The brain and behaviour – Chapter 4
Gage got impaled by a spike when trying to plant explosives to clear the path of rocks to build a
railway; it pierced through his skull and cheek. He lived, but his personality changed forever. Harlow
(1868) reported he became less intellectual and foul mouthed. Recent brain mapping techniques
help neuroscientists develop what is wrong with some patients, since their brain damage affects
their behaviour
The Nervous System – Periphery nervous system below
Made up of Neurons and glial cells, neurons are specialised cells, with a role to transmit electrical
activity. Glial cells are surrounding the neuron, guarding them from harmful toxins and provide them
with nutrients
Brain has a lot of processing power, with 86 billion neurons, each having around 600
neurons, connecting them to even more, accounting to over a trillion!
Interneurons: Help connect our sensory neuron with our memory, so when we see
something we recognise it because of the ability to make connections
Sensory neurons carry input signals from being stimulated to the CNS which then responds
by sending motor neurons out to the glands or muscles
Peripheral nervous system: Contains any neural functions outside of the brain and spinal cord
, Homeostasis is maintained due to the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems working in unison
to stimulate the muscles and genitals by expelling energy, to then relax and return to equilibrium
through negative feedback; we get stimulated by our internal environment, be it our digestion, or
sexual arousal, or even fight or flight, and to reserve conditions, the parasympathetic systems work
Gage got impaled by a spike when trying to plant explosives to clear the path of rocks to build a
railway; it pierced through his skull and cheek. He lived, but his personality changed forever. Harlow
(1868) reported he became less intellectual and foul mouthed. Recent brain mapping techniques
help neuroscientists develop what is wrong with some patients, since their brain damage affects
their behaviour
The Nervous System – Periphery nervous system below
Made up of Neurons and glial cells, neurons are specialised cells, with a role to transmit electrical
activity. Glial cells are surrounding the neuron, guarding them from harmful toxins and provide them
with nutrients
Brain has a lot of processing power, with 86 billion neurons, each having around 600
neurons, connecting them to even more, accounting to over a trillion!
Interneurons: Help connect our sensory neuron with our memory, so when we see
something we recognise it because of the ability to make connections
Sensory neurons carry input signals from being stimulated to the CNS which then responds
by sending motor neurons out to the glands or muscles
Peripheral nervous system: Contains any neural functions outside of the brain and spinal cord
, Homeostasis is maintained due to the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems working in unison
to stimulate the muscles and genitals by expelling energy, to then relax and return to equilibrium
through negative feedback; we get stimulated by our internal environment, be it our digestion, or
sexual arousal, or even fight or flight, and to reserve conditions, the parasympathetic systems work
