PSYC 1100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Central Nervous System, Dendrite, White Matter

• School: UConn
• Department: Psychological Sciences
• Course: PSYC 1100
• Professor: David Miller

Document Summary

Several organ systems are important for the biological basis of psychology. Neurons are nerve cells, the basic cellular units of the nervous system. Chemical signaling, release of chemicals on other neurons. Neuron receives chemical signals through its dendrites and soma, these areas generate nerve impulses, which ultimately generate action potentials that are sent down the axon to the terminals, where neurotransmitters are released to signal other neurons. The synapse is the point of functional connection between two neurons. There is a gap called the synaptic cleft which separates two neurons. Most neurons communicate to each other by releasing chemical signals known as neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters released from terminals of presynaptic neuron when an action potential reaches the terminal. The neurotransmitter diffuses across the synapse to act on the postsynaptic membrane of the second cell. The postsynaptic cell then transduces this chemical activity into some type of metabolic or electrical change. Axons, terminals and cell bodies in the rest of the body.