L33 Psych 100B Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Peripheral Nervous System, Pituitary Gland, Somatic Nervous System
Document Summary
Prefrontal cortex especially prominent in humans; important for attention, working memory, decision making, appropriate social behavior, and personality. Lobotomy a form of brain surgery that deliberately damaged the prefrontal cortex. Split brain a condition that occurs when the corpus callosum is surgically cut and the two hemispheres of the brain do not receive information directly from each other. Left hemisphere: better with language; right hemisphere: better with spatial relationships. Somatic nervous system (sns) a component of the peripheral nervous system; it transmits sensory signals and motor signals between the central nervous system and the skin, muscles, and joints. Endocrine system a communication system that uses hormones to influence thoughts, behaviors, and actions. Hormones chemical substances, released from endocrine glands, that travel through the bloodstream to targeted tissues; the tissues are subsequently influenced by the hormones. Gonads the main endocrine glands involved in sexual behavior: in males, the testes; in females, the ovaries.
