Franzoi lite6e pp_ch02edited_Newbill_A

Essentials of Psychology, Sixth Edition
© 2018 BVT Publishing. All rights reserved.
S-1
Chapter 2:
Neurological and Genetic
Bases of Behavior
(Shutterstock)

S-2
Learning Objectives(Slide 1 of 3)
• Describe the structure of neurons and
explain how they operate.
• Analyze the differences between the
central and peripheral nervous
systems.
• Describe the endocrine system.

S-3
• Discuss the various technological
devices used to study the brain.
• Describe the three major regions and
two hemispheres of the brain.
• Describe the four lobes of the cerebral
cortex.

S-4
• Describe the influence of genetics on
human functioning.
• Compare and contrast behavior
genetics and molecular genetics.
• Discuss how sex and race differences
are controversial topics in genetic
research.

S-5
2.1 What Are Neurons?
• Neurons are specialized cells in the
nervous system that send and receive
information
• Santiago Ramón y Cajal
– Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine in
1906

S-6
2.1a Neurons Are Building
Blocks
Three basic types:
• Sensory neurons
• detect stimuli inside the body or in the external world.
• send info from receptors to the brain, usually by way of
the spinal cord
• Motor neurons
• send commands from the brain to glands, muscles, and
organs, directing them to do, cease, or inhibit something
• Interneurons
• Neurons that connect the sensory neurons’ input signals with
the motor neurons’ output signals
• Majority of neurons

S-7
2.1b Structure of a Neuron
(BVT Publishing)

S-8
2.1d Neurotransmitters
• Chemical messengers that travel
between neurons
• Bind to receptor sites on each neuron
– Specific to each neurotransmitter
• Over 100 identified
• Excitatory or Inhibitory messages

S-9
2.1d Major Neurotransmitters
(Slide 1 of 2)
• Acetylcholine
• Dopamine
• Endorphins
• Epinephrine
• Norepinephrine
• Serotonin
• GABA

S-10
2.2 The Central and Peripheral
Nervous Systems
(BVT Publishing)

S-11
2.2a What is the Peripheral
Nervous System?
It connects the brain and spinal cord with
body organs and tissues:
• Nerves
• Somatic nervous system
• transmits commands to the voluntary
skeletal muscles and receives sensory
information from the muscles and skin

S-12
2.2a What is the Peripheral
Nervous System?
• Autonomic nervous system (ANS)
• controls the movement of nonskeletal muscles,
such as the heart and lung muscles, over which
people have little or no voluntary control
• Sympathetic nervous system
• The part of the autonomic nervous system that
activates the body’s energy resources to deal with
threatening situations
• Parasympathetic nervous system
• The part of the autonomic nervous system that acts
to conserve and maintain the body’s energy
resources

S-13
2.2a The Dual
Functions
of the
Autonomic
Nervous
System
(BVT Publishing)

S-14
2.2b What is the Central
Nervous System?
It consists of the brain and spinal cord:
• Cerebrospinal fluid
• Spinal cord
• Reflexes

S-15
2.2c What is the Endocrine
System?
• A network of glands that secrete
hormones
• Regulates body activities
• Involved in development

S-16
2.2c Major Endocrine Glands
and Hormones(Slide 1 of 3)
• Pituitary gland
– Growth hormone
– Stimulates growth and metabolic
functions
• Oxytocin
– Stimulates contraction of uterus and
mammary gland cells
– Promotes prosocial behavior such as
companionship, parental urges

S-17
• Thyroid gland
– Thyroxin hormone
– Stimulates and maintains metabolic
processes
– Hypo: lethargy, depression
– Hyper: excitable, easily agitated, short
attention span
• Adrenal glands
– Epinephrine and norepinephrine
– Increase metabolic activities
– Constrict certain blood vessels

S-18
• Gonads
– Male testes and female ovaries
– Androgens (male) and estrogens
(female)
– Support male sperm formation
– Stimulate female uterine lining growth
– Stimulate development of secondary
sex characteristics

S-19
2.3b The Brain
• 3 major regions
• Hindbrain
• Midbrain
• Forebrain

S-20
2.3b The Hindbrain
The hindbrain consists of the:
• Medulla
• Breathing, HR, digestion
• Pons
• Sleep, arousal
• Cerebellum
• Regulation and coordination of movement,
learning
• Damage affects balance, gait, speech, eye
movement
• First area affected by ??

S-21
2.3b The Midbrain
• Associated with vision, hearing, sleep,
and alertness
• Reticular formation
• Regulates consciousness
• Anesthetics affect this area

S-22
2.3b The Forebrain
The forebrain consists of the:
• Thalamus
• Sends messages from main senses to cerebral
cortex
• Hypothalamus
• Control center of A.N.S
• involved in regulating basic biological processes, such as
eating, drinking, sexual activity, emotion, and body
temperature
• Controls release of hormones by pituitary gland
• Reward center of brain
• Limbic system (Amygdala and Hippocampus)
• Amygdala- regulates fear and aggression
• Hippocampus- acquisition and consolidation of new
memories

S-23
2.3c The Cerebral Cortex
The uppermost portion of the forebrain:
• The largest structure in the forebrain;
largely responsible for higher-order
mental processes
• Regions
• Corpus callosum- nerve fibers connect
left and right hemispheres
• Occipital lobes- visual
• Parietal lobes- touch, spatial sense

