The organ located within the skull that is responsible for cognition, mental processes, and control of the body and its functions. It is the location of perception, ideas, thoughts, conscious movement, and unconscious body functions like heart rate and digestion

The cylindrical bundle of nerve fibers and associated tissue is enclosed in the spine and connects nearly all parts of the body to the brain, with which it forms the central nervous system.

Example:
1)Food digestion
2) Dilates blood vessels leading to the GI tract, increasing blood flow.
3)Constricts the bronchial diameter when the need for oxygen has diminished.
4)Causes constriction of the pupil and contraction of the ciliary muscle to the lens, allowing for closer vision.
5)Stimulates salivary gland secretion, and accelerates peristalsis.
6)Stimulates sexual arousal.

Example:
1)Slamming on the brakes when the car in front of you suddenly stops.
2)Inhibits digestion.
3)Diverts blood flow away from the gastro-intestinal (GI) tract and skin via vasoconstriction.
4)Blood flow to skeletal muscles and the lungs is enhanced (by as much as 1,200% in the case of skeletal muscles).
5)Dilates bronchioles of the lung, which allows for greater alveolar oxygen exchange.
6)Increases heart rate and the contractility of cardiac cells (myocytes), thereby providing a mechanism for the enhanced blood flow to skeletal muscles.
7)Dilates pupils and relaxes the ciliary muscle to the lens, allowing more light to enter the eye and far vision.
8)Provides vasodilation for the coronary vessels of the heart.
9)Constricts all the intestinal sphincters and the urinary sphincter.
10)Inhibits peristalsis.
11)Stimulates orgasm.

Sensory neurons(afferent neurons): responsible for carrying information from the body to the CNS

Motor neurons(efferent neurons): responsible for carrying information from the brain and spinal cord to muscle fibers throughout the body

• Corpus callosum - thick band of neurons that connects the right and left cerebral hemispheres.
• Cerebral hemispheres - the two sections of the cortex on the left and right sides of the brain.

Primary visual cortex

• processes visual information from the eyes.
  
  

Visual association cortex

• identifies and makes sense of visual information.

Somatosensory cortex

• area of neurons running down the front of the parietal lobes responsible for processing information from the skin and internal body receptors for touch, temperature, body position, and possibly taste.

Primary auditory cortex

• processes auditory information from the ears.
  
  

Auditory association cortex

• identifies and makes sense of auditory information.

Motor cortex

• section of the frontal lobe located at the back, responsible for sending motor commands to the muscles of the somatic nervous system.
  

Association Areas of Cortex
• areas within each lobe of the cortex responsible for the coordination and interpretation of information, as well as higher mental processing.

• It is made up of two areas: the pars triangularis (Brodmann area 45) and the pars opercularis (Brodmann area 44).

  
  

• The Broca area is connected to other regions of the brain, including the Wernicke area, by a neuronal tract known as the arcuate fasciculus.

  
  

• In addition to serving a role in speech production, the Broca area also is involved in language comprehension, in motor-related activities associated with hand movements, and in sensorimotor learning and integration.

Broca’s aphasia

• condition resulting from damage to Broca’s area (usually in left frontal lobe), causing the affected person to be unable to speak fluently, to mispronounce words, and to speak haltingly.
  

Wernicke’s aphasia

• condition resulting from damage to Wernicke’s area (usually in left temporal lobe), causing the affected person to be unable to understand or produce meaningful language
  

Left side of the brain

• seems to control language, writing, logical thought, analysis, and mathematical abilities, – processes information sequentially, – can speak.
  

Right side of the brain

• controls emotional expression, spatial perception, recognition of faces, patterns, melodies, and emotions,

  
  

• processes information globally

  
  

• cannot speak.

  
  

Split brain research

• Study of patients with severed corpus callosum
• Involves sending messages to only one side of the brain
• Demonstrates right and left brain specialization

• Hormones are similar in function to neurotransmitters
• hormones can operate over a greater distance and over a much greater temporal range than neurotransmitters
  

different between hormone and Neurotransmitters

• hormone have longer travel distance than Neurotransmitters
• the degree of voluntary control that can be exerted over their functioning
• In general, there is more voluntary control of neural than of hormonal signals. It is virtually impossible to will a change in your thyroid hormone levels, for example, whereas moving your limbs on command is easy.
  

• For example, the same hormones, testosterone and estradiol, that cause gamete (egg or sperm) maturation also promote mating behavior.
• Estrogens and progesterone concentrations are elevated during pregnancy, and these hormones are often involved in mediating maternal behavior in the mothers.
  

Benefit: it promotes more effective and natural interaction between humans and technology

Examples of successful neuroergonomics research:

• Neuroimaging and adaptive automation
• Molecular genetics and proteomics

Pons

• Location: the larger swelling superior to the medulla that connects the top of the brain to the bottom
• Function: plays a part in sleep, dreaming, left–right body coordination, and arousal.

Thalamus

• Location: located in the center of the brain because this structure relays sensory information from the lower part of the brain to the proper areas of the cortex.
• Function: processes some sensory information before sending it to its proper area.

Hypothalamus

• Location: small structure in the brain located below the thalamus and directly sits above and controls the pituitary gland.
• Function: responsible for motivational behavior such as sleep, hunger, thirst, and sex.

Hippocampus

• Location: curved structure located within each temporal lobe.
• Function: responsible for the formation of long-term memories and the storage of memory for location of objects.

Amygdala

• Location: brain structure located near the hippocampus.
• Function: responsible for fear responses and memory of fear.

Somatic Nervous System Control voluntary muscles and transmit sensory info to CNS.

• Location: the first large swelling superior to the spinal cord, forming the most inferior part of the brain.
• Function: responsible for life sustaining functions such as breathing, swallowing, and heart rate.

• Location: an area of neurons running through the middle of the medulla and the pons and slightly beyond
• Function: responsible for selective attention.

• Location: part of the inferior aspect of the brain located behind the pons
• Function: controls and coordinates involuntary, rapid, fine motor movement.

Purpose: it examines complex cognitive functions of humans performing real work in real settings, which are the neuroergonomics

Process when neurotransmitters are taken back into synaptic vesicles

Dendrites Receive message from other neurons.

Inhibitory neurotransmitter decrease the likelihood that the neuron will fire an action potential

Excitatory neurotransmitter increase the likelihood that the neuron will fire an action potential

Maintain homeostasis, form myelin in the peripheral nervous system, and provide support and protection for neurons

the imbalance of electrical charge that exists between the interior of electrically excitable neurons (nerve cells) and their surroundings.

Neuron either fires completely or does not fire completely

4. After action potential, +ve ions rapidly flow out of axon to quickly restore -ve charge, returns to its resting state.