (temperature, pressure, and so
forth) relayed to it via the primary somatosensory cortex to
produce an understanding of an object being felt: its size,
texture, and the relationship of its parts. For example,
when you reach into your pocket, your somatosensory
association cortex draws upon stored memories of past
sensory experiences to perceive the objects you feel as
coins or keys. Someone with damage to this area could not
recognize these objects without looking at them.
 CONTROL CENTERS: FOUR LOBES (CONT.)

• Temporal lobe: functions

– primary auditory cortex
– located on top edge of each temporal lobe,
– Connected with hearing
receives electrical signals from receptors in
the ears and transforms these signals into
meaningful sound sensations, such as
vowels and consonants
p78 TEMPORAL LOBE
 CONTROL CENTERS: FOUR LOBES (CONT.)

• Temporal lobe: functions

– auditory association area
– located directly below the primary auditory
cortex
– transforms basic sensory information, such
as noises or sounds, into recognizable
auditory information, such as words or
music
 CONTROL CENTERS: FOUR LOBES (CONT.)

• Temporal lobe: functions

[Broca’s area - frontal lobe
• located in left frontal lobe]
• necessary for combining sounds into words and
arranging words into meaningful sentences]
– Wernicke’s area
• located in the left temporal lobe
• necessary for forming coherent sentences and
for understanding speech
p78 BROCA’S WERNIKE’S
 Wernicke’s Area

• Related to language comprehension

– If damaged, person has problems with
meanings of words, NOT pronunciation
• Damage to this lobe may result in an
inability to recognize faces, even those of
close family members. It also can result
in dramatic hallucinations and loss of
memory.
CONTROL CENTERS: FOUR LOBES (CONT.)

• Occipital lobe: functions

– vision
– primary visual cortex
– located at the very back of the occipital lobe
– receives electrical signals from receptors in
the eyes and transforms these signals into
meaningless basic visual sensations, such as
lights, lines, shadows, colors, and textures
 CONTROL CENTERS: FOUR LOBES (CONT.)
• Occipital lobe: functions
– visual association area
– transforms basic sensations,
such as lights, lines, colors,
and textures, into complete,
meaningful visual
perceptions, such as
persons, objects, or animals
• Damage to the primary
visual cortex results in
functional blindness. By
contrast, the damage to
the visual association
area can see but they do
not comprehend what
they are looking at.
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 4: Incredible Nervous System

• Structures and LIMBIC SYSTEM: OLD BRAIN

functions
Hypothalamus
Amygdala
Thalamus
Hippocampus
p80 LIMBIC SYSTEM
 LIMBIC SYSTEM: OLD BRAIN (CONT.)
• Hypothalamus
– regulates many
motivational
behaviors, including
eating, drinking, and
sexual responses;
emotional behaviors
such as arousing the
body when fighting or
fleeing, and secretion
of hormones, such as
occurs at puberty
Damage to this area may result
in a variety of effects ranging
from problems regulating body
temperature to emotional
disturbances. Damage also may
trigger diabetes insipidus, a
condition characterized by
extreme thirst and the excretion
of large amounts of urine.
 Amygdala

– located in the tip of the temporal lobe

– receives input from all the senses
– evaluates the emotional significance of stimuli and
facial expressions, especially those involving fear,
distress, or threat
Damage to this area may
result in inappropriate or
peculiar episodes of rage
and sexual behavior.
 LIMBIC SYSTEM: OLD BRAIN (CONT.)

• Thalamus
– gathers and processes information from the senses
– involved in receiving sensory information, doing
some initial processing, and then relaying the
sensory information to areas of the cortex
– Damage to this area may result in reduced or
boosted sensitivity to heat, cold, pain and
pressure.
 Hippocampus

– curved structure inside the temporal lobe

– Involved in saving many kinds of fleeting
memories by putting them into permanent
storage in various parts of the brain
• Damage to this area may result in memory
impairment
Brain Structures and their Functions
Major Structures of the Brain
 ENDOCRINE SYSTEM

• Endocrine System
– Made up of numerous glands that are located
throughout the body. Glands secrete various
chemicals called hormones.
• Pituitary
• Pancreas
• Thyroid
• Adrenal glands
• Gonads
Hormones and nervous system

Menu
 ENDOCRINE SYSTEM (CONT.)
• Pituitary gland
– hangs below the hypothalamus
– divided into anterior and posterior
• Posterior
– rear portion
– regulates water and salt balance
• Anterior
– front portion
– regulates growth through secretion of growth
hormone
– produces hormones that control the adrenal cortex,
thyroid, and pancreas
 ENDOCRINE SYSTEM (CONT.)
• Pancreas
– regulates the level of sugar in the
bloodstream by secreting insulin
• Thyroid
– located in the neck
– regulates metabolism through secretion of
hormones
 ENODCRINE SYSTEM (CONT.)

• Adrenal glands
– adrenal cortex (outside part)
– secretes hormones that regulate sugar and salt
balance
– adrenal medulla (inside part)
– secretes two hormones that arouse the body to deal
with stress and emergencies
– epinephrine (adrenaline)
– norepinephrine (noradrenaline)
 ENDOCRINE SYSTEM (CONT.)

• Gonads
– Females
• ovaries produce hormones that regulate sexual
development, ovulation, and growth of sex
organs
– Males
• testes produce hormones that regulate sexual
development, production of sperm, and growth of
sex organs