4.2.2 BIOPSYCHOLOGY Flashcards
(196 cards)
1
Q
define the nervous system
A
a specialised network of cells
the primary internal communication system
based on electrical and chemical signals
2
Q
what are the two main functions of the nervous system
A
• to collect, process and respond to information in the environment
• to coordinate the working of different organs and cells in the body
3
Q
what are the two main components of the nervous system
A
central nervous system
peripheral nervous system
4
Q
what are the two main components of the peripheral nervous system
A
autonomic nervous system
somatic nervous system
5
Q
what are the two components of the autonomic nervous system
A
sympathetic nervous system
parasympathetic nervous system
6
Q
what is the central nervous system made up of and what are the functions
A
• the brain
centre of all conscious awareness
divided into two hemispheres
• the spinal cord
passes messages to and from the brain
responsible for reflex actions
7
Q
what is the function of the peripheral nervous system
A
transmits messages via millions of neurons to and from the cns
8
Q
what are the functions of the autonomic nervous system
A
• vital functions in the body such as breathing, heart rate, digestion, sexual arousal and stress
• divided into sympathetic and parasympathetic
9
Q
what are the functions of the sympathetic nervous system
A
• muscle movement and receives information from sensory receptors
• controls voluntary movements
10
Q
describe the endocrine system
A
• networks of glands around the body
• works alongside the nervous system to control vital functions in the body
• acts more slowly than the nervous system but has widespread, powerful effects
• glands release hormones into the bloodstream
• affect any cell with a receptor for that hormone
11
Q
outline the flight or fight response from start to finish
A
stressor is perceived, hypothalamus activates pituitary gland, ans changes to sympathetic state, adrenaline released from the adrenal medulla, fight or flight
12
Q
what are the biological changes associated with the sympathetic nervous system
A
slows digestion, inhibits saliva, increases heart rate, stimulates glucose production, stimulates urination, dilates pupils, dilates bronchi
13
Q
what are the biological changes associated with the parasympathetic nervous system
A
increases digestion, increases saliva production, decreases heart rate, stimulates bile, inhibits urination, constricts pupils, constricts bronchi
14
Q
what is a neuron
A
basic building blocks of the nervous system and are nervous cells that process and transmit messages
15
Q
what are the different types of neuron
A
sensory, relay, motor
16
Q
what is the function of a sensory neuron
A
carries messages from peripheral nervous system to the central nervous system
17
Q
what is the function of a relay neuron
A
connects sensory neurons to the motor or other relay neurons
18
Q
what is the function of a motor neuron
A
connects the central nervous system to the effectors
19
Q
name the parts of a neuron
A
dendrites, nucleus, cell body, axon, schwanns cells, myelin sheath, node of ranvier, axon terminals
20
Q
describe the process of electrical transmission
A
when a neuron is in resting state the inside of the cell is negatively charged, when a neuron is activated by a stimulus the inside becomes positively charged for a split second which creates an electrical impulse that travels down the axon
21
Q
describe the process of synaptic transmission
A
neurons communicate with eachother within groups known as neural networks, neurons are separated by synapses, signals between neurons are transmitted electrically but are transmitted chemically across the synapse
22
Q
what is a neurotransmitter
A
brain chemicals that diffuse across a synapse to the next neuron
direction of travel is one way
has a specific molecular structure
have specific functions
23
Q
define excitation
A
caused by adrenaline
postsynaptic neuron becomes positively charged and is more likely to fire
24
Q
define inhibition
A
caused by serotonin
postsynaptic neuron becomes negatively charged
less likely to fire
25
what is summation
determines the firing of a neuron
excitatory and inhibitory influences are summed: if the net effect on the postsynaptic neuron is inhibitory then the postsynaptic neuron is less likely to fire. if net effect is excitatory it is more likely to fire once the electrical impulse is created it travels down the neuron. therefore, the action potential of the postsynaptic neuron is only triggered if the sum of the excitatory and inhibitory signals at any one time reaches the threshold.
