PSY 322 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Cerebral Cortex, Myelin, Membrane Technology
9 Apr 2015
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Axon: tubes w/ fluid; transmits elec. signal to other neurons. Info travels from axon to another neuron"s dendrites. Ap reaches end of axon: synaptic vesicles open & release chem. neurotrans. : chems. that affect elec. signal of receiving neuron. Ap results only if threshold lvl is reached. Cog. func. breaks down in specific ways when areas are damaged. Responds specifically to pictures of bodies, parts of bodies. Blood flow increases in areas activated by task. Measures signal from tracer @ each brain location. Higher signals = higher levels of brain activity. Diff. btwn activation determines what areas are active. Measures blood flow thru magnetic properties of blood. Feature detectors: neurons that respond best to specific stimulus. Simple cells: respond best to bars of light of particular orientation. Complex cells: respond best to oriented bar of light of specific length. Rep. of specific stimulus by firing specifically tuned neurons.
