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INTRODUCTION
DIVISIONS OF BIOPSYCHOLOGY
• Physiological Psychology – Neural mechanisms of behavior through direct manipulation
of the brain in controlled experiments.
• Psychopharmacology – Manipulation of neural activity with drugs.
• Neuropsychology – Study of psychological effects of brain damage in human patients
• Psychophysiology – Physiological activity and psychological processes in human
subjects
• Comparative Psychology – Study of the behavior and mental processes of non-human
animals
• Cognitive Neuroscience – Study of the neural basis of cognition (higher intellectual
functions)

DEFINITION OF TERMS
• Neuroscience – Nervous system
• Biopsychology – Biology of behavior
• Neuroanatomy – Structure of the nervous system
• Neurochemistry – Chemical basis of neural activity
• Neuroendocrinology – Interaction between the nervous system and endocrine system
• Neuropathology – Nervous system disorders
• Neurophysiology – Functions and activities of the nervous system

BIOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS OF BEHAVIOR

• Physiological – Behavior to the activity of the brain and other organs
• Ontogenetic – Development of a structure or behavior
• Evolutionary – Evolutionary history of a behavior or structure
• Functional – Describes why a structure or behavior evolved as it did

HOW DO WE RESEARCH
• Use animals or specimens of post brain trauma (traumatic brain injuries)
• Cause damage to parts of the brain of lab rats and observe the effects
• Observe how he behaves and derive conclusions with post brain trauma

EVOLUTION
• Catholicism – It happened under the guidance of God
• Islam – Surat al-Anbiya.
o “We made out of water every living being.”
o Kitab al-Hayawan – Natural Selection
o Ahmadiyya – Divinely driven
• Buddhism
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• Evolution is synonymous with change.

• Evolution is not sequential. It’s survival through adaptation and natural selection

ANATOMY OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

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DIVISIONS OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

DIVISIONS OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

• Central Nervous System (CNS) – located within the
skull and spine
o Brain
o Spinal Cord
• Peripheral Nervous System (PNS) – located outside
the skull and spine

DIVISIONS OF THE PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM

• Somatic Nervous System (SNS) – interacts with the
external environment.
o Afferent nerves – carry sensory signals from
the skin, skeletal muscles, joints, eyes, ears to
the CNS.
o Efferent nerves – carry motor signals from
CNS to the skeletal muscles
• Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) – regulates the
body’s internal environment.
o Afferent nerves – carry sensory signals from internal organs to the CNS
o Efferent nerves – carry motor signals from the CNS to internal organs

KINDS OF ANS EFFERENT NERVES

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• Sympathetic nerves – autonomic motor nerves that project from the CNS in the lumbar
(small of the back) and thoraric (chest area) regions of the spinal cord. Project from the
CNS synapse on second-stage neurons at a substantial distance from their target organs.
• Parasympathetic nerves – autonomic motor nerves that project from the brain and sacral
(lower back) region of the spinal cord. Project from the CNS synapse near their target
organs on very short second-stage neurons
• Both are TWO STAGE. They only go to a certain distance before connecting to other
nerves that go directly to their target organ. Each organ receives two sets of these nerves
in opposing fashion.
• Sympathetic/Parasympathetic neurons > CNS > Partly otw to the target organs > Synapse
on other neurons (2nd stage neurons) > carry the signals the rest of the way

MENINGES – The three protective membranes inside the skull.

• Dura Mater (Hard mother)
• Arachnoid and Sub Arachnoid membrane
o Arachnoid membrane – spider-web-like membrain
o Subarachnoid space – contains many large blood vessels and cerebrospinal fluid
• Pia Mater (Pious Mother) – adheres to the surface of the CNS

VENTRICLES AND CEREBROSPINAL FLUID

• Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) – Protects the CNS. It fills the subarachnoid space, the central
canal of the spinal cord, and the cerebral ventricles of the brain.
• Central canal – small central channel that runs the length of the spinal cord.
• Central ventricles – four large internal chambers of the brain: two lateral ventricles, the
third, and the fourth ventricles. The CSF flows here.
• Cerebral Aqueduct / Aqueduct of Sylvius – connects third ventricle and diencephalon
and the fourth ventricle.
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• Subarachnoid space, central canal, and cerebral ventricles are interconnected and
thus form a reservoir.
• Choroid plexuses – produces CSF. It is networks of capillaries, or small blood vessels
that protrude into the ventricles from the pia mater.
• Dural sinuses – large blood-filled spaces that continuously absorbs the excess CSF from
the subarachnoid space.
• Hydrocephalus (water head) – CSF is blocked by a tumor near one of the narrow
channels that link the ventricles. The resulting buildup of fluid in the ventricles causes the
walls of the ventricles, and thus the entire brain, to expand. It is treated by draining the
excess fluid from the ventricles and trying to remove the obstruction. It is often congenital
(present from birth).

