1. Brain, Body and Behavior

2. The Neuron
Neuron = nerve cell; transmit electrical & chemical info throughout the body
Dendrites = parts of neurons that receive information from the axons of other neurons.
Axon = part of the neuron that carries messages away from the cell to the dendrites on another neuron.

3. How nerve cells communicate
Electric impulses travel down a neuron’s axon to the synapse
When impulses reach axon terminal, neurotransmitters are released, cross the synaptic gap
The sending neuron normally reasorbes excess neurotransmitter molecules called uptake

4. Or you can think of it as like the flushing of a toilet…
See handout 

5. Nervous Systems
Somatic Nervous System = all nerves outside the brain and spinal cord
Voluntary control of skeletal muscles
Peripheral Nervous System = sensory and motor nerves
Autonomic Nervous System = the automatic control system of the body
Breathing, heart rate, digestion, etc…

6. Nervous systems Sympathetic Nervous System
Gets you ready for “fight or flight”
Mobilizes energy in a stressful situation
Parasympathetic nervous system
Calms you down
Acts like a parachute

7. Endocrine System Glands that secret hormones
Master gland = pituitary gland

8. Why study the brain? It controls EVERYTHING!
It uses energy, sugar, produces current and has 100 billion nerve endings
Scientists have only mapped about 11% of the brain.
Left to wonder, what else can it do…

9. Cerebral Cortex Controls the higher level functions of the brain.
The nerve endings can grow and connect at random here
This is what starts the process of forming intelligence
If unwound, it would be about 9 square feet in size

11. The Brain’s Hemispheres
The right side of the brain controls muscles on the left side of the body
The left side of the brain controls muscles on the right side of the body.
People who are right handed are better in “logical” settings
People who are left handed are better in arts.

12. The Hemispheres The brain is divided into 2 halves
What connects the two sides is the Corpus Callosum
The nerve bundle that connects the 2 halves

13. The Hemispheres
People who had damage to a particular area on the left side of the brain had speech and language problems.
People with damage to these areas on the right side usually did not have any language problems

15. Frontal Lobe Play am important part in:
Impulse control
Judgment
Language production
Working memory
Motor function
Problem solving
Sexual behavior
Socialization and spontaneity
Assists in planning, coordinating, controlling & executing behavior.

16. Frontal Lobe Self-Realization is located here
Motor Strip and Sensory Strip are located here
Damage to this area can make is so someone does not “piece together” the results of their actions.

17. The Lobes Parietal Lobe
The parietal lobe integrates sensory information from different modalities, particularly determining spatial sense and navigation
can be divided into two functional regions.
One involves sensation and perception
the other is concerned with integrating sensory input, primarily with the visual system.
Individuals with damage to the parietal lobes often show striking deficits, such as abnormalities in body image and spatial relations

18. Occipital Lobe
The occipital lobes are the center of our visual perception system.
Disorders of the occipital lobe can cause visual hallucinations and illusions.

19. Temporal Lobe
The temporal lobes are highly associated with memory skills
The temporal lobes are involved in the primary organization of sensory input, mostly hearing and speech

20. What If…? What if there was no Corpus Callosum?
- In an experiment, a women blushed when she saw a nude women; however, when asked why she blushed, she did not know.

21. Phineas Gage