Please answer the following question in a 250-word response minimum. If you would like to reference the text please do so a link for the text book is provided here: https://www.cengagebrain.co.uk/content/9781285232430.pdf

1. What are the functions of the peripheral nervous system that are essential to survival? Provide an example of how one of these functions has helped humans to survive as a species.

2. Which functions are controlled by the sympathetic nervous system? Which are controlled by the parasympathetic nervous system?

3. Explain the role of the prefrontal cortex during the stress response

4. Here is a video about our stress response. Please respond with how our nervous system responds to stress. Any ideas on how we can turn down this response? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtRrxNTnyh8)

5. What is the relationship between genes, cells, and behavior? Provide an example that illustrates this relationship.

Please participate (respond) to the classmates answers with notable and educational input. (200 word minimum Reponses)

1. Kelly: The peripheral nervous system refers to parts of the nervous system outside the brain and spinal cord. It includes the cranial nerves, spinal nerves and their roots and branches, peripheral nerves, and neuromuscular junctions. The anterior horn cells, although technically part of the central nervous system (CNS), are sometimes discussed with the peripheral nervous system because they are part of the motor unit. In the peripheral nervous system, bundles of nerve ?bers or axons conduct information to and from the central nervous system. The autonomic nervous system is the part of the nervous system concerned with the innervation of involuntary structures, such as the heart, smooth muscle, and glands within the body. It is distributed throughout the central and peripheral nervous systems.Nerve cells are called neurones. A neurone consists of a cell body (with a nucleus and cytoplasm), dendrites that carry electrical impulses to the cell, and a long axon that carries the impulses away from the cell. The axon of one neurone and the dendrites of the next neurone do not actually touch. The gap between neurones is called the synapse.Neuronal function is complex and involves numerous processes in nerve transmission. Generation of a nerve impulse (action potential) of a sensory neurone occurs as a result of a stimulus such as light, a particular chemical, or stretching of a cell membrane by sound. Conduction of an impulse along a neurone occurs from the dendrites to the cell body to the axon. Transmission of a signal to another neuron across a synapse occurs via chemical transmitter. This substance causes the next neurone to be electrically stimulated and keeps the signal going along a nerve. This nervous system helps with survival because it controls our reflexes which help to protect us from danger.

2. Carolin: Hi Dr. Terri & Class,

The PNS connects the brain and spinal cord to the rest of the body. The PNS contains many important parts. One example is the somatic nervous system, which contains axons that convey messages to the sense organs to the CNS and the CNS to the muscles in our body. That is just one of the many parts to the PNS. Every part of each cell that is in the CNS and is also part of the PNS.

Basically the PNS is a network of motor and sensory nerves that connect the brain and spinal cord (CNS). These nerves control our ability and functions relating to sensation, movement and our motor skills.

If the PNS is injured, this will result in the interruption of the functioning and communication of the brain and spinal cord to the rest of the body. One very basic, but very important example that I can come up with regarding the PNS and its relation to human survival would be the important role it plays in the regulation of the heart. If the PNS did not do its job regulating the heart, a person would sustain heart failure and die. As we know, optimal heart regulation and functioning is a necessary part of our survival.

3. Kelly: Basically your genes encode for hormones, proteins etc etc. They also encode how big you are, the 200+ different cells in your body etc. If you have more cells that secrete serotonin than someone else, then your going to have more secretion of that hormone thus altering your behavior and being happy! That's just a major simple version. There are a few genetic diseases which cause men to have XYY or in some cases XYYY sex chromosomes. Now, as you'd imagine that's going to mean a huge amount of testosterone is going to be secreted and thus these are great big burly men. A study was done in a prison with some very violent men, turned out over half of them had a genetic disease of this sort or over-expression of the male sex gene. The relationship between genes, cells, and behavior is critical to the interactions between genes and cells, which have an impact on behavior. Directly genes do not specify behavior, rather, genes encode proteins, which are unique to certain types of cells. Such as neurons, and gives the cells their character making a neuron different from other cells. Genes and cells build and govern brain functioning, which expresses behavior. Brain activity, development, and behavior depend on the interactions of genes and cells and on influences which are environmental and inherited, which impact brain gene expression and behavior.