Psychology Wiki
Register
Advertisement

Assessment | Biopsychology | Comparative | Cognitive | Developmental | Language | Individual differences | Personality | Philosophy | Social |
Methods | Statistics | Clinical | Educational | Industrial | Professional items | World psychology |

Biological: Behavioural genetics · Evolutionary psychology · Neuroanatomy · Neurochemistry · Neuroendocrinology · Neuroscience · Psychoneuroimmunology · Physiological Psychology · Psychopharmacology (Index, Outline)


In neuroanatomy, a nucleus is a central nervous system structure that is composed mainly of gray matter, and which acts as a hub or transit point for electrical signals in a single neural subsystem. For example, the lateral geniculate nucleus mediates signals in the vertebrate visual system. The vestibular nucleus stores head motion information and guides eye movements via the vestibulo-ocular reflex.

Other examples include the Raphe nucleus, which is involved in sleep, and the suprachiasmatic nucleus, which controls circadian rhythm. All the nerve cell axons terminating on a nucleus tend to employ the same neurotransmitter at their synapses. As a result, the effects of certain psychoactive drugs are concentrated in particular nuclei. Morphine is believed to act via synapses of the arcuate nucleus, for example.


See also[]

This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors).
Advertisement