1. Introductory Psychology Concepts
The Nervous System
Introductory Psychology Concepts
The Nervous System

2. Central Nervous System
Complex network carrying information throughout the body
Central Nervous System
Nervous System
Peripheral Nervous
System (PNS)
Central Nervous
System (CNS)
Composed of the brain and spinal cord.
Spinal cord is the primary means for transmitting messages between the brain and the rest of the body.

3. Central Nervous System (CNS)
The Central Nervous System
Central Nervous System
Central Nervous System (CNS)
Brain
Spinal cord
Forebrain
Midbrain
Hindbrain
Thalamus
Hypothalamus
Cerebellum
Pons
Medulla
Cerebrum
Limbic system
Corpus callosum

4. Peripheral Nervous System
Complex network carrying information throughout the body
Peripheral Nervous System
Nervous System
Central Nervous
System (CNS)
Peripheral Nervous
System (PNS)
Made up of neurons with long axons and dendrites.
Branches out from the spinal cord and brain to reach the extremities of the body.

5. Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)
Somatic division
Voluntary muscle activation
Autonomic division
Controls smooth muscle, cardiac muscle, and glands;
Basically involuntary
Sympathetic (generally activates)
Parasympathetic (generally inhibits)

6. Peripheral -Somatic System
Sensory neurons: Carrying messages to the central nervous system
Motor neurons: Carrying messages from the central nervous system to the voluntary muscles
Dendrites
Axon
Cell body
Myelin sheath
Terminal buttons
The Primary Components of the Neuron

7. Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)
Somatic division
Somatic division
Voluntary muscle activation
Autonomic division
Autonomic division
Controls smooth muscle, cardiac muscle, and glands;
Basically involuntary
Sympathetic (generally activates)
Parasympathetic (generally inhibits)

8. Sympathetic division:
Eye: Dilates pupil
Salivary glands: Inhibits flow of saliva
Heart: Accelerates heartbeat
Lungs: Dilates bronchi
Digestive tract: Inhibits digestion
Liver: Stimulates release of glylcogen
Urinary bladder: Inhibits bladder contraction
Chain of sympathetic ganglia
Ganglion
Secretion of epinephrine by adrenal gland
Postganglionic fibers
Sympathetic division:
Fight or flight response
Acts to prepare the body for action in stressful situations, engaging all the organism’s resources to respond to a threat.

9. Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)
Somatic division
Somatic division
Voluntary muscle activation
Autonomic division
Autonomic division
Controls smooth muscle, cardiac muscle, and glands;
Basically involuntary
Sympathetic (generally activates)
Parasympathetic (generally inhibits)

10. Parasympathetic division:
Maintaining normal functions
Acts to calm the body after an emergency or stressful situation has ended.
Eye: Constricts pupil
Salivary glands: Stimulates flow of saliva
Heart: Slows heartbeat
Lungs: Constricts bronchi
Digestive tract: Stimulates digestion
Liver: Stimulates release of bile
Urinary bladder: Contracts bladder

11. Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)
Somatic division
Somatic division
Voluntary muscle activation
Autonomic division
Autonomic division
Controls smooth muscle, cardiac muscle, and glands;
Basically involuntary
Sympathetic (generally activates)
Parasympathetic (generally inhibits)

12. Quick Quiz
Write down everything you remember from the presentation

13. Identify parts of the neuron and synapse and describe how they communicate information.

14. Identify parts of the neuron and synapse and describe how they communicate information.

15. Identify parts of the neuron and synapse and describe how they communicate information.

16. Introductory Psychology Concepts
Thalamus
Corpus callosum
Hypothalamus
Pituitary gland
Pons
Medulla
Reticular formation
Spinal cord
Brain stem
Cerebellum
Cerebrum
Amygdala
Hippocampus
The Brain

17. The Brain - Major Structures and Their Function
Amygdala
Hippocampus
Cerebrum
Thalamus
Corpus callosum
Hypothalamus
Pituitary gland
Pons
Cerebellum
Medulla
Brain stem
Reticular formation
Spinal cord

18. The Brain - Major Structures and Their Function
Amygdala
Hippocampus
Cerebrum
Corpus callosum Bridge of fibers passing information between the two cerebral hemispheres
Thalamus
Corpus callosum
Hypothalamus
Pituitary gland
Pons
Cerebellum
Medulla
Brain stem
Reticular formation
Spinal cord

