Biopsychology Flashcards
(262 cards)
1
Q
What is the brain responsible for?
A
Processing incoming information and making decisions about what should happen.
2
Q
What is the spinal cord responsible for?
A
Communicating messages from the brain to the PNS , to where information from our senses are sent to the brain for processing.
3
Q
What are the three types of neurons?
A
Motor
Inter (relay)
Sensory
4
Q
How many neurons are in our body?
A
86 billion, with up to 10,000 connections
5
Q
What is the CNS made up of?
A
Brain
Spinal cord
6
Q
What does CNS stand for?
A
central nervous system
7
Q
What does PNS stand for?
A
peripheral nervous system
8
Q
What is the PNS made up of?
A
Autonomic nervous system
Somatic nervous system
9
Q
What is made up of the autonomic nervous system?
A
sympathetic nervous system
10
Q
What is made up of the somatic nervous system?
A
parasympathetic nervous system
11
Q
Where is a motor neuron located?
A
May be in the central nervous system but they have long axons which form part of the peripheral nervous system.
12
Q
Where is a sensory neuron located?
A
Outside the central nervous system, in the peripheral nervous system in clusters known as ganglia.
13
Q
What is a cluster of sensory neurons in the peripheral nervous system called?
A
ganglia
14
Q
Where is a interneuron located?
A
Found within the brain and the visual system.
15
Q
How much do interneurons make up of all of our neurons in our body?
A
97%
16
Q
What are the key parts of a neuron?
A
Dendrites
Cell body
Nucleus
Myelin sheath
Nodes of Ranvier
Axon terminal
17
Q
What is the process of the reflex arc?
A
The pain info is detected by a sensory neuron and transmitted to an interneuron which automatically passes it to the motor neuron, to make the muscles move the limb away from danger.
18
Q
What is the muscle called that moves the limb?
A
effector
19
Q
When does the information reach the brain in the reflex arc?
A
Information doesn’t reach the brain until after the limb has moved.
20
Q
What is a synapse?
A
Where two neurons come close together to share information but don’t touch.
21
Q
What does the presynaptic neuron release?
A
neurotransmitters which crosses the synapse and binds to a receptor on the post synaptic neuron.
22
Q
What would happen if two neurons touched?
A
They would transmit to much info and the brain wouldn’t be able to function properly.
23
Q
What are the steps of the synaptic transmission?
A
An action potential travels down the axon to the axon terminal, which can trigger the release of neurotransmitters into the synapse.
These neurotransmitters diffuse across the synapse and when reach the dendrite they bind to a receptor and pass on a message.
24
Q
What are neurotransmitters released by?
A
A receptor
25
What are neurotransmitters reabsorbed by?
By the post-synaptic neuron
26
What state do neurons exist in?
In a resting state?
27
What type of charge is a resting state for a neuron?
A negative electrical charge
28
What is an action potential?
When a neuron is positive enough from the cell wall allowing positively charged atoms into the resting neuron, it will pass a threshold that triggers an electrical message to move quickly down the axon.
29
What is an excitation neurotransmitter?
The neurotransmitters being received from the presynaptic neurons make it more likely that the next neuron will pass the threshold and also trigger an action potential.
30
What is an example of a excitatory neurotransmitter?
Dopamine
31
What is an inhibition neurotransmitter?
The neurotransmitters being received from presynaptic neurons make it less likely that postsynaptic neurons will send a message to the next neuron.
32
What is an example of a inhibition neurotransmitter?
Serotonin
33
What is the endocrine system?
A set of glands that release chemical messengers around the body through the blood stream. These are called hormones.
34
What is the pituitary gland involved in?
Lots of endocrine functions.
Produces ACTH which is part of the stress response and oxytocin which is a hormone released when we feel emotionally close to others.
35
What is the adrenal gland involved in?
Part of the fight or flight response.
Also produces adrenaline and cortisol.
36
What do the testes produce?
Testosterone which is a key hormone for competition and aggression.
37
What do the ovaries produce?
Progesterone and oestrogen
38
How are progesterone and oestrogen involved in the menstrual cycle?
Oestrogen repairs and thickens the uterus lining.
Progesterone maintains uterus lining.
39
What is stress?
Where the demands of our environment are greater than our percieved ability to cope with the demands.
40
What is an example of a phrase which can contribute to stress?
I can't handle it
41
What is an example of a phrase which won't contribute to stress?
That's easy, i can do it
42
What is fight or flight?
