Chapter Outline

NEURONS
The Electrical Activity of Neurons

HOW NEURONS COMMUNICATE: SYNAPTIC TRANSMISSION
Neurotransmitters
Specialized Transmitter Systems
APPLYING PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE Understanding How Drugs Affect Your Brain

THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
The Peripheral Nervous System
The Central Nervous System
BENEATH THE SURFACE It’s a miracle! Psychologists out of a job now that we can ‘see into’ the brain?

THE HIERARCHICAL BRAIN: STRUCTURES AND BEHAVIOURAL FUNCTIONS
The Hindbrain
The Midbrain
The Forebrain
RESEARCH CLOSE-UP Inside the Brain of a Killer

HEMISPHERIC LATERALIZATION: THE LEFT AND RIGHT BRAINS
The Split Brain: Dividing the Hemispheres
WHAT DO YOU THINK? Two Minds in One Brain?

PLASTICITY IN THE BRAIN: THE ROLE OF EXPERIENCE AND THE RECOVERY OF FUNCTION
How Experience Influences Brain Development
Healing the Nervous System
BENEATH THE SURFACE Do We Really Use Only 10 Per Cent of Our Brain Capacity?

THE NERVOUS SYSTEM INTERACTS WITH THE ENDOCRINE AND IMMUNE SYSTEMS
Interactions with the Endocrine System
Interactions Involving the Immune System