PSYC 1000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Myelin, Signal Strength In Telecommunications, Resting Potential

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 1000
• Professor: Lisa Giguere

Document Summary

Premise of psychology: the human mind and the human brain are one. Unique among other animals on the planet. Allows the integration of sensory information, manages the regulation of the body, behavior, and mental processes. Biology of the mind begins with the neurons. Dendrites: receive information from other neurons and conduct impulse to cell body. Cell body: contains nucleus and decides the activation. Myelin sheath: covers neurons and facilitates neural impulses, speeds up transmission. Terminal button/axon ending: communicates with the next neuron. Action potential: a neural impulse that travels to the terminal buttons by the axon, generated by moving positive and negative charges akin to a wave. When enough say go , the threshold is reached. Action potential causes release of neurotransmitters in the synaptic gap. Neurotransmitters: chemicals used to send a signal across the synaptic gap, float until they bind with specific receptor sites on dendrite side (different neurotransmitters have different receptor sites)