It is triggered to help an individual cope with a situation that their brain detects as being stressful.
43
What is the aim of the flight or flight resopnse?
Help you fight or run away from a stressful situation.
44
What part of the fight or flight response is triggered by the nervous system?
The 'Fast' part
It then triggers the endocrine system
45
What part of the fight or flight response is triggered by the endocrine system?
The 'Slow' part
46
What are the two types of stress?
Acute stress
Chronic stress
47
What is acute stress?
Short term, only lasts a few minutes
48
What is chronic stress?
Long term, lasts from a few minutes to months/years.
49
What is stage 1 of acute stress?
The hypothalamus will detect a stressor in your environment which sends a message through the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) to prepare body for fight or flight.
The SNS triggers changes throughout all of our body's major organs.
50
What does the SNS do to the pupils to try and prepare our body for the fight or flight response when dealing with stress?
The pupils dilate to let in more light.
51
What does the SNS do to the heart to try and prepare our body for the fight or flight response when dealing with stress?
The heart will start to beat faster to pump more blood around our body
52
What does the SNS do to the bronchial tubes to try and prepare our body for the fight or flight response when dealing with stress?
The bronchial tubes will dilate to allow for efficient exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide.
53
What does the SNS do to sweating to try and prepare our body for the fight or flight response when dealing with stress?
Sweating will occur to help cool the individual down, when they begin the fight or flight response.
54
What is stage 2 of acute stress?
The SNS stimulates the adrenal medulla to release adrenaline which is a hormone.
It boosts the supply of oxygen and glucose to the brain, also helps to stop digestion.
55
What nervous system helps to calm down the body after acute stress?
Parasympathetic nervous system
56
After how long will the parasympathetic nervous system start to calm the body down after acute stress?
A few minutes
57
What is the chronical system?
It is slower to start than the acute stress response.
It uses hormones to communicate instead of neurotransmitters, so uses less energy.
They key hormone is cortisol, released into the bloodstream from the adrenal cortex.
58
What are the positive effects of cortisol?
Increases energy
Lowers sensitivity of pain
59
What are the negative effects of cortisol?
Inhibits immune response
Impairs cognitive performance.
60
Where is cortisol released from?
Adrenal cortex
61
What type of stress releases cortisol?
Chronic stress
62
What type of stress allows the SNS to trigger changes throughout all of the body's major organs?
acute stress
63
What is the function of the frontal lobe?
Role in decision making, problem solving, motor function, speech production and personality expression.
64
What is the function of the motor strip?
It is responsible for initiating purposeful and intentional movements.
65
What is the function of the sensory strip?
Responsible for processing sensory information from the body, such as touch, pressure and pain.
66
What is the function of the parietal lobe?
Understanding spatial orientation, knowledge of dimensions
67
What is the function of the Wernicke area?
Language comprehension that is spoken
68
What is the function of the occipital lobe?
Visual processing.
It interprets visual info recieved from eyes
69
What is the function of the cerebellum?
Maintaining balance, posture and the tone of body
70
What is the function of the temporal lobe?
It interprets sound, and recognises and uses language
71
What is the function of the Broca area?
Forming sentences
72
What is the function of the Wernicke area?
language comprehension that is spoken.
73
What is localisation?
A function or ability that is based in one part of the brain.
74
What's an example of a function and the area in the brain that is localised?
Primary visual processing only occurs in the occipital cortex.
75
Who was Dax?
A French doctor who treated a lot of patients in the early 1800s.
76
What did Dax realise?
Realised that people with damage to the left side of their hemisphere went on to experience language difficulties.
This therefore suggests that language is localised to the left hemisphere.
77
Who was Broca's area named after?
Paul Broca
78
Who is Paul Broca?
A French neurosurgeon who treated a patient called 'Tan' as that was the only syllable that he could say.
Where he could only understand spoken language.
79
What did Paul Broca find when studying other patients, not 'Tan'?
He studied patients who had lost the ability to speak and found that they all had damage in the left hemisphere in one particular place.
80
Who was the doctor who treated a patient called 'Tan'?
Paul Broca
81
What is Broca's aphasia?
Aphasia that is the loss of the spoken language ability.
82
Who is the example of an individual who has Broca's aphasia?
Sarah Scott
83
What is Sarah Scott's case study for Broca's aphasia?
She suffered a stroke when an a-level student and lost her ability to speak fluently.
Ten years later she recovered a lot of her lost function through hard work relearning skills.
