Biopsychology 🧬

Question 1

The nervous system

Answer 1

• specialised network of cells
• primary internal communication system
• two main functions: to collect information and co-ordinate

Peripheral nervous system
• autonomic nervous system
• somatic nervous system
• sympathetic nervous system
• parasympathetic nervous system

Central nervous system
•brain
•spinal cord

Question 2

The brain

Answer 2

Centre of all conscious awareness, outer layer is the cerebral cortex. Divided into two hemispheres

Question 3

The spinal cord

Answer 3

Passes messages to and from the brain and connects nerves to the peripheral nervous system. Responsible for reflex actions

Question 4

The peripheral nervous system

Answer 4

Transmits messages via neurones to and from the central nervous system.
Autonomic - vital functions in the body (breathing and heart rate etc)
Somatic - muscle movements and voluntary movements

Question 5

The endocrine systems

Answer 5

Network of the glands around the body, glands release hormones. Affect any cell in the body which has a hormone receptor

Question 6

The fight or flight response

Answer 6

Stressor perceived

Hypothalamus activates pituitary

Autonomic System changes to sympathetic state

Adrenaline is released

Fight or flight

Parasympathetic system returns

Question 7

Types of neuron

Answer 7

•sensory - carry messages from peripheral nervous system to the central nervous system

•relay - connect sensory neurones to motor neurons

•motor - connect the central nervous system to the effectors

Question 8

Neuron’s

Answer 8

• basic building blocks of the nervous system, 100 billion neuron’s in the nervous system, 80% in the brain.

•consists of: dendrites, nucleus, axon, cell body, schwanns cells, myelin sheath, axon terminals and node of ranvier

Question 9

Electrical transmission

Answer 9

• when a neuron is in its resting state, the cell is negatively charged
• when a neuron is activated by a stimulus, the inside of a cell becomes positively charged for a split second causing an action potential to occur
•this creates an electrical impulse that travels down the axon

Question 10

Synaptic transmission

Answer 10

•neurons communicate with eachother within neural networks
•each neuron is separated by a synapse
•signals re transmitted chemically across the synapse

Question 11

Neurotransmitters

Answer 11

•brain chemicals that diffuse across the synapse to the next neuron
• specific molecular structures that fit into receptors

Question 12

Excitation and inhibition

Answer 12

• neurotransmitters have either an excitatory or inhibitory effect on the neighbouring neuron
• serotonin causes inhibition, postsynaptic neuron becomes more negatively charged
•adrenaline causes excitation, postsynaptic neuron becomes positively charged

Question 13

Summation

Answer 13

•the firing of the neuron is determined by summation
•if the net effect on the postsynaptic neuron is inhibitory, the neuron is less likely to fire

Question 14

Holistic theory of the brain

Answer 14

All parts of the brain are involved in the processing of thought and action

Question 15

Localisation

Answer 15

Different parts of the brain perform different tasks

Question 16

Hemispheres of the brain

Answer 16

Some functions are only controlled by one hemisphere= lateralisation

Activity on the left of the body is controlled by the right hemisphere etc

Question 17

Lobes of the brain

Answer 17

Frontal lobe

Temporal lobe

Perieral lobe

Occipital lobe

Question 18

Areas of the brain

Answer 18

Motor area - movement

Somatosensory area - sensory information from the skin

Visual area - each eye sends info

Auditory area - analyses speech based info

Question 19

The language centres

Answer 19

Brocas area - responsible for speech production. Damage cause causes brocas aphasia ( slow speech )

Wernickes area - speech comprehension (meaningless words)

Question 20

Evaluations of localisation of functions

Answer 20

Strength - neurosurgery evidence, dougherty et al reported on 44 people with OCD who had surgery, 30% had met criteria for successful response and 14% partial

Strength- brain scans, Peterson et al used brain scans for wernickes area which was active during listening task and brocas during reading. Tucking et al LTM

weakness- Lashley removed areas of the cortex in rats, no area was proven significantly important in determining how well the rats could learn the maze, required all parts

Weakness- dick and Tremblay found that only 2% of modern researchers think that language in the brain is completely controlled by these areas

Question 21

Hemispheric lateralisation

Answer 21

Two hemispheres, functionally different
Some appear in both hemispheres, like vision and movement

Question 22

Vision is both contralateral and ipsilateral, each eye receives light from the left and right visual field

