One thing that I forgot to describe in my explanation of neurotransmission are the neural pathways in the brain. You already know that our brains consists of neurons and that they are connected in a network. Neurons are connected with each other in the brain through the neural pathways. A neural pathway is a connection between two or more neurons. One neuron can be connected with many neurons. These small connections are created through a process called long term potentiation (see an earlier article). If a certain group of neurons are repeatedly stimulated it will strengthen their pathways. Pathways which are not stimulated will be weakened. The neural pathways can relate to behavior, habits, reflexes, experiences or other psychological functions.
There are also several major neural pathways that connect between different regions of the brain and body. These major neural pathways carry out some kind of function. One example of major neural pathways is the reward pathways. The dopamine pathways are neural pathways that connects the midbrain with the limbic system and the prefrontal cortex. They are called the dopamine pathways because this neurotransmitter is acting on these pathways. The serotonin pathway starts in the raphe nuclei in the brain stem and then traverses through the entire brain. This makes sense, because serotonin is involved in so many brain functions. Unlike many other neurotransmitters, serotonin is not always produced in the synaptic terminal buttons, but sometimes on swellings around the axon and can travel over distance. Serotonin in the bloodstream have less affect on the brain because of the blood-brain barrier. However, an underproduction of serotonin in the brain can indirectly be measured through blood samples. Examples of other neural pathways include the corpus callosum, that connects the left brain hemisphere with the right brain hemisphere (this is the pathway that Sperry's participants lacked), the visual pathways that connects the eyes with the visual areas of the brain, and the motor pathways that connect the brain with the rest of the body.
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AuthorThis is my class blog for IB Psychology. Here I will publish reflections on psychology, reviews of psychology books, recommended links, lecture notes, and information on psychology topics that are not covered by the syllabus. You are free to add comments or ask me questions. Archives
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