BLOOD CIRCULATION IN THE BRAIN

• Circle of Willis – named after Thomas Willis. It is a circle-like structure that supplies blood
to the brain and the surrounding areas. It is located near the Interpenduncular Fossa at
the base of the brain. It creates redundancy for collateral circulation. If one part of the
circle becomes blocked or narrowed (stenosed), or one of the arteries supplying the circle
is blocked or narrowed, blood flow from the other vessels can often preserve the cerebral
perfusion well enough to avoid the symptoms of ischemia (loss of blood or oxygen thus
resulting in death of tissue.
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TRIANGLE OF DEATH

BLOOD-BRAIN BARRIER
• It is a barrier consisting of cerebral blood vessels which inhibits of harmful substances
from entering the brain. It is a consequence of the special structure of cerebral blood
vessels.
• It does not impede the passage of all large molecules. Some large molecules that are
critical for normal function (e.g., glucose) are actively transported through cerebral blood
vessel walls. The blood vessel walls in some of the brain also allow certain large
molecules through them unimpeded.
• Many CNS disorders are disorders are associated with impairment of the blood-brain
barrier.
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CELLS OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

• Neurons – specialized cells for reception, conduction, and transmission of electrochemical
signals.
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CLASSES OF NEURONS
• Multipolar – More than two processes
extending from its cell body. Most
neurons are multipolar.
• Unipolar – One process extending
from its cell body.
• Bipolar – Two processes extending
from its cell body.
• Interneurons – A short axom or no
axom at all.
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• Glial Cells – surround neurons and provide support and insulation.

o Oligodendrocytes – Extensions that wrap around the axons of some neurons of
the CNS. They are rich in myelin, a fatty insulating substance, and they myelin
sheaths they form increase the speed and efficiency of axonal conduction.
o Schwann Cells – Similar function of above but performed in PNS. It is a second
class of glia. It has only one myelin segment. It can only guide axonal regeneration
(regrowth) after damage and is restricted to the PNS.
• Microglia – Third class of glia. It is smaller than other glial cells. They respond to injury by
multiplying and then engulfing cellular debris which then triggers an inflammatory
response.
• Astrocytes – constitute a fourth class of glia. They are the largest glial cells. They are
because they are star-shaped. It plays a role in the passage of some chemicals from blood
into the CNS, structure neurons, send and receive signals from neurons and other glial
cells to control the establishment and maintenance of synapses between neurons,
modulate neural activity, maintain function of axons, and participate in glial circuits.

GREY VS. WHITE MATTER

• Grey – Composed largely of cell bodies and unmyelinated interneurons
• White – Largely of myelinated axons

ANATOMY OF THE SPINAL CORD

• Dorsal arms of the spinal gray matter are called the dorsal horns.
• The two ventral arms are called the ventral horns.
• Pairs of spinal nerves are attached to the spinal cord—one on the left and one on the
right—at 31 different levels of the spine. Axons are joined to the cord via one of the two
roots: dorsal root or the ventral root.
• Dorsal root axons – sensory (afferent) unipolar neurons with their cell bodies grouped
together just outside the cord to form the dorsal root ganglia
• Ventral root axons – motor (efferent) multipolar neurons with their cell bodies in the
ventral horns. Ventral root ganglia

The spinal cord is comprised of:

• Grey matter – located in the center of the spinal cord and is densely packed with cell
bodies and dendrites
• White matter – composed mostly of myelinated axons that carries information from the
gray matter to the brain or other areas of the spinal cord.
Each segment sends sensory information and receives motor commands.

STRUCTURE OF THE VERTEBRATE NERVOUS SYSTEM

• Spinal cord is the part of the CNS found within the spinal column and communicates with
the sense organs and muscles below the level of the head.
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• Bell-Magendie Law states the entering

dorsal roots carry sensory information
and the exiting ventral roots carry motor
information.
• Dorsal root ganglia is the cell bodies of
the sensory neurons located in clusters
outside the spinal cord.

SPINAL NERVES
• 62 nerves (31 pairs) that start from the base of the skull, run throughout the entirety of the
spinal cord, and end at the spinal equinox.
o Cervical (8 pairs)
o Thoraric (12 pairs)
o Lumbar (5 pairs)
o Sacral (5 pairs)
o Coccygeal (1 pair)
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CRANIAL NERVES
• Most of the nerves of the PNS project from the spinal cord except for 12 pairs.
• The 12 pairs of cranial nerves project from the brain. They are numbered in sequence
from front to back.
• Include purely sensory nerves such as olfactory nerves (I) and optic nerves (II) but most
contain both sensory and motor fibers.
• Vagus nerves (X) – the longest cranial nerves, contain motor and sensory fibers traveling
to and from the gut.

FUNCTIONS OF THE CRANIAL NERVES

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BASIC FUNCTIONS OF THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM

• Homeostasis
• Voluntary Movement
• Perception
• Abstraction

LOBES OF THE BRAIN

• Frontal Lobe
• Parietal Lobe
• Occipital Lobe
• Temporal Lobe