Neurotransmitters

Happy
 Important Neurotransmitters

Neurotransmitter Function Disease

Acetylcholine muscle movement, learning

undersupply linked to Alzheimer’s disease.
(ACh) 乙酰胆碱 and memory

rewards, movement, learning, oversupply linked to schizophrenia;

Dopamine
attention and emotion undersupply linked to Parkinson’s disease.

Undersupply linked to clinical depression

Serotonin 血清素 Affect mood, hunger,
（5-羟色胺）
(some drugs raise serotonin levels to treat
sleep and arousal
depression)
Norepinephrine
(Noradrenaline) Affect alertness and arousal Undersupply can depress mood
去甲肾上腺素
 Important Neurotransmitters

Neurotransmitter Function Disease

• Undersupply linked to insomnia,
GABA (gamma- seizure, anxiety disorder;
aminobutyric acid) inhibitory neurotransmitters
伽马氨基丁酸 • Depressants: increase the release of
GABA
• Oversupply linked to migraines (偏头
excitatory neurotransmitters, 痛) or seizure
Glutamate 谷氨酸
involve in memory • Depressants: decrease the release of
glutamate
• Oversupply with opiates can
Endorphins Pain control, pleasure,
内啡肽
suppress the body’s natural endorphin
involved in addictions.
supply
 跑步会分泌哪些神经递质？跑步为什么让人快乐？

• Acetylcholine：muscle movement (人体运动后大量释放)

• Dopamine：rewards, movement (心率达到55—65%分泌，快走或者慢跑都会产生)

• Endorphins：心率能够达到75—90%的时候分泌;
（Endorphins 是痛苦之后才会兴奋，而 Dopamine 是直接的愉悦感）

• 运动提高心率增加重要的抗焦虑神经化学物质：血清素、GABA等。

• 运动能激活大脑中负责执行功能的额叶区域，这有助于控制杏仁核。
 Practice

Oversupply linked to schizophrenia— Endorphins

Affect muscle action— Acetylcholine (ACh)

Involved in addictions— Dopamine

Undersupply linked to depression— Glutamate

Undersupply linked to someone who is depressed— Serotonin and Norepinephrine

Oversupply linked to migraines, seizure— Serotonin

2014真题

B
How Drugs Alter Neurotransmission

Agonist and Antagonist

 Agonists 激活剂
Agonist molecules increase a neurotransmitter’s action.

两类：
① be similar enough to a neurotransmitter to mimic its
excitatory or inhibitory effects.
② block reuptake in the synapse;

e.g. opiate drugs (鸦片) are agonists for endorphins

 Antagonist 阻滞剂
Decrease a neurotransmitter’s action by blocking production or release.

Antagonist blocks neurotransmitter from opening receptor site.

Example
Antipsychotics（抗精分药物）, block receptor of dopamine
Botulin (肉毒杆菌), causes paralysis by blocking ACh nrelease.
 Practice

Antagonist 1. Curare poisoning (箭毒) paralyzes victims by blocking ACh receptors

involved in muscle movements.

Agonists 2. Morphine (吗啡) mimics endorphin actions.

Which is an agonist, and which is an antagonist?

 Neurotransmitters and Drugs

Neurotransmitters : inside the body, excite or inhibit neural communication.

Drugs : outside the body, have an agonistic or antagonistic effect on neurotransmission.

 Summary

1. What are the parts of a neuron, and how are neural impulses generated?
• A neuron consists of a cell body and its branching fibers. It receives signals through its
dendrites and sends signals through its axons.
• Axons are encased in a myelin sheath, which enables faster transmission.
• Glial cells support nerve cells and participate in learning, thinking, and memory.
• If the combined received signals exceed a minimum threshold, the neuron fires,
transmitting an electrical impulse (the action potential) down its axon by means of a
chemistry-to-electricity process. The neuron’s reaction is an all-or-none process.
 Summary

2. How do nerve cells communicate with other nerve cells?

• When action potentials reach the end of an axon (the axon terminals), they stimulate the
release of neurotransmitters.
• These chemical messengers carry a message from the sending neuron across a synapse to
receptor sites on a receiving neuron.
• The sending neuron, in a process called reuptake, then reabsorbs the excess
neurotransmitter molecules in the synaptic gap.
• If incoming signals are strong enough, the receiving neuron generates its own action
potential and relays the message to other cells.
 Summary

3. How do drugs affect neurotransmission?

• Neurotransmitters travel designated pathways in the brain and may influence specific
behaviors and emotions.
• Drugs affect neurotransmission at synapses.
• Agonists excite by mimicking particular neurotransmitters or by blocking their reuptake.
• Antagonists inhibit a particular neurotransmitter’s release or block its effect.
• Acetylcholine (ACh) affects muscle action, learning, and memory.
• Endorphins are natural opiates released in response to pain and exercise.
 Unit 2-2
The Nervous System

• Nervous System
• The Brain
 The Nervous System

• The body’s speedy, electrochemical communication network.

