Transcript Acetylcholine (ACh)

Chapter 2: The Biology Underlying
Behavior
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
The Neuron

Nerve cells, the basic
elements of the nervous
system
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
Neuron: Basic Structure

Dendrites
– receive messages
from other neurons
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
Neuron: Structure

Axon
– Carries messages
destined for other
cells

Myelin Sheath
– wrap themselves
around the axon
providing a
protective coating
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

All-or-none law
– Neurons are either on or off

Resting State
– Negative electric charge
within the neuron

Action Potential
– An electric nerve impulse
that travels through a
neuron, changing the cell’s
charge from negative to
positive
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Neurotransmitters
– Chemicals that
carry messages
across the
synapse to the
dendrite (and
sometimes the
cell body) of a
receiver neuron

Synapse
– A chemical
connection
that bridges
the gap
between two
neurons
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Excitatory messages
– A chemical secretion that
makes it more likely that a
receiving neuron will fire
and an action potential will
travel down its axon.

Inhibitory Messages
– A chemical secretion that
prevents a receiving neuron
from firing

Reuptake
– The reabsorption of
neurotransmitters by a
terminal button
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Location
– Brain, spinal cord,
peripheral nervous
system, especially some
organs of the
parasympathetic
nervous system

Effect
– Excitatory in brain and
autonomic nervous
system; inhibitory
elsewhere

Acetylcholine (ACh)
Function
– Muscle movement;
cognitive functioning
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Location
– Brain, spinal cord

Effect
– Excitatory

Function
– Memory
Glutamate
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Location
– Brain, spinal cord

Effect
– Main inhibitory
neurotransmitter

Function
– Eating, aggression, sleeping
Gamma-amino
butyric acid (GABBA)
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Location
– Brain

Effect
– Inhibitory or excitatory

Function
– Muscle disorders, mental
disorders, Parkinson’s
disease
Dopamine
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Location
– Brain, spinal cord

Effect
– Inhibitory

Function
– Sleeping, eating, mood,
pain, depression
Serotonin
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Location
– Brain, spinal cord

Effect
– Primarily inhibitory, except
in hippocampus

Function
– Pain suppression,
pleasurable feelings,
appetites, placebos
Endorphins
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
Central Nervous System (CNS)





Spinal Cord
Reflexes
Sensory (Afferent) Neurons
Motor (Efferent) Neurons
Interneurons
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
The Nervous System

Evolutionary
psychology
– the branch of psychology
that seeks to identify
behavior patterns that
are a result of our genetic
inheritance from our
ancestors

Behavioral genetics
– the study of the effects of
heredity on behavior
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
Spying on the Brain
Research Methods







Electroencephalogram (EEG)
Computerized Axial
Tomography (CAT) Scan
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
(MRI)
Positron Emission Tomography
(PET)
Superconducting Quantum
Interference Device (SQUID)
Case Studies
Neurological Surgical
Procedures
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Central Core
– controls such
basic functions as
eating and
sleeping

Medulla
 Pons
 Reticular
Formation
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Cerebellum
– controls bodily
balance

Thalamus
– relay station for
information
concerning
senses

Hypothalamus
– maintains
homeostasis and
produces vital
basic behavior
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
Limbic System

Controls
eating,
aggression,
and
reproduction
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Cerebral
Cortex
– responsible
for the most
sophisticated
information
processing in
the brain

Association
Areas
– Apraxia
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Motor Area
– responsible for
voluntary movements
of particular parts of
the body

Speech areas
– Broca’s area
– Wernicke’s area

Sensory Area
– somatosensory area
– auditory area
– visual area
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
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
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
The Split Brain



Right and left hemispheres
Surgically cutting the corpus
callosum
Split Brain Patients
– a person who suffers from
independent functioning of
the two halves of the brain
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
The Endocrine System

Endocrine system
– sends messages
throughout the
nervous system

Hormones
– affect the functioning
or growth of other
parts of the body

Pituitary gland
– the “master gland”
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.