Biopsych Flashcards

Question

where are the language areas found?

Answer 1

left hemisphere only

Answer 2

-temporal lobe -hearing -damage = hearing loss

Answer 3

-occipital lobe -damage to visual cortex= damage to vision

Answer 4

-In left frontal lobe -damage = Broca’s aphasia -problems with speech production Tan- understood speech, couldn't produce speech or writing

Answer 5

-in left temporal lobe -damage = Wernicke's aphasia -problems in understanding language -often language produced is meaningless due to lack of understanding

Answer 6

Plasticity- brains tendency to change and adapt its structure and function as a result of experience and new learning. Used to believe changes in brain only happened in childhood. Recent research shows the brain continues to make new neural pathways and alter existing ones as a result of learning/ experience.

Answer 7

A: whether licensed London taxi drivers will have structural differences in their hippocampus as a result of learning routes. P: 16 right-handed male licensed taxi drivers with a range of years' experience compared to control group of 50 right-handed males that didn't drive taxis. Range of ages was 32-62. Used MRI scanner to calculate amount of grey matter in P’s brain. F: taxi drivers had more grey matter in posterior hippocampus than control group, thus left and right hippocampus were higher in volume in taxi drivers. Positive correlation between volume of hippocampus and time as taxi driver C: hippocampus is asociated with memory/ development, thus in taxi drivers there is redistribution of grey matter in hippocampus as a result of use of spatial memory skills. Environment can influence brain structure.

Answer 8

+: positive implications- help us understand effects of environment on brain. E.g., prolonged drug use can result in poorer cognitive function as well as increased risk of dementia. Understanding this means treatment can be given. +: supporting study- imaged medical students' brains before and after final exams. Learning induced changes could be seen in posterior hippocampus, presumably as a result of exam.

Answer 9

Functional recovery- brains ability to redistribute/ transfer functions usually performed by damaged area to undamaged area after trauma. Suggested this can occur quickly after trauma (spontaneous recovery) but can slow down for several weeks. At this point therapy is required to fully recover.

Answer 10

brain can reorganize by forming synaptic connections close to area of damage. Secondary neural pathways that wouldn't usually carry out those functions are activated to enable functioning to continue

Answer 11

-axonal sprouting- growth of nerve endings that connect with other undamaged nerve cells to form new neuronal pathways -reformation of blood vessels -recruitment of similar areas on opposite side of brain

Answer 12

+: contributed to neuro-rehab field- can implement physio techniques to strengthen recovery if spontaneous recovery slows down to ensure full recovery -: individual differences- patients with uni education are 7 times more likely to be disability free 1 year after brain damage than those that didn't finish high school

Answer 13

-: can't genralise research to humans- research conducted on animals. Humans have higher cognitive functions. Plasticity could be different for humans and animals -: age differences- functional recovery said to reduce with age. Brain has better ability to reorganize in childhood as it's constantly adapting to learning. However, 40 hours of golf training for men aged 40-60 produced changes in neural representation of movement, showing neural plasticity continues throughout life.

Answer 14

the 2 hemispheres are functionally different. E.g., left hemisphere= language.

Answer 15

corpus callosum -without it they are separate -proposed that cutting corpus callosum benefits those with epilepsy

Answer 16

-info from right hand side of body processed by left hemisphere and vice versa -info shared across both hemispheres via corpus callosum

Answer 17

-no corpus callosum, thus info can't be shared across both hemispheres, thus info is only processed by one side of brain

Answer 18

investigate hemispheric lateralisation in split-brain patients

Answer 19

11 split brain patients had corpus callosum cut due to epilepsy, compared to 11 non-split-brain patients with no history of epilepsy in a quasi experiment. -images/words presented to left/right visual field. -one eye covered, image projected for 1/10th of a second -gap so P’s could touch object but not see it -asked to respond verbally/ non-verbally

Answer 20

-image shown to right visual field could be described -image shown to left visual field couldn't be described (no language areas in right hemisphere) -in a normal brain messages can be relayed across both hemispheres

Answer 21

-objects behind screen -image to left visual field -select matching object via touch using left hand -couldn't say what was seen (info to right hemisphere- no language areas) -could understand and pick matching object

Answer 22

supports lateralisation of brain function. Left= languages, right= spatial, drawing

Answer 23

Measures changes in brain activity. Measuring blood flow to certain areas of brain while person performs a task, if one part of brain becomes more active, more oxygen is required to that area, the brain responds by increasing blood flow to that area. Researchers can produce maps showing which parts of brain are involved in different mental activity. FMRI images show 1-4 seconds after it occurs and are accurate between 1-2mm

Answer 24

Strength- non-invasive, no insertion of instruments into brain, doesn't expose brain to harmful radiation, thus more patients will undertake fMRI’s allowing psychologists to further their knowledge Strength- high spatial resolution, more accurate than other techniques (EEG have low spatial resolution), thus fMRI is useful and scientific Weakness- time delay of 1-4 seconds between initial firing of neuron and seeing image, thus it has poor temporal resolution compared to EEG with a time lag of a millisecond or less, unable to predict when activity occurred.

Answer 25

Measures generalised electrical activity of brain by inserting electrodes to scalp by using scalp skull cap. Electrodes detect electrical changes resulting from activity of brain cells, below electrodes. Scan represents brainwave patterns that are generated from the actions of millions of neurons Used to detect neurological abnormalities such as epilepsy, tremors, Alzheimer's via spikes in electrical activity.

