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Psychology P2 > Biopsychology > Flashcards

Biopsychology Flashcards

1
Q

role of the nervous system

A

respond to changes in the environment

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2
Q

branches of the nervous system

A

central (brain and spinal cord)

peripheral (connects CNS to rest of the body)
–> somatic (conscious activities, receives from senses)
–> autonomic (unconscious actives, eg digestion, receives from organs)
–> sympathetic (fight or flight)
–> parasympathetic (calms, rest and digest)

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3
Q

types of neurones

A

sensory - receptors to CNS (cell body to side)
relay - within CNS (short axons, long dendrites)
motor - CNS to effectors ( short dendrites, long axon)

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4
Q

role of neurones

A

transmit electrical impulses

  • dendrites receive information
  • passes along axon as an electrical impulse
  • reaches synaptic knob
  • causes neurotransmitters to be released into synapse
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5
Q

role of reflexes

A
  • fast, automatic responses to stimuli
  • unconscious and rapid
  • help to avoid damage
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6
Q

transmission in the synapse

A
  • electrical impulse reaches the end of a neurone
  • causes neurotransmitters to be released
  • diffuse across synapse to post synaptic membrane
  • bind to specific receptors

unidirectional - receptors only on one side
neurotransmitters removed so response stops

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7
Q

Responses by the NS

A

Sense organ picks up on stimulus eg hot
Signal sent from senses via the PNS to the CNS
PNS send impulse to muscles in hand (effector)
Muscles stimulated

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8
Q

excitatory neurotransmitters

A

increase the likelihood that an electrical impulse is triggered in postsynaptic neurone

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9
Q

inhibitory neurotransmitters

A

decrease likelihood that an electrical impulse will be triggered in the post synaptic neurone

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10
Q

role of dopamine

A

helps with movement and attention
to much - schizophrenia
to little - depression

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11
Q

role of noradrenaline

A

fight or flight response
to much - schizophrenia
to little - depression

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12
Q

role of serotonin

A

emotion and mood
to little - depression

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13
Q

role of the endocrine system

A

sends information as chemical signals (hormones)
made of glands which secrete hormones into blood when stimulated (by electrical impulse or concentration change)

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14
Q

role of hormones

A

diffuse out of blood
bind to receptors on target cells
trigger a response in effectors (target cell)

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15
Q

role of hypothalamus

A

produces hormones that control the pituitary gland

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16
Q

role of pituitary gland

A

‘master gland’
releases hormone to control other glands

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17
Q

role of pineal gland

A

produces melatonin
controls sleep patterns

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18
Q

role of thyroid gland

A

produces thyroxine
controls metabolic rate and growth

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19
Q

role of thymus gland

A

regulates immune system

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20
Q

role of adrenal gland

A

produces adrenaline
controls fight or flight response

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21
Q

role of the pancreas

A

relates insulin and glucagon
regulates blood sugar levels

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22
Q

differences between hormone and electrical communication

A

hormones travel in blood - slower
hormones aren’t broken down as fast - longer lasting effects
hormone travel all over body - large scale

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23
Q

purpose of fight or flight

A

prepares body for action

in response to stress, fear or excitement

releases adrenaline to deal with it

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24
Q

activation of the fight or flight response

A
  • hypothalamus triggers activity in sympathetic nervous system (in ANS)
  • sympathetic nerves send impulse to the medulla in the brain
  • stimulates adrenal medulla within adrenal glands
  • to release adrenaline into bloodstream
  • hormones have effects, eg increased heart and breathing rate, digestion decreases

parasympathetic ns used to calm the body from fight or flight

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25
Q

effects of adrenaline in fight or flight response

A
  • blood pressure and heart rate increase, gets blood quickly to areas for activity
  • digestion decreases, blood can be directed to brain and muscles
  • muscles become tense, physically responsive
  • breathing rate increases, more oxygen to muscles
  • pupil size increases, light enters for clearer vision
  • salvation decreases, not needed
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26
Q

what is localisation of function?

