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Biopsychology Flashcards

(65 cards)

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1
Q

The CNS

A

The Central Nervous System - brain + spinal cord

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2
Q

Four main areas the brain is divided into

A

Cerebrum - largest part , has 4 lobes
Cerebellum - motor skills, balance, coordination
Dincephalon - thalamus (consciousness,sleep,alertness) and hypothalamus (body temp., stress, hunger, thirst)
Brain Stem - Regulates breathing + heart rate

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3
Q

Job of Spinal Cord

A

Relays info between brain and body. Connected to body by spinal nerves.

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4
Q

The PNS

A

Peripheral Nervous System - nervous system throughout rest of the body.
2 Divisions: Somatic and Autonomic

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5
Q

The Somatic Nervous System

A

Controls voluntary movements. Connects senses with CNS and has sensory AND motor pathways. Controls skeletal muscles. Controlled by motor cortex.

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6
Q

The Autonomic Nervous System

A

Involuntary. Only motor pathways and controls smooth muscles and internal organs and glands. Controlled by brain stem. Split into sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system.

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7
Q

Sympathetic Nervous System

A

Activated in stress. Fight or Flight response.

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8
Q

Parasympathetic Nervous System

A

Activated when body is relaxing and conserving energy.

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9
Q

Cell body function

A

Controls centre of the neuron

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10
Q

Nucleus function

A

Contains genetic material

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11
Q

Dendrites function

A

Receives an electrical impulse/action potential from other neurons/ sensory receptors

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12
Q

Axon function

A

Long fibre that carries the electrical impulse from the cell body to the axon terminal

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13
Q

Myelin Sheath function

A

Insulating layer that protects the axon and speeds up the transmission of the electrical impulse

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14
Q

Schwann Cells function

A

Makes up the myelin sheath

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15
Q

Nodes of Ranvier function

A

Gaps in the myelin sheath. They speed up the electricsl impulse along the axon.

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16
Q

How do psychoactive drugs work?

A

They affect the transmission of neurotransmitters across the synapse

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17
Q

How does the hypothalamus control the pituitary gland?

A

The hypothalamus sends a signal to the PG in form of releasing hormone and the PG sends a stimulating hormone into the bloodstream to tell the target gland to release its hormone.

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18
Q

Anterior PG function

A

Releases ACTH - prepares body for fight/flight

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19
Q

Posterior PG function

A

Releases oxytocin - crucial for infant/mother bonding

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20
Q

Adrenal Cortex

A

produces cortisol - chronic stress, increases blood pressure, contracts blood vessels

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21
Q

Adrenal Medulla

A

Produces adrenaline - fight/flight

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22
Q

Sympathomedullary Pathway

A

Hypothalamus triggers the sympathetic nervous system and adrenal medulla

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23
Q

+ Evaluation for Fight/Flight response

A

+ Makes sense from evolutionary psychology POV - helped individuals to survive
+ Studies support. People with malfunctioning adrenal glands do not have normal fight/flight response

