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1 - Background to psychobiology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Nick Neave
Affiliation:
Northumbria University, Newcastle
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Summary

Before we can begin to discuss the various types of hormones, how they are formed, how they are secreted, how they act upon the body, and then how they can possibly influence behaviour, it is first necessary to provide a brief background to some basic psychobiological concepts. In this chapter I will describe the general layout of the nervous system, and explain how cells within the body (and especially within the central nervous system) communicate with one another.

Neuroanatomical directions

Neuroanatomists have devised a three-dimensional system of directional coordinates in order to navigate around the complex machinery of the brain. Instead of terms like ‘front’ and ‘back’ or ‘top’ and ‘bottom’, which are all relative, they instead employ the following terms that are always taken from the orientation of the spinal cord. There are three main axes: anterior – posterior, dorsal–ventral and medial–lateral. Thus, in most vertebrates that walk on four legs, the front (towards the nose) is called the ‘anterior’ while the back (towards the tail) is called the ‘posterior’, though when referring to the brain the terms ‘rostral’ (towards the front) and ‘caudal’ (towards the tail) are often used. Towards the surface of the back is referred to as ‘dorsal’ (think of a shark's dorsal fin) while the aspect towards the chest/stomach is referred to as ‘ventral’. Towards the sides is ‘lateral’ while towards the middle is ‘medial’.

Type
Chapter
Information
Hormones and Behaviour
A Psychological Approach
, pp. 1 - 21
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2007

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  • Background to psychobiology
  • Nick Neave, Northumbria University, Newcastle
  • Book: Hormones and Behaviour
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511808203.002
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  • Background to psychobiology
  • Nick Neave, Northumbria University, Newcastle
  • Book: Hormones and Behaviour
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511808203.002
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Background to psychobiology
  • Nick Neave, Northumbria University, Newcastle
  • Book: Hormones and Behaviour
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511808203.002
Available formats
×