Question 23

Split brain research

Answer 23

• severing the connection between the left and right hemisphere mainly the corpus callosum, reduced epilepsy
• Sperry, 11 participants who had this surgery, image or word presented to left or right visual field and asked to respond verbally or physically. When presents to the rvf they could describe what was seen, when presented to the lvf they could select a matching object

Question 24

Evaluations of split brain research / lateralisation

Answer 24

Strength- Fink et al pet scans, which parts were active during scans. When looking at details, LH was active, when looking at global elements of an image, RH was active

Weakness- one brain, people don’t have a dominant side of the brain, Nielsen et al analysed brain scans and found no evidence of a dominant side

Weakness- generalisability, small sample size compared to control group

Question 25

Plasticity

Answer 25

Brains tendency to change and adapt as a result of experience and new learning Durning infancy the brain experiences rapid growth in the amount of synaptic connections As we age, we rarely use some connections so they are deleted and commonly used ones are strengthened

Question 26

Research into plasticity

Answer 26

Maguire et al, London taxi drivers had significantly more grey matter than the matched control group. The longer they had been working, the more pronounced the structural difference Draganski et al, brain scans 3 months before and after exams. Learning induced changes seen to have occurred in hippocampus and parietal cortex Kuhn et al, compared control group with a video game training group who played for 30 mins a day, increase in grey matter in hippocampus and cerebellum

Question 27

Functional recovery

Answer 27

Brains ability to redistribute functions after trauma Brain desires itself by forming new synaptic connections close to the trauma. Spontaneous recovery happens quicker

Question 28

Evaluations of plasticity and functional recovery

Answer 28

Strength- bezzola et al demonstrate how 40 hours of golf training produced changes in the neural representations of movement in participants. Increased motor cortex activity in the novice golfers Weakness- negative plasticity, negative behavioural consequences, 60-80% of amputees have phantom limb syndrome Strength- real work applications Weakness- cognitive reserve, Shneider et al, more time people witb a Brain injury spent in education, the greater their changes of a disability free recovery

Question 29

Axonal sprouting

Answer 29

Growth of new nerve endings which connect with undamaged nerve cells

Question 30

Denervation super sensitivity

Answer 30

Axons that do similar jobs get aroused

Question 31

Recruitment of homologous areas

Answer 31

Specific tasks can be done by the undamaged hemisphere if needed

Question 32

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI)

Answer 32

•detect changes in both blood oxygenation and flow in specific parts of the brain • when an area of the brain is more active it consumes more oxygen and so blood flow is directed to this area • FMRI produces 30 images showing which parts of the brain are involved in a particular mental process

Question 33

Electroence phalogram (EEG)

Answer 33

•measures electrical activity in the brain via electrodes that are fixed to an individual’s scalp with a skull cap •brainwave patterns generated from the action of neurons •diagnostic tool as unusual arrhythmic patterns of activity may indicate neurological abnormalities

Question 34

Post-mortem examinations

Answer 34

•analysis of a persons brain, following their death •individuals are likely to have a rare case and experienced unusual mental processes •areas of damage are examined to establish cause of the affliction •may also contain a comparison with a neurotypical brain

Question 35

Evaluations of FMRI

Answer 35

•strength - non invasive as it doesn’t rely on radiation • strength - high spatial resolution •weakness - expensive •weakness - poor temporal resolution (time lag)

Question 36

Evaluations of EEG

Answer 36

•strength - high temporal resolution •strength - useful diagnostic tool •weakness - poor spatial resolution •weakness - generalised information

Question 37

Evaluations of EEG

Answer 37

•strength - high temporal resolution •strength - useful diagnostic tool •weakness - poor spatial resolution •weakness - generalised information

Question 38

Evaluations of post mortems

Answer 38

•strength - more detailed examinations •strength - early understanding of processes •weakness - ethical issues •weakness - retrospective data •weakness - extraneous variables

Question 39

Circadian rhythms

Answer 39

Biological rhythms, governed by endogenous pacemakers and exogenous zeitgebers. Circadian rhythms last around 24hours

Question 40

The sleep/wake cycle

Answer 40

Circadian rhythm, governed by daylight and internal clock, biological clock is called the SCN

Question 41

The sleep/wake cycle

Answer 41

Circadian rhythm, governed by daylight and internal clock, biological clock is called the SCN

Question 42

Siffre’s cave study

Answer 42

-spent extended periods of time in caves deprived of natural light and sound -he continued to sleep and wake on a regular schedule -his free-running biological rhythm settled down 25hrs