26
define localisation of function
different parts of the brain perform different tasks
27
define lateralisation
some of our physical and physiological functions are controlled or dominated by a particular hemisphere
28
what is divided into two hemispheres
the cerebrum - the largest part of your brain
29
define contralateral wiring
activity on the left-hand side of your body is controlled by the right hemisphere, whereas activity on the right-hand side of your body is controlled by the left hemisphere
30
what is the cerebral cortex
the outer layer of both hemispheres, which is subdivided into four lobes
31
name the four lobes
frontal lobe
parietal lobe
occipital lobe
temporal lobe
32
name the two cortex's
motor cortex
sensory cortex
33
what is the role of the motor area
controls voluntary movements in the opposite side of the body
34
what is the role of the somatosensory area
sensory information, such as from the skin, is represented
35
what is the role of the visual area
each eye sends information from the right visual field to the left visual cortex and from the left visual field to the right visual cortex
36
what is the role of the auditory area
analyses speech based information
37
in which hemisphere are the language centres
the left hemisphere
38
name the two language centres
brocha's area
wernicke's area
39
what is the function of broca's area
responsible for speech function
40
what is the consequence of damage to broca's area
broca's aphasia
symptoms: slow and laborious speech
CASE EXAMPLE - TAN
41
what is the function of wernicke's area
responsible for speech comprehension
42
what is the consequence of damage to wernicke's area
wernicke's aphasia
symptoms: produce meaningless words
43
where is broca's area located
the frontal lobe
44
where is wernicke's area located
the temporal lobe
45
what is the result of damage to the motor area
loss of control over movements
46
what is the result of damage to the somatosensory area
amount of somatosensory area devoted to a particular body part denotes its sensitivity, i.e. receptors for our face and hands occupy over half of the somatosensory are
47
what is the result of damage to the visual area
damage to the left hemisphere can cause blindness in part of the right visual field of both eyes
48
what is the result of damage to the auditory area
may produce partial hearing loss, the more extensive the damage the more extensive the loss
49
where is the somatosensory area located
the parietal lobe
50
where is the motor area located
the frontal lobe
51
where is the auditory area located
the temporal lobe
52
where is the visual area located
the occipital lobe
53
where is information from the right visual field sent
the left visual cortex
54
outline the role of adrenaline in a fight or flight response
brings about the appropriate physiological changes necessary, which could include pupil dilation, increased heart rate and breathing etc
55
define the term gland
an organ that produces hormones
56
give an example of a gland
pituitary gland
thyroid
adrenal gland
pineal gland
pancreas
testes
ovaries
57
define the term hormone
a substance which circulates in the blood but only affects target organs
58
give an example of a hormone
ACTH
LH
FSH
thyroxine
cortisol
adrenaline
noradrenaline
melatonin
insulin
testosterone
progesterone
oestrogen
59
why is the nervous system so fast acting
both electrical and chemical transmission
60
define the function of the myelin sheath
protects the axon and speeds up transmission
61
define the function of a node of ranvier
speeds up transmission by forcing the impulse to jump across gaps
62
where does electrical transmission occur
within the neuron
63
where does chemical transmission occur
between neurons
64
define the function of dendrites
receive information from other neurons, called pre-synaptic neurons, or from the environment
65
define the function of the axon
carries electrical impulses
66
define the function of schwann cells
maintaining the peripheral nervous system
67
ao3: describe dougherty et al's study and findings
reported on 44 people with ocd who had undergone cingulotomy
at 32 weeks, 30% had met the success criteria, 14% for partial response
68
ao3: describe petersen et al's study
used brain scans to demonstrate how wernickes area was active during a listening task and how brocas area was active during a reading task
69
ao3: describe tulving et al's study
revealed that semantic and episodic memories reside in different parts of the prefrontal cortex using brain scans
70
ao3: describe lashley's study and findings
removed areas of the cortex in rats learning the route through a maze
no area was proven to be more important than any other area in terms of the ability to learn to the route, the process of learning seemed to require all parts of the cortex rather than being confined to a particular area
71
ao3: describe dick and tremblay's findings
found that only 2% of modern researchers truly believe that language is strictly controlled by wernicke's and broca's areas
72
define hemispheric lateralisation
the idea that the two hemispheres are functionally different and certain mental processes and behaviours are mainly controlled by a certain hemisphere
73
give an example of a process which is lateralised
language
facial recognition
74
give an example of a process which is contralaterally wired
the motor area
75
define ipsilateral wiring
situated or appearing on or affecting the same side of the body
76
how is vision wired in the brain
both contralateral and ipsilateral
77
describe how vision is wired in the brain
the LVF of both eyes is connected to the RH and the RVF of both eyes is connected to the LH
78
what happens in a split brain operation
involves severing the connection between the RH and the LH, mainly the corpus callosum
this is a surgical procedure to reduce epilepsy
79
outline sperry's procedure
11 split-brain individuals
image or word presented to their RVF or LVF
asked to respond to stimulus - either verbally or with left or right hand
