BIOLOGICAL

ASPECTS
OF BEHAVIOR
The Nervous
System
Functions of the
Nervous System:

1) Sensory Output
2) Integration
3) Homeostasis
4) Mental Activity
5) Control of Skeletal
Muscles
 PARTS OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
NERVOUS SYSTEM

CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM

BRAIN SPINAL CORD

Cerebral Cortex Basal Ganglia Diencephalons

Cerebellum Thalamus Hypothalamus

Brain Stem Pineal Body SOMATIC AUTONOMIC

NERVOUS NERVOUS
SYSTEM SYSTEM
Medulla Oblongata Pons

Midbrain

Sympathetic Nervous System

Parasympathetic Nervous System

Divisions of the Nervous System:

1) Central Nervous System (CNS)

Consists of the brain and the spinal
cord. They interpret incoming sensory
information and issue instructions
based on past experience and current
conditions.

2) Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

Consists of nerves and ganglia which
lie outside the CNS. These nerves serve
as communication lines.
THE PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM
1) Somatic Nervous System
- Reacts to outside stimuli.
- Controls voluntary movements, such as the motion of the eyes
and the communication of information from the sense organs.
2) Autonomic Nervous System
- Maintains homeostasis.
- Concerned with the parts of the body that keep us alive – the
heart, blood vessels, glands, lungs and other organs that function
or operate voluntarily and continuously without our awareness.
Sympathetic Division
- Acts to prepare the body in stressful emergency situations, engaging all the organism’s
resources to respond to threat. This response often takes the form of “fight or flight”.
Parasympathetic Division
- Acts to calm the body after the emergency situation is resolved.
Parts of the Brain
1) BRAINSTEM
- Connects the spinal cord to the
remainder of the brain and contains
several nuclei involved in body
functions such as control of heart and
breathing.
Medulla Oblongata
- Regulation of the heart rate and blood vessel
diameter, breathing, swallowing, vomiting,
coughing, sneezing, balance and coordination.

Pons
– The term means “bridge”. Nuclei in the pons
control functions such as chewing and
salivation.
 Midbrain
- The smallest region of the brainstem. The
midbrain contains nuclei involved in the
coordination of the eye movements and in
control of pupil diameter and lens shape.

2) DIENCEPHALONS
Thalamus
- The largest part of the diencephalons
(shaped like a yo-yo).
- Influencing mood and registering an
unlocalized, uncomfortable perception of pain.

Pineal Body
Plays a significant role in controlling some
long-tern cycles that are influenced by the
light-dark cycle. The pineal body is known to
influence annual behaviors such as the
migration of birds.
Hypothalamus
- Contains several small nuclei which are
essential in maintaining homeostasis.
- Plays a vital role in the control of body
temperature, hunger and thirst. Sensations
such as sexual pleasure, feeling relaxed, and
“good” after a meal, rage and fear are related
to hypothalamic functions.
- Emotional responses also involve in the
hypothalamus.
Mamillary Bodies
- Involved in the emotional responses to odors
and in memory.
3) CEREBRUM
- The largest part of the brain.
Right Cerebral Hemisphere
- Controls muscular activity and
receives sensory input from the left
half of the body.
Left cerebral Hemisphere
- Controls muscles and receives input
from the right half of the body.
Functions:
Impulses are received and analyzed
within the cerebral cortex, the layer of
the gray matter that forms the surface
of each cerebral hemisphere. These
activities form the basis of knowledge.
The Split Brain Patients

- One patient reported pulling his pants

down with one hand and
simultaneously pulling them up with
the other,

• The two hemispheres, then, should be

regarded as different only in terms of
efficiency with which they process
certain kinds of information, rather
than as two entirely separate brains
4) BASAL GANGLIA
A big bundle of nerve fibers and cells
leading up to the cerebral cortex. Any
damage in this area of the brain
causes loss of sensation and
movement in the parts of the body.

Functions:
1) They control movements and
posture and are also associated with
Parkinson’s Disease.

