biop2

Question 1

what are the divisions of the nervous system, and what do these comprise of?

Answer 1

central (complex processing + decision making) into brain and spinal chord
+
peripheral (info from senses to CNS + from CNS to glands/muscles) into:

Somatic (voluntary movements, info from senses to CNS)
+
Autonomic (involuntary e.g. heart beat, to and from organs) into:

sympathetic (fight/flight, increase hr/br, inhibit digestion/saliva production, dilate pupils/contract rectum)
+
parasympathetic (rest/digest, decrease hr/br, stimulate digestion/saliva production, constrict pupils/relax rectum)

Question 2

describe the process of synaptic transmission

Answer 2

electrical impulses reach presynaptic neuron terminal

triggers vesicles containing neurotransmitter to fuse with PSN membrane, released into synapse by exocytosis

neurotransmitters diffuse across synaptic cleft + bind to receptor on PSN membrane

leads to excitation or inhibition- reuptake channels/ destroyed by enzymes

Question 3

whats the function of the pituitary gland?

Answer 3

master gland, controls release of hormones from all other endocrine glands

Question 4

whats the function of the pineal gland?

Answer 4

melatonin

biological rhythms like sleep/wake cycle

Question 5

whats the function of the hypothalamus?

Answer 5

stimulates release of hormones from pituitary gland

Question 6

whats the function of the thyroid gland?

Answer 6

thyroxine

regulates metabolism

Question 7

whats the function of the adrenal medulla?

Answer 7

adrenaline

fight/flight response

Question 8

whats the function of the adrenal cortex?

Answer 8

cortisol

release glucose to provide energy

Question 9

whats the function of the ovaries?

Answer 9

oestrogen

menstrual cycles, pregnancy

Question 10

whats the function of the testes?

Answer 10

testosterone

development of male sex characteristics in puberty, muscle growth

Question 11

describe the fight/flight response

Answer 11

stresser
when danger percieved by amygdala, sends stress signal to hypothalamus
hypothalamus activates sympathetic nervous system
stimulates adrenal medulla to release adrenaline

Question 12

what are the 6 effects of adrenaline?

Answer 12

increase heart rate
breathing rate
inhibit digestion
inhibit saliva production
dilate pupils
contract rectum

Question 13

where is the motor area of the brain?

Answer 13

frontal lobe

both hemisphere

Question 14

where is the somatosensory area?

Answer 14

parietal lobe

both hemispheres

Question 15

where is the visual area?

Answer 15

occipital lobe

both hemispheres

Question 16

where is the auditory area?

Answer 16

temporal lobe

both hemisphere

Question 17

Where is the brocas area?

Answer 17

frontal lobe

left hemisphere

Question 18

where is wernickes area?

Answer 18

temporal lobe

left hemisphere

Question 19

whats the difference between function of brocas and wernickes area?

Answer 19

brocas=production of speech

wernickes=understanding speech

Question 20

what is evidence supporting localisation in the brain?

Answer 20

damage to broca’s area result in impaired ability to produce speech (braca’s aphasia)
damage to wernickes area results in impaired ability to understand speech
(and phineas gage)

Question 21

whats 1 strength and 1 limitation of research supporting localisation in the brain?

Answer 21

Broca’s patient tans MRI found other areas also associated with failure in speech production

biologically reductionist bc reduce complex human behaviour to one area

Question 22

who did split brain research and whats the aim procedures and results?

Answer 22

Sperry
aim: see whether hemispheres performed tasks independently

method: split brain patients. present visual info to left or right (info presented to right is received by left and visa versa)
results: those presented to right visual field could be named verbally (because left controls language)

those presented to left visual cant be named verbally, but can point with left hand (bc left field interpreted by right brain, which controls left side of body)

Question 23

name a strength and a limitation of Sperry’s research

Answer 23

standardised procedure ensure only 1 field at a time

small sample bc split brain patients are rare + disconnection greater in some than others

Question 24

what is brain plasticity?

Answer 24

neural connections can change/ new ones can form (e.g. by axonal sprouting)

Question 25

what is McGuire's evidence for plasticity?

Answer 25

maguire et al- london taxi drivers more grey matter in posterior hippocampus- spatial learning changed brain structure, +ve correlation between size and time as taxi driver

Question 26

what is functional recovery?

Answer 26

brains ability to transfer/redistribute functions to other parts of the brain by forming new synaptic connections

Question 27

what is 1 strength and 1 limitation of research into plasticity and functional recovery?

Answer 27

contributes to field of neurorehabilitation | plasticity reduces with age

Question 28

what are the 4 ways of studying the brain?

Answer 28

functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) electroencephalography (eeg) event related potentials (erp) post-mortem exam

Question 29

whats does an fmri show, whats 1 strength and 1 limitation of this?

Answer 29

oxygenated blood flow non invasive overlooks networked nature of brain + doesn't directly measure neural activity, just blood flow

Question 30

whats does an eeg show, whats 1 strength and 1 limitation of this?

Answer 30

electrical activity activity in real time rather than still image cant reveal deeper brain structures/pinpoint where activity is

Question 31

whats does an erp show, whats 1 strength and 1 limitation of this?

Answer 31

electrical activity triggered by stimulus shows how processing affected by stimuli difficult to pick out from other neural activity

Question 32

whats does a post mortem exam show, whats 1 strength and 1 limitation of this?

Answer 32

dissection of brain can examine deeper regions many varying things can cause death that would affect the brain

Question 33

define biological rhythms

Answer 33

cyclical changes in the way biological systems

Question 34

what are circadian rhythms, give an example.

Answer 34

once a day e.g. sleep wake cycle

Question 35

what are infradian rhythms, give an example.what are circadian rhythms, give an example.

Answer 35

last longer than 24 hours e.g. menstrual cycle

Question 36

what are ultradian rhythms, give an example.

Answer 36

last less than 24 a day e.g. sleep stages

Question 37

who did research into circadian rhythms, what did they do and what did they find?

Answer 37

siffre 6 months in cave no external stimuli to judge time (no light/temp changes) he decided when to sleep + blood pressure/breathing rate monitored originally chaotic, then settled to 24.9 hour cycle suggests there is an endogenous pacemaker producing the cycle, but a need for exogenous zietgebers to keep it more in sync

Question 38

whats the difference between endogenous pacemaker and exogenous zietgeber?

Answer 38

``` pacemaker= internal body clock zietgeber= external factors in environment that reset biological rhythms through a process known as entrainment ```

Question 39

what is a strength and a limitation of siffres research into circadian rhythms?

Answer 39

case study- detailed + controlled environment artificial + body may act differently as only on one person

Question 40

whats the main endogenous pacemaker, and whats 1 strength and limitation of research into this?

Answer 40

suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) recieves info from the optic chiasm about light, allowing bio clock to adjust decoursey et al removed SCN of 30 chipmunks and sleep wake cycle disappeared many died- unethical

Question 41

whats the main exogenous zeitgeber, and whats 1 strength and limitation of research into this?

Answer 41

light chang et al found ps using light emmiting e-book took longer to sleep than book those living in arctic regions have normal sleep patterns despite extended day/light period

Question 42

give research into infradian rhythms. what is 1 strength and 1 limitation of research into infradian rhythms

Answer 42

pheremone samples collected from women then given to others, were brought closer to their cycle low concurrent validity- other studies didn't get same results

Question 43

what a strength and limitation of research into research into ultradian rhythms?

Answer 43

5 different stages of sleep been found using EEG e.g. REM sleep occurs in 5th stage only done on small sample low pop val