biopsychology Flashcards

Question

structure of the motor neuron

Answer 1

short dendrites + long axon

Answer 2

-send info via long axons from brain (CNS) through effectors such as muscles/glands

Answer 3

1. in the presynaptic neuron,action potentials are sent down the axon until they reach the presynaptic terminal 2.causes the neurotransmitters which are stored in vesicles and are only located in the presynaptic neuron to be released into the synaptic cleft 3.NT diffuse through the synapse and bind to specific receptors only present on the postsynaptic neuron 4.once enough NT have attached to receptor sites on the postsynaptic neuron there are two possible outcomes 5a.the next neuron is ready to fire an impulse depending on whether the NT has an excitatory or inhibitory effect 5b.the NT are recycled to be stored back in the vesicles in the presynaptic neuron in a process called reuptake via the reuptake transporters

Answer 4

-ex. NT binds to postsynaptic receptors so postsynaptic cell becomes positively charged chemical messenger that makes it more likely that the next neuron will fire an impulse -increases brain activity in the CNS -eg.noradrenaline

Answer 5

-inhib. NT binds to postsynaptic receptors so postsynaptic cell becomes negatively charged chemical messenger that prevents/reduces the likelihood that the next neuron will fire -decreases brain activity in the CNS -eg.serotonin

Answer 6

-if two neurons synapse at the same postsynaptic neuron -occurs when both excitatory and inhibitory influences are added together -if the overall effect is mainly inhibitory it reduces the likelihood the neuron will fire; decreasing brain activity in the CNS -if the overall effect is mainly excitatory it increases the likelihood the neuron will fire; increasing brain activity in the CNS

Answer 7

an organ that secretes hormones that regulate functions in the blady

Answer 8

chemical messengers which are released by the glands within the endocrine system to regulate many bodily functions

Answer 9

master gland

Answer 10

secretes may diff hormones that control the functions of other glands

Answer 11

-pituitary gland releases LH + FSH -encourages ovaries to release oestrogen + progesterone -which regulate the female menstrual cycle and prepares the body for reproduction

Answer 12

-pituitary gland releases LH + FSH -encourages the testes to release testosterone -involved in creating male characteristics and producing sperm

Answer 13

-secretes the hormone melatonin -which regulates the sleep/wake cycle -by making a person feel tired and ready to sleep

Answer 14

-releases adrenaline -which causes physiological changes involved in the fight or flight response -such as increases blood flow to transport oxygen to the brain for rapid response planning

Answer 15

-specific areas of the brain are specialised for certain functions -eg. motor cortex is responsible for voluntary movement

Answer 16

-brain is split into two symmetrical halves called the left and right hemisphere -idea that the two diff sides are responsible for diff mental processes -eg. left is responsible for language and right is responsible for recognition and creativity

Answer 17

scientists believed that ALL parts of the brain worked together when processing information

Answer 18

found: left hemisphere involved in the production of spoken and written language

Answer 19

-Broca's aphasia -person may show slow speed that lacks fluency -may produce short meaningful speech that requires a lot of effort

Answer 20

found: left hemisphere involved in the understanding of language

Answer 21

-Wernicke's aphasia -individuals cannot understand spoken language -person produces nonsense words as part of their speech

Answer 22

found: both hemispheres involved in voluntary motor movements each hemisphere is responsible for the movement on the opposite side of the body

Answer 23

-loss of control over fine motor movements -small movements on the opposite side of the body -paralysis

Answer 24

found: both hemispheres area of the brain receives info directly from the eyes RVF-LH LVF-RH

Answer 25

-blindness -hallucinations -colourblindness

Answer 26

-RTS was conducted by Broca -reported a case study of a man who lost the ability to speak,except for one word "tan" -could still understand language -post mortems showed damage to one area in the left hemisphere which is now named Broca's area -shows language production is localised to one specific brain area as the theory predicts

Answer 27

-low population validity -it is a case study with "tan" as the only ppts -may not be appropriate to generalise the findings on LOF of Broca's area to the rest of the population -they may be able to process language in other areas of the brain -therefore suggests more research is needed with more diverse samples before firm conclusions on the localisation of language areas are possible

Answer 28

-case study of patient EB -EB suffered from brain damage that resulted in removal of left hem and therefore language centres -despite this, after time EB managed to regain some of his language abilities -which would not be possible if language was completely localised to the left hem -this demonstrates that language must be in more areas that just the left hem, arguing against localisation of language centres in the brain

