THE PHYSICAL SELF

Clemuel Cruz
 Everything about the self
(psychologically) is
simultaneously biological.
The Nervous
System
 Neurons (nerve cells)
The building blocks of the nervous system
 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM IS MADE UP OF

C E N T RA L N E R VO US S Y S TEM PERI PH ERAL NERVOUS SY STEM

commands and coordinates all these are nerve cells attached from the
human activities in the body. It is spinal cord to the different organs in the
made up of the brain and spinal body
cord.
SUBSYSTEMS OF THE PERIPHERAL
NERVOUS SYSTEM

Somatic nervous Autonomic nervous

system system
SUBSYSTEMS OF THE AUTONOMIC
NERVOUS SYSTEM

Sympathetic Parasympathetic
Expands energy Conserves energy
 Neurons (nerve cells)
The building blocks of the nervous system
• There are about 86 billion
neurons in our body, all of
which are connected.
• Nerve cells communicate with
each other through electrical
signals.
 Axon terminals

Axon

Cell body

Dendrites
SENSORY NEURONS

MOTOR NEURONS

INTERNEURONS
 ELECTRICITY AND CHEMICAL:
HOW NEURONS COMMUNICATE

How does electricity travel through the neuron?

through the electrical charges of:
Sodium, Potassium, Calcium
 NEUROTRANSMITTERS
These are chemicals at the end of every
axon terminal that is transported to the
dendrites of another axon to determine if
it will fire an electricity or not.
 COMMON
NEUROTRANSMITTERS

DOPAMINE SEROTONIN
Feelings of pleasure Involved with emotions,
and reward, learning, moods, sleep, dreaming,
and movement and arousal
 COMMON
NEUROTRANSMITTERS

NOREPINEPHRINE
More commonly known as
adrenaline; involved in
alertness, flight-or-flight
response, and stress
ACETYLCHOLINE
Primarily involved with
memory formation and
retention
 COMMON
NEUROTRANSMITTERS

GLUTAMATE GABA
Excitatory Inhibitory
neurotransmitter neurotransmitter
 COMMON
NEUROTRANSMITTERS

ENDORPHIN
Reduces feelings of
pain and stress
THE BRAIN
FOREBRAIN
FOREBRAIN
It includes two main regions:
• Cerebral cortex: thinking,
perception, reasoning,
movement,
comprehension
• Limbic system: emotion,
memory formation,
survival
FOREBRAIN
Cerebral Cortex
• Also called as the
cerebrum
• The central processor of
the brain, involved in
thinking, decision-
making, perception,
movement.
FOREBRAIN
Cerebral Cortex
• It is the "youngest" part of
the brain.
• Fully develops at around
age 25.
FOREBRAIN
Basial Ganglia
• Primarily involved in
movement and the
production of dopamine
FOREBRAIN
Limbic System
• Amygdala: associated
with emotions of fear,
aggression, and anger
• Damage in the amygdala
removes feelings of fear
and capability to
comprehend other's
emotions.
FOREBRAIN
Limbic System
• Hippocampus: plays an
essential role in memory
formation and retention.
• Damage to the
hippocampus results in
difficulty forming new
memories.
FOREBRAIN
Limbic System
• Thalamus: it is the
gateway for neurons
coming from our five
sense to the cerebral
cortex
FOREBRAIN
Limbic System
• Hypothalamus:
regulates the "4 Fs" of
survival: feeding, fighting,
fleeing, and mating
• It controls the pituitary
gland - the master gland
of the endocrine system
MIDBRAIN
Reticular Activating System
(RAS)
• Primarily involved in the
regulation of
consciousness and other
states of consciousness
such as sleeping and
dreaming
HINDBRAIN
HINDBRAIN
Medulla Oblongata
• Involved in heart activity,
particularly in regulating
heart rate, breathing,
heartbeat, blood
pressure, digesting, and
swallowing.
HINDBRAIN
Pons
• A relay station, a "bridge"
where electrical signals
enter from the spinal
cord to the brain
HINDBRAIN
Cerebellum
• Literally means the "little
brain"
• Involved in movement,
balance, coordination,
and muscle tone, as well
as procedural memory
 CEREBRAL
CORTEX:
where the
"self" occurs
 CORPUS
CALLOSUM:
nerve fibers that connect the
left and right hemispheres of
the brain
FOUR LOBES OF THE CEREBRAL CORTEX
 FRONTAL LOBE
• Associated with higher-
order thinking such as
judgment, reasoning,
problem solving, decision-
making
• Speech production (Broca's
area)
• Movement (primary motor
cortex)

The frontal lobe is also where our memories for our

identity are stored.
THE CASE OF PHINEAS GAGE
TEMPORAL LOBE
• Perception of hearing
• Comprehension of
language (Wernicke's area)
• Involved with the limbic
system in processing
emotions
• Perception of faces
PARIETAL LOBE
• Perception of touch, taste,
pain, and temperature
• Perception of the body's
position in space relative to
movement
(proprioception)
OCCIPITAL LOBE
• Perception of visual
qualities such as color,
movement, location, size,
dimensions, etc