PSYCH101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Myelin, Cron, Pituitary Gland

• School: University of Waterloo
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYCH101
• Professor: Stephanie Denison

Document Summary

The brain may look inactive, but it is the most dynamic organ of the body. Although only consisting of 2% of the average human body weight, the brain uses about 20% of the body"s metabolic energy. The brain consists of 80- 100 billion nerve cells (known as neurons) and roughly 1 trillion points of communication (synapses) between neurons. The brain and the spinal cord (extends from brain down the bones of the spinal column) is called the central nervous system (cns) Extensions from the cns (the nerves) is called the peripheral nervous system (pns) A neuron is single cell in the nervous system. A nerve is a bundle of many neurons and more precisely, a bundle of axons of the neurons within the pns. Nerves are able to connect the cns to the body"s sensory organs, muscles, and glands. Neurons consist of a cell body, dendrite and axon.