19. The Brain - Major Structures and Their Function
Amygdala
Hippocampus
Cerebrum
Thalamus Relay center for incoming sensory information
Thalamus
Corpus callosum
Hypothalamus
Pituitary gland
Pons
Cerebellum
Medulla
Brain stem
Reticular formation
Spinal cord

20. The Brain - Major Structures and Their Function
Amygdala
Hippocampus
Cerebrum
Cerebrum Involved in sensing, thinking, learning, emotion, consciousness, and voluntary movement
Thalamus
Corpus callosum
Hypothalamus
Pituitary gland
Pons
Cerebellum
Medulla
Brain stem
Reticular formation
Spinal cord

21. The Brain - Major Structures and Their Function
Amygdala
Hippocampus
Cerebrum
Amygdala Limbic system structure involved in emotion and aggression
Thalamus
Corpus callosum
Hypothalamus
Pituitary gland
Pons
Cerebellum
Medulla
Brain stem
Reticular formation
Spinal cord

22. The Brain - Major Structures and Their Function
Amygdala
Hippocampus
Cerebrum
Hippocampus Limbic system structure involved in learning and memory
Thalamus
Corpus callosum
Hypothalamus
Pituitary gland
Pons
Cerebellum
Medulla
Brain stem
Reticular formation
Spinal cord

23. The Brain - Major Structures and Their Function
Amygdala
Hippocampus
Cerebrum
Cerebellum Coordinates fine muscle movement, balance
Thalamus
Corpus callosum
Hypothalamus
Pituitary gland
Pons
Cerebellum
Medulla
Brain stem
Reticular formation
Spinal cord

24. The Brain - Major Structures and Their Function
Amygdala
Hippocampus
Cerebrum
Brain stem
Thalamus
Corpus callosum
Hypothalamus
Pituitary gland
Pons
Cerebellum
Medulla
Brain stem
Reticular formation
Spinal cord

25. The Brain - Major Structures and Their Function
Amygdala
Hippocampus
Cerebrum
Spinal cord Transmits information between brain and rest of body; handles simple reflexes
Thalamus
Corpus callosum
Hypothalamus
Pituitary gland
Pons
Cerebellum
Medulla
Brain stem
Reticular formation
Spinal cord

26. The Brain - Major Structures and Their Function
Amygdala
Hippocampus
Cerebrum
Reticular formation Group of fibers that carries stimulation related to sleep and arousal through brain stem
Thalamus
Corpus callosum
Hypothalamus
Pituitary gland
Pons
Cerebellum
Medulla
Brain stem
Reticular formation
Spinal cord

27. The Brain - Major Structures and Their Function
Amygdala
Hippocampus
Cerebrum
Medulla Regulates vital functions such as breathing and circulation
Thalamus
Corpus callosum
Hypothalamus
Pituitary gland
Pons
Cerebellum
Medulla
Brain stem
Reticular formation
Spinal cord

28. The Brain - Major Structures and Their Function
Amygdala
Hippocampus
Cerebrum
Pons Involved in sleep and arousal
Thalamus
Corpus callosum
Hypothalamus
Pituitary gland
Pons
Cerebellum
Medulla
Brain stem
Reticular formation
Spinal cord

29. The Brain - Major Structures and Their Function
Amygdala
Hippocampus
Cerebrum
Pituitary gland “Master” gland that regulates other endocrine glands
Thalamus
Corpus callosum
Hypothalamus
Pituitary gland
Pons
Cerebellum
Medulla
Brain stem
Reticular formation
Spinal cord

30. The Brain - Major Structures and Their Function
Amygdala
Hippocampus
Cerebrum
Hypothalamus Regulates basic biological needs: hunger, thirst, temperature control
Thalamus
Corpus callosum
Hypothalamus
Pituitary gland
Pons
Cerebellum
Medulla
Brain stem
Reticular formation
Spinal cord

31. Identify the brain’s key structures and functions.

32. Identify the brain’s key structures and functions.

33. Identify the brain’s key structures and functions.

34. Quick Quiz
Write down everything you remember from the presentation

35. Perception
Giving Meaning to Sensation. The sorting out, interpretation, analysis, and integration of stimuli by the sense organs and brain.
1. Stimulus is received by sensory receptors.
Sensation
Perception

36. Perception
The sorting out, interpretation, analysis, and integration of stimuli by the sense organs and brain.
1. Stimulus is received by sensory receptors.
Sensation
Perception
2. Receptors translate stimulus properties into nerve impulses (transduction).

