UNZA Pharmacy Training Lecture notes

1. PHYSIOLOGICAL (genetics, anatomy,
biochemistry) basis of behaviour

2. • Thoughts, feelings, and behaviour originate from
basic genetic, biological and biochemical
processes of tiny cells.
• The Adaptive Function of Behaviour: Behaviour
may be defined as the process of responding to
some form of energy in the environment by an
activity generally useful to life.
• The electrical impulses flash through the
networks branches of nerve cells within the brain.

3. • The etiology of different psychiatric disorders
consists of genetic component such as:
 Schizophrenia
 mood disorders
neuropsychiatric disorders,
Personality disorders
Alcoholism
 personality traits.

4. • The energy, or less exactly an object from
which behaviour is derived, is known as the
stimulus.
The response has some characteristic relation to
the stimulus which evokes it such as:
 approaching,
 attacking,
answering,
 consuming,
 caressing, or fleeing.

5. • The first stage in the adaptive process of
behaviour is the stimulation of the sense
organ, or receptor.
• The final stage is the response-activity of the
muscle or gland, commonly called the
'effector.'
• The excitation aroused in the receptor
proceeds in the form of a nervous impulse
nerve cells, called `neurons,‘ to effector.

6. • Conduction is the most elementary function of
nervous tissue.
• The bodily structures and functions operating
in behaviour are of the same general sort
whether the stimulus is furnished by a social
or a non-social object.

7. • The central adjustments involved in these
specific responses are in some cases
hereditary, and in others the result of learning
through experience.
• In the former case they are
termed reflexes, and in the latter case are
called habits.

8. THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
• The basic unit of the nervous system is a
specialized type of cell called a Neuron.
• Local neurons are tiny cells that communicate
only with neighboring neurons.
• The larger interneuron transmit neural
impulses over long distances.
• Projecting from the cell body are a number of
short branches called dendrites and tube like
extensions called the axon.
• Dendrites: carry information toward the cell
body, whereas the axon carries information
away from it.

9. • Sensory neurons transmit signals from the
sense organs to the brain and spinal cord.
• Motor neuron transmits signals from the
brain and spinal cord to muscles and glands.
• A nerve is a bundle of elongated axons
belonging to hundreds or thousands of
neuron.
• neurons the axon is covered by a sheath of
fatty material known as myelin sheath
interrupted by small gaps.
•

10. THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

11. • Damage to the myelin sheath surrounding
axons can seriously affect synaptic
transmission.
• In diseases such as:
 multiple sclerosis (MS) progressive
deterioration of the myelin sheath leads to
jerky, uncoordinated movement in the
affected person.

12. • The most important group of receptors has to
do with sensations received from objects at a
distance or at least external to the body such
as:
the senses of vision, hearing, smell, pressure
(touch), and external cold, warmth, and pain.
• The behaviour of other persons stimulates us
exclusively through the exteroceptive senses.

13. • The walls of the internal organs possess sense
organs, termed interoceptors, whose
stimulation gives rise to diffuse, organic,
sensory experiences.
• Interoceptive sensations form the basis of
feeling and emotion.

14. • The other group of sensory neurons called the
Kinaesthetic.
• The kinaesthetic are embedded in the
muscles, tendons, joints, and other movable
parts of the body are stimulated by the
movements of those parts.
• kinaesthetic sense is necessary for learning
habits and acts of skill.

15. • The kinaesthetic stimulations evoke responses
of movement and posture which are
themselves of considerable importance as
stimuli to others in behaviour.
• A stimulus moves along a neuron as an
electrochemical impulse that travels from the
dendrites to the end of the axon.
• The traveling impulse or action potential is
caused by depolarization.

16. • Depolarisation : an electrochemical process
which the voltage difference across cell
mechanisms is changed at successive points
along the neuron.
• An action of potential activity travels down
the axon to many small swellings at the end of
the axon called terminal buttons.
• These terminal buttons release chemical
substances called neurotransmitter that are
responsible for transferring the signal from
one neuron to an adjacent one.

17. • The neurotransmitters diffuse across
the synapse, a small gap between the juncture
of the two neuron and bind to neuroreceptors
in the cell membrane of the receiving neuron.
• Some neurotransmitters have an excitatory
effect, whereas others are inhibitory.
• The different kinds of neurotransmitters in
receptor interaction helps to explain various
psychological dimensions.