However she isn't fully recovered of all of her previous abilities and still gets tired quickly.
84
Who was Wernicke's area named after?
Carl Wernicke
85
Who is Carl Wernicke?
A German neurologist who discovered an area for understanding language.
86
Where is the Wernicke area located?
In the left temporal lobe.
87
What is Wernicke's aphasia?
The patient has lost the ability to understand language, and whilst they can say words that sound fluent, what they say makes no sense.
88
What case is the support for localisation?
The case of Phineas Gage
89
Who was Phineas Gage?
He was a railway worker in the US with his job that required him to push dynamite into a hole using a metal pole.
The dynamite was then used to clear large areas of rock out of the path of the new train track.
90
What happened to Phineas Gage that supports localisation?
One day the dynamite exploded and blew the metal rod up through his chin and out through the top of his head.
After the accident he was conscious and could walk and speak. Once recovered he had lost sight in his left eye but no other injurys.
91
What were the symptoms displayed by Phineas Gage after the accident that he had been involved in?
Increase in aggression and swear words.
Increased rudeness
92
What do the symptoms expressed by Phineas Gage link to?
Link to the frontal cortex
93
What is the explanation that is support against localisation?
Equipotentiality linking to Lashley (1930)
94
What is Equipotentiality for support against localisation?
This is the idea that one part of the brain can learn how to control a task.
95
What does Lashley (1930) believe for the support against localisation?
Lashley believed that basic brain functions are localised and that higher functions aren't.
They also believed that if a part of the brain is damaged, as long as it isn't severe, other parts of the brain would take over the function.
96
What is an example of basic brain functions?
muscle control
Sensations
97
What is an example of higher brain functions?
Logic and reasoning
98
Who is a case study for recovery and Equipotentiality as support against localisation?
Jody Miller aged 3
99
Who was Jody Miller as support against localisation?
She suffered from Rasmussen's syndrome which causes severe epilepsy and is life threatening. It was so bad that she couldn't live a normal life.
100
What was the treatment that Jody Miller recieved to try to cope with her Rasmussen's syndrome?
Remove the whole hemisphere that was causing the epilepsy.
As a result the left hemisphere was able to take over the vast majority of functions.
By the time she was a teenager she was living an almost normal life.
101
What did Marie (1906) find for Brocha's aphasia can be caused by damage in other areas?
Found that damage in other parts of the brain could lead to Brocha's aphasia.
Suggesting that speech isn't localised to Brocha's area but is instead spread over a network of areas.
102
What does Marie (1906) findings say about localisation?
Localisation of function is unlikely to be correct.
103
What is lateralisation of function?
Some functions of the brain are only completed by one of the hemispheres.
104
What does it mean when the human brain is contralateral in most individuals?
Means that the left hemisphere controls the right side of the body and the right hemisphere controls the left side of the body.
105
What is contralateral damage?
If the right side is damaged, you loose the ability to move your left side of the body.
Similarly, if the right hemisphere's visual centre is damaged you loose the ability to the left visual field.
106
What functions are lateralised to the left hemisphere of the brain?
Planning speech
Understanding spoken language
Logical thinking
Fine details of pictures
107
What functions are lateralised to the right side of the brain?
Recognising emotion
Singing
Musical tones
Spatial relationships, for example giving directions.
108
Who was the first researcher to work with split brain patients?
Sperry
109
Who worked with sperry for split-brain patients?
Gazzaniga
110
What does it mean by a split brain patient?
When a surgeon has cut the corpus callosum which is a bundle of neurons connecting the two hemispheres.
111
Why did surgeons used to cut the corpus callosum in an individuals brain?
To try to relieve epilepsy symptoms during the 1960s and 70s. Due to drugs being ineffective.
112
What was the aim of Sperry (1968) research for split brain patients?
He wanted to see how two separate hemispheres deal with for example speech and vision.
113
What were the results of Sperry (1968) research for split brain patients?
When a picture was shown to ppts right visual field, they could describe what was seen.
However they couldn't do this if the object was shown in the left visual field as they said nothing was there. They were able to draw it though.
114
What was the previous research that Gazzaniga used to understand faces for split brain patients?
Previous research suggests that the ability to recognise faces is in the RH, then split brain patients would only recognise faces when represented in the LVF.
115
What did Gazzaniga find for seeing faces by using the artwork of Arcimboldo?
Found that the left visual field images could be recognised as faces but RVF images were seen as the parts, for example fruits.
116
What are the key ideas that have been learnt from split brain research?