A

certain areas the brain have specific functions

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27
Q

motor cortex

A

controls voluntary movements

28
Q

somatosensory cortex

A

processes information about touch, such as pain and temperature

29
Q

visual cortex

A

processes visual information from eye

30
Q

wernicke’s area

A

responsible to understanding language

31
Q

auditory cortex

A

processes information from ears

32
Q

broca’s area

A

responsable for producing speech

33
Q

lobes of the brain

A

frontal (Brocas)
temporal (wernickes)
parietal (somatosensory)
occipital (visual cortex)

34
Q

evidence for localisation of function

A

support from aphasia cases
- those unable to produce speech = damage to Broca’s
- those unable to understand speech = damage to Wernicke’s

brain scans
- show different areas responsible for different actions = cause and effect
- but Price said verbal tasks had poor spatial precision

case studies
- Phineas Gage - brain injury, recovered fine physically but had psychological changes - personality change
- specific area damaged controls personality

35
Q

evidence against localisation of function

A

Price - verb tasks had poor spatial precision in brain scans

reductionist - not one area that control each function - interaction between them more important

case studies cant be generalised
- especially as mostly from brain damaged patients

individual differences - levels of brain activity
gender differences - women have bigger Wernickes

36
Q

hemispheric lateralisation of function

A
  • two hemispheres connected by the corpus callosum
  • different functions dominant in different hemispheres
37
Q

role of left hemisphere

A

Broca’s and Wernicke’s often only in left
-language functions
- logic, analysis and problem solving

38
Q

role of right hemisphere

A
  • spatial comprehension
  • emotions
  • facial recognition
39
Q

how do the hemisphere communicate?

A
  • information passes across the corpus callosum to the side that needs to deal with it
  • right visual field info -> left hemipshere
  • left visual field info -> right hemisphere
40
Q

what is split brain research?

A

severe cases of epilepsy
treated by cutting corpus callosum
stops seizures spreading across brain
but stops hemisphere communicating

41
Q

Sperry procedure

A
  • case studies and experiments
  • split brain patients
  • control group used, no surgery

participants covered one eye and looked at cross in centre screen
picture projected into left or right visual field quickly

42
Q

Sperry results

A

shown in right visual field - say or write it
shown in left visual field - couldn’t say or write but could select corresponding image with left hand (didn’t know why they had selected the image)

shows different hemispheres have different functions

left (receives from right) converts into speech and writing
right (receives from left) can usually cross to be processed in left, but can’t so ant be converted
but can still produce a non-verbal response

43
Q

Sperry evaluation

A

+ use of case studies and experiments - qualitative and quantitative data
also increased reliability and validity

  • only used 11 participants, small sample size, can’t generalise
    but hard to find a large sample of split brain patients
  • epilepsy caused by brain damage and medication could have affected brains, hard to conclude their brain processing information normally
  • lacks ecological validity, hard to generalise to real life scenarios
44
Q

Gazzaniga

A

split brain patents presented with a face
right hemisphere more capable of recognising them

so right = facial recognition

45
Q

what is plasticity?

A

the brains ability to alter structure and function in response to environmental changes

due to damage, learning new skills or cognitive processes

rewiring and reorganisations allows us to learn and adapt

46
Q

how plasticity works

A
  • information takes a pathway trough the brain, across neurones
  • new information causes new neural pathways to form
  • using a neural pathway strengthens it, more its used the stronger the connections between neurones become
  • neural pathways not used become weaker

(loss = synaptic pruning
creation = bridging)

47
Q

Evidence for plasticity

A

Maguire et al
Posterior hippocampus of taxi drivers larger than control
Larger the longer they had been doing it
- shows brain adapts to their needs

but correlation doesn’t mean causation

48
Q

what is functional recovery?

A

loss of function can result from brain damage
brain has ability to recover from damage due to plasticity, brain rewires itself
More likely when brain still maturing - young

Neural reorganisation - healthy areas near the damaged area take over
Neural regeneration - growth of new neurones and connections

49
Q

Evidence for functional recovery

A

Patient JW - split brain patient, learnt to produce speech with Broca’s area in right hemisphere (previously only left)

Patient EB - hemispherectomy
- left hemisphere removed, containing Broca’s and Wernicke’s
- regained speech and functions

  • but recovery depends on age
    (quicker and more likely when younger)
  • case studies
50
Q

what is CIMT?

