APSY-UE 20 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Lateral Sulcus, Phenotype, Somatic Nervous System
15 Sep 2016
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Document Summary
Biological psychologists or neuroscientists: researchers who study the relationship between the nervous system and behavior. Neurons: nerve cells specialized for communication with each other. Receive chemical messages from other neurons by way of synaptic contacts w dendrites. Next, neurons send action potentials down along their axons, some of which are coated with myelin to make the electrical signal travel faster. Cell body (aka soma): central region of the neuron, manufactures new cell components (consists of small & large molecules), and provides continual renewal of cell components. Dendrites: branch-like extensions for receiving information from other neurons, they spread out to listen in on conversations from neighboring neurons and pass them on to the cell body. Axons: specialized for sending messages to other neurons, long tail-like extensions are usually very thin near the cell body, narrowness allows it to be easily activated by incoming signals.