18. • The most important neurotransmitters
include:
 acetylcholine
 norepinephrine
 dopamine
 serotonin
 gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and
glutamate.

19. Neurotransmitter

20. • Chemical substances released by one neuron
through the synapse and affecting another
neuron.
• Generates excitatory current when the
neurons charge increase upon connection
through synapse and inhibitory current for
decreasing charge.
• Responsible for sensation, perception,
cognitive and motor behaviour.

21. • Acetycholine (cholinergic):
• Utilized by the motor neuron of the spinal
cord to the muscles and glands of the body.
• Deficiency:
Paralysis, forgetfulness, intellectual losses,
Alzheimer’s disease

22. • Catecholamines:
composed of epinephrine (adrenalin or
adregernic) norepinephrine (noradrenalin or
noradrenergic)
• Located at the hindbrain involved in arousal or
wakefulness, learning process regulation of
moods.
• Dopamine
• Significant for memory, motor and emotional
behaviour.

23. • Located at the mid brain of nervous system.
• Increase dopamine tend to schizophrenia
• Decrease- Parkinson’s disease an involuntary
shaking among the elderly people that can be
treated by L-dopa a chemical substance.

25. • Serotonin:
• Affects body temperature, sleeps, moods
and pain sensation when active its
supports in blocking pain sensation
• GABA (Gamma-amino-butric acid):
• Important inhibitory neurotransmitter.
• Produce widespread excitatory.

26. • Dysfunction- implicated to epilepsy and
“Huntington’s disease”
• Inability to control movement of the upper
and lower extremities (arms and legs) with the
loss of cognitive capabilities as the result of
loss of GABA-activated neuron.
•

27. • The human brain is composed of three concentric
layers: the central core, the limbic system and
the cerebrum.
• The central core includes the medulla, which is
responsible for respiration and postural reflexes
• The cerebellum which is concerned which is
concerned with motor coordination.
• The thalamus, a relay station for incoming
sensory information.

28. • The hypothalamus, which is important in
emotion and maintaining homeostasis.
• The reticular formation which crosses through
several other central core structures .
• Controls the organism’s state of arousal and
consciousness.

29. The Brain- Central core
• Reticular formation:
Network of neurons found thought out the
brain
Serves to alert and arouse brave response of
to incoming information

30. • The Limbic system: controls some of the
instinctive behaviours regulated by the
hypothalamus, such as:
 feeding
attacking
 fleeing and mating
It also plays an important role in emotion and
memory.
• Important in learning.

31. • The Limbic system located between the
central core and the cerebral hemisphere
responsible for learning and emotional
behaviour
• The hippocampus formation on new
memories
• Amygdala and hippocampus responsible for
regulating emotions.

32. • The cerebrum : divided into two cerebral
hemispheres such as:
• The cerebral cortex- play a critical role in
higher mental processes such as thinking,
learning and decision making.
• Certain areas of cerebral cortex are
associated with specific sensory inputs or
control of specific movements .
• The remainder of the cerebral cortex consists
of association areas, concerned with memory,
thought and language.

34. • The Central Cortex: Occipital lobe- receives
and process visual information
• Temporal lobe: face recognition, receives and
process auditory information.
• Involved in balance,some emotions and
motivations, some language processing.

35. • Severed, significant differences in the
functioning of the two hemispheres can be
observed. The left hemisphere is hemisphere
is skilled in language and mathematical
abilities.
• The right hemisphere can understand some
language but cannot communicate through
speech; it has a highly developed spatial and
pattern sense.

36. • The term aphasia is used to describe language
deficits caused by brain damage.
• People with damaged Broca’s area have difficulty
enunciating words correctly and speak in a slow,
laboured way (expressive aphasia).
• People with damaged Wernicke's area can hear
words but do not know their meaning ( receptive
aphasia).
•

37. • The autonomic nervous system consists of the
sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions.
Because it controls the action of the smooth
muscles and the glands, the autonomic system
is particularly important in emotional
reactions.
• The sympathetic division is active during
excitement and the parasympathetic system is
dominant during periods of inactiveness.