Nervous SystemYour central
nervous system is your brain
and spinal cord. The brain controls
behavior, and the spinal
cord transmits messages
between the brain and the
body.
Nervous SystemYour peripheral nervous system is the network of nerve cells that extend
throughout your body. It has a
somatic division (voluntary
movements) and an autonomic
division (involuntary movements).
Nervous SystemYour peripheral nervous system is the network of nerve cells that extend
throughout your body. It has a
somatic division (voluntary
movements) and an autonomic
division (involuntary movements).
Somatic Division: - Voluntary muscle movements - Communication between sensory
organs and the brain
Sensory Organs: Ears (hearing) Eyes (sight) Skin (feeling) Nose (smell) Tongue (taste)
Nervous SystemYour peripheral nervous system is the network of nerve cells that extend
throughout your body. It has a
somatic division (voluntary
movements) and an autonomic
division (involuntary movements).
Autonomic Division: - Involuntary movements (like breathing
and blood pressure) - Controls “fight or flight” response:
when the body is responding to a threat
Brain Structure• The “Old Brain” is the part of the brain that controls eating,
breathing, and sleeping. It is common to all vertebrates. • The evolution of the “old brain” dates back 500 million years.
• “The Midbrain” controls vision, hearing, motor control, alertness, and temperature regulation.
Brain Structure
• The “New Brain” is the cerebral cortex: the outer layer of nerve tissue in our brains. It controls memory, attention,
perceptual awareness, thought, language, and consciousness. The cerebral cortex is the part of the brain that allows us to reason.
Brain StructureDifferent lobes of the cerebral cortex are involved in different bodily functions. A PET (positron emission tomography) scan shows us which parts of the brain are active during different
daily activities.
Brain Structure
Frontal Lobe: • Controls the body’s dopamine system
• The function of the frontal lobe involves the ability to recognize future consequences, the choice between good and bad actions, the differentiation between bad/good/
better/best, the suppression of socially unacceptable behavior, and the ability to determine similarities and
differences. It also helps us retain long term memories. !!!
Brain Structure
Parietal Lobe: • Processes information derived from our senses. It
allows us to recognize objects by touch alone, manipulate objects with our hands, and understand how objects are positioned in space around us (spatial understanding). It also allows us to understand and manipulate numbers.
!!!!
Brain Structure
Temporal Lobe: • Involved in smell, sound, vision, and memory. • Allows us to form, store, and retrieve long-term
memories. It includes the auditory association area, which allows us to process sounds and comprehend speech. This lobe gives us the ability to recognize and
name people and objects. !!!!
Brain Structure
Occipital Lobe: • The primary visual processing center of the brain, the
occipital lobe allows you to process and understand what you are seeing.
• This lobe allows us to differentiate between different colors and perceive motion.
!!!!!
Behavioral GeneticsThe study of the effects of heredity on behavior.
To what extent are our abilities, personality traits, sexual orientations, sociability, and psychological disorders determined by genes inherited from our parents?
Behavioral GeneticsNature? (Genetics) or Nurture? (Environment)
Study: Men who carry one or two extra copies of a gene called allele 334 often
behave differently in relationships than men who lack this gene variant. Men with an extra copy of the gene felt a weaker, less permanent attachment to their partners,
and were more likely to be unfaithful. Men who had two copies of allele 334 were also
twice as likely to have had a marital or relationship crisis in the past year than
those who lacked the gene variant. (Karolinska Medical Institute, Stockholm).
Behavioral GeneticsNature? (Genetics) or Nurture? (Environment)
Study: Novelty-seeking behavior (impulsive decision-making, the need to explore, lack
of organization) is related to the
presence of a certain gene in the body, and is highly inheritable.
(Golimbet et al., 2007).
Behavioral GeneticsNature? (Genetics) or Nurture? (Environment)
Study: 1,252,387 genetic markers were tested for association with
personality traits. The results indicated that only 1% of genetic variants significantly contribute to
personality variation. This indicates that individual common
genetic variants do not significantly contribute to personality trait variation.
(Verweij et al., 2010)
Behavioral GeneticsNature? (Genetics) or Nurture? (Environment)
Twin Studies are used to help us answer the question of “nature vs. nurture.”
Behavioral GeneticsNature? (Genetics) or Nurture? (Environment)
Look at pair 1: one sibling is
adopted. !
Look at pair 2: Identical twins.
Imagine that they were separated at birth and raised
in different families.
Pair-ShareDo you think a Twin Study is a reliable way to
test whether our behavior is determined more by nature (genetics) or nurture (environment)?
Why or why not?