Neurophysiological & Psychological Roles

The organization of the research is as follows. First, a general background of the human nervous system and organs of the brain is presented. This will acquaint the reader with certain physiological aspects which are partly responsible for human behavior. Next, various theories and experimental findings are discussed and analyzed with regard to their pragmatic value and/or controversial nature. Finally, there are a few summarizing remarks made on brain and behavioral research.

The nervous system of the human body can be divided into two branches called the peripheral nervous system and the central nervous system. The peripheral system consists of two subsystems designated as the autonomic and somatic systems. The autonomic system works without any conscious control to maintain homeostasis throughout the body. It accomplishes this by stimulating or inhibiting the actions of several organs and glands, including the heart, lungs, stomach, liver, kidneys, pancreas and sensory organs.

The sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system is responsible for the general stimulation of certain structures, and in preparing the body during "fight-or-flight" reactions. The exhibition of strong emotions would involve the

. . .
s related to cortical underarousal. As a result, the psychopath seeks stimulation with arousing or exciting qualities. In the process, however, he may be unaware of, or inattentive top many of the subtle cues required for the guidance of behavior and for adequate social functioning (Hare, 1970). If the foregoing theory holds true for most criminals, and criminal psychopaths, it exposes some major flaws in the present-day American prison systems. First of all, a criminal is sent to prison because he has broken the moral and sociological code of society. It is thought that he is as a menace to law-abiding citizens and that removing him from society will solve the problem. However, this is like sweeping dust under the rug. The prisoner's psychological problems are still there, and simple imprisonment will not make them go away. Although some attempts have been made at prisoner rehabilitation and behavioral therapy, these programs are not adequately tuned toward recognizing the biological and emotional problems of the criminal. Many times prison conditions are such that the prisoner's mind becomes even more criminally-oriented. If the extroversion-arousal theory can be widely acknowledged, methods can be devised that can not
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
, Russell Monroe, Gale Eysenck, RD Hare, Eisenberg Eysenberg, Patuxent Institute, Patuxent Institution, Schwarz Monroe, Dr Monroe, XYY XXY, nervous system, limbic system, criminal behavior, cortical arousal, central nervous system, central nervous, alpha waves, monroe 1978, 1977 pp, drug therapy, methods drug therapy, pituitary gland, autonomic nervous system, division autonomic nervous, abnormal chromosome patterns,
Approximate Word count = 3719
Approximate Pages = 15 (250 words per page)

More Essays on Neurophysiological & Psychological Roles