80
outline sperry's findings
when an image/word was presented to the participant’s RVF, the participant could describe what was seen, but they could not do this if the image/word was presented to their LVF
although participants could not give verbal labels to images projected to the LVF, they could select a matching object using their left hand
81
which part of the brain is severed in split-brain patients
the corpus callosum
82
if an image of a cat was projected to the LVF and an image of a dog was projected to the RVF, which would the split-brain participant describe
the dog
83
ao3: outline fink et al's study and findings
used PET scans to identify which brain areas were active during a visual processing task in ‘normal’ participants
when asked to attend to global elements of an image (such as looking at a picture of a whole forest) regions of the RH were much more active
when required to focus on the finer detail (such as individual trees) the specific areas of the LH tended to dominate
84
ao3: outline neilson et al's study and findings
analysed brain scans from over 1000 people and found that people used certain hemispheres for certain tasks, but there was no evidence of a dominant side, i.e. not artist’s/mathematician’s brain
85
define plasticity
the brains tendency to change and adapt as a result of experience and new learning
86
define synaptic pruning
as we age, rarely used connections are deleted and frequently used connections are strengthened
87
what age does synaptic formation happen
36 weeks gestation until 2 years
88
who conducted plasticity research into london taxi drivers
maguire et al
89
outline maguire et al’s research
london taxi drivers had significantly more volume of grey matter in their posterior hippocampus than the matched control group
part of the brain associated with spatial and navigational skills
as part of training, taxi drivers must complete ‘the knowledge’
the longer they had been working, the more pronounced the structural difference
90
who conducted plasticity research into medical students
draganski et al
91
outline draganski et al's research
conducted brain scans on medical students three months before and after final exams
learning induced changes seemed to have occurred in the posterior hippocampus and the parietal cortex
92
who conducted plasticity research into a video game training group
kuhn et al
93
outline kuhn et al's research
compared control group with a video game training group who played super mario for at least 30 minutes a day
significant increase in grey matter in hippocampus and cerebellum
94
what is functional recovery
the brains ability to redistribute or transfer functions usually performed by a damaged area, to other undamaged areas
95
how quickly does functional recovery occur
can occur quickly after trauma (spontaneous recovery) and then slow down after weeks or months
96
what happens in the brain during recovery
the brain rewires and reorganises itself by forming new synaptic connections
secondary neural pathways are activated
97
what three structural changes in the brain support recovery
axonal sprouting
denervation supersensitivity
recruitment of homologous areas
98
what is axonal sprouting
growth of new nerve endings which connect with other undamaged nerve cells to form new neural pathways
99
what is denervation supersensitivity
axons that do a similar job become aroused to a higher level to compensate for the ones that are lost
100
what is recruitment of homologous areas
specific tasks can be carried out by an equivalent part of another hemisphere
101
give an example of recruitment of homologous areas
damage to the brocas area would result in the same area of the right hemisphere carrying out its functions
102
ao3: outline bezzola et al's research
demonstrated how 40 hours of golf training produced changes in the neural representations of movement in participants aged 40-60
using fMRI, the researches observed increased motor cortex activity in the novice golfers, suggesting more efficient neural representations after training
103
ao3: outline schneider et al's research
revealed that the more time people with a brain injury had spent in education, the greater their changes of a disability-free recovery
40% of those who achieved DFR had more than 16 years education compared to about 10% of those that had less than 12 years education
104
what does fmri stand for
functional magnetic resonance imaging
105
what do firm's detect
changes in blood oxygenation and flow which occur as a result of neural activity in parts of the brain
106
how do fmris know which part of the brain is active
when a brain area is more active it consumes more oxygen and so blood flow is directed to this area
107
what do fmris show
3d images (activation maps) which show parts of the brain involved in mental processes
108
what does eeg stand for
electroencephalogram
109
what doe eeg's measure
electrical activity in the brain
110
how do eeg's measure electrical activity
electrodes that are fixed to the scalp using a skull cap
111
what do scan recordings produced from eegs show
represents the brainwave patterns generated from actions of the neurons
112
how do clinicians use eegs as a diagnostic tool
unusual arrhythmic patterns of activity may indicate neurological abnormalities such as epilepsy or tumours
113
what does erp stand for
event related potentials
114
what do erp's do
take raw eeg data to investigate cognitive processing of specific events
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how do rep's filter out unrelated brain activity
multiple readings are taken and averaged
116
what are post mortems
analysis of a persons brain following their death
117
what type of people have post mortem conducted on them
individuals with a rare disorder and experienced unusual deficits in mental processing or behaviour during their lifetime
118
what areas of the brain are examined in post mortem and why
areas of damage to establish likely cause of the affliction the person experienced