Spoken language is localised to the LH.
Language can be found in both hemispheres
Face processing is found in RH
Logical decision making is localised to LH
117
What did Andrewes (2001) find for the evaluation of split brain research?
States that many split brain research uses case studies are published with 3 ppts.
Means that drawing any nomothetic conclusions is very difficult and shouldn't be done.
118
What type of conclusions did Andrewes (2001)say would be difficult to use for the evaluation of slip-brain patients?
nomothetic conclusions
119
Why might the cases from split brain patients not be representative of the general population?
They are all case studies.
120
Why do we no longer need to carry out surgery for split brain patients?
The drugs to treat epilepsy have improved.
121
What is the evaluation for split brain patients for an artificial environment?
A lot of research has been conducted in lab settings so this creates an artificial environment.
Patients in the real world might be able to move their heads and live a normal life.
LACK OF ECOLOGICAL VALIDITY
122
What does plasticity of the brain mean?
The ability for the brain to change and adapt.
123
What is the idea for plasticity of the brain through life experiences?
As we go about our daily lives we learn new things.
124
What is the theory for plasticity of life experiences?
Hebbian theory
125
What is Hebbian theory for plasticity of brain because of life experiences?
Cells that fire together, wire together.
Meaning that the more something is practiced the stronger the connections become.
126
Who suggests that as we grow older we loose more connections?
Boyke et al (2008)
Taught juggling to 60 yr olds and found that brains adapted in visual cortex.
127
What did Kuhn et al (2014) find for plasticity of the brain?
Found that playing supermario for 30 mins a day for over 2 months can lead to grey areas in the cortex, hippocampus and cerebellum.
128
What did Kuhn et al (2014) conclude super mario had led to new connections developing in those areas linked to?
Spatial navigation
Working memory
Motor performance
129
What did Davidson et al (2004) do for the plasticity of the brain?
He compared activity in the brains of monks and novice students.
Monks were experienced meditators.
130
What did Davidson et al (2004) find for the plasticity of the brain?
Found that monks produce more gamma wave activity which suggests that monks had changed both the structure and activity of their brains.
131
What did Maguire et al (2000) do for the plasticity of the brain?
Showed that London cab drivers had significantly denser and larger hippocampuses, compared to non-taxi drivers.
132
What did Maguire et al (2000) find for the plasticity of the brain when completing MRI scans on the taxi drivers?
MRI scans showed that the longer the taxi driver had been working, the larger the posterior hippocampus were.
133
What is functional recovery?
The process of recovering functionality loss as a result of injury or illness.
134
What are the causes of brain damage?
Stroke
Disease
Tumour
Impact
Suffocation
Lack of key vitamins
135
What are the three mechanisms that explain functional recovery?
Neuronal unmasking
Axonal Sprouting
Neurogenesis
136
What does a mechanism that explains functional recovery mean?
A mechanism is the biological explanation as to how something happens.
137
Who first identified Neuronal unmasking?
Wall (1977)
138
What is Neuronal unmasking for explaining functional recovery?
Where previously unused dormant synapses become used to help- regain lost functions.
Overtime they will help create new structures and functions within the brain.
139
What is Axonal sprouting for explaining functional recovery?
This is the evidence that cells that are next to lesion sprout extra axons to help make new connections and to recover from damage.
140
Who found that axonal sprouting could be an explanation to recover lost functions?
Deller et al (2006)
141
What is neurogenesis as a mechanism for explaining functional recovery?
There's growing evidence that when the brain is injured new neurons are created. however, it only appears in some areas.
142
What did Tajiri et al (2013) study for functional recovery?
Found that when they implanted stem cells into the injured brain of a rat the cells migrated towards the injury and started to turn into new neurons.
143
What did Elbert et al (2001) study for functional recovery?
Studied plasticity after brain injury at different ages and concluded that the ability to achieve functional recovery after i jury is greater in childhood.
144
What is FMRI as a way of studying the brain?
It is a way to show a researcher which parts of the brain are most active when completing different functions.
145
What do participants have to do when having an FMRI?
They are asked to complete a task whilst being scanned and the activity is recorded and compared for both tasks.
The difference between them indicates which part of the brain is active when completing experimental tasks.
146
What type of task may a patient be asked to do when having a FMRI?
Identifying faces which show different emotions while completing a control task of faces showing no emotion.
147
What are the strengths of FMRIs?
They are non-invasive and don't need radiation. Meaning that they are ethically safe.