S-24
2.3c The Cerebral Cortex
• Regions, cont’d
• Temporal lobes- hearing, language
• Frontal lobes- movement, higher mental
processes such as planning, social skills,
abstract thinking
• Phineas Gage

S-25
2.3b Main Brain Regions and
Associated Structures
(BVT Publishing)

S-26
2.3d The Lobes of the
Cerebral Cortex(Slide 1 of 2)
(BVT Publishing)

S-27
Major Neurotransmitters
• Acetylcholine
• Dopamine
• Endorphins
• Epinephrine
• Norepinephrine
• Serotonin
• GABA
For your assigned
neurotransmitter, answer the
following questions:
1. Where is it produced?
2. What does it do?
3. What diseases/effects are
associated with too much
or too little?
• Use our book and the
internet to help you

S-28
2.1d Major Neurotransmitters (
Acetylcholine (ACH):
• forebrain, medulla, other
• Excitatory
• Para. N.S, sends msgs to skeletal muscles
– Walking, talking, breathing, blinking
• Too little: paralysis, suffocation (Botulin), memory loss
(Alzheimer's)
• Too much: convulsions, heart failure (Black Widow)

S-29
Dopamine (DA):
• Substantia nigra (midbrain), hypothalamus
• Both excitatory or inhibitory
• Large muscle movement, pleasure, motivation, pain
• Too little: role in Parkinson’s disease, ADHD
• Too much: schizophrenia
• Role in drug and alcohol use

S-30
Endorphins:
• Pituitary gland
• Inhibitory
• Pain suppression, pleasure (physical activity),
decrease hunger, increase immune response
• Too much: stress state (preparing for pain)
• Too little: depression, anxiety, OCD, impulsive
behaviors

S-31
Epinephrine (adrenaline):
• Adrenal glands
• excitatory
• Increase BP, HR, blood sugar, relaxes muscles in
airways
• Fight-or-flight response
• Too much: rapid HR, high BP, sweating, strained
immune
• Too little: maybe depression, anxiety, but can live
without

S-32
Norepinephrine (noradrenaline; NE):
• adrenal gland, throughout body
• excitatory
• Increases HR, BP, blood sugar, wakefulness, mood
• Too little: depression, anxiety, lethargy
• Too much: panic attacks, high BP, hyperactivity

S-33
GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid):
• Throughout the brain, limbic system
• Main inhibitory NT
• Relaxation, less anxiety (Anti-anxiety drugs),
balance mood
• Too much: low brain activity, sleepiness (alcohol
use)
• Too little: epilepsy, seizures, BPD, mania, risk
taking

S-34
(Slide 2 of 2)
Serotonin:
• Brainstem
• inhibitory
• Sleep, arousal, mood stabilizer, digestion
• Too little: depression (SSRIs), anxiety, insomnia
• Too much: confusion, agitation, muscle spasms

S-35
2.3e The Hemispheres of the
Brain
Cerebral lateralization:
• Right hemisphere
• Left hemisphere
• *discussion in upcoming slides

S-36
2.3g Left- and Right-Hemisphere
Dominance
• Words and letters
• Language sounds
• Verbal memory
• Faces, emotional
expression, and
geometric patterns
• Nonlanguage
sounds, music
• Nonverbal memory

S-37
2.3g Left- and Right-Hemisphere
Dominance(Slide 2 of 2)
• No sound evidence that individuals
differ on their reliance of one side of
the brain
• Both hemispheres are involved in
task completion
• Healthy brains constantly exchange
information between both sides

S-38
2.3f Are There Sex Differences
in Brain Functioning?
• Spatial
• Men tend to do better at experimental tasks
• Verbal
– Aphasia (inability to recognize or express
language)
• Men 3xs more likely
– Women use both sides of brain for
language, may use up some spatial
resources
• Overall very small differences, many
more similarities

S-39
2.3h The Brain Can Alter Its
Neural Connections
• Hemispherectomy
– Controls seizures
• Plasticity
• The ability of the brain to alter its neural
connections
• Collateral growth
• Neural connections are altered when
neurons are damaged to help transfer brain
functions to healthy brain
• Strongest in children when neurons have
most growth

S-40
2.3h After watching this, your
brain will not be the same
http://bvtlab.com/kR8G9
(~14 minutes)
Dr. Lara Boyd discusses neuroplasticity.

S-41
2.4 Genetic Influences on
Behavior
• Phenotype
• Visible and measurable traits
• Genotype
• Genetic make-up
• Can have same genetic make-up but
different expressions of behavior
• Enviro factor (stress, nutrition, etc.) can
affect expression

S-42
2.4b and 2.4c How Are Genes
Studied?
• Behavior genetics
• The study of how the genotype and the
environment of an organism influence its
behavior (i.e. weight tied to genes)
• Molecular genetics
• Which specific genes influence behavior
• Genetic testing

S-43
2.4d Genetic Explanations of
Certain Sex and Race
Differences
• Sex (e.g., chromosomes)
• biological
• Gender (e.g., aggression)
• Social construct
• Race/ethnicity (e.g., physical
appearance)
• Health conditions

S-44
Chapter Summary(Slide 1 of 2)
• Neurons are the building blocks of the
nervous system.
• The nervous system is divided into the
central nervous system and the
peripheral nervous system.
• The endocrine system communicates
by secreting hormones.

S-45
Chapter Summary(Slide 2 of 2)
• There are three major brain regions:
hindbrain, midbrain, and forebrain.
• Both genetics and the environment
influence human functioning.

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