2) Parts of the basal ganglia influence

muscle tone and initiate commands to
the cerebellum and to higher brain
centers.
Primary Somatosensory Area. Its primary function is to receive sensory information coming from
the skin as well as skeletal muscles. Primary Taste Area. It is also responsible for taste sensation.

Primary Motor Area . This area is responsible for initiating voluntary

movements executed by the skeletal muscles.
Primary Visual Area. It receives sensory visual information from the
eyes.

Primary Auditory Area. Its primary function is to receive sensory FOUR LOBES
auditory information from our ears.
OF THE BRAIN
5) CEREBELLUM [The Little Brain]
A large structure attached to the back
surface of the brain stem

Functions:
- influence balance, coordination,
movement, and single joint actions
such as flex of an elbow or knee.
- It allows you to walk in a straight line,
type accurately on a keyboard,
coordinate the many movements
involved in dancing and shoot a ball in
the goal.
- Also involved in a number of
cognitive operations, including
learning.
THE SPINAL CORD
It is the complex cable nerves that
connects the brain to most parts of the
of the rest of the body.

Made up of bundles of long, nearly round

nerve fibers.

Functions:
1) To carry messages to and from the
brain
2) To cause reflex movements
 NEURONS
- The basic unit of the nervous
system is a single cell: the
NEURON, or nerve cell.
Two kinds of Neurons:
1) Afferent Neurons
- From the Latin ad, “to” and
ferre , “carry”
- send messages to the spinal
cord and brain
2) Efferent Neurons
- From Latin ex, “out of” and
ferre, “carry”
- Send messages from the
brain and spinal cord to the
other structures of the brain.
TYPES OF NEURONS
1) According to Shape/Structure:
- Multipolar
- Bipolar
- Unipolar
- Pseudounipolar
2) According to the Direction:
- Motor Neurons (Afferent Neuron)
- Sensory Neurons (Efferent Neuron)
- Interneurons
NEUROTRANSMITTERS
- Chemicals that normally reside in the
terminal button within the synaptic
vesicles.
NEUROTRANSMITTERS
Types of neurotransmitters:
DOPAMINE (DA) “Happiness Hormone”
Location: Brain
- Deals with the pleasurable
responses, movements, and learning.
[A person with insufficient DA may be susceptible to
Parkinson’s Disease; A person who has an excess amount
may be susceptible to schizophrenia]

ACETYLCHOLINE (ACh)
Location: Brain, Spinal Cord, Autonomic Nervous System
- It has something to do with memory
function.
- ACh must excite the PNS in order to
contract the skeletal muscle that can
lead to skeletal movements.
[Persons with Alzheimer’s Disease may not experience the
effects produced by the acetylcholine]
GAMMA-AMINOBUTYRIC ACID (GABA)
Location: Brain, Spinal Cord
- Involved in motor behavior and level
of arousal.
[Deficiency in GABA may result into Congenital
Neurological Disorder and tetanus]

SEROTONIN (5-HT)
Location: Brain, Spinal Cord
- It controls emotions and moods,
arousal, sleep, appetite, and pain.
Because it involves emotion, it can
also lead to anxiety (nervousness, worry,).

NOREPINEPHRINE
Location: Brain, Spinal cord, selected organs
- Regulates physical and
psychological arousal.
THE BIOLOGY OF LOVE
- Scientists who have been researching how the
human brain operates when a person is in love “LOVESICK”
have concluded that there are three distinct brain People in the “falling-in-love”
systems for mating and reproduction: stage are commonly
- Lust called “lovesick”.
- Romantic Love ===============================================================

- Long Term Attachment Depression and eating

- Love has been shown to be the result of the a disorders are also
specific group of chemicals and brain circuits associated with low levels
working in specific areas of the brain. of serotonin, and
- Love is triggered by a combination of brain antidepressant
chemicals, including dopamine, oxytocin, medications are used to
testosterone, estrogen, and norepinephrine; in raise these levels.
much the same way, these chemicals drive other Brain –scan images of people
mammals to find a suitable partner. in the different emotional
states of sexual arousal,
LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT feeling happy, and
- The phenomenon of “love at first sight” has cocaine-induced euphoria
been scientifically proven and affects most were found to be the
animal species in much the same way. same.