HMB200H1 Chapter 2.1: 2.1 Overview of Brain Function and Structure
Document Summary
Primary function: produce behaviour (movement: sensory information, cognition, and other mental processes . Nervous system exist for making good behavioural choices. Subjective differences in reality- allow different animals to exploit different features of their environments. Evolution fosters adaptability: ability to change in accordance to environmental demands, and survive. Plastic: neural tissue have the capacity to adapt by changing how its functions are organized: blind person- enhance auditory capacities, b/c usual visual regions work to perceive sounds. Connections b/w neurons are changing in response to experience. Neuroplasticity: nervous system"s potential for physical & chemical change: adapt to environment, compensate for injuries. Phenotypic plasticity: individual"s ability to develop into more than one phenotype: one genotype produces multiple possible phenotypes. Epigenetics: how environmental influences change genetic expression. Pns nerves extending out from the cns. Focus on how parts of the system work together. Carries sensory information to the cns from muscles, joints, and skin. Sympathetic division (arousing) & parasympathetic division (calming)
