Biopsychology Flashcards

Question

Visual cortex processes

Answer 1

begins in retina at back of eye Light enters -> strikes photoreceptors -> causing nerve impulses to be transmitted to the brain via the optic nerve Terminate in the thalamus; relay station which pauses info onto visual cortex

Answer 2

Mainly within temporal lobes on both sides of the brain, where we find auditory cortex

Answer 3

Pathway begins in cochlea (inner ear) -> sound waves converted to nerve impulses -> impulses travel via auditory nerve -> passes through brain stem which does basic decoding such as duration and intensity of sound -> thalamus -> relay station and further processing -> auditory cortex

Answer 4

Voluntary motor movements Frontal lobe of brain, along the precentral gyrus One in each hemisphere of brain, each controlling muscles on the other side of the body Different parts of it exert control over different body parts; arranged logically

Answer 5

Detects sensory events from different parts of the body Located in parietal lobe, found in the postcentral gyrus, where touch information is processed One somatosensory cortex in each hemisphere, each receiving sensory information from the opposite half of the body Somatosensory cortex uses sensory info from the skin to produce sensations of touch, pain, pressure, temp which it localises to specific body regions

Answer 6

named after Tan who was named this because that was the only syllable the patient could express He was able to understand spoken language but was unable to speak or express his thoughts in writing Broca studied 8 other patients who had the same language deficit and had lesions in their left frontal hemisphere. Those with lesions in right hemisphere did not have same problems Therefore there is a language centre in left hemisphere that is critical for speech production

Answer 7

found 2 regions in Broca Area, one for language and the other for demanding cognitive tasks.

Answer 8

Wernicke found that patients with a lesion in the Wernicke's area could speak but were unable to understand lang The sensory regions located in Wernicke's area is close to regions of the brain responsible

Answer 9

✔ Support from Aphasia (blindness) studies -research into patients with Broca's Aphasia (inability to produce language) and Wernicke's aphasia (inability to understand) links them to varying levels of damage in the corresponding areas each time -this supports the idea that those specific brain areas at responsible ✘ Subsequent research suggests Broca's research into Tan may have been too vague -Dronkers re-examined the preserved brain of Tan, and found areas around Broca's area were also damaged -This is important as damage solely to Broca's areas rarely causes permanent loss of language production Therefore the founding research into localisation of language may be flawed ✘ Opposed by Equipotentiality Theory -Lashley argued that higher functions such as language and memory were relatively new to the human brain, and that other areas could take over these skills should the original areas become damaged -Support for this comes from JW; Broca's area badly damaged, and lost the ability to speak. Within a year he had regained his language skills; developed a new Broca's area in right hemisphere Therefore many functions may not be localised in the brain at all ✘ Overemphasises localisation, ignoring the importance of communication -Dejerine: had a patient with Wernicke's aphasia - Wernicke's area was undamaged -Auditory cortex was undamaged -but neural pathway connecting the two was damaged Therefore suggests that connectivity between areas of the brain is equally important, opposing localisation

Answer 10

bundle of nerve fibres that connects the two hemispheres

Answer 11

✔ Increases Neural Processing (capacity) -if one hemisphere is responsible for one task, the other hemisphere can focus on other things e.g Rogers' Chickens -Lateralisation in their brains allows them to simultaneously search for food and watch for predators Therefore suggests a potential evolutionary advantage to hemispheric lateralisation ✘ Morfit and Weekes - Appears to have a negative payoff in other area -Left handers (high RH functioning) had higher incidences of immune disorders within their immediate families Therefore suggests HL may not be purely advantageous - there could be downsides ✘ Lateralisation changes with age -Szaflashi et al; Split Brain research -There are occasions when it is possible to observe the effects of severing the Corpus Callosum e.g epileptic patients to prevent seizures crossing to the other hemisphere

Answer 12

-Sperry and Gazzaniga -Brain is cross-wired but SBP cannot experience this; info processed in RH cannot be passed to the left -SBP shown image to right visual field would correctly report seeing anything; the info was processed in the RH, where there is no language centre -SBPs shown image to left visual field would not report seeing anything - info was processed by in the RH, where there is no language centre and the CC is severed so info cannot pass to the LH - However, they could respond non verbally by pointing If 2 symbols presented simultaneously on either side of the visual field; -if they had to draw what they had seen with left hand, they would draw the left visual field symbol This matches hemispheric lateralisation; LH is where language centre is and RH is where visual-motor cortex is Therefore LH is responsible for speech and lang, RH for visual However does not conclude that there are specific regions for specific tasks; rather that there are general regions It also stresses the importance of connectivity between regions, as much as the operation of individual parts

Answer 13

✘ Research suggests language may not be restricted to LH after all -JW; LH was severely damaged, demonstrates the ability for RH to develop language functioning to the extent he can now speak about info presented to the left or right hemisphere -Some studies appear to support Equipotentiality Theory Therefore research may be limited and cannot be applied to all ✘ Limitation in the validity of split brain research -Split brain procedure is so rare Therefore Sperry and Gazzaniga's research involved a sample of just 11 -As a result, there is no way to ensure the sample being used are not anomalies with confounding disorders that make the result invalid Therefore such research provides interesting insights, the numbers involved are too small to be taken seriously ✘ Forms a theory of healthy brains based on research surrounding epileptic brains.

