Biopsychology

?

KEY ASSUMPTIONS OF BIOPSYCHOLOGY

  • Behaviour and experiences are caused by activity in the nervous system
  • The nervous system transmits signals for communication via billions of nerve cells
  • Nerve cells communicate with each other through electrical and chemical impulses
1 of 14

NEURONS

  • Cells that conducts nerve impulses
  • The things that people thinks, say, do and feel are controlled by electrochemical events occuring between neurons
  • Image result for labelled neuron
2 of 14

TYPES OF NEURONS

  • Sensory neurons carry messages from the peripheral nervous system to the central nervous system, they have long dendrites and short axons
  • Relay neurons connect the sensory neurons to the motor neurons or other relay neurons, they have short dendrites and axons
  • Motor neurons connect the central nervous system to the effectors e.g muscles or glands, they have short dendrites and long axons
3 of 14

ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION

  • In resting neurons the inside of the cell is negatively charged and the outside positively charged 
  • When activated by a stimulus the inside becomes positively charged for a split seconed creating an action potential
  • This creates an electrical impulse that travels down the axon toward the end of the neuron
4 of 14

SYNAPTIC TRANSMISSION

  • Neurotransmitters are stored in vesicles at the end of the neuron (pre-synaptic terminal)
  • When the electrical impulse reaches the end of the neuron these neurotransmitters are released into the synapse
  • These neurotransmitters move along the synapse and attach to the receptors on the dendrite of the cell (post-synaptic terminal)
  • Enzymes are then released into the synapse and any left over neurons are either destroyed by the enzymes or taken back up in a process called reuptake

Image result for synaptic transmission simple diagram

5 of 14

THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

Related image

6 of 14

THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM

  • Made up of the brain and the spinal cord 
  • The brain is the centre of all consciousness and the spine is responsible for reflex actions
  • The central nervous system connects nerves to the peripheral nervous system
7 of 14

THE PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM

  • Transmits messages via millions of neurons to and from the central nervous system
  • It is subdivided into the somatic nervous system and the autonomic nervous system
8 of 14

THE SOMATIC NERVOUS SYSTEM

  • Part of the peripheral nervous system that is responsible for carrying sensory and motor information to and from the spinal cord
9 of 14

THE AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM

  • Governs vital functions in the body e.g breathing, heart rate and digestion
  • Subdivided into the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system
10 of 14

PARASYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM

  • Increases digestion, decreases heart rate, contracts bladder e.t.c
  • Your parasympathetic nervous system kicks in to return you body to normal after a response to fear 
11 of 14

SYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM

  • The sympathetic nervous system acts opposingly to that of the parasympathetic nervous system
  • E.g it slows digestion, increases heart rate, dilates pupils e.t.c
  • It kicks in as a response to fear of the environment, it forms part of the fight or flight response
12 of 14

FIGHT OR FLIGHT RESPONSE

  • The sympathetic nervous system is responsible for this
  • It creates bodily changes when we are faced with a situation in which we may need to defend ourselves or escape
  • Anxiety and fear are important for survival becuase they are mechanisms to protect are body from stress and anger
  • In order to return to normal the parasympathetic nervous kicks in 
13 of 14

THE ENDOCRINE SYSTEM

  • Responsible for bodily functions such as cell growth
  • Various glands in the body are responsible for secreting hormones in the bloodstream that can effect any cell that have hormone receptors on them
  • The nervous system and endocrine system work together to allow the body to function properly
14 of 14

Comments

No comments have yet been made

Similar Psychology resources:

See all Psychology resources »See all Biopsychology resources »