Biopsychology

Question 1

human nervous system

Answer 1

central NS- brain and spinal cord
peripheral NS- transmits messages via neurones to and from CNS
split into autonomic (vital fucntions eg breathing) and somatic NS
autonomic split into parasympathetic and sympathetic involved in fight or flight

Question 2

neurone structure

Answer 2

cells that conduct nerve impulses
nucleus- control centre of cell, containing DNA
dendrite- receives nerve impulse from neurone
axon- where electrical signal passes along
myelin sheath- insulates axon from external factors affecting transmission
nodes of ranvier- speed up transmission by forcing impulse to jump

Question 3

sensory neurone

Answer 3

carries message from PNS (sense organs) to CNS

long dendrites and short axons

Question 4

motor

Answer 4

carry messages from CNS to effectors- muscles + glands

short dendrites and long axons

Question 5

relay

Answer 5

transfer messages from sensory neurones to other relay or motor neurones
short dendrites and short or long axons
found in CNS

Question 6

synaptic transmission

Answer 6

when an impulse reaches the end of a neurone, it triggers the release of a NT
chemical signals between neurones are transmitted across synapse

Question 7

neurotransmitters

Answer 7

chemicals that diffuse across a synapse
taken up by post synaptic receptor on dendrite
affect the transfer of another impulse to another nerve or impulse
excitatory- make a neurone more likely to fire, generate an act pot in the next neurone
inhibitory- make a neurone less likely to fire, hyperpolarise PSM so act pot cant travel down
reduce brain activity

Question 8

summation

Answer 8

effects of inhib and excit at a PSM are summed
normal brain functioning depends on inhib and excit being balanced
if there are more inhibitory than excitatory they can cancel out excitation and inhibit an action potential occurring

Question 9

endocrine systen

Answer 9

works alongside NS to control vital functions

acts slowly using glands which release hormones into bloodstream, which have a longer lasting effect

Question 10

fight or flight

Answer 10

in a stressful situation
sympathetic NS kicks in to prepare body to escape
adrenalin released from adrenal medulla
SNS- increase HR, pupils dilate, inhibits saliva, inhibits digestion
ParaNS- decrease HR, pupils constrict, stimulate saliva + digestion
para returns body back to resting state

Question 11

fMRI scans

Answer 11

functional magnetic resonance imaging (while performing a task)
detect changes in blood oxygenation and blood flow to certain areas of the brain
when a brain area is more active, it consumes more o2 so more blood flows to the area
produces a 3D image of which parts of the brain are involved in certain mental processes

Question 12

fMRI ao3

Answer 12

ad- doesn’t use radiation which makes it safer
non invasive
high spatial resolution- shows where things are happening

dis- expensive compared to other methods
poor temporal resolution- doesn’t show when things are happening

Question 13

EEG

Answer 13

electroencephalogram
measures electrical activity within the brain via electrode on the scalp (electrical currents)
scan represents brainwave patterns generated by neurones

Question 14

EEG ao3

Answer 14

ad- can be used to see neurological abnormalities and in diagnosis of epilepsy
high temporal validity- can detect activity at 1 ms

dis- generalised nature of information received ( comes from thousands of neurones)
not useful in pinpointing exact source of neural activity
low spatial resolution

Question 15

ERP

Answer 15

event related potential
electrophysiological response of brain to sensory, motor and cognitive events isolated by statistical analysis
filters out extraneous brain activity from EEG and isolates response to a specific stimulus
can see brainwaves triggered by particular events

Question 16

ERP ao3

Answer 16

ad- very good temporal validity
more specificity to measurements of neural processes than EEG

dis- lack of standardisation between methods so can’t confirm findings
poor spatial resolution as cannot map the deeper regions of the brain

Question 17

Post Mortem

Answer 17

analysis of the brain of someone who is already dead

likely to be of someone who had a rare disorder or disease

Question 18

PM ao3

Answer 18

ad- vital in providing info about the brain before neuroimaging was possible
has been used in case studies eg HM
high spatial resolution

dis- issues with causation as damage to the brain may be unrelated to trauma
ps can’t give informed consent
poor temporal resolution

Question 19

split brain research

Answer 19

involves severing the connections between the left and right hemispheres by removing corpus callosum
shows how the hemispheres function when they can’t communicate

Question 20

Sperry

Answer 20

studied 11 patients who had split brain operation
focused on dot (one eye covered) and word/image flashed up
image projected to left or right visual field (brain can’t convey info from one side to the other)
when image was shown to RVF (LH) they could describe it
image shown to LVF (RH) they could select a matching object with left hand

Question 21

sperry ao3

Answer 21

shows that brain functions are lateralised and localised- LH is verbal and RH is emotional
natural exp as IV wasn’t manipulated
high internal validity
low ecological validity
scientific procedure
small sample of ps and differences may be due to epilepsy rather than split brain
lack of controls as some ps had drug therapy previously
oversimplifies link between hemispheres as they are normally communicating all the time
sperry did do the surgery so don’t know exactly how/ why is was carried out eg severity

Question 22

hemispheric lateralisation

Answer 22

idea that halves of the brain are different and certain behaviours are controlled by each hemisphere
language-two main areas (broca + wernicke) are in left hemisphere so is lateralised
many functions are not localised as motor and somatosensory areas are in both hemispheres

Question 23

hemispheres

Answer 23

cerebrum is divided into 2 halves ( hemispheres) which are responsible for different functions
localisation- theory that there are specific areas of the cortex associated with particular cognitive functions