A
  • constraint-induced movement therapy
  • using affected area can encourage functional recovery
  • prevented from using undamaged area, forces them to re-learn how to use affected part
51
Q

evaluation of CIMT

A

+ effective, many studies show regained or improved function
+ can be used for aphasia, try to speak

  • frustrating
  • needs to be intensive to be effective
52
Q

what is an fMRI?

A
  • 3D scans that show structure and function in brain using magnet
  • shows activity changes
  • more oxygenated blood flows to active areas, to supply oxygen
  • magnet helps to detect oxygenated blood so more active areas can be indetified

uses:
- identify active areas, carry out task while being scanned
- schizophrenia, active areas during hallucinations
- show damaged or diseased areas

53
Q

evaluation of fMRIs

A

+ provide non-invasive way of studying brain
- expensive to buy and run
- uncomfortable, claustrophobic and have to lie still
- poor temporal resolution, don’t shown changes overtime accurately

54
Q

what is an EEG?

A
  • shows overall electrical activity
  • multiple electrodes placed on scalp
  • electrical activity recorded for a period of time
  • produces patterns of waves, represent different levels of consciousness and stimulation

uses:
- sleep studies
- depressions and schizophrenia

55
Q

evaluation of EEGs

A

+ diagnostic tool
+ non-invasive
+cheaper than fMRIs
+ good temporal resolution
- poor spatial resolution, hard to work out which area waves originate from

56
Q

what is an ERP?

A
  • show electrical activity in response to a stimulus
  • shown as EEG waves

uses:
- memory research
- shows differences in ERPs in mentally ill patients, greater amplitude for phobic stimuli

57
Q

evaluation of an ERP

A

+ useful for showing cause and effect
- poor spatial resolution (can’t accurately tell where from)

58
Q

what is a post mortem?

A
  • an examination where the brain is dissected after death
  • allows researchers to look at internal structures

uses:
- shows structural abnormalities that could explain medical conditions when alive (schizophrenics had enlarged ventricles)
- provided evidence for localisation of function

59
Q

evaluation of post mortums

A
  • person has to be dead, doesn’t benefit from findings
  • doesn’t allow for cause and effect to be found
60
Q

circadian rhythms

A

biological rhythm that occur once every 24 hours

eg sleep wake cycle
body temperature

body temperature - lower whilst preparing to and sleeping
higher whilst awake, peaks at 6pm

61
Q

infradian rhythms

A

biological rhythms that occur less than once a day

eg menstrual cycle
occurs on average every 28 days
triggered by hormones

McLintock - menstrual cycles become synchronised when exposed to pheromone (acted as a exogenous zeitgeber) shows exogenous influences

62
Q

ultradian rhythms

A

biological rhythms that occur more than once in 24 hours

eg sleep cycle

Stage 1 and 2 - sleep escalator
Stage 3 and 4 - deep sleep
Stage 5 - REM, dreaming

about 90 minutes cycles

63
Q

what determines the timing of biological rhythms?

A

endogenous pacemakers
exogenous zeitgebers

64
Q

endogenous pacemakers

A

controlled by mechanisms within the body

  • suprachiamatic nucleus (hypothalamus) acts as an internal clock, maintains 24 hour sleep wake cycle
  • sensitive to light, regulates pineal gland to secrete melatonin
  • in less light, more melatonin is produced
  • Morgan’s hamsters
65
Q

exogenous zeitgebers

A

influences outside the body that act as a prompt to trigger biological rhythms

  • Siffre
66
Q

Morgan’s hamsters

A

shows role of endogenous pacemakers

  • bred hamsters to have abnormal 20 hour sleep wake cycle
  • SCN of the hamsters transplanted into others
  • these hamsters also had a 20 hour cycle
  • shows cycle length is determined by the SCN
  • animals - can’t be generalised
  • unethical to do humans
67
Q

Siffre

A

shows role of exogenous zeitgebers

  • spent 6 months in a cave
  • cycle length changed from 24 hours to 25-30 hour
  • suggests exogenous needed to keep to 24 hour (eg light)
  • case study - can’t be generalised

Psychology P2 (4 decks)

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