Answer 29

-idea that the left and right hem of the brain are responsible for different functions -left is responsible for. language as the two main language centres Broca's area (for language production) and Wernicke's area (language understanding) are located in the LH -right is responsible for recognition of faces,places,objects and creativity and produces rudimentary words but contributes to the emotional context of what is being said -the brain has contralateral wiring: -LH recieves info from RVF and controls right side of the body -RH receives info from the LVF and controls the left side of the body

Answer 30

-LH recieves info from RVF and controls right side of the body -RH receives info from the LVF and controls the left side of the body

Answer 31

-RTS HemLat was conducted by Sperry using split brain patients with a severed corpus callosum -found that when shown an object in RVF were able to name it verbally but when presented in LVF were not but able to identify it through pointing -supports that the brain is lateralised and that the two hem have diff functions such as the left being responsible for language abilities -therefore split brain research supports theory of HemLat

Answer 32

-the extent to which split brain research supports theory of Hemlat has been criticised for individual differences in how lateralised the brain was -the degree for how much the corpus callosum was severed varied greatly with some patients having more disconnection between the two hem then others -weakness as research may not be measuring the effects of lateralisation effectively which reduces the internal validity of the research -research on split brain may not be appropriate for expl. HemLat

Answer 33

-RTC comes from patient EB -EB suffered from brain damage that resulted in the removal of his left hemisphere and therefore his language centres -despite this EB was able to regain some language ability which would not be able to happen if the brain was completely lateralised -this demonstrates that language must be in more areas than just the left hemisphere -arguing against the lateralisation of the brain

Answer 34

-have had surgery to cut the area that connects the two hemispheres -this is to relieve epilepsy but has a major side effect -two hemispheres become functionally separate

Answer 35

Aim: investigate the effect of severing the connection between two hemispheres of the brain method: natural experiment ppts: 11 patients with severed cc procedure: ppts sit in front of a screen fixating on a spot in the middle. of a screen; ppts are presented with visual info from LVF or RVF for 1/10th of a second

Answer 36

-objects seen in the RVF can be named verbally/in writing as the image would be processed by the language centres in the LH -if objects are only seen in the LVF then they can only be identified through pointing but cannot be named by the participant

Answer 37

-the extent to which split brain research supports theory of Hemlat has been criticised for individual differences in how lateralised the brain was -the degree for how much the corpus callosum was severed varied greatly with some patients having more disconnection between the two hem then others -weakness as research may not be measuring the effects of lateralisation effectively which reduces the internal validity of the research -research on split brain may not be appropriate for expl. HemLat

Answer 38

-RTC comes from patient EB -EB suffered from brain damage that resulted in the removal of his left hemisphere and therefore his language centres -despite this EB was able to regain some language ability which would not be able to happen if the brain was completely lateralised -this demonstrates that language must be in more areas than just the left hemisphere -arguing against the lateralisation of the brain

Answer 39

-uses scientific methods -based on objective and empirical methods such as laboratory settings -used in order to identify which hemispheric of the brain is responsible for which task -eg. patients were only able to say what they saw when the image was presented to the RVF which suggests the LH is activated during language tasks -increases the overall internal validity of hemispheric lateralisation research -therefore raising Psychology’s scientific status

Answer 40

brain's ability to change and adapt its structures and processes as a consequence of experience and new learning

Answer 41

connections that are not used as regularly are deleted and ones that are used regularly are strengthened

Answer 42

-type of plasticity to recover ability/mental processes that have been affected as a result of brain damage -brain is able to rewire itself by forming new synaptic connections close to the damaged area of the brain -secondary neural pathways that would not usually be used are activated to enable functioning -creates 2 structural changes in the brain

Answer 43

growth of new nerve endings which connect with other undamaged nerve cells to form new neural pathways

Answer 44

areas from opposite side of the brain take over the function of the damaged area -eg. If the Broca's area was damaged on the LH the RH equivalent would carry out its functions

Answer 45

PAGES Perseverance Age Gender Education Stress and alcohol

Answer 46

-takes a lot of effort to recover -research shows that people may appear to lose function but that it because the person is not trying -not because of a biological reason

Answer 47

younger people are more likely to recover from damage then old indiv. the deterioration in an old brain affects the extent and speed of recovery

Answer 48

females are more likely to recover than men due to the hemispheres being more strongly connected

Answer 49

-schneider found that more time in education the more likely the person is to recover -40% of people who achieved DFR had more than 16 years of education compared to the 10% who had less than 12 years -suggests that other factors such as education effect recovery

