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Unit 3a Ap Psychology

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Valentina Hernandez
Mrs. Long
AP Psychology P.1
August 28, 2016

AP Psychology Unit 3A Notes: Neural Processing and the Endocrine System

1. Neurons is a basic building block of the nervous system. The sensory nerves carry the message from body tissues to the brain and spinal chord to be processed. The motor neurons are then used to send instructions to the body tissue from the brain and spinal cord. Dendrites, which are connected to the body cell (soma) receive information and pass it through the axon. Myelin sheath covers the axon and helps speed the process. When triggered by a signals from our senses or other neurons, the neuron fires an impulse called the action potential. The resting potential is the neuron’s visual charge of positive …show more content…

Neurotransmitters send messages to different parts of the body that trigger certain behaviors. For example, acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter that has an effect on movement by being released to muscle cell receptors that cause muscles to contract. Researchers have found that the brain produces its own opiates and therefore certain drugs can trigger them. The problem with this is that the brain begins to rely on those drugs and stops producing their own natural opiates. This can cause struggle and lead to addiction. Certain drugs alter neurotransmitters by either mimicking or blocking them. Agonist molecules can bind to a similar neurotransmitter to mimic and enhance its effects, while antagonists bind to neurotransmitters but block its …show more content…

The central nervous system is composed of the brain and spinal cord and the peripheral nervous system is composed of the body’s sensory receptors, muscles, and glands. The peripheral nervous system is made up of somatic and automatic. Somatic is the voluntary movement of our skeletal muscles. When we hear the bell ring, our somatic nervous system carries the message to the brain and the brain reports back to our muscles. The autonomic nervous system controls our glands and muscles in our internal organs. Some things this nervous system does is taking control of our digestive system and our heart beat. There are two functions of the autonomic nervous system- the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system arouses and expands energy. If someone gets excited or nervous in a situation, their blood pressure will rise, their digestion will slow down, their heartbeat will accelerate, their blood sugar will rise, and they will sweat to cool down. The parasympathetic is the opposite. It tries to conserve energy by decreasing your heartbeat, lowering your blood sugar, and so

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