119
what may researchers conducting post mortem do
compare the individuals brain with a neurotypical one
120
what are biological rhythms governed by
exogenous zeitgebers
endogenous pacemakers
121
what are the three types of biological rhythm
circadian
infradian
ultradian
122
what are two examples of circadian rhythms
sleep/wake cycle
core body temperature
123
what is the exogenous zeitgeber of the sleep/wake cycle
daylight
124
what is the endogenous pacemaker of the sleep/wake cycle
internal biological clock (scn)
125
what is our biological clock called
suprachiasmatic nucleus
126
where is our scn located
above the optic chiasm which provides information about light from the eyes
127
roughly when does melatonin production increase
8pm
128
roughly when do melatonin levels peak
2-4am
the middle of the night
129
roughly when do melatonin levels fall
7am or early morning
130
who conducted a cave study into the sleep/wake cycle
siffre
131
who conducted a cave study into the sleep/wake cycle
siffre
132
outline the procedure of siffre’s study
spent extended periods of time in caves deprived of exposure to natural light and sound
133
what did siffre find about his sleep/wake cycle
his ‘free-running’ biological rhythm settled down to just beyond 24 hours (around 25 hours) though he did continue to fall asleep and wake up on a regular schedule
134
who conducted research in a ww2 bunker
aschoff and wever
135
outline aschoff and wever’s study
participants spent 4 weeks in a ww2 bunker deprived of natural light
136
what were the findings of aschoff and wever’s study
all but one of the participants (whose s/w cycle extended to 29 hours) displayed a circadian rhythm of 24-25 hours
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what does research into the sleep/wake cycle suggest
suggests that the ‘natural’ s/w cycle may be slightly longer than 24 hours but it is entrained by exogenous zeitgebers
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who studied the sleep/wake cycle by shortening the participants perception of 24 hours
folklard et al
139
outline the procedure of folklard et als study
12 participants lived in a cave for 3 weeks, over the course of the study, the researchers secretly and gradually sped up the clock so an apparent 24-hour day only lasted 22 hours
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what were the findings of folklard et als study
only one of the participants was able to comfortably adjust to the new regime.
141
when is core body temp the highest
around 6pm
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when is core body temp the lowest
4am
143
ao3: what range of s/w cycles did czeisler et al find
13-65
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ao3: what did duffy et al suggest about s/w cycles
some people have a natural preference for going to bed early and rising early (‘larks’) whereas others prefer the opposite (‘owls’)
145
what are infradian rhythms
biological rhythms which last longer than 24 hours
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what are ultradian rhythms
biological rhythms which last under 24 hours
147
how long does the menstrual cycle last
28 days
148
what happens when levels of oestrogen are high
an egg is released
149
roughly which day of the menstrual cycle is an egg released
day 14
150
what happens when levels of progesterone are high
the lining of the uterus is built up and maintained
151
give examples of infradian rhythms
the menstrual cycle
seasonal affective disorder (sad)
152
who studied the role of exogenous factors in a menstrual cycle
stern and mcclintock
153
outline stern and mcclintock’s study
studied 29 women with a history of irregular periods
samples of pheromones were gathered from 9 of the women at different stages of their menstrual cycles, via a cotton pad placed on
their armpit
the pads were treated, frozen and rubbed on the upper lip of the other participants
154
what were the findings of stern and mcclintocks study
68% women experienced changes to their cycle which brought them closer to their ‘odour donor’
155
what does sad stand for
seasonal affective disorder
156
what is sad
a depressive disorder with a seasonal pattern
157
what time of year do people with sad become depressed and why
symptoms are triggered during the winter months when the number of daylight hours becomes shorter
the lack of light in the morning means melatonin is secreted for longer, this has a knock-on effect on the production of serotonin
158
give an example of an ultradian rhythm
stages of sleep
159
how many stages of sleep are there and how long do they last
5 stages
altogether last 90 minutes
160
how can we differentiate the sleep stages
characterised by different brain waves which can be detected by an eeg
161
what brain waves are present in sleep stages 1 and 2
alpha waves
162
what brain waves are present in sleep stages 3 and 4
delta waves
163
what does rem stand for
rapid eye movement
164
what happens during rem sleep
Makes sense of information. Makes connections between previously stored and newly stored information, such as the periodic table, beatles lyrics
helps us deal with emotions - sleep therapy through dreaming
165
why is sleep therapy through dreaming so useful
some parts of brain (amygdala) are 30% more active than when awake
166
what happens during nrem sleep
fact based memory, maintains memories but also salvages those that appeared to be lost the night before
light sleep renews ability to learn new information by clearing the hippocampus
deep sleep allows storage and our ability to recall information
it is also involved in restocking our immune system
167
what stages of sleep are light sleep
one and two
168
what stages of sleep are deep sleep
three and four
169
ao3: what did penton-voak et al suggest
suggested that mate choice varies across the menstrual cycle
women generally prefered feminised male faces (representing kindness) when picking a partner for a long-term relationship.