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24
Q
  • Evaluation for Fight/Flight
A
  • A psychologist states that first reaction is to freeze and being hypervigilant to danger
  • A psych found that females tend and befriend - hormone oxytocin makes them more likely to stay and protect child
  • 9/11 showed that even males tend and befriend
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25
Visual Cortex
Occipital lobe, Both Hemispheres | Retina --> Photoreceptors ---> Optic Nerve ---> Thalamus ---> Visual Cortex
26
Auditory Cortex
Temporal Lobe, Both Hemispheres | Cochlea -->auditory nerve ---> brain stem ---> thalamus --> auditory cortex
27
Motor Cortex
Frontal Lobe, Both Hemispheres
28
Somatosensory Cortex
Parietal Lobe, Both Hemispheres | Produces sensations of touch, pressure, pain, temp.
29
Broca's Area
Frontal Lobe, Left Hemisphere | Damage can cause Expressive Aphasia - affects language production but NOT understanding
30
Wernicke's Area
Temporal Lobe, Left Hemisphere | Damage can cause Recessive Aphasia - unable to understand language
31
Evaluation of Localisation of Function
- Some functions are more localised than others, e.g. motor and somatosensory are highly localised but personality isnt - Equipoteniality theory - higher mental functions are not localised & intact areas of the cortex take over damaged areas - Several areas of Broca's patients brains had been damaged. Language is acc more widely distributed. - Individual differences - silent reading activates different brain areas - How brains communicate with each other may be more important than specific brain response. A patient couldn't read cause of damage between visual cortex and wernicke's area
32
Lateralisation of function
Idea that two hemispheres of the brain have different specialisations. Right hemisphere is responsible for the left side of body and is dominant for recognising faces. Left hemisphere is responsible for the right side of the body and is dominant for language.
33
Evaluation of Lateralisation of function
+ Increases neural processing capacity - adaptive. Each hemisphere can engage in different tasks. E.g. chickens. - Individual differences - JW could speak using RH when info presented to LH or RH
34
Split brain research
Patients asked to stare at a dot. Info presented to left/right side of screen. Asked to make responses with left hand (RH), right hand (LH) or verbally (LH) without looking at hands.
35
Evaluation of Split Brain Research
- Individual differences: disconnection may be greater in some, some may have had drug therapy = cannot generalise findings - Small Sample Size = cannot be generalised - Severed corpus callosum can be compensated by use of both visual fields = lacks ecological validity
36
Brain Plasticity
Brain's ability to change and adapt as a result of experience. Allows brain to cope better with indirect affects of brain damage.
37
Factors/Studies that increase plasticity
Life Experience - Nerve pathways used frequently get stronger and the ones rarely used die. 60 year olds were taught juggling which increased grey matter in visual cortex. Video Games: Students who played VG 30min a day for 2 months caused increase in grey matter in hippocampus, visual cortex and cerebellum. Meditation: An EEG picked up greater wave activity in Tibetan monks before they started meditating. Gamma Waves coordinate neural activity.
38
+ Evaluation of Platicity
+ More neurons found in brains (especially hippocampus) of rats put in complex environments than those in laboratory cages. + London Taxi drivers had a larger hippocampus than a control group.
39
Functional Recovery
Form of plasticity. Recovery after damage caused by trauma/injury
40
Neural reorganisation
Transfer of functions from damaged areas of the brain to undamaged areas
41
Neural regeneration
Growth of new neurons/connections
42
Axon Sprouting
Part of neural regeneration. New nerve endings grow and connect with other undamaged nerve endings.
43
+ Evaluation of Functional Recovery
+ Phantom Limb Syndrome (PLS) - continued experience of sensation in a missing limb - evidence for neural reorganisation + One eye of kitten sown shut - visual cortex for shut eye continued to process info from open eye
44
- Evaluation of Functional Recovery
- Patients with college education are 7x more likely to be disability free after brain injury than those who did not finish secondary school. Neural reserve could be a factor in recovery from brain injury.
45
Evaluation for Post-Mortem Studies
+ Allowed more detailed examination that would be impossible with other methods. They have enabled examination of hippocampus, hypotalamus and other deep areas - Small sample, ppl die in different ways, drug treatments = lack validity
46
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
Monitors blood flow in brain. Measures the change in the enrgy released by Hb, reflecting activity of the brain (O2 consumption) to get a moving pic of the brain
47
Evaluation of fMRI
+ Captures dynamic brain activity - Interpretation is complex and is affected by temporal resolution, biased interpretation, and by the base line task used. fMRI is expensive = low sample sizes = low validity
48
Electroencephalogram (EEG)
Sleep/arousal states. Electrodes placed on scalp and activity right below is detected. Signals are graphed.
49
Evaluation of EEG
+ Useful in clinical diagnosis e.g. epilepsy. Cheaper than fMRI - Poor spatial resolution
50
Event-Related Potentials
Electrodes placed on scalp and detect neuronal activity right below in response to a SPECIFIC stimulus. ERP waves generated 100 milliseconds after stimulus = sensory ERP's (initial response) After first 100 milliseconds = cognitive ERP's (information processing)
51
Evaluation of ERPs
+ ERP can measure the processing of a stimulus even in the absence of a behavioural response. - Only sufficiently strong voltage charges generated across scalp are recordable. Restricted to neocortex.
52
Biological Rhythms
Cyclical changes in physiological systems. Three Types.
53
Circadian Rhythms
24 hours. Driven by SCN in hypothalamus. This pacemaker must constantly be reset so that our bodies are in synchrony with outside world - natural light provides input (photoentrainment process). SCN then uses this info to coordinate circadian rhythms throughout body
54
Example of CR: Sleep-Wake Cycle
Strongest Sleep Drives; 2-4am & 1-3pm At night melatonin released by pineal gland. Under homeostatic control.
55
+ Evaluation of Circadian Rhythm
+ Chronotherapeutics: The time patients take medicine and when the medicine is activated is important for treatment success.
56
- Evaluation of Circadian Rhythm
- A psychologist altered participants CR down to 22 hours and up to 28 hours by artificial light alone - Individual differences: cycles can vary from 13 to 165 hours - Individual difference; morning and evening ppl have different peak times - Temp controls CR not light
57
Ultradian rhythms
Less than 24 hours. e.g. five sleep stages. Rapid Eye Movement (REM: stage five) Non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM: stages 1,2,3,4). Cycle repeats every 90 mins. Each stage shows distinct EEG pattern. At REM EEG resembles that of an awake person (when dreaming occurs)
58
Basic Rest Activity Cycle
The 90 minute cycle. Continues when we are awake.
59
Evaluation of Ultradian Rhythms
+ Practice sessions for elite violinists were limited to 90 minute sessions. They napped to recover. - Individual differences: Differences found in participants studies in a lab for 11 days and nights.
60
Infradian rhythms
Longer than 24 hours. E.g. menstrual cycle.
61
Evaluation of IR
+ Can affect behaviour. Women prefer feminised male faces when choosing long-term partner but prefer masculinised faces during ovulation. - Menstrual cycle is also governed by pheromones, not only IR
62
Endogenous pacemaker
SCN is most important - acts as master clock, linking other brain regions and controlling other biological clocks throughout body. Also regulated secretion of melatonin.
63
Evaluation of Endogenous Pacemakers
+ Kate Aldcroft had no access to daylight for 25 days, her core temp rhythm remained at 24 hours. - Kate's sleep-wake cycle extended to 30 hours, with periods of sleep as long as 16 hours. We do need external influence.
64
Exogenous zeitgebers
Environmental events, light is most important. Melanopsin (protein in retina of eye) is sensitive to natural light and critical to system. Night shift/ holiday causes the exogenous and endogenous to be out of sync which disupts biological rhythms.
65
Evaluation of Exogenous Zeitgebers
+ Vast majority of blind subjects who have light perception have normal circadian rhythms. Ppl without light perception show abnormal CR. + Exposure to bright light prior to east-west flight decreased time needed to readjust to local time + Participants under warm light synchronised they CR each day with the natural light of dawn. Participants exposed to blue light synchronised their patterns to office hours.

Psychology (3 decks)

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