- THE MIND/BODY SYSTEM BEGETS CONSCIOUSNESS:
- Nerve cells (neurons): nerve cells, also known as neurons, are the active component of the nervous system. Neurons communicate with each other as well as with other cells through electric signals (nerve impulses), which in turn allows effector organs to respond to the appropriate stimuli.
- Neurons are the fundamental units of the brain and nervous system, the cells responsible for receiving sensory input from the external world, sending motor commands to our muscles, and transforming and relaying the electrical signals at every step in between.
- You have 86 billion neurons and the same number of glia, Herculano-Houzel: neuronal cells which include not just glial, but also endothelial cells. The endothelial cells are probably around 20% of all the non-neuronal cells.
- The endocrine system is the collection of glands that produce hormones that regulate metabolism, growth and development, tissue function, sexual function, reproduction, sleep, and mood, among other things.
- Endocrine glands release hormones into the bloodstream.
- The endocrine hormones help control mood, growth and development, the way our organs work, metabolism, and reproduction.
- The endocrine system regulates how much of each hormone is released.
- Signals throughout the body and to the brain, making it possible for us to move, think and feel.
- Three different cells special electric wiring:
- The central nervous system is made up of the brain and spinal cord, and the peripheral nervous system is made up of the Somatic and the Autonomic nervous systems.
- In the spinal cord, there are three types of neurons: sensory, motor, and interneurons.
- The CNS is comprised of the brain, cerebellum, and spinal cord. Remaining neurons, and associated cells, distributed throughout the body form the PNS. The nervous system has three broad functions: sensory input, information processing, and motor output. In terms of function, scientists classify neurons into three broad types: sensory, motor, and interneurons. (Remember that all things are triune, with binary interactives).
- There are three types of neuronal structures: Pulsing, voltage change, and voltage chimes: Sensory neurons carry nerve impulses from sense organs and internal organs to the central nervous system. Motor neurons carry nerve impulses from the central nervous system to organs, glands, and muscles, and in the opposite direction.
- How neurons work in the brain
- Neurons are information messengers. They use electrical impulses and chemical signals to transmit information between different areas of the brain and between the brain and the rest of the nervous system. … Neurons have three basic parts: a cell body and two extensions called an axon and a dendrite. Neurons are information messengers. They use electrical impulses and chemical signals to transmit information between different areas of the brain and between the brain and the rest of the nervous system. Within the cell, the body is a nucleus (2), which controls the cell’s activities and contains the cell’s genetic material. The axon looks like a long tail and transmits messages from the cell. Dendrites look like the branches of a tree and receive messages for the cell.
How biological mechanisms cause thoughts. The biological perspective states that all thoughts, feelings & behavior ultimately have a biological cause. How that comes about, will be addressed later.
- A brain is a prediction machine. It produces your best guess as to what is happening. The brain seeks patterns. Pattern recognition enables predictions. Pattern linking builds short-term memory, and activation of prior knowledge promotes this memory linkage.
- Prior knowledge is stored in the brain. Our brain is continuously involved in the process of memory storage. It receives several pieces of information even within a second, processes them, and stores valuable information in the form of memory. Memories are stored in the brain at different levels. Our brain acts as a storeroom where memories are stored.
- The brain reviews prior expectations. Complex probabilistic reasoning is involved with every breath you take. The prediction process from cognition through action is multi-level. Perception is the best guess, based on current signals and prior beliefs.
- Perception begins with your senses. You might have only a few gigabytes of storage space, similar to space in an iPod or a USB flash drive. Yet neurons combine so that each one helps with many memories at a time, exponentially increasing the brain’s memory storage capacity to something closer to around 2.5 petabytes (or a million gigabytes).
- The experience of emotion is a ubiquitous component of the stream of consciousness; emotional qualia interact with other contents and processes of consciousness in complex ways. Recent research has supported the hypothesis that important functional aspects of emotion can operate outside conscious awareness. Objective Reasoning means reasoning according to a set of logical and objective standards, while subjective thinking refers to reasoning without objective standards. A theory of objective self-awareness, states that when we focus our attention on ourselves, we evaluate and compare our current behavior to our internal standards and values. This elicits a state of objective self–awareness. Self-awareness is about learning to better understand why you feel what you feel and why you behave in a particular way. Once you begin to understand this concept you then have the opportunity and freedom to change things about yourself enabling you to create a life that you want.
