C-PSYM223 | Module 3

CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM

Physiological Psychology

The central nervous system is made up of the brain, its cranial nerves CNS. The CNS also sends messages to the rest of the body to control movement,
and the spinal cord. Together, they form, as the name suggests, the literal center actions, and responses to the environment.
of the body’s communication system.
Although the brain, like any other organ, needs to receive nutrients from the
Protective barriers surround them, including bone (skull and spine) and blood, many chemicals cannot cross from the blood to the brain. The blood brain
membraneous tissue known as meninges. Additionally, the brain and spine are barrier is the mechanism that excludes most chemicals from the vertebrate brain.
suspended in cerebrospinal fluid. Glial cells, also known as glia or neuroglia, are The barrier protects the nervous system from viruses and many dangerous
non-neuronal cells in the central and peripheral nervous systems that provide chemicals. (Hagenbuch, Gao, & Meier, 2002).
support and protection for neurons. They play several crucial roles in maintaining
the health and functionality of the nervous system. The term glia, derived from a Most cells use a variety of carbohydrates and fats for nutrition, but vertebrate
Greek word meaning “glue,” reflects early investigators’ idea that glia was like neurons depend almost entirely on glucose, a sugar.
glue that held the neurons together. Although the human brain constitutes only about 2 percent of the body’s weight,
Glia outnumbers neurons in the cerebral cortex, but neurons outnumber it uses about 20 percent of its oxygen and 25 percent of its glucose.
glia in several other brain areas, especially the cerebellum. Overall, the numbers The brain has three major divisions—the hindbrain, the midbrain, and the
are almost equal. forebrain.

Types Three Major Divisions of the Brain

Astrocytes wrap around the synapses of functionally related axons. 1. Hindbrain
Tiny cells called microglia act as part of the immune system, removing viruses The hindbrain, the posterior part of the brain, consists of the medulla, the pons,
and fungi from the brain. They proliferate after brain damage, removing dead or and the cerebellum. The medulla and pons, the midbrain, and certain central
damaged neurons. structures of the forebrain constitute the brainstem.
Oligodendrocytes in the brain and spinal cord and Schwann cells in the • Brainstem: Consists of the medulla, pons, midbrain, and certain central
periphery of the body build the myelin sheaths that surround and insulate certain structures of the forebrain.
vertebrate axons. They also supply an axon with nutrients necessary for proper • Medulla (medulla oblongata): Controls breathing, heart rate, vomiting,
functioning. coughing, and other vital reflexes through the cranial nerves, a set of twelve
Radial glia guides the migration of neurons and their axons and dendrites during nerves that carry sensory and motor information to the head. Just as the lower
embryonic development. When embryological development finishes, most radial parts of the body connect to the spinal cord via sensory and motor nerves,
glia differentiate into neurons, and a smaller number differentiate into astrocytes the head and the organs connect to the medulla and adjacent areas by 12 pairs
and oligodendrocytes. of cranial nerves (one of each pair on the right side and one on the left). The
cranial nerves originating in the medulla control vital reflexes such as
The CNS processes every sensation and thought that you experience. Receptors breathing, heart rate, vomiting, salivation, coughing, and sneezing. Because
throughout the body gather sensory information and pass it on to the opiate receptors, which suppress activity, are abundant in the medulla,
opiates can produce a dangerous decrease in breathing and heart rate.
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• Pons (Latin for "bridge"): Brain structure that lies anterior and ventral to the the contralateral side, by way of axons to the spinal cord and the cranial nerve
medulla. Like the medulla, the pons contains nuclei for several cranial nuclei.
nerves. Axons in the pons cross from one side of the brain to the other.
The outer portion is the cerebral cortex. Below the cortex are several subcortical
• Reticular Formation and Raphe System lie in both the pons and medulla.
areas:
Both systems affect attention and arousal.
• Cerebellum: Organizes sensory information that guides movement. The • Limbic System: Comprised of the olfactory bulb, hypothalamus,
cerebellum as important for “balance and coordination.” True, people with hippocampus, amygdala, and cingulate gyrus. The limbic system is involved
cerebellar damage are clumsy and lose their balance, but the functions of the in motivational and emotional behaviors.
cerebellum extend far beyond balance and coordination .People with damage • Thalamus: The thalamus and the hypothalamus form the diencephalon. The
to the cerebellum have trouble shifting their attention back and forth between rest of the forebrain makes up the telencephalon. The thalamus provides the
auditory and visual stimuli (Courchesne et al., 1994). They have difficulty main source of information to the cerebral cortex. Most sensory information
with timing, such as judging whether one rhythm is faster than another. The is first processed in the thalamus before going to the cerebral cortex. The one
cerebellum is also critical for certain types of learning and conditioning. exception is olfactory information.
• Hypothalamus: Small structure containing many distinct nuclei. Sends
messages to the pituitary gland, altering its release of hormone. Important
2. Midbrain for motivated behavior (i.e., eating, drinking, etc.) and temperature
regulation.
As the name implies, early in development the midbrain is in the middle • Pituitary Gland: Endocrine (hormone-producing) gland attached to the
of the brain. The midbrain is more prominent in reptiles, amphibians, and fish.
base of the hypothalamus.
The roof of the midbrain is called the tectum. (Tectum is the Latin word • Basal Ganglia: A group of subcortical structures including the caudate,
for “roof.” The same root occurs in the geological term plate tectonics.) The putamen, and globus pallidus. Deterioration of the basal ganglia is prominent
swellings on each side of the tectum are the superior colliculus and the inferior in Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease.
colliculus. Both are important for sensory processing —the inferior colliculus for • Basal Forebrain: Structures in the dorsal surface of the forebrain, including
hearing and the superior colliculus for vision. Under the tectum lies the the nucleus basalis, a key part of the brain’s arousal system.
tegmentum, the intermediate level of the midbrain. (In Latin, tegmentum means • Hippocampus: A large structure between the thalamus and the cerebral
a “covering,” such as a rug on the floor. The tectum covers the tegmentum, but cortex, mostly toward the posterior of the forebrain. This structure is
the tegmentum covers several other midbrain structures.) Another midbrain important for new memory storage.
structure ,the substantia nigra, gives rise to a dopamine-containing pathway that
facilitates readiness for movement.

