Chapter 3

The Nervous System  Two main parts Central Nervous System: the brain and the spinal cord Peripheral Nervous System: contains nerve cells; has two divisions ○ Somatic Nervous System: activated by touch, pain, and temp ○ Automatic Nervous System: regulates the body’s vital functions (like our heartbeat)

The Brain

Parts of the Brain  Pons: help regulate sleep  Cerebellum: controls balance and coordination  Limbic System: involved in learning, memory, emotion, hunger, sex, and aggression  Cerebrum/Cerebral Cortex: the part that does the thinking

The Two Halves  Connected by the corpus callosum  Information received by one side of the body is transmitted to the opposite hemisphere of the brain  Don’t act independently, but some think… Right brained people are creative Left brained people are logical

The Endocrine System  Contains the glands that release hormones into our bloodstream Pituitary Gland: releases growth hormones Thyroid Gland: controls our metabolism Adrenal Glands: help us with stressful situations Testes/Ovaries: important for reproduction

Heredity: Our Genetic Background  Heredity: passing along traits from parents to offspring  Nature-Nurture Debate: How did we develop who we are? Through Nature: our genetic make-up Through Nurture: from our environment

Kinship Studies  Explore the Nature-Nurture Debate Twin Studies: look at identical and fraternal twins Adoptee Studies: look at siblings not raised together Twins Reared Apart: combines Twin Studies and Adoptee Studies  Read about Bouchard’s study on page 73 and answer the question at the bottom. Do you agree with Bouchard?

Your Assignment  Using information from the book, sketch the brain in your notes  Label at least 7 areas  I’ll check this tomorrow for ten points