Answer 14

the brain's ability to modify its own structure and functioning through experience

Answer 15

Life experiences -new experiences strengthen the neural pathways being used, while rarely used pathways die out Therefore brain constantly adapts to a person's environment by strengthening the most often used pathways and neglecting the unimportant ones -Cognitive functioning naturally declines with age

Answer 16

-compared 8 practitioners of Tibetan meditation with 10 student volunteers with no previous meditation experience -both groups fitted with electrical sensors and asked to mediate for short periods -the electrodes picked up much greater activation of gamma waves in the monks compared to only a slight increase in the students Therefore meditation not only changes the workings of the brain in the short term but may also produce permanent changes as the monks had increased gamma wave activity even before they started

Answer 17

-taught 60yr olds how to juggle and saw development of brain plasticity -grey matter in visual cortex increased though this change reversed when practice stopped

Answer 18

-video games require complex cognitive and motor skills -trained a group 30mins/day over 2 months on super Mario -Found significant increase in grey matter in areas such as the cortex, hippocampus and cerebellum compared to a control group Therefore concluded that such charges involved areass concerning spatial navigation, strategic plannng, working memory and motor performance; all needed for the game

Answer 19

found taxi drivers had significantly larger posterior hippocampus than control group members, and volume of the P.H was positively correlated with the amount of experience each taxi driver had.

Answer 20

✔Support from Kemperman's animal studies -Kemperman et al found rats housed in complex environment had increased number of new neurons in brains compared to controls in cages -The biggest development occurred in the hippocampus; neccessary for navigation and forming new memories Therefore suggests support for brain plasticity from multiple species, not just humans, strengthening its claim

Answer 21

the brain's ability to recover abilities and mental processes damaged by brain injury or disease

Answer 22

Neuronal Unmaksing Axonal Sprouting Stem Cells

Answer 23

-Wall discovered 'dormant synapses'. They normal have too low a neural input to accurate, but when an area of brain nearby is damaged it can increase input to them; they become unmasked - This allows opening of connections to regions of the brain not normally activated, creating a lateral spread of activation - This, in time, can result in development of new structures

Answer 24

In areas where links between neurons have been damaged, undamaged axons can grow ('sprouts') new axons and nerve endings to reconnect the neurons, thus regaining neural activity

Answer 25

unspecialised cells, with the potential to become many different types of cells with various functions, including nerve cells Therefore might help provide treatments for brain damage.

Answer 26

Replace; they could be transplanted in, and directly replace dead/dying cells Repair; it is possible that these stem cells might secrete growth factors that somehow repair injured cells Reroute; some argue the transplanted cells form a 'neural network', linking an uninjured part of the brain (where the stem cells are made) to the damaged section

Answer 27

✔ Support from animal studies Tajiri et al -2 groups of rats with brain injuries. 1 group received transplant of stem cells into the affected area of the brain; the other received a placebo solution -3 months later, the stem cell group showed clear signs of developing new neuron-like cells in the area, along with a solid stream of stem cells migrating to the affecting area. Not the case in the control Therefore suggests the brain has the potential to recover from trauma with the use of stem cells ✘ Age differences Huttenlocher -fucntional plasticity reduces with age -however, studies have suggested that even abilities commonly thought to be fixed in childhood can still be modified in adults -yet the capacity for functional recovery is much greater in children than in adults as their brains are more plastic ✘ Educational attainment and fucntional recovery Schnieder et al -Found that patients with college education are 7x more likely than those who didn't finish high school to recover after a moderate to severe brain injury Therefore cognitive reserve could be a factor in neural adapation during recovery from brain injury X2 It may be that those who have spent more time in school have better paying jobs Therefore they can afford better quality healthcare to aid their recovery

Answer 28

studying the brain after death -if patient displays abnormal behaviour, could help to identify physical damage

Answer 29

✔ Allows for more detailed examinations than simple scans ✔ Results in more impact on our understanding and future treatment ✘ The brain is dead at the time of study Therefore cannot observe how it functions when active ✘ Cause of death can impact on the brain and variables such as treatments, age and length of time between death and post-mortem also have an effect ✘ Retrospective as you cannot help the patient with what you find

Answer 30

-measures change of blood flow in particular areas of the brain -as oxygen is carried through the bloodstream, an active part of the brain will have increased blood flow -researchers can therefore set specific tasks and observe where what parts of the brain are used for that particular task

Answer 31

✔ Non-invasive; no physical violation or exposure to radiation, and you don't have to die first ✔ Allows study of brian activity, rather than just structures ✘ Not directly measuring the brain - only blood flow to areas ✘ Only looks at lcoations in the brain, not communcation bewteen areas

Answer 32

-measures electrical activity in the brain -electrodes placed on the scalp measure tiny electrical chages and these signals form an EEG -can be used to detect brain disorders like epilepsy, as well as disorders which affect brain functions like Alzheimer's 4 EEG wave patterns -Alpha; awake but relaxed, rythmical waves -Beta; arousal, low amplitude, fast frequently -Theta; first stages of sleep, slow and low frequency -Delta; deeper sleep, slower and lower

Answer 33

✔ Shows real-time brain activity, not a still image ✔ Useful for clinical diagnosis - records associated with neural activity ✘Only focuses on superficial regions of the brain- can't see what's going on in deeper areas such as hippocampus ✘ Electrical activity is picked up from neighouring electrodes - EEG's can't pinpoint activity precisely

Answer 34

-makes use of EEG technology -tiny voltage changes in the brain, triggered by events -hard to pick out from all other electrical activity in brain; we have to repeatedly present the target stimuli and average out a response; the related activity will occur each time, unrelated will not

Answer 35

✔ Allows us to see how brain processing is affected by specific manipulations ✔ Directly measures brain activity ✔ Shows live brain activity ✘ Needs a lot of trials before useful data can be extracted ✘ Electrical activity deep in the brain is not recored - only strong surface level activity

Biopsychology Flashcards

(61 cards)