Magazine Psychobilology (Systems)

Page 1

Psychobiology 1st P A R T By Claudia Amenรกbar Key: 4 MPP4


1st Part

Endocrine System


Endocrine System

The endocrine system refers to the collection of glands of an organism that secrete hormones directly into the circulatory system to be carried toward a distant target organ.


The major endocrine glands include the pineal gland, pituitary gland, pancreas, ovaries, testes, thyroid gland, parathyroid gland, hypothalamus, gastrointestinal tract and adrenal glands. The endocrine system is an information signal system like the nervous system, yet its effects and mechanism are classifiably different.

Endocrine glands: The Pancreas The pancreas lies in a curve between the stomach and the small intestine and controls the level of sugar in the blood by secreting insulin and glucagon.

Ovaries Is an ovum-producing reproductive organ, often found in pairs as part of the vertebrate female reproductive system. Ovaries in female individuals are analogous to testes in male individuals, in that they are both gonads and endocrine glands. Although ovaries occur in a wide variety of animals, both vertebrate and invertebrate, this article is primarily about ovaries in humans.


The Pituitary Gland The pituitary gland produces the largest number of different hormones and therefore has the widest range of effects on the body's functions. The posterior pituitary is controlled by the nervous system. It produces two hormones: vasopressin, which causes blood pressure to rise and regulates the amount of water in the body's cells, and oxytocin, which causes the uterus to contract during childbirth and lactation to begin. The anterior pituitary, often called the "master gland," responds to chemical messages from the bloodstream to produce numerous hormones that trigger the action of other endocrine glands.

Pineal gland It produces the serotonin derivative melatonin, a hormone that affects the modulation of sleep patterns in the circadian rhythms and seasonal functions. The Pineal Gland The pineal gland is a pea-sized gland that apparently responds to exposure to light and regulates activity levels over the course of the day.


Testes is the male gonad in animals. Like the ovaries to which they are homologous, testes are components of both the reproductive system and the endocrine system. The primary functions of the testes are to produce sperm (spermatogenesis) and to produce androgens, primarily testosterone.

The Thyroid Gland The thyroid gland secretes thyroxin, a hormone that can reduce concentration and lead to irritability when the thyroid is overactive, and cause drowsiness and a sluggish metabolism when the thyroid is underactive.

The Parathyroid Glands Within the thyroid are four tiny pea-shaped organs, the parathyroids, that secrete parathormone to control and balance the levels of calcium and phosphate in the blood and tissue fluids. This, in turn, affects the excitability of the nervous system.


Hypothalamus Is a portion of the brain that contains a number of small nuclei with a variety of functions. One of the most important functions of the hypothalamus is to link the nervous system to the endocrine system via the pituitary gland (hypophysis).

Gastrointestinal tract Is an organ system responsible for consuming and digesting foodstuffs, absorbing nutrients, and expelling waste. The tract is commonly defined as the stomach and intestine, and is divided into the upper and lower gastrointestinal tracts.

Adrenal glands They are chiefly responsible for releasing hormones in response to stress through the synthesis of corticosteroids such as cortisol and catecholamines such as adrenaline (epinephrine) and noradrenaline. These endocrine glands also produce androgens in their innermost cortical layer.


Reflection The endocrine system is the one that let us develop as a normal human (physically), this system is very important to have a normal development. Also is important because it manages your hormones, It usually helps the person survive extreme circumstances.


2nd Part

Sensory System


Sensory System

A sensory system is a part of the nervous system responsible for processing sensory information. A sensory system consists of sensory receptors, neural pathways, and parts of the brain involved in sensory perception. Commonly recognized sensory systems


are those for vision, auditory (hearing), somatic sensation (touch), gustatory (taste), olfaction (smell) and vestibular (balance/movement). In short, senses are transducers from the physical world to the realm of the mind where we interpret the information, creating our perception of the world around us. Commonly recognized sensory systems:

Visual Visual perception is the ability to interpret the surrounding environment by processing information that is contained in visible light. The resulting perception is also known as eyesight, sight, or vision (adjectival form: visual, optical, or ocular). The various physiological components involved in vision are referred to collectively as the visual system, and are the focus of much research in psychology, cognitive science, neuroscience, and molecular biology.


Somatic sensation (touch), The somatosensory system is a complex sensory system. It is made up of a number of different receptors, including thermoreceptors, photoreceptors, mechanoreceptors and chemoreceptors. It also comprises essential processing centres, or sensory modalities, such as proprioception, tactilation or mechanoception (touch), thermoception (temperature), and nociception (pain). The sensory receptors cover the skin and epithelia, skeletal muscles, bones and joints, internal organs, and the cardiovascular system.

Auditory System (hearing) The auditory system is the sensory system for the sense of hearing. It includes both the sensory organs (the ears) and the auditory parts of the sensory system.


Gustatory (taste) The gustatory system is the sensory system for the sense of taste.

Vestibular (balance/movement) The vestibular system, which contributes to balance in most mammals and to the sense of spatial orientation, is the sensory system that provides the leading contribution about movement and sense of balance.

Olfaction (smell) is the sense of smell. This sense is mediated by specialized sensory cells of the nasal cavity of vertebrates, which can be considered analogous to sensory cells of the antennae of invertebrates. In humans, olfaction occurs when odorant molecules bind to specific sites on the olfactory receptors. These receptors are used to detect the presence of smell.


The sensory system is the only one that makes an interaction with the environment and living things (animals, humans, etc), all the sensory systems are very interesting because they always are showing us new things and make us live different experiences all the time.


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.