Answer 50

after recovery from trauma it takes a great deal of effort to regain full ability so it can make it more difficult

Answer 51

-RTS plasticity of the brain comes from Maguire et al who studied the brains of taxi drivers -found that those who had been taxi drivers for a long time had a greater volume of grey matter in the area responsible for spatial and navigational skills in comparison to those who had only been a taxi driver for a short time -supports plasticity because it suggests that a change in the structure of the brain was altered by their experience and greater knowledge of the roads

Answer 52

-RTS comes from patient EB -EB suffered from brain damage that resulted in the removal of his left hemisphere and therefore his language centres -despite this EB was able to regain some language ability which would not be able to happen if the brain was completely lateralised -this demonstrates that EB's brain has experienced recruitment of homologous areas and demonstrates the brain can adapt to produce language even when the LH was non functioning -therefore supporting the idea of plasticity and functional recovery

Answer 53

-low population validity -it is a case study with patient with severe brain damage -may caused unique changes in the brain that may have influenced the plasticity and functional recovery of the brain -this limits how well the research can be generalised to the wider population as different genders/ages may experience different levels of plasticity in the brain -this lowers the external validity of the research into plasticity

Answer 54

-identifies changes in the level of oxygen in the blood that occurs due to brain activity in specific areas -when a brain area is more active it leads to more oxygen being used so there is an increase of blood flow to this area -fMRI produces a 3D image showing which part of the brain is active, called an activation map -used to show localisation of the brain

Answer 55

-fMRI is safer and non-invasive and doesn't use radiation to identify the differences in brain area.UNLIKE PET scans which uses radiation.Therefore fMRI is more app technique ti use that can reduce the potential harm to indiv. -fMRI have higher spatial resolution than EEG AND ERP which is an important feature of brains scans as it can accurately identify specific brain areas involved in behaviour to the mm and a clear image of how the brain is localised -HOWEVER fMRI has poor temporal resolution as there is around a 5 second lag behind the image of the screen and the initial firing of neural activity.Therefore fMRI's may not represent moment-to-moment brain activity

Answer 56

-electrodes are placed on the scalp using a skull cap -detect small electrical changed resulting from the activity of the brain cells -electrical signals are graphed over a period of time to see a person's general brain activity -EEG are used to detect sleep patterns -used as a diagnostic tool to help diagnose conditions such as brain tumours and epilepsy

Answer 57

-high temporal resolution which enables the researcher to take a real time recording of brain activity rather than a still image of the brain, as is the case with the use of an fMRI.Researcher can gain a more accurate measure of the brain in a particular task. Therefore, providing a greater insight into the processes of the brain, increasing its validity as a way of studying the brain. -However low in spatial resolution, therefore only provides information on general activity in the brain. Cannot pinpoint the exact source of neural activity that is involved in behaviour, unlike the use of ERP which allow a researcher to identify specific brain activity in a particular task. Therefore, findings may be less valuable in developing our understanding than by using alternative ways of scanning the brain such as ERPs.

Answer 58

-electrodes are placed on the scalp -Unlike EEG (which shows general activity) ERP shows specific brain activity as all extraneous brain activity from the original EEG recording is filtered out leaving only those responses that link to the presentation of the stimulus. -stimulus is presented to a ppt many times and specific electrical responses to that stimulus in the brain are measured -the readout means that the researcher is able to measure brain function at any given moment -used to study attention and perception

Answer 59

-ERP provide a continuous measure of the brain processing that is being used when presented with a specific stimulus. Which means that it is possible to identify how processing is affected by specific changes. Therefore as ERP is a more specific way of measuring activity it gives a greater insight into the functioning of the brain -It can be hard to obtain meaningful data from the use of ERP because they can be affected by external factors such as background noise which means that it can take many trials to obtain meaningful data as it hard to control these other factors. This limits the validity of ERPs as a means of studying the brain for a range of brain processes.

Answer 60

-The brain of a dead patient is examined and dissected to see if there are any abnormalities -The brain can be compared with a brain that does not show this particular abnormality -It is mainly used on people who have a rare disorder/defects -One area of research has been the identification of Broca’s area as an important brain areas for language production

Answer 61

-ONLY invasive way to study the brain which means that it is possible to get a more detailed examination of the brain than would be possible through solely using brain scanning techniques such as EEG and ERPs. eg. it has meant researchers have been able to study deeper areas of the brain such as the hypothalamus which has helped understand brain functioning in many different behaviours. -It is hard to establish cause and effect with post-mortem studies as there are many confounding variables which cannot be easily controlled such age or whether they have received drug treatment for their disorder. Therefore it limits the internal validity of the findings of these studies and therefore the appropriateness of using post- mortems to study the brain.