It can identify activity in small areas of the brain giving good spatial resolution.
148
What does spatial resolution mean?
The smallest feature or measurement that a scanner can detect
149
What are the weaknesses of FMRIs?
It uses blood flow so isn't a perfect measure of activity.
Works slowly as blood flow can take a couple of seconds to be detected, so poor temporal resolution.
150
What is temporal resolution?
The accuracy of the scanner in relation of time or how quickly the scanner can detect changes in brain activity.
151
What does FMRI stand for?
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
152
How does an EEG work?
Electrodes are placed onto the patients scalp to measure the electrical field changes within their brain.
This signal is then fed through an amplifier and filtered using a computer software to record the electrical changes over time.
153
What is the activity in the brain?
Electrical
154
How can electrical field be created at the scalp in the brain?
When cells fire they create small electrical fields that can reach the scalp.
155
What are the strengths of an EEG?
It is a real time recording of brain activity. Which will allow a researcher to determine what is really happening.
More temporal resolution than an FMRI.
156
How many more times as an EEG have over an FMRI?
a thousand times
157
What are the weaknesses of an EEG?
Poor spatial resolution, as it's hard to say where the info has come from.
Only works if neurons are close to the scalp.
158
What does an EEG stand for?
Electroencephalography
159
What technology does an ERP use that's similar to another way of studying the brain?
EEG
160
What is an ERP used for?
Used to measure the electrical activity in the brain following a task or stimuli.
It can be used to see what the unconscious brain is doing, as it can detect emotional responses.
161
What is the procedure of an ERP?
A ppts has an EEG attached to their scalp and a researcher will show them a picture 20 times.
The brain activity will be recorded each time, where the activity will always be the same apart from the noise changes each time and is random.
162
Why is the noise random in an ERP?
The noise cancels out the noise from other recordings because adding random to random cancels it out.
163
What does noise in the brain mean, linked to an ERP?
When something happens in the brain the neurons fire, called action potential.
These usually then are too small to be measured because of the noise from other neurons.
164
What are the strengths of an ERP?
They can be manipulated experimentally.
Good temporal resolution.
165
What are the weaknesses of an ERP?
Not accurate for timing when things happen.
Because a large number of trials are needed there is a risk of practice, fatigue and boredom influencing the recordings.
166
What does an ERP stand for?
Event Related Potential
167
What are the three ways of studying the brain?
FMRI
EEG
ERP
168
What does post-mortem mean?
After death
169
What is a post mortem?
When a person's brain is removed and a careful examination takes place after death.
170
What is the examination that will occur at a basic level for a post mortem study?
an examination will just be looking at the general areas that are damaged.
171
What is the examination that will occur at a more complex level for a post mortem study?
The brain can be dissected and the different parts will be examined under a microscope.
172
What can a post-mortem not tell us?
Anything about the actual activity because the brain is no longer active.
173
What is the example of a post mortem study for Broca?
When Broca completed a post mortem study on Tan, he found that the damage was focused in one area of the cortex.
This is now called Broca's area
174
What did Annese et al (2014) do for a post mortem study?
Conducted a study on HM.
It confirmed that the loss of his hippocampus was the reason he had issues with his memory.
175
Who completed a post mortem study on HM?
Annese et al (2014)
176
What are the strengths of a post mortem study?
They allow researchers to study the anatomy of illnesses in fine detail, which is far beyond brain scans.
177
What are the weaknesses of post mortem studies?
They cannot examine the activity that would have been present in the living brain.
It is also difficult o see whether the damage seen was linked to the cause of the patients disorder.
178
What is the comparison between an EEG and ERP for how they record data in the brain?
An EEG is a real time recording whilst a ERP is averaged recordings to a stimuli.
179
What is the comparison between an EEG and ERP for what they are used for?
An EEG is used to diagnose medical issues whilst an ERP is used for researching how the brain works.
180
What does circadian mean?
approx a day in length.
This links to the sleep/awake cycle.
181
What is the circadian rhythm?
Where humans usually sleep and wake once a day and the cycle repeats once every 24 hours.
It is controlled by exposure to light and dark.
182
What times are the strongest drives to sleep according to the circadian cycle?
Between 2-4 am and 1-3pm.
183
What is the circadian cycle linked to?
An internal biological body clock known as the endogenous pacemaker which is part of the SCN.
184
What is our internal biological body clock also known as?
endogenous pacemaker
185
What is the SCN?
It monitors the amount of light and used to co-