3. Forebrain

The forebrain, the most prominent part of the mammalian brain, consists
of two cerebral hemispheres, one on the left and one on the right(see Figure 3.11).

Each hemisphere is organized to receive sensory information, mostly

from the contralateral(opposite) side of the body. It controls muscles, mostly on

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The Cerebral Cortex about eye, head, and body positions and passes it on to brain areas that
control movement.
c. Temporal Lobe: Located laterally in each hemisphere, near the temples; it
is the primary target for auditory information. In humans the temporal lobe
(usually the left hemisphere) is involved in comprehension of spoken
language. The temporal lobe also contributes to complex aspects of vision,
including perception of movement and recognition of faces. The temporal
lobe is also implicated in emotional and motivated behaviors.
d. Frontal Lobe: Located at the most anterior area of the cerebral cortex and
extends to the central sulcus. Contains the primary motor cortex and
prefrontal cortex.
i. Precentral Gyrus (also known as the primary motor cortex):
Located just anterior to the central sulcus. Specialized for the
control of fine motor movements, primarily on the contralateral side
of the body.
The cerebral cortex consists of the cellular layers on the outer surface of
ii. Prefrontal Cortex: The most anterior portion of the frontal lobe.
the cerebral hemispheres. The corpus callosum and anterior commissure: Two
Forms a large portion of the brain in large-brained species. Receives
bundles of axons that allow the two brain hemispheres to communicate with one
information from all of our senses. In general, species with a larger
another. The cerebral cortex constitutes a higher percentage of the brain in
cerebral cortex devote a larger percentage of it to the prefrontal
primates (monkeys, apes, and humans) than in other species of comparable size.
cortex . For example, it forms a larger portion of the cortex in
humans and the great apes than in other species (Semendeferi, Lu,
Schenker, & Damasio, 2002). Neurons in the prefrontal cortex have
Organization of the Cerebral Cortex huge numbers of synapses and integrate an enormous amount of
The cerebral cortex contains up to six distinct laminae (layers of cell information.
bodies that lie parallel to the surface of the cortex and are separated from each iii. Prefrontal Lobotomy: Disconnecting the prefrontal cortex from the
other by layers of fibers). Cells in the cerebral cortex are also arranged in columns rest of the brain to control psychological disorders. This practice
(cells with similar properties, organized perpendicular to laminae). was almost completely abandoned after effective drug therapies
became available. Prefrontal lobotomies commonly resulted in a
The cerebral cortex can be divided into four lobes named for the skull loss of the ability to plan and take initiative, memory disorders,
bones that lie over them: occipital, parietal, temporal, and frontal. distractibility, and a loss of emotional expression. In addition,
people with prefrontal damage lost their social inhibitions and often
a. Occipital Lobe: Posterior (caudal) portion of the cerebral cortex; part of the acted impulsively.
visual pathway system. Primary Visual Cortex (Striate cortex): The most
posterior region of the occipital lobe. Destruction of any part of the striate
cortex causes cortical blindness.
b. Parietal Lobe: Lies between the occipital lobe and the central sulcus (one Functions of the Prefrontal Cortex
of the deepest grooves in the surface of the cortex). Postcentral Gyrus or An analysis of thousands of studies concluded that the prefrontal
primary somatosensory cortex: Lies posterior to the central sulcus; the cortex has three major regions (de la Vega, Chang, Banich, Wager, & Yarkoni,
primary target for touch sensations and information from muscle-stretch 2016). The posterior portion is associated mostly with movement. The middle
