Psych Story

Believe it or not, it helps me study much more than just memorizing index cards.

Psych Story

            Mr. Cerebrum was busy regulating thousands of brain responses in the upper-parent of cranial activity when he was abruptly disturbed.  Reticular Formation, the network of neurons he usually works with, sent out this message on the Axon: “Calling all higher parts of brain, Calling all higher parts of brain: prepare to stand guard and at the ready.  Joe is about to take his first psychology exam, and we don’t want to let him down.”  The short fibers jutting out from the cell body, known as Dendrites, picked up this message.  Cerebral Cortex, in charge of most complex behavior, was first to respond: “Copy that, RF, I’m in full-functioning mode.”  Frontal Lobe, controlling voluntary movement, attention, goal-oriented behavior and appropriate emotional responses, answered RF’s call: “You can count on me to be at utmost attention, pushing Joe towards that A.”  All systems were working tirelessly to go past the Threshold of Excitation, the level an impulse must exceed to cause neurons to fire.  Suddenly, the neurons shifted from a state of Polarization, when their insides where negatively charged relative to their outsides.  In this state, the neurons where at rest, however, a Graded Potential occurred, shifting the electrical charge in a tiny area of a neuron.  This caused a Neural Impulse or Action Potential, causing the firing of a nerve cell.  Joe was operating at top-gear.  His Primary Motor Cortex, in the Frontal Lobe concentrated on the voluntary movement of his pencil bubbling in scantron answers like it was second nature.  The messages had successfully crossed the Synaptic Cleft, between the Axon terminal of one neuron and the Dendrites or Cell Body of another.  As a result of the Action Potential working by the All or None Law, it never varied in strength: either neurons fire at full force, or they won’t fire at all.  This caused all systems to work extra hard at making sure the neurons would be able to fire.  Suddenly, Joe accidently banged his knee on the table, getting up to hand in his test.  Sensory or Afferent Neurons, carried the pain from the sense organs to the spinal cord/brain, resulting in Joe pulling his knee back and shaking it off.  The Parasympathetic division of the Autonomic System, calmed and relaxed him.  Handing in his test with great confidence, Joe smiled, knowing that smarts, for him, went deep beneath the surface.