Psychologists and the Nervous System

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Psychologists are faced with psychological problems all the time in their profession. There is a need for them to understand why these problems occur and what the causes of these problems are. So, why is it important for a Psychologist to understand the structure of the nervous system? Understanding the nervous system and how it works provides a basis for the psychologists of what is expected in the normal functions of the system, and whatever devices from that certain functionality are considered to be an abnormality that can be a cause of certain behavior of an individual. Another is that understanding the normal function of the nervous system helps the Psychologist decide for whatever treatment would be given to a certain person. Since Psychological problems could be biological in nature or can be psychological in nature, understanding and knowing the nervous system would help the Psychologist know what and where to start treatment. A certain Psychological problem needs to be understood deeply and could not just be explained as a response of that certain person to this certain kind of stimulus (Freeman, 1984). The understanding of the nervous system would help psychologists explain what happens to this certain person at the time this person was faced with this kind of stimulus.

Neural conduction is a process that allows neural communication that is responsible for the sensations that we may experience, our thoughts, the movements that we make, and the emotions that we feel (The Brain from Top to Bottom). The Psychologist needs to understand this process because it is one way of explaining why a certain person behaves the way he does and why such action is considered normal or abnormal. The psychologists would see what happens when a person feels happy or sad, what kind of stimulus creates this certain kind of response. Psychologists would also know what medications to give these patients because they would know what medicines would give such effects based on their knowledge of how the medications affect the neural conduction, thus providing a targeted effect.

Synaptic transmission is the process along with neural transmission that enables the communication between synapses of two neurons (The Brain from Top to Bottom). This would help psychologists explain why some intellectual and social behavioral deficits occur because of the disruption of normal synaptic transmission. This would also help psychologists explain how certain chemicals can affect a person’s behavior, such as exposure to lead can cause some alterations in the behavioral and cognitive functions of a certain person. The mechanism of addiction that leads to behavioral problems can also be explained by understanding the synaptic transmission. This would help Psychologist explain that if there are alterations in the synaptic transmission, can result to abnormal or addictive behavior. Say, for example, the effects of Haldol in the body. Postsynaptic receptors in some parts of the Central Nervous System are occupied by a neurotransmitter called dopamine. Giving Haldol to a patient would prevent the binding of dopamine by occupying the receptors that supposedly will be occupied by dopamine. This would then result to inhibition of overactive neurotransmission and helps eliminate the large mood swings commonly associated with schizophrenic patients (Addiction).

The understanding of the nervous system, the processes of neural conduction and synaptic transmission helps Psychologist understand their patients better and helps the patient or the patient’s family handle the a certain psychological problems.