Answer 26

-small brain waves triggered by particular events Electrodes attached to scalp, whilst a stimulus is presented to participant, researcher looks for general brain activity related to that stimulus. Difficult to separate from background EEG data Stimulus presented many times and average response is graphed -reduces extraneous neural activity, which makes specific response to stimulus stand out

Answer 27

Strength- both non-invasive, however could be argued as invasive due to electrodes attached to scalp, straightforward and risk free, more people participate allowing psychologists to further knowledge Strength- high temporal resolution-shows images within a millisecond, thus can accurately determine when activity occurred. Weakness- poor spatial resolution, its generalised. can't discriminate between 2 adjacent parts of brain, thus can't be used to investigate localisation of function, thus less accurate than fMRI

Answer 28

Establish underlying neurobiology of a particular behaviour, when person dies, researchers can look for abnormalities that might expalin behaviour -may involve comparison to control brain -likey to be done on those with rare disorder -Tan

Answer 29

Strength- more detailed examination using non-invasive techniques, can examine deeper parts of brain, can't be done with EEG/ERP Weakness- ethical issues, non-invasive as participant is dead, though they can't provide consent. Weakness- retrospective research, person is dead so follow up can't be done, thus observed damage may not actually be linked to deficits but instead other trauma

Answer 30

cyclical changes in the way biological systems change due to changes in the environment. E.g., day and night

Answer 31

repeats every 24 hrs. E.g., sleep/wake cycle. Governed by external (light/ dark) and internal signals

Answer 32

How the body responds to internal signals via SCN -bundle of nerves in hypothalamus, above optic chiasm -optic chiasm- nerve fibers connected to eye cross the optic chiasm on the way to the visual area of the cerebral cortex. -’master clock’- links to other brain areas that control sleep/ arousal -continues when eyes are closed, enabling biological clock to adjust to changing patterns of daylight when we sleep

Answer 33

SCN sends signals to the pineal gland, located behind hypothalamus. Darkness stimulates melatonin production causing sleep. Light reduces melatonin

Answer 34

Environmental factors responsible for resetting biological clock

Answer 35

-receptors in SCN are sensitive to light changes -light can also influence hormone secretion and blood circulation -15 p’s woken at various times in night, via light pad shone at backs of knees, caused deviation of sleep by up to 3 hours, showing light can be detected by skin receptors, even when same info isn't detected by eyes.

Answer 36

-circadian rhythms begin at 6 weeks old and are set by 16 weeks old -due to schedules imposed by parents e.g., sleep, eating schedules

Answer 37

+: morgan removed SCN from hamsters and their circadian rhythms disappeared , suggesting SCN is endogenous pacemaker, further backed up when he transplanted SCN cells from foetal hamsters to hamsters, their circadian rhythms reappeared. +: supporting evidence for pineal gland- p's spent time in sleep lab spent 7 minutes of every 20 laying in darkness trying to sleep. Tendancy to sleep and melatonin levels was measured at different times. Positive correlation between levels of melatonin and tendancy to sleep.

Answer 38

-: studies of those in the arctic circle (where the sun doesn't set in the summer), found normal sleep patterns despite constant exposure to light, suggesting social cues may influence internal body clock instead of light +: siffre spent long periods in dark cave with no sense of time, he ate and slept when he felt it was appropriate. His sleep/wake pattern settled at 25 hours instead of normal 24, suggesting light and social cues are important in regulating our circadian rhythms

Answer 39

+: positive implications on workers- reduced concentration in early hours due to greatest drive to sleep at this time, this is when more accidents occur, economic implications of how to manage worker productivity -: lack population validity- most studies use small sample size, thus may not be representative, even siffre found his body clock was slower when he returned to the cave aged 60, compared to when he was younger.

Answer 40

-lasts more than 24 hours, One example is the menstrual cycle -controlled by hormones (endogenous pacemaker) -oestrogen rises stimulating release of egg (ovulation) -progesterone helps maintain womb lining, readying body for pregnancy

Answer 41

+: can be influenced by exogenous factors- samples of sweat collected by one group of women and another group rubbed sweat onto lips, menstrual cycles synced- perihormones can impact menstrual cycles. +: evolutionary advantage of synchronised cycles- could become pregnant at similar times, meaning childcare could be shared. -also prevents different women becoming pregnant from same one male as females are only fertile for 72 hours. -: methodological issues with synchrinisation- stress, diet, exercise can change the menstrual cycle- may act as confounding variables

Answer 42

shorter than 24 hours: -several different types of sleep occur throughout the night in aregular pattern -sleep is example of ultradian rhythm -governrd by endogenous pacemakers -cycles occur every 90-100mins -different stages occur within these cycles

Answer 43

-approx 15 minss -person is relaxed, state of drowsiness -brain activity from different parts of the brain synchronise -hyponogogic state- hallucinatory images

Answer 44

- approx 20 mins -EEG waves slower and larger, with short bursts of high frequency sleep spindles -k complexes- response to external stimuli e.g., sound -easy to be awakened

Answer 45

approx. 15 mins: -sleep deepens as brain waves slow

Answer 46

slow wave sleep- approx. 30 mins: -deep sleep stage -hard to be awakened -growth hormones secreted -sleep walking/talking exxpereinced

Answer 47

approx. 10 mins- builds up to 1 hour by 4th/5th cycle: -dreaming -muscle paralysis -brain wave activity same as when awake

Answer 48

+: REM sleep important part of ultradian sleep cycle- 9 adults monitored in sleep labs. Brain wave actively measured by EEG. Found REM activity strongly corelated with dreaming. When P’s woken from dream, found they coud accurately recall dream. -: individual differences in time/duration of peoples ultradian rhythm- P's spent 11 days/ nights in sleep lab. Researcher looked at time asleep/ time to fall asleep and time in each stage- stages may not genralise to everyone. +: at least partially determined by endogenous pacemakers- cant be external factors as all P’s in same controlled environment, suggesting differences are biological

Biopsych Flashcards

(72 cards)