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Every week we had to read certain chapters and answer some questions...

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The Human Brain

Central Sulcus is a prominent landmark of the brain, separating the parietal lobe from the frontal lobe

Frontal lobe Initiates and coordinates motor movements. Carries out higher cognitive skills (problem-solving, thinking, planning, organizing, personality and emotional makeup).

Occipital lobe Processes visual information, recognizes shapes and colors.

Temporal Lobe Processes auditory information and integrates other sensory information; Includes the hippocampus (for short-term memory) and amygdala (learned emotional responses).

AR – 5711

Environmental Psychology

Parietal lobe Processes sensory information; attention; language – contributes to navigating spaces.

Course Instructor, Dr. Laura Wolszon

Cerebellum Plans the sequence of muscle contractions to accomplish movement.

Fall 2018

Elena Sophia Längle

The Human Brain Areas are next to each other, not completely seperated. Extreme example: Synesthia = when different areas are more connected thena usually. People can see music, hear colors, etc.

AR – 5711

Environmental Psychology

Course Instructor, Dr. Laura Wolszon

Fall 2018

Elena Sophia Längle

Neurons Book Excerpts Brainfacts Retrieved from Brainfacts.org

When signals arrive at a brain region, they engage local neural circuits (interconnected neurons) that turn entering signals into output patterns that can be sent to other parts of the brain. p. 13

If the sum of all the signals at the dendrites rises to match the membrane’s threshold voltage, a series of voltage-sensitive ion channels opens automatically, triggering an electrical impulse called an action potential, which moves down the axon towards the next neuron in the circuit. Signals are passed from one neuron to the next at junctions called synapses. In most circuits, a synapse includes the end of an axon, the dendrite of an adjacent neuron, and a space between the two called the synaptic cleft. The cleft is wide enough that electrical signals can’t directly impact the next neuron; rather, chemical signals called neurotransmitters cross the synapse. This process is called neurotransmission. [...] p. 15

Individual neurons are either excitatory or inhibitory. The majority of neurons in your brain — about 80 percent of them — are excitatory, sending signals that push their neighbors toward firing. In many parts of the cerebral cortex, the most common type of excitatory neuron is the pyramidal cell, named for its cone-shaped cell body. The 20 percent of your brain’s neurons that are inhibitory send signals that suppress the activity of neighboring neurons and regulate the activity of a circuit. The functional unit of neural circuits and networks is the neuron, a specialized cell that can transmit electrical signals to other nerve cells, muscles, or glands. Neu- rons come in a broad range of shapes and sizes, but all of them have a cell body, dendrites, and an axon.[...]

After neurotransmitters are released from an axon terminal, they drift across the synaptic cleft until they reach the outer surface of the dendrite, a region that looks thick or dense in highly magnified images. This region, the postsynaptic density, has a high concentration of neurotransmitter receptors. Many different molecules act as neurotransmitters, and each one fits into specific receptors like a key fits a lock p. 15

Dendrites are branched projections that extend from the cell body and collect incoming signals from other neurons p.14 Ions are electrically charged atoms that can only cross a neuron’s cell membrane through tunnel-like proteins called ion channels. [...] p. 15 AR – 5711

Environmental Psychology

Course Instructor, Dr. Laura Wolszon

Fall 2018

Elena Sophia Längle

Neurons Addiction An Addiction, for example Heroin (opiod). Everytime the addict takes the drug there is an overload of neurotransmitters between the neurons. The synaptic cleft is full of them and the cells are sending out AP all the time. Overstimulation! This is very demanding for a cell, and in order to protect itself, it starts different mechanisms. One of them is to stop the production of rezeptors at the postsynaptic membran/ Dendrites. However, this means the Dendrite is not active and the body thinks it needs more stimuli. Consequently the body asks for more of this kind of stimuli. Over time the rezeptors can regenerate but – for whatever reason – they are very sensetive. It is easy to fall back to an addiction.

AR – 5711

Environmental Psychology

Course Instructor, Dr. Laura Wolszon

Fall 2018

Elena Sophia Längle...