Biopsych

Question 1

somatic nervous system

Answer 1

connects central nervous system to sensory receptors and skeletal muscles

Question 2

autonomic nervous system

Answer 2

connects central nervous system to bodily organs, glands and smooth muscle

Question 3

central nervous system

Answer 3

consists of the brain and spinal cord, it receives information from the senses and controls that bodies responses

Question 4

sympathetic nervous system

Answer 4

primarily involved with responses that help us deal with emergencies (fight/flight)

Question 5

peripheral nervous system

Answer 5

connects the central nervous system to the rest of the body
sends information to central nervous system from the body and outside world and transmits messages from central nervous system to muscles and glands

Question 6

parasympathetic nervous system

Answer 6

involved with calming the body (rest and digest system)

Question 7

main functions of the nervous system

Answer 7

collect, process and respond to information from the environment
to co-ordinate the working of different internal organs and cells in the body

Question 8

central nervous system
brain
diencephalon

Answer 8

contains 2 important structures
thalamus
hypothalamus

Question 9

CNS-brain
diencephalon
thalamus

Answer 9

acts as a relay station for never impulses coming from senses, routing them to the appropriate part if the brain to be processed

Question 10

CNS-brain
diencephalon
hypothalamus

Answer 10

one functions is to act as a link between the nervous system and the endocrine system, controlling the release of hormones from the pituitary gland

Question 11

CNS-brain stem

Answer 11

responsible for regulating the autonomic functions essential for life e.g. breathing

Question 12

CNS-spinal cord

Answer 12

relay information between brain and the rest of the body
contains circuits of nerve cells that enable us to perform simple reflexes without direct involvement of brain
if areas are damaged spinal nerves will but cut off from brain and will stop functioning

Question 13

endocrine system

Answer 13

information system which instructs the glands to release hormones into the blood stream. these hormones are then carried directly towards to the target organs

Question 14

glands in the endocrine system

Answer 14

hypothalamus
pituitary  
thyroid 
parathyroid 
adrenals 
pancreas 
ovaries 
testes

Question 15

function of the hypothalamus 
endocrine system

Answer 15

connects the CNS and endocrine system together

Question 16

function of the pituitary gland 
endocrine system

Answer 16

master gland

produces critical hormones, which are chemical substances that control various bodily functions.

Question 17

function of the thyroid gland
endocrine system

Answer 17

uses iodine from the foods you eat to make two main hormones: Triiodothyronine (T3) Thyroxine (T4)

Question 18

function of the parathyroid gland 
endocrine system

Answer 18

controls the bodies calcium levels

produce a hormone called parathyroid hormone (PTH).

Question 19

function of the adrenals gland
endocrine system

Answer 19

produce hormones that help the body control blood sugar, burn protein and fat, react to stressors
Two of the most important adrenal hormones are cortisol and adrenaline

Question 20

function of the pancreas 
endocrine system

Answer 20

secretes the hormones insulin and glucagon to control blood sugar levels throughout the day.

Question 21

function of the ovaries 
endocrine system

Answer 21

female reproductive system

Question 22

function of the testes 
endocrine system

Answer 22

male reproductive system

Question 23

sensory neuron

Answer 23

carry messages from the peripheral nervous system to the central nervous system
long dendrites and short axons

Question 24

motor neurons

Answer 24

connect the central nervous system to effectors such as muscles and glands
short dendrites and short axon

Question 25

relay neurons

Answer 25

connect sensory neurons to motor neurons or other relay neurons short dendrites and long axons

Question 26

structure of a neuron

Answer 26

cell body includes a nucleus which contains information about the cell dendrites(branch like structures) the protrude the cell body transporting impulses from other cells. the axon carries the impulses away from the cell and is covered in myelin sheath that protects the axon and speeds up electrical transmission. the myelin sheath is separated by nodes of ranvier that speeds up the impulses by forcing them to jump along the axon. terminal buttons are at the end of the axon that communicate with the next neuron across a gap(synapse)

Question 27

electrical transmission

Answer 27

when a neuron is in a resting state inside the cell is negatively charged. when a neuron is activated by a stimulus the inside of the cell become positively charged causing an action potential creating an electrical impulse which is carried down the axon

Question 28

synaptic transmission

Answer 28

Once the action potential reaches the end of the axon it needs to be transferred to another neuron or tissue. It must cross over the synaptic gap between the presynaptic neuron and post-synaptic neuron. At the end of the neuron (in the axon terminal) are the synaptic vesicles, which contain chemical messengers, known as neurotransmitters. When the electrical impulse (action potential) reaches these synaptic vesicles, they release their contents of neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters then carry the signal across the synaptic gap. They bind to receptor sites on the post-synaptic cell, thereby completing the process of synaptic transmission.

