By Marcia Bathke

The First Important Aspect of Neuropsychology

“Everything psychological is simultaneously biological.”

What does this mean exactly? Basically, everything we do comes from a thought whether it is conscious or subconscious. These thoughts originate from the brain as a result of various kinds of sensory input. The brain gathers this input, considers how it should respond, and initiates a reaction. Then, after the action is complete the mind thinks about how to react further, thus creating a chain reaction.

The Second Important Aspect of Neuropsychology

A neuron, a.k.a. a nerve cell, is considered to be the basic building block of the nervous system. It contains a cell body and its branching fibers, which include the dendrites, axon, and terminal branches.

Neurons can transmit messages when they are triggered by signals from our senses or when they are stimulated by chemical signals from other neighbor neurons. In response to this, the neuron will fire what is known as an action potential which is generated by depolarization.

The action potential then travels along the axon to the terminal branches where it will cross a synaptic gap and onto the dendrites of the receiving neuron.

The Third Important Aspect of Neuropsychology

The brainstem is the brain’s oldest and innermost region.

Structure: Thalamus, Reticular formation, pons, medulla, and cerebellum.

Functions:

Thalamus- receives and relays sensory information to the appropriate locations

Reticular Formation- filters incoming stimuli, controls arousal and alertness

Pons- coordinates movements and controls sleep

Medulla- controls heartbeat and breathing

Cerebellum- learning and skill memory, coordinates voluntary movement

The limbic system lies between the older and newer brain and contains the amygdala, the hypothalamus, and the hippocampus.

Functions:

Amygdala- controls aggression and fear

Hypothalamus- influences hunger, thirst, body temperature, the pituitary gland, and sexual arousal

Hippocampus- processes memories

The Fourth Important Aspect of Neuropsychology

The cerebral cortex is a thin layer of neural cells that covers the two hemispheres of the brain. Each hemisphere’s cortex is divided further into four lobes. Which are:

Frontal lobe: behind your forehead;

involved in speaking, muscle

movements, making plans and

judgement

Parietal lobe: top and to the rear;

receives sensory input for touch

Occipital lobe: back of the head;

receives info from visual fields

Temporal lobe: above the ear;

receives auditory info

The important things to remember about the hemispheres in the brain are:

-Left hemisphere controls speech, calculations, and the right side of the body

-Right hemisphere controls interpretation, perception, and the left side of the body

The Fifth Important Aspect of Neuropsychology

The PNS is a part of the nervous system that is responsible for gathering and transferring CNS information to other areas in the body.

The PNS is composed of two smaller system, which are the somatic and autonomic systems.

-The autonomic nervous system has even smaller systems called the sympathetic (alarm) and parasympathetic (calm) nervous systems.

-The somatic nervous system allows control of our skeletal muscles.

The CNS is composed of the brain and spinal cord.

The brain is what processes and coordinates our information, as well as forms neural networks for fast connection.

The spinal cord acts as a two-way information highway that connects the PNS to the brain. It relays information to and from the brain and coordinates reflexes.