Biological Behavior

The Nervpous System - Starts with an individual nerve cell called a neuron

                               

Neuroanatomy

Cell Body - the cell's life support center

Dendrites - receives messages from other cells

Axon - passess messages away from the cell body to other neurons, muscles, and glands

Myelin Sheath - covers the axon of some neurons and helps speed neural impulses

Synapse - a structure that permits a neuron to pass a chemical/eletrical signal to another cell

Neurotransmitters - chemical held in terminal buttons that travel throughout synaptic gap

                                     Types of Neurotransmitters
Acetylcholine (ACh) - Deals with motor movement and memory
-Lack of ACh has been linked to Alzheimer's disease



Dopamine - Deals with motor movement and alertness

-Lack of dopamine has been linked to Parkinson's disease

-Too much has been linked to Schizophrenia

Serotonin - Involved in mood control

-Lack of serotonin has been linked to clinial depression

Endorphins - Involved in pain control

-Many of our most addictive drugs deal with endorphins

                                       

                                                 It could be...

• Agonists which makes neuron to fire
• Antagonists which stops neural firing

Types of Neurons

Sensory Neurons (Afferent Neurons) - Take information from the senses to the brain

Inter Neurons - Take messages from Sensory Neurons to other parts of the brain  or to Motor Neurons

Motor Neurons - Take information from brain to the rest of the body

Nervous System

Central Nervous System : The Brain and Spinal Cord

Peripheral Nervous System - All nerves are not encased in bone

-Everything but the brain and spinal cord

-It is dividd into two catergories, Somatic (SNS) and Autonomic (ANS)

Somatic Nervous System - Controls voluntary muscle movement

-uses motor neurons

Autonomic Nervous System -Controls the automatic functoins of the body

-Divided into two catergories, the sympathetic and the parasympathetic

Autonomic Nervous System

Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) - Fight or flight response

-Automatically accelerates heart rate, breathing, filates pupils, slows down digestion

Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS) - Automatically slows the body down, pupils constrict and digestion speeds up

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Reflexes - Normally, sensory (afferent) neurons take info up through the spine to the brain

-Some reactions occur when sensory neurons reach just the spinal cord

Lesions - Cutting into the brain and looking for change ways to steady the brain