receptors and joint receptors. The parietal lobe monitors all the information zone pertains to working memory, cognitive control, and emotional reactions.
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Working memory is the ability to remember recent events, such as where you location as the dummy’s mouth (Bonath et al., 2007; Bruns, Liebnau,& Röder,
parked your car or what you were talking about before an interruption. People 2011).
with damage to the prefrontal cortex have trouble on the delayed-response task,
in which they see or hear something, and then have to respond to it after a delay. In contrast, if you watch a poorly dubbed foreign language film, the
The anterior zone of the prefrontal cortex is important for making decisions, lips do not move at the same time as the speech, and you perceive that the words
evaluating which of several courses of action is likely to achieve the best did not come from those lips.
outcome. When you decide whether to do something, you consider the difficulty
of the action, the probabilities of success and failure, and how valuable the
possible reward would be to you, all things considered. For example, the chance Spinal Cord
to win a pizza becomes less valuable if you have just finished a meal. An
The spinal cord is the part of the CNS within the spinal column. The
opportunity to win a few extra credit points is valuable if you think you are on
spinal cord communicates with all the sense organs and muscles except those of
the borderline between two grades, but less valuable otherwise. If you have a
the head.
choice between spending money now and saving it for later, you try to compare
the possibility of current pleasure and the possible need for money later. Cells in Each segment of the spinal cord sends sensory information to the brain
the prefrontal cortex respond to all these complex factors (Hunt et al., 2012; and receives motor commands from the brain. All that information passes through
Wallis, 2012). tracts of axons in the spinal cord. If the spinal cord is cut at a given segment, the
brain loses sensation from that segment and below. The brain also loses motor
People with prefrontal cortical damage often make decisions that seem
control over all parts of the body served by that segment and the lower ones.
impulsive, because they failed to weigh all the likely pros and cons.

How do various brain areas combine to produce a unified experience?

The question of how various brain areas produce a perception of a

single object is known as the binding problem, o large-scale integration problem.
In an earlier era, researchers thought that various kinds of sensory information
converged onto what they called the association areas of the cortex. Their guess
was that those areas associate one sensation with another, or current sensations
with memories of previous experiences. Later research found that relatively few
cells combine one sense with another (Blanke, 2012). Even when they do, they
don’t fully answer the question of how we bind sensory information together.
In the cross section through the spinal cord shown ,the H-shaped gray
Although researchers cannot fully explain binding, they know what is matter in the center of the cord is densely packed with cell bodies and dendrites
necessary for it to occur: It occurs if you perceive two sensations as happening at .Many neurons from the gray matter of the spinal cord send axons to the brain or
the same time and in approximately the same place. For example, when a skilled to other parts of the spinal cord through the white matter, containing myelinated
ventriloquist says something and makes the dummy’s mouth move at the same axons.
time, you perceive the sound as coming from the dummy.

As part of this illusion, the visual stimulus alters the response of the
auditory cortex, so that the sound really does seem to come from the same

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