Answer 62

a cycle that produces a change in physiological and psychological processes over a period of time

Answer 63

a cycle that lasts for 24 hours e.g. the sleep wake cycle

Answer 64

a cycle that lasts longer than 24 hours e.g. the female menstrual cycle which operates approximately on a 28 day cycle

Answer 65

cycle that is less than 24 hours e.g. the stages of sleep which last approximately 90 minutes.

Answer 66

1. example is the sleep/wake cycle controlled by the master endogenous pacemaker the SCN found in the hypothalamus 2.our eyes notice a change in light to dark as less light is received from the retina 3.this sends info to the SCN which stimulates the pineal gland to release melatonin and promote sleep 4.when our eyes detects light the SCN is reset which maintains the sleep/wake cycle to around 24 hours so we can be in synchrony with the outside world

Answer 67

RTS circadian rhythms was conducted by shiffre -isolated himself in a cave for 6 months where his biological clock was able to be free running and unaffected by exogenous zeitgebers factors such as clocks -found that in a few days he had developed a consistent 25 hour cycle and continued to fall asleep and wake up on a regular schedule -therefore this supports that the sleep wake cycle is a circadian rhythm which is mainly controlled by an endogenous pacemaker the SCN to maintain a circadian rhythm

Answer 68

- low population validity -case study with Siffre as the only participant so it may not be appropriate to generalise findings on the sleep wake cycle beyond Siffre as other people may respond differently -For example, older people’s circadian rhythms may be slower and more easily influenced by exogenous zeitgebers, as even in one of Siffre’s later replications he found that his own circadian rhythm had slowed -Therefore, lowering the external validity of the research investigating circadian rhythms.

Answer 69

-However, research has been conducted by Wever who has replicated the research within an underground bunker over 400 times with a total of 447 participants. -The research found that if a person’s circadian rhythm was left to be free running it would follow a 25-hour cycle -This supports Siffre’s findings on endogenous factors maintaining circadian rhythms to around a 24 hour cycle -which suggests that the research and conclusions have good reliability.

Answer 70

-an endogenous system which typically lasts 28-35 days -on the first day of the woman's period the womb lining is shed to the day before her next period -in the brain the pituitary gland releases FSH which activates the release of oestrogen from the ovaries and causes an egg to mature -increases of oestrogen increases the level of LH which promotes the release of an egg -oestrogen develops the lining of the womb and progesterone helps it grow thicker reading the womb for pregnancy -if pregnancy does not occur the gg is absorbed into the body,the womb lining comes away and leaves the body and the cycle begins again -mainly an endogenous system that maintains the infradian rhythm but can be affected by exogenous factors such as stress and pheromones

Answer 71

-RTC infradian rhythms such as the menstrual cycle are mainly governed by endogenous systems were conducted by Russell -asked a sample of women to wear cotton pads under their arm -the pads were then rubbed on the upper lip of 5 sexually inactive women -process was repeated daily for 5 months -they found that 4 out of 5 women had sychned their cycles within day of the day -suggesting the infradian rhythm of the menstrual cycle can be affected by exogenous factors as well as controlled by endogenous factors which may influence the length of infradian

Answer 72

-field experiment and so has low control over extraneous variables. The research took part in the participant’s natural environment -where other exogenous factors, such as light or stress, could also have affected the infradian rhythm -Therefore it is difficult to establish cause and effect between the influence of pheromones on maintaining an infradian rhythm -This weakens the importance of exogenous factors in maintaining infradian rhythms.

Answer 73

-One strength of the research is that the findings can be explained by evolutionary psychologists -It would have been advantageous in our evolutionary past for a social group to synchronise pregnancies so that many women would be breastfeeding at the same time so one mother could take over child caring for an orphaned child -Therefore, showing how evolutionary theory can explain the reason for exogenous factors influencing infradian rhythms.