however, during the ovulation phase women preferred more masculine faces (representing ‘good genes’ to be passed onto offspring)
170
ao3: what did terman find in relation to sad
found that the rate of sad is more common in northern countries, where the winter nights are longer, than southern countries
171
ao3: what did sanassi find about light therapy
light therapy is effective in reducing the effects of sad in about 80% of people
172
ao3: what did dement and kleitman find about rem sleep
monitored the sleep patterns of 9 adults in a sleep lab
brain activity was recorded on an eeg and the researchers controlled ev’s (caffeine, alcohol)
rem activity during sleep was highly correlated with the experience of dreaming
brain activity varied according to how vivid dreams were, and participants woken during dreaming could recall their dream
173
ao3: what did tucker et al find about duration of sleep
studied participants over 11 consecutive days and nights and found large differences between participants in terms of duration of each sleep stage, particularly stages 3 and 4
suggested that these differences are likely to be biologically determined
174
what is the scn and where is it located
a tiny bundle of nerve cells located in the hypothalamus in each hemisphere of the brain
175
when does the scn receive info
continues even when our eyes are closed
176
what does the scn do
passes information on day length and light to the pineal gland
177
what does the scn do in relation to melatonin production
info about light to the pineal gland, which secretes melatonin when there's no light
178
who studied the scn in chipmunks
decoursey et al
179
what was decoursey et al's procedure
destroyed scn connections in the brains of 30 chipmunks who were then returned to their natural habitats and observed for 80 days
180
what was the findings of decoursey et al's studies
the s/w cycle of the chipmunks disappeared and by the end of the study a significant proportion of them had been killed by predators
181
what did ralph et al do
bred ‘mutant’ hamsters with a 20-hour s/w cycle
182
what were the findings of ralph et al's study
when scn cells from the foetal tissue of mutant hamsters were transplanted into the brains of normal hamsters, their cycles also defaulted to 20 hours
183
who studied the scn in hamsters
ralph et al
184
what do exogenous zeitgebers do
reset our biological clocks through entrainment
185
define entrainment
the process of making something have the same pattern or rhythm as something else
186
what is the main exogenous zeitbeger in humans
light
187
what key processes does light affect
sleep wake cycle
blood circulation
hormone secretion
188
who studied light as an exogenous zeitbeger
campbell and murphy
189
what was the procedure of campbell and murphy's study
15 participants woken at various times and a light pad was shone on the back of their knees
190
what did campbell and murphy hypothesise for their study
light may be detected by skin receptor sites.
191
what were the findings of campbell and murphy's study
resulted in a deviation in the participants’ usual s/w cycle of up to 3 hours
192
what was the conclusion of campbell and murphy's study
light is a powerful EZ that does not necessarily rely on the eyes to exert an influence
193
what is an effective way of beating jet lag
adapting to local times for eating and sleeping (rather than responding to own feelings of hunger and fatigue)
194
when do circadian rhythms begin
6 weeks of age
195
when are rhythms entrained
16 weeks of age
196
ao3: outline miles et al's study and findings
studied a young man, blind from birth, with a circadian rhythm of 24.9 hours
despite exposure to social cues, his circadian rhythm could not be adjusted and consequently he had to take sedatives and stimulants to keep pace with the 24hr world