Consisting of:

• The central nervous system (CNS) 中枢神经系统

• The peripheral nervous system (PNS) 外周神经系统

1. Peripheral nervous system（ PNS ）
Peripheral nervous system（ PNS ）

• Connect the sensory receptors to the CNS and the

CNS to muscles and glands.

• PNS is made of the sensory and motor neurons

• Consisting of autonomic and somatic nervous systems.

 Somatic Nervous System 躯体神经系统

• Controls the voluntary motion of your skeletal muscles.

e.g.
• somatic nervous system reports to your brain the current state of your skeletal muscles.
• Then, it carries instructions back
• And triggering your body to rise from your seat
 Autonomic nervous system (ANS) 自主神经系统

Controls the involuntary motion:

• glands
• muscles of the internal organs (heartbeat, digestion).

Consists of sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system

• sympathetic division arouses;

• parasympathetic division calms.

in stressful situations……

sympathetic nervous system:

• arouses the body, mobilizing its energy
• ready for action (fight-or-flight reaction) .
• accelerate heartbeat, slow digestion…

after stressful situations……

parasympathetic nervous system
• calms the body, conserving its energy;
• decreasing heartbeat, lowering blood sugar…

In everyday situations, they work together to keep

us in a steady internal state.
2. Central Nervous System CNS

Brain and Spinal Cord

 Spinal cord

• all the nerves housed within bone.

• It transmits information from the rest of the body to the brain.
Normal Nervous System Transmission

you stub your toe on a table……

① The sensory receptors in your toe are activated
② from your toe to the base of spine (afferent nerves).
③ continues up your spinal cord on more afferent nerves
④ transmitted to the brain’s sensory cortex——you know…….
⑤ motor cortex sends impulses down spinal cord (efferent nerves)
⑥ to the muscles (effector organ) causing you to holding your limb
The Spinal Cord Reflexes: involves only the spinal cord
• E.g. The knee-jerk response, the pain reflex
• A headless warm body could do it.
• 没有 Brain 会怎么样？

• 没有 Spinal Cord 会怎么样？

Structure and function of the Nervous System

v
Structure and function of the Nervous System
4. Tools of Studying the Brain
1. Accidents

• Case studies of patients helped localize some of the brain’s structures and functions.
• e.g. Damage to one side of the brain often caused paralysis on the body’s opposite side;
Damage to the back of the brain disrupted vision (occipital lobes)

2. Lesioning
• Lesioning is the removal or destruction of part of the brain.
• e.g.
the frontal lobotomy (schizophrenia)
damage to the hypothalamus in a rat’s brain reduces eating (lateral hypothalamus),
whereas damage in another area produces overeating (ventromedial hypothalamus).
 3. Imaging Techniques 成像技术

(1) EEG or ERP (electroencephalogram)

• An EEG detects electrical activity of neurons (brain waves). It can examine what
type of waves the brain produces and use it to generalize about brain function.

• It is widely used in sleep research to identify the different stages of sleep and dreaming.
 （2）CAT & CT (computerized axial tomography)

• X-ray, radiation (对人体有害，致癌)

• It can show only the structure of the brain, not the functions or the activity.
 （3）Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

• Similar to a CAT scan: pictures of the brain, only structure, not function.
• More details: the density and location of brain material.
• 比起 CT, MRI (magnetic field) 对人体伤害小。
 （4）positron emission tomography (PET) scan
正电子发射断层扫描

• It can show function of the brain

• Measures how much of a certain chemical parts of the brain are using. The more used,
the higher the activity. Chemicals such as neurotransmitters, glucose and oxygen flow.
 （5）Functional MRI (fMRI)

• It can show both structure and function of the brain

• Detects blood flow in the brain, tying brain structure to brain activity during
cognitive tasks.

例如，当一个人看一个场景时，功
能磁共振成象机检测到血液涌向大
脑后部（The occipital lobes）。
 More tools

• 功能性近红外光谱技术 (functional near - infrared spectroscopy , fNIRS)

• (不考，仅了解）
 PRACTICE

It can show only the structure of the brain CAT, MRI

It detects brain waves to show brain function EEG

It detects both brain structure ands brain function. fMRI

2. Bain Structure and Function
 1. The Brainstem 脑干
• the oldest part, beginning with the spinal; a crossover point; automatic survival functions.

