PSYCH Chapter 2

Your every idea, mood, urge is a biological happening.

Although it is convenient to talk separately of biological and psychological influences on behavior, we need to remember: To think, feel, or act without a body would be like running without legs.

Biological Psychologists--study the links between our biology and behavior

• An organ specialized to help individual organisms carry out acts of living
•     --Made up of neurons (nerve cells) and 
•     --Neuroglia or glia (cells between nerve cells)
•     --It is part of the Central Nervous System (CNS)
•     --Connects with the Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

• Neuron-- a nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system
• Cell Body (or soma)
• Dendrites receive information and conduct it toward the cell body (listen)
• Axon sends info from cell body to other neurons, muscles, or glands (speaks)
•     Myelin Sheath-- covers axon of some neurons, providing insulation and improving efficiency of signal transmission
•     Terminal Branches-- branching tips of axon, form synaptic connections with other cells 
•  

Action Potential-- a brief electrical charge that travles down its axon, stimulating release of neurotransmitters from vesicles in the terminal buttons

•     Depending on the type of fiber, a neural impulse travels at speeds ranging from 2 mph to 180 mph.
•        Your reaction to a child darting in front of         your car may take a quarter-second or           more
•     Neurotransmitters cross the synapse and bind to receptors sites on the dendrites of next neuron

When neurotransmitters bind, they open ion channels which allow ion to cross the membrane, creating a new action potential