Introduction to Psychology

Week 2
January 26, 2018

SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018

 Agenda
• The Neuron
• Neural Communication
• Neural damage
• Brain Structure & Function
• Brain Plasticity
• Next week…

SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018

 Neuron
• A specialized nervous system cell that
receives, processes, and/or transmits
information to other cells
• Different types, varying in shape, size, and
chemical composition, but all with the same
basic structure

SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018

 Parts of a Neuron
Dendrites
• Branch-like fibres that extend
from cell body
• Receive stimulation from sensory
receptors or other neurons
Soma
• Cell body that contains the
nucleus (and DNA)
• Integrates information and passes
signal to axon
SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018
Axon
• Long extended fibre along
which the neural impulse travels
• Vary greatly in length (e.g.,
spinal cord)
Terminal Buttons
• Bulb-like structures that contain
neurotransmitters to send
messages to other nearby cells
neuron video
 The Neuron

SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018

 Activity
• Use the materials to construct a neuron.
• Label your neuron.

SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018

 Neural Communication

SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018

 Neural Communication
• Electrochemical signals in the nervous
system process and transmit
information
• Neurons “fire” (respond) or “not fire”
based on electrochemical information
from the dendrites and cell body
• Information can promote or inhibit
firing

SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018

 Neural Communication
• Chemicals in the body are "electrically-charged" -- when
they have an electrical charge, they are called ions. 
• The important ions in the nervous system are sodium and
potassium (both have 1 positive charge, +), calcium (has
2 positive charges, ++) and chloride (has a negative
charge, -).
• Neurons are surrounded by a membrane that allows some
ions to pass through and blocks the passage of other ions.
This type of membrane is called semi-permeable.
SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018
 Resting Potential
• When a neuron is not sending a signal, it is "at
rest." Cells are at polarized resting state (-70 mV)
• Sodium-potassium pump maintains negative charge
inside cell because the cell membrane allows only
some ions to pass through channels (ion channels).
• Potassium ions (K+) can cross through the
membrane easily, but chloride ions (Cl-)and sodium
ions (Na+) have a more difficult time crossing.
SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018
 Excitatory and Inhibitory Impulses
• Excitatory and inhibitory inputs change the
balance of ions inside the cell membrane
Excitatory
• Positive ions enter cell making it less negative
Inhibitory
• Make the cell more negative by keeping out +
ions
SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018
 Absolute Threshold
• The nerve impulse when the neuron fires
• When the depolarization reaches about -55 mV a
neuron will fire an action potential. This is
the threshold.
• If the neuron does not reach this critical threshold
level, then no action potential will fire. the size of
the action potential is always the same.

SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018

 Action Potential
• A stimulus first causes sodium channels to open. Because there are many
more sodium ions on the outside, and the inside of the neuron is negative
relative to the outside, sodium ions rush into the neuron.
• Sodium has a positive charge, so the neuron becomes more positive and
becomes depolarized.
• Then potassium channels open and potassium rushes out of the cell, reversing
the depolarization. Also at about this time, sodium channels start to close.
• This causes the action potential to go back toward -70 mV. The action
potential actually goes past -70 mV (a hyperpolarization) because the
potassium channels stay open a bit too long. Gradually, the ion concentrations
go back to resting levels

SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018

 Action Potential

SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018

 Synapses
• Neurons are connected through
synapses
Synapse
The gap between one neuron
and another

SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018

 Synapses
Chemical Synapse
• Electrical activity in the presynaptic neuron is converted
into the release of a chemical called a neurotransmitter
that binds to receptors located in the membrane of the
postsynaptic cell.
• The neurotransmitter may initiate an electrical response
or a secondary messenger pathway that may either excite
or inhibit the postsynaptic neuron. Chemical synapses can
be classified according to the neurotransmitter released.
SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018
Synapse
SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018
Neural Communication
 Synapses
Electrical Synapse  
• the presynaptic and postsynaptic cell membranes
are connected by special channels called gap
junctions that are capable of passing electric
current,
• main advantage of an electrical synapse is the
rapid transfer of signals from one cell to the next

SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018

 How Many Synapses in 1 Neuron?

SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018

 Question
• With your group, list the
critical steps that explain
how neurons
communicate.
• You may use your models
to facilitate your
description.

SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018

 How Neurons are Damaged
• Accidents
• Disease
• Drugs
• Alcohol

SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018

 Accidents and Disease

SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018

 Drugs Bind to Receptor Sites

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 Repeated Binding Causes
Neuron to Die

SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018

Drug Abuse
 •Parkinson's Disease
•ALS - Lou Gehrig’s Disease
•Huntington’s Disease
•Multiple Sclerosis
•Alzheimer's
•Cerebral Palsy
•Epilepsy

SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018

 Questions
• If you have billions of neurons, why does it
matter if some die?

SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018

 Nervous System

SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018

Online Medical Encyclopedia
 Nervous System
Central Nervous System
(CNS)
• All neurons in the brain
and spinal cord
• Integrates and
coordinates all body
functions
SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018
 Nervous System
Peripheral nervous system
(PNS)
• All neurons forming the
nerve fibres that connect the
CNS to the rest of the body
• Composed of two primary
subdivisions

SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018

 Peripheral Nervous System
Two Subdivisions of PNS
1. Somatic nervous system (SNS)
• Connects the CNS to the skeletal muscles and skin (regulates
voluntary movement)
2. Autonomic nervous system (ANS)
• Sustains basic life processes
• Controls involuntary motor responses, organs, heart, and glands
• Further subdivided into sympathetic and parasympathetic
systems

SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018

 Autonomic Nervous System
Two subdivisions of ANS
1. Sympathetic
◦ Governs responses to emergency situations
◦ “Fight or flight” response
2. Parasympathetic
◦ Monitors the routine operation of the body’s internal function
◦ Stabilizes body systems following emergencies

SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018

 The Brain

SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018

 The Brain:
Structures and Functions
Your brain contains billions of
nerve cells arranged in patterns
that coordinate thought,
emotion, behavior, movement
and sensation

SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018

SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018
Parts of the Brain
 Brainstem
Brainstem: automatic process such a breathing and heart
rate.
• Medulla  contains the cardiac, respiratory, vomiting  and
deals with the autonomic (involuntary) functions
of breathing and blood pressure  
• Pons relays signals from the forebrain to the cerebellum
deals primarily with sleep, respiration, swallowing,
bladder control, hearing, taste, eye movement, facial
expressions, and posture.
SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018
 Brain Structure & Function

Cerebellum
Coordinates bodily movements, controls posture, maintains
equilibrium

Cerebrum
Integrates sensory information, coordinates movements,
facilitates thinking and reasoning (includes the cerebral cortex)
2/3 of mass of brain

SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018

 Brain Structure and Function
Cerebral Cortex
◦ Outer layer of (billions) neurons
Corpus Callosum
◦ Nerve fibers that send messages between the two
brain hemispheres
Thalamus
◦ Relays incoming sensory information to the
appropriate area of the cerebral cortex

SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018

 Brain Structure and Function
Hypothalamus
• Coordinates both the autonomic nervous
system and the activity of the pituitary,
controlling body temperature, thirst, hunger,

SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018

 Activity
• Use the materials on your desk to construct a brain. Make sure
that your brain includes labels for the following parts:
– Brainstem (medulla & pons)
– Cerebellum
– Hypothalamus
– Cerebral Cortex
– Cerebrum
– Corpus Callosum
– Thalamus
– Medulla Oblongata
• Present your brain to your partner
SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018
 Brain Hemispheres

SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018

 Brain Plasticity
 Plasticity refers to changes in the performance of the
brain
 Canadian neuroscientist Donald Hebb

◦ Proposed that brain plasticity depended on learning and life

experiences (e.g., environmental enrichment)
 May be related to formation of new synapses or
changes in communication across synapses

The story of Jody

SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018

 References
• http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/facts.html
• http://occawlonline.pearsoned.com/bookbind/pubb
ooks/campbell6e_awl/chapter0/deluxe.html
• www.alfamilyties.org/presentations/The%20Neuro
biology%20of%20Adolescent%20Substance%20
Abuse%20II.ppt
• http://www.nsbri.org/Education/High_Act.html
• http://www.pfizer.com/brain/teachers_html.html
• http://www.research.buffalo.edu/quarterly/vol10/n
um01/n1.shtml
SUSAN HEDLEY, WINTER 2018
• http://www.nida.nih.gov/pubs/teaching/Teaching5/
Teaching3.html