Question 43

Aschoff and Wever

Answer 43

-participants spent 4 weeks in a ww2 bunker deprived of natural light -all but one participant displayed circadian rhythm of 24-25 hrs

Question 44

Folkard et al

Answer 44

-12 participants in cave for 3 weeks -researchers secretly sped up the clock so 24hrs that was actually 22 -only one participant could comfortably adjust

Question 45

Evaluations of circadian rhythms

Answer 45

Strength- info into shift work, night workers have a period of reduced concentration at 6am. Relationship between shift work and poor health Strength- medical treatment, chronogherapeutics and aspirin being more effective at night for heart attacks Weakness- individual differences in research. CZeisler for evidence of sleep wake cycles varying from 13-65 hrs Weakness - Duffy et al revealed that some people have a natural preference for going to bed early and rising early (‘larks’) whereas others prefer the opposite (‘owls’).

Question 46

Infradian rhythms

Answer 46

Menstrual cycle- 28 days Seasonal affective disorder- circannual rhythm, symptoms are triggered by winter months, melatonin secreted for longer affecting serotonin

Question 47

Ultradian rhythms

Answer 47

Under 24 hrs Stages of sleep- 5 stages including REM(dreaming)

Question 48

REM

Answer 48

-makes sense of info -creative -helps us deal with emotions non directly

Question 49

NREM

Answer 49

-fact based memory -maintains memories -renews ability to learn new info -restocks immune system

Question 50

Evaluations of ultradian and infradian rhythms

Answer 50

Strength- evolutionary basis, advantages of menstrual synchronisation in history of high birthing death rates, babies still had milk in hospitals Weakness- methodological issues, many factors influence women’s menstrual cycles Strength- role of melatonin, Terman found higher rates of SAD in northern countries where nights are longer, Sanarri found light therapy is effective on 80% of people Strength- Dement and Kleitman monitored sleep patterns of 9 adults in a sleep lab. Brain activity was recorded on EEG machine. REM activity was correlated with dreaming Weakness- individual differences, Tucker et al, 11 participants over consecutive days and nights, large differences between participants in durations of each sleep stage. Biologically determined

Question 51

Endogenous pacemakers

Answer 51

-SCN, small bundle of nerve cells located in the hypothalamus in each hemisphere of the brain just above our optic chiasm so it receives info about light and passes it onto the pineal gland

Question 52

Decoursey et al

Answer 52

-destroyed SCN in 30 chipmunks, released and observed them for 80 days -chipmunks sleep/wake cycle disappeared and a significant amount were killed by predators

Question 53

Ralph et al

Answer 53

-bred mutant hamsters with a 20hr sleep wake cycle SCN cells were transplanted into normal hamsters, their sleep wake cycle defaulted to 20 hrs

Question 54

Exogenous zeitgebers

Answer 54

-reset biological clocks through entrainment -light is our main one but also social cues

Question 55

Campbell and Murphy

Answer 55

-15 participants woken at various times in the night, light pad was shone on the backs of their knees, deviations of participants sleep wake cycles up to 3 hrs

Question 56

Social cues

Answer 56

-6 weeks of age , circadian rhythms begin, 16 weeks, rhythms develop due to social cues like meal times -jet lag research

Question 57

Evaluations of EZ and EP

Answer 57

Weakness- interactions system, can’t be studied in isolation, both of them work together Weakness- ethical issues with animal studies Weakness- role of EZ is exaggerated. Miles et al studied a blind man from birth with circadian rhythm of 24.9 hours. Despite exposure to social cues, circadian rhythm wasn’t adjusted

Question 58

Event related potentials (ERP)

Answer 58

Short segments of EEG data that are time locked to a particular event

Question 59

Evaluations of erp

Answer 59

Low spatial resolution Provide superficial data Good temporal resolution

Question 60

Stages of sleep

Answer 60

Stage one - light sleep Stage two - slight decrease in movement and body temp Stage three - deep sleep begins, brain generates delta waves Stage four - very deep sleep, rhythmic breathing, delta waves Stage five - REM breathing is rapid and shallow

Question 61

Synchronising the menstrual cycle

Answer 61

Stern and McClintock: ● Studied 29 women with a history of irregular periods. ● Samples of pheromones were gathered from 9 of the women at different stages of their menstrual cycles, via a cotton pad placed on their armpit. ● The pads were treated, frozen and rubbed on the upper lip of the other participants. ● 68% women experienced changes to their cycle which brought them closer to their ‘odour donor’.