Question 24

frontal lobe

Answer 24

at front of brain
contains motor areas in both hemispheres; controls movement and damage may result in loss of fine movement
damage to either hemisphere would result in the opposite side of the body being damaged eg LH damaged, right side of body will struggle
Broca’s areas in left hemisphere
responsible for speech production

Question 25

temporal lobe

Answer 25

contains auditory area in both hemispheres; analyses speech based info and damage may result in hearing loss Wernicke's area in left hemisphere responsible for understanding speech

Question 26

parietal lobe

Answer 26

top of brain somatosensory area in both hemispheres where sensory info from skin (touch, heat, pressure) is represented

Question 27

occipital lobe

Answer 27

back of brain contains visual area in both hemispheres damage may result in blindness

Question 28

localisation ao3 (adv)

Answer 28

Dougherty studied 44 people who had surgery for OCD (on specific area of brain-cingulate gyrus- linked with OCD) 1/3 got better (alleviated symptoms) supporting localisation but not everyone did- 14% partially recovered empirical, scientific data Peterson used brain scans to demonstrate how Broca's area was active during reading task + Wernicke's area was active during listening tasks brain scans are objective Phineas Gage- had a pole through his head- frontal lobe (involved in personality) - and survived but had a complete change in personality, from a calm, reserved person to an aggressive drunk showing local as only this was affected Broca's aphasia- patient had a lesion in Broca's area and the only word he could say was Tan showing the importance of Broca's in speech production

Question 29

localisation ao3 (dis)

Answer 29

Harasty- found individual differences as women have larger Broca's area than men so localisation isn't as fixed as the theory suggest idea of plasticity undermines lateralisation as it shows that brain functions can change Lashley- proposed the idea that processes are distributed holistically. rats were trained to complete a maze, could complete in same time when parts of brain were removed (equipotentiality) Dick and Tremblay found that only 2% of modern researchers think that language is completely controlled by Broca + Wernicke's area due to advances in brain imaging techniques- language is more holistic Donkers conducted an MRI scan on Tan's brain to try and confirm Broca's findings, there was lesion on Broca's area but found issues with other areas may have also contributed to the loss of speech production - broca's is not the only important part and may be due to damage of other areas - may be due to how the brain communicates rather than the exact areas

Question 30

brain plasticity

Answer 30

brain's ability to change and adapt (functionally+ physically) as a result of experience or learning in infancy brain experiences rapid growth in number of synaptic transmissions brain plasticity occurs throughout our lives as a result of learning as we age, rarely used connections are deleted and frequently used are strengthened- synaptic pruning

Question 31

plasticity ao3 (support)

Answer 31

Maguire- studied brains of London taxi drivers found sig. more grey matter in hippocampus compared to controls- associated with the development of spatial and and navigation skills positively correlated with their time as a taxi drivers (eg longer= more grey matter) complex test they take alters brain structure cause and effect- may be taxi drivers due to this Draganski- studied brains of medial students before and after final exams learning induced changes occurred in posterior hippocampus and parietal cortex

Question 32

plasticity ao3 (neg)

Answer 32

negative plasticity- may cause negative behavioural consequences brain's adaption to prolonged drug use leads to poorer cognitive functioning later in life 60-80% of amputees develop phantom limb syndrome where they feel like their limbs are still there (unpleasant)

Question 33

recovery from brain trauma

Answer 33

where unaffected areas of the brains adapt and compensate for damaged areas ( specific form of plasticity) neural reorganisation- transfer of functions to undamaged areas neural regeneration- growth of new neurones/ connections to compensate for damaged areas axonal sprouting- growth of new nerve endings which connect with undamaged neurones neuronal unmasking- unmasking of dormant synapses, opening connections to new regions of the brain affected by age as younger people are still growing new synapses/ connections so easier to change plasticity helps to deal with indirect effects of brain damage eg from inadequate blood supply after a stroke

Question 34

recovery from brain trauma- case study

Answer 34

EB- had virtually entire left hem removed aged 2.5 was given substantial rehab for language and gradually recovered tested at 17, had excellent language with minor grammatical problems right hem had compensated organisation of language areas on RH mirrored what is seen in a healthy LH which refers to neural reorganisation

Question 35

recovery from trauma ao3

Answer 35

practical applications- contributes to field of neuro rehabilitation and encourages new therapies to be tried out Elbert et al- found that the capacity for neural reorganisation is much greater in children than in adults- less effective in older brains, may explain why adults find change more demanding (individual differences in RFT) limitation- person's education level may affect how they recover due to their cognitive reserve disability free recovery achieved only 10% of people with >10 years of education compared to 40% with <16 years

Question 36

localisation

Answer 36

idea that individual parts of the brain have specific functions eg frontal lobe- motor area and broca's area (LH) broca and wernicke important in speech production and understanding; only found in left hemisphere broca- speech production broca's aphasia- damage to broca's area results in slow, laborious speech wernicke's area- understanding speech wernicke's aphasia- damage to wernicke's may result in producing nonsense words

Question 37

lateralisation ao3

Answer 37

evidence that hemispheres process info differently and lateral. is feature of split brain and connected brain - Fink et al used PET scans to identify which areas of the brain were active in a visual task - ps with connected brain looked at global elements of the picture (eg whole picture) the RH was used - when they had to focus on the finer detail the LH dominated the L and RH have different functions but we do not have a dominant side of the brain eg one side dominates and this determines personality -Nielsen et al analysed brain scans of 1000 people and found evidence for lateralisation but no evidence for a dominant side

Question 38

somatic NS

Answer 38

transmits sensory info from body/ sense receptors to the brain/ CNS controls voluntary movements by transmitting info from brain to effectors integrates brain with external environment/outside world