Biological Psych

1. How does our biology impact our behavior
and mental processes?

2.  Three Parts
 Cell body
 Dendrites- receive messages
 Axon- send messages
 Neural Communication
 Synapse- gap
 Action Potential- electricity
 Neurotransmitters- chemicals
 Designated pathways
 IS SUPER WICKED FAST!!!!

3.  Two Parts
 Central Nervous System (CNS)
 Brain and spinal cord
 Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)
 Somatic- voluntary
 Autonomic- involuntary
 Sympathetic- speeds you up
 Parasympathetic- slows you down

4.  Hindbrain and Midbrain
 Brainstem- automatic survival functions
 Medulla
 heartbeat, breathing
 Reticular Formation
 arousal and attention
 Midbrain
 smooth movements
 Cerebellum- physical and cognitive agility

5.  Forebrain
 Thalamus
 Receives sensory info and routes it through brain
 Hypothalamus
 Eating, drinking, controlling body temperature
 Amygdala
 Recognition of shapes; emotions of fear and aggression
 Hyppocampus
 New memories

6.  Forebrain
 Cerebral Cortex
 Four Lobes
 Frontal
 Speaking, muscle movements, making judgments
 Parietal
 Sensory input for touch and body position
 Occipital
 Receives visual information
 Temporal
 Receives auditory information

7.  Forebrain
 Cerebral Cortex
 Four Functions
 Motor Cortex- controls voluntary movements
 Sensory Cortex- registers sensations
 Association Areas- open to higher mental functions
 Language
 (1) Visual Cortex- visual stimuli
 (2) Angular Gyrus- changes into auditory code
 (3) Wernicke’s Area- language reception
 (4) Broca’s Area- language expression
 (5) Motor Cortex- words pronounced
 Aphasia- language impairment

8.  Plasticity
 Brain’s ability to repair and strengthen itself
 Left Hemisphere
 Logical-verbal activities
 Reading, writing, speaking, math reasoning
 Language, calculations, understanding
 Right Hemisphere
 Spatial-creative activities
 Performing perceptual tasks; visual-spatial tasks
 Art, music, perceiving emotions and differences
 Corpus Callosum
 Neural fibers that connect the brain’s hemispheres

9. So, why is all of this biology so
important to psychology?