PSYC 1101 Chapter 2: Chapter 2
Document Summary
Chapter 2: the biology of mind and consciousness. Plasticity the brain"s ability to change, especially during childhood, by reorganizing after damage or by building new pathway based on experience. Our brain is constantly changing, building new pathway. Biological psychologists study the link between biological processes and psychological processes. Cognitive neuroscience study the connections between brain activity and mental processes. Our internal communication system is based on basic building blocks: neurons, or nerve cells. Dendrite - receive messages and conduct them toward the cell body(listen) Axon - sends out messages to other neurons or to muscles or glands (speak) Action potentials - the messages neurons carry are electrical signals, or nerve impulses. Glial cells (glue cells/information processing) provide nutrients and myelin (the layer of fatty tissue that insulates some neurons: also guide neural connections and clean up after neurons send messages to one another. Synapses the meeting place of neurons, where they separated by synaptic gap.