Question 29

Acetylcholine (ACh)

Answer 29

found at each point where a motor neuron meets a muscle

Question 30

two effects neurotransmitters have on the neighbouring neuron

Answer 30

inhibitory | excitatory

Question 31

effects neurotransmitters have on the neighbouring neuron | inhibitory

Answer 31

makes the neuron negatively charged therefore less likely to fire serotonin

Question 32

effects neurotransmitters have on the neighbouring neuron | excitatory

Answer 32

makes the neuron positively charged, therefore more likely to fire adrenaline

Question 33

fight or flight

Answer 33

when a stressful stimuli is perceived the hypothalamus triggers activity in the autonomic nervous system this then changes from parasympathetic to sympathetic. adrenaline is produced and trigger physiological changes once the stressor has gone the body returns to parasympathetic

Question 34

ways of investigating the brain

Answer 34

fMRI(functioning magnetic resonance imaging) EEG(electroencephalogram) ERP(event-related potentials) post-mortems

Question 35

investigating the brain | fMRI

Answer 35

detects the change in blood oxygenation and flow that occurs as a result of neural activity 3D images

Question 36

investigating the brain | EEG

Answer 36

measures electrical activity in the brain via electrodes that are fixed to a skull cape recording represents the brainwave patterns used a diagnostic tool as unusual arrhythmic patterns of activity may indicate neurological abnormalities

Question 37

investigating the brain | ERPs

Answer 37

using statistical averaging technique all extraneous brain activity from the EEG is filtered out leaving only those responses that relate to the performance of the specific task

Question 38

investigating the brain | post-mortems

Answer 38

``` analysis of the brain after death usually those with rare condition areas of damage examined establish possible cause of death comparison with neuro-typical brain is common ```

Question 39

investigating the brain | strengths of fMRI

Answer 39

doesn't rely on radiation risk free non-invasive high spatial resolution

Question 40

investigating the brain | strengths of EEG

Answer 40

effective in diagnosing conditions high temporal resolution contributed to understanding sleep

Question 41

investigating the brain | ERP

Answer 41

more specific | good temporal resolution

Question 42

investigating the brain | strengths of post mortems

Answer 42

contributed to early psychology | generate future hypothesis

Question 43

investigating the brain | weaknesses of fMRI

Answer 43

expensive poor temporal resolution difficult to tell what kind of brain activity

Question 44

investigating the brain | weaknesses if EEG

Answer 44

cant pinpoint source of neural activity | hard to distinguish between activity

Question 45

investigating the brain | weaknesses of ERP

Answer 45

lack of standardisation between findings | extraneous variables

Question 46

investigating the brain | weaknesses of post mortem

Answer 46

only distinguish causation | ethical issues

Question 47

biological rhythms

Answer 47

distinct changes in body activity the conform the clinical time periods. Biological rhythms are influenced by endogenous pacemakers and exogenous zeitgebers

Question 48

endogenous pacemakers

Answer 48

internal body clocks that regulate many biological rhythms

Question 49

endogenous pacemakers | surpachiasmatic nucleus

Answer 49

nerve cells located in the hypothalamus primary endogenous pacemakers influential in maintaining circadian rhythms located behind the eyes it receives information and light and dark even when eyes are closed

Question 50

endogenous pacemakers surpachiasmatic nucleus DeCoursey et al

Answer 50

destroyed the SCN of 30 chipmunks and released them back into their habitat and observed for 80 days the sleep/wake cycle had disappeared and a significant portion had been killed

Question 51

SCN and melatonin

Answer 51

the SCN passes information about day and night onto the pineal gland that produces melatonin which induces sleep