(1) medulla 延髓
Basic life functions: in the control of blood pressure,
heart rate, and breathing. (植物人medulla仍正常)

(2) pons 脑桥
Structure: located just above the medulla;
Function:
• Provides input to other brain areas
• in the control of coordinate movements, facial expressions.
 2. Thalamus 丘脑

• Structure: sitting atop the brainstem

• Function: brain’s sensory control center and relay station
It is responsible for receiving the sensory signals coming up the spinal cord and sending
them to the higher brain regions that deal with seeing, hearing, tasting, and touching. And
receiving feedback from the higher brain regions.

except smelling
 3. Reticular Formation 网状结构

• Structure: a nerve network that travels through the brainstem and thalamus
• Function: controlling arousal—wakefulness & alertness.

Reticular Formation不起作用，
我们会陷入深度昏迷。
 4. Cerebellum 小脑

Structure: the “little brain” at the rear of the brainstem;

Function:
• processing sensory input
• coordinating movement and balance
• enabling nonverbal learning and memory (Implicit
memories/nondeclarative memories) .
 Medulla 植物人也需要
Pons 是脑桥
Thalamus 感觉中枢，嗅觉除外 项目一： AP心理歌曲创作
Reticular Formation 失灵 陷入昏迷
Cerebellum 运动和记忆
……
 5. The Limbic System 边缘系统
• Including: the amygdala, hypothalamus, and hippocampus
• Function: associated with emotions and drives
 5. The Limbic System

(1) Hippocampus 海马回

• Memory system: process for storage explicit memories of events.

• Damage to hippocampus: lose ability to form new memories.

• PTSD——haunting memories
 5. The Limbic System

(2) Amygdala 杏仁核

aggression and fear

E.g. 摘除暴躁恒河猴的Amygdala

猫鼠一笼，用电刺激猫的Amygdala

猴子和猫 会发生什么？

• 恒河猴变得温顺；猫害怕老鼠
 5. The Limbic System

(3) Hypothalamus 下丘脑

• lying below the thalamus

• controls the pituitary gland.

• metabolic functions: body temperature, sexual arousal, sleep–
wake cycle, hunger, thirst, and the endocrine system
• emotion and reward
e.g. 给老鼠Hypothalamus植入电极，让它操控电极，它会不停地刺激直到死亡。
Review: Brain structure and function
HINDBRAIN
Consists of structures in the top part of the spinal cord. The hindbrain is our life
support system——the medulla, pons, and cerebellum

MIDBRAIN
This area is between the hindbrain and the forebrain and integrates some types of
sensory information and muscle movements——reticular formation
(controlling arousal—wakefulness & alertness).

FOREBRAIN
very important to AP Psychology test, Areas of the forebrain control
what we think of as thought and reason ——the thalamus, hypothalamus,
amygdala, hippocampus and cerebral cortex.
 2-1 Answer

1-5: c e c c d
6-10: a d d c a
11-15: a b e a
2-2 Answer

11-12 b d
6. Brain Hemisphere
 Brain Hemisphere

corpus callosum (胼胝体): the large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain
hemispheres and carrying messages between them.
Split Brain
• a treatment for epilepsy (癫痫)
• isolates the brain’s two hemispheres by cutting the corpus callosum.
Split brain research
Roger Sperry and Michael Gazzaniga

Roger Sperry won the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology in 1981 for split-brain research.

WHY?
 Brain Hemisphere

Function:
• Left hemisphere: gets sensory messages and controls
the motor function of the right half of the body.
• Right hemisphere: gets sensory messages and controls
the motor function of the left half of the body.

Brain lateralization: each hemisphere has its own functions.

大脑语言中心通常位于 left hemisphere ，
• left hemisphere: speech, calculation, and logic 因此split man不能说出只呈现给 right
hemisphere （left hand）的信息。
• right hemisphere: musical and artistic abilities, perceive
spatial relationships
对于普通人，下面哪个是对的？