37. Perception
The sorting out, interpretation, analysis, and integration of stimuli by the sense organs and brain.
1. Stimulus is received by sensory receptors.
3. Feature detectors analyze stimulus features.
Sensation
Perception
2. Receptors translate stimulus properties into nerve impulses (transduction).

38. Introductory Psychology Concepts : Perception
Giving Meaning to Sensation. The sorting out, interpretation, analysis, and integration of stimuli by the sense organs and brain.
Introductory Psychology Concepts : Perception
1. Stimulus is received by sensory receptors.
3. Feature detectors analyze stimulus features.
Sensation
Perception
2. Receptors translate stimulus properties into nerve impulses (transduction).
4. Stimulus features are reconstructed into neural representation.

39. The sorting out, interpretation, analysis, and integration of stimuli by the sense organs and brain.
1. Stimulus is received by sensory receptors.
3. Feature detectors analyze stimulus features.
5. Neural representation is compared with previously stored information in brain.
Sensation
Perception
2. Receptors translate stimulus properties into nerve impulses (transduction).
4. Stimulus features are reconstructed into neural representation.

40. Introductory Psychology Concepts : Perception
Giving Meaning to Sensation. The sorting out, interpretation, analysis, and integration of stimuli by the sense organs and brain.
Introductory Psychology Concepts : Perception
1. Stimulus is received by sensory receptors.
3. Feature detectors analyze stimulus features.
5. Neural representation is compared with previously stored information in brain.
Sensation
Perception
2. Receptors translate stimulus properties into nerve impulses (transduction).
4. Stimulus features are reconstructed into neural representation.
6. Matching process results in recognition and interpretation of stimulus.

41. Gestalt
organizing the separate parts of our perceptual field into a unified and meaningful whole
One stimulus, two perceptions
This reversible figure illustrates alternating figure-ground relations. It can be seen as a vase,or as two people facing one another.
Whichever percept exists at the moment is seen as figure against background.

42. Depth Perception: translating two-dimensional information (length and width) into three-dimensional perceptions.
Patterns of light and shadow can serve as monocular depth cues. Drawing Hands, by M.C. Escher

43. Top-down processing Factors Affecting Perception:
The power of context is shown in this figure. Note how the B and the 13 are identical.
(Source: Coren & Ward, 1989.)
Top-down processing
Perception that is guided by higher-level knowledge, experience, expectations, and motivations.
Top-down processing is illustrated by the importance of context in determining how we perceive objects.

44. BOTTOM-UP PROCESSING
TOP-DOWN PROCESSING
Concept, Expectation
Combination and interpretation of “whole”
Breakdown/analysis of stimuli
Guides, analysis
Bottom-up processing Perception that consists of the progression of recognizing and processing information from individual components of a stimuli and moving to the perception of the whole. Top-down and bottom-up processing occur simultaneously and interact with each other in our perception of the world around us.
Interpretation of incoming stimuli
Detection of individual stimulus elements

45. Visual Illusions
The Parthenon looks perfectly straight, with right angles at every corner.
: compelling but incorrect perceptions. Physical stimuli that consistently produce errors in perception.

46. The Parthenon looks perfectly straight, with right angles at every corner.
However, if had been built with true right angles, it would have looked as it does in figure (b). b.

47. b.
The Parthenon looks perfectly straight, with right angles at every corner.
However, if had been built with true right angles, it would have looked as it does in figure (b).
To compensate for this illusion, the Parthenon was designed to have a slight upward curvature as shown in (c).
(Source: Coren & Ward, 1989, p.5.) c.

48. Quick Quiz
Write down everything you remember from the presentation

49. Next 3 Classes:
Monday, March 5: Chapters 5 and 6
Wednesday, March 7: Chapter 7 pgs. 242 – 250
Monday, March 12: pgs