Answer 74

-one type are the 5 stages of sleep -cycle lasts 90 minutes and consists of 5 stages and alternates between REM and NREM -a person can experience up to 5 cycles per night that repeat in a rhythmic pattern -research using EEG into ultradian rhythms has shown that there are 5 distinct 5 stages to sleep

Answer 75

-light sleep do are easily woken -stage 2= experience alpha waves -stage 3= alpha waves continue but there are occasional random changes in pattern called sleep spindles where k complexes form as a reaction to external stimuli

Answer 76

-deep sleep -brain waves are delta waves with a lower frequency and higher amplitude -difficult to wake someone at this point

Answer 77

-REM sleep -the body is paralysed -brain activity closely resembles that of an awake brain -brain produces theta waves and the eyes occasionally move around -dreams are often experienced in this stage. but may also occur in deep sleep

Answer 78

-practical applications in understanding age related changes in sleep -found that growth hormone is produced during stage 4 of sleep has been associated with sleep deficit in old age -research has found that older people experience less stage 4 sleep -as a result medication and relaxation techniques have been developed to increase stage 4 sleep in older indiv. -prevent issues associated with old age such as reduced alertness -therefore research into UR is an important part of applied psychology

Answer 79

-uses scientific methods -this is because it is based on objective and empirical techniques such as EEGs to measure brain activity -these scientifically measure the activity of the brain throughout the five stages of sleep to identify the length of the rhythm and how many times the rhythm occurs throughout the duration of sleep -Thus, psychologists would argue that this increases the overall internal validity of research investigating ultradian rhythms -therefore raising Psychology’s scientific status

Answer 80

-However the research may have low ecological validity -Research on ultradian rhythms is conducted in an artificial setting and so the sleep experienced by participants in these studies may not reflect their genuine sleep patterns due to the unfamiliar surroundings and because they are attached to electrodes -This may alter the length of the ultradian rhythm, making it difficult to generalise findings to explain how ultradian rhythms work in real life.

Answer 81

1. The sleep wake cycle is controlled by the master endogenous pacemaker, the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) 2. Our eyes notice a change in light as it gets dark and less light is received by the retina 3. This information is sent to the SCN which stimulates the pineal gland to release melatonin and promote sleep 4. When our eyes detect light again the SCN is reset which stimulates the SCN and pineal gland,which inhibits the release of melatonin to promote wakefulness.

Answer 82

-exogenous zeitgebers are external factors which are in our environment which can influence our sleep/wake cycle -through entrainment, such as light, which suppresses the release of melatonin from the pineal gland, influencing the sleep/wake cycle -which suggests our sleep/wake cycle is not only influenced by endogenous pacemakers -Social cues such as meal times and social interaction can also influence our sleep/wake cycle -making us less alert once we have finished our evening meal. -Research suggests that adapting to local eating and sleeping times before travelling to a different time zone can prevent jet lag -suggesting that exogenous zeitgebers can influence the sleep-wake cycle.

Answer 83

jet lag or shift work causes: -Difficulty in sleeping (harder to sleep or falling asleep whilst driving) -Decreased attention which can lead to accidents -Digestive problems -Tiredness and poorer reasoning skills -Increased anxiety and irritability

Answer 84

-RTS the role of endogenous pacemakers on the sleep wake cycle was conducted by Michel Siffre (1975) -He lived in a cave isolated from all exogenous zeitgebers e.g. clocks and the light dark cycle for six months -It was found that within a few days he had developed a consistent 25 hour cycle which supports that circadian rhythms are controlled by an endogenous pacemaker -This supports the theory that the sleep wake cycle is primarily governed by endogenous pacemakers rather than exogenous zeitgebers.

Answer 85

-lacks ecological validity as they are highly controlled and do not reflect how endogenous pacemakers and exogenous zeitgebers interact in real life -Only in exceptional circumstances are endogenous pacemakers free-running and unaffected by the influence of exogenous zeitgebers -In real-life, pacemakers and zeitgebers work together and it makes little sense to separate the two for the purpose of research -Therefore, this reduces the external validity of the findings and cannot be generalised to explain how endogenous pacemakers impact the sleep wake cycle in real life

Answer 86

-RTS conducted by DeCoursey et al -destroyed the SCN connections in the brain of 30 chipmunks who were then returned to their natural habitat for 80 days -sleep/wake cycle of the chipmunks disappeared and by the end of the study a sign. portion of them were killed by predators -this may be because they were awake and vulnerable to attack when they should be asleep -this supports the influence and importance of endogenous pacemakers such as the SCN on the maintenance of the sleep wake cycle -as exogenous zeitgebers alone were not able to maintain the sleep wake cycle of the chipmunks

biopsychology Flashcards

(110 cards)