全部错！
 左右半球协同合作，而非独立工作

大脑两个半球是互通信息，协同工作的。
华东师大的新技术第一个测量了爱
用它们各自不同的方式同时处理一个任务。 因斯坦的脑，发现：

比如，虽然语言主要是左脑负责，但是右脑也有它 他的 corpus callosum 明显比一

自己的语言功能，包括识别音调。 般的老年人甚至年轻人更厚。

可以理解为：主管和助理一起工作
1. A split-brain patient has a picture of a dog flashed to his right hemisphere
and a cat to left hemisphere. He will be able to identify
a. cat using his right hand.
a
b. dog using his right hand.
c. dog using either hand.
d. cat using either hand.
e. cat using his left hand.
2. A split-brain patient has a picture of a dog in his right visual field and a
cat in left visual field. He will be able to identify
a. cat using his right hand.
e
b. dog using his right hand.
c. dog using either hand.
d. cat using either hand.
e. cat using his left hand.
3. A split-brain patient has a picture of a dog flashed to his right hemisphere
and a cat to his left hemisphere. Which of the following will he be able to
verbalize?
a. That he saw a dog. b
b. That he saw a cat. Speech: left hemisphere（Broca’s area, Wernicke’s area）

c. That he saw both a dog and a cat.

d. That he did not see anything at all.
e. He will report the shape for a dog but not be able to name it as a dog.
7. Cerebral Cortex
 Cerebral Cortex

What makes us distinctively human arises from the

complex functions of our cerebral cortex.

• outer layer of the cerebrum (1mm)

• information-processing center
 Structure of the Cerebral Cortex

Each hemisphere’s cortex is subdivided into four lobes, separated by folds.

the frontal lobes 额叶 (behind your forehead)

the parietal lobes 顶叶 (at the top and to the rear)

the occipital lobes 枕叶 (at the back of your head)

the temporal lobes 颞叶 (above your ears)

 Functions of the cortex area

• Motor function: direct muscular output （frontal lobe ）

• Sensory function(somatic-sensory) : receive sensory input (parietal lobe)
• Association function: higher mental functions—many of the tasks that make us human.
 ① frontal lobes
Involved in motor control and cognitive activities
• the portion of the cerebral cortex lying just behind the forehead; involved in speaking and
muscle movements and in making plans and judgments.

• Motor function area

• Prefrontal cortex
• Broca’s area
 ① frontal lobes

• Motor function area

Structure: back of the frontal lobe
Function:
• send signals to muscles, control voluntary movements;
• Left hemisphere controls body’s right-side body;
• The top of the body is controlled by the neurons at the
bottom of this cortex, progressing down the body as you
go up the cortex.
• Body parts are drawn larger or smaller according to the
amount of cortex devoted to that body part.
 ① frontal lobes

• Prefrontal cortex (Association area)

Structure: the anterior of the frontal lobe
Function: central executive—planning, pursuing
goals, decision making, and abstract thought.

• Broca’s area (Paul Broca)

Structure: the frontal lobe in the left hemisphere
Function: controlling the muscles involved in
producing speech.
• expressive aphasia 表达性失语
 ② temporal lobes
Process of hearing
Structure: above your ears
Function:
• process sound sensed by our ears.
• sound received by the left or right ear is processed in the
auditory cortices in both hemispheres.

• Wernicke’s area
Structure: In the left temporal lobe 区分 说不出—听不懂
Function: interprets both written and spoken speech. Damage Damage to Broca’s area disrupts
to this area would affect our ability to understand language. speaking, Damage to Wernicke’s
area disrupts understanding.
• receptive aphasia 接受性失语
 ③ parietal lobes
Responsible for body sensations

• Sensory function area

Structure: behind frontal lobe but on the top of the brain.
Function:
• Receives incoming touch sensations from our body.
• Left hemisphere receives input from the right side body;
• The sensory cortex is organized similarly to the motor
cortex. The top of the sensory cortex receives
sensations from the bottom of the body, progressing
down the cortex to the bottom, which processes signals
from our face and head.
 ④ occipital lobes
Process of visual information

Structure: at the back of our brain, farthest from our eyes.

Function:
• interpret messages from our eyes
• information from the left half of your field of vision
goes to your right hemisphere, and information from
the right half of your visual field goes to your left
hemisphere
• Note, each eye receives sensory information from
both the right and left visual fields.
 脑的交响乐

虽然脑的各部分有不同功能，但并不是单一控制。

而是以音乐会的方式，像一只交响乐队那样合作完成。
 现在，请你大声说出“巧克力”

eyes thalamus occipital lobes

ears thalamus temporal lobes (Wernicke’s area)

frontal lobes (Broca’s) amygdala, hippocampus,

hypothalamus …

Speak “巧克力” prefrontal cortex

控制自己
Design your own brain
Design your own brain
向别人描述你的大脑各个部位
要求：
• 结构+功能
• 关键概念用英文
1.

c
AP考纲本节要求重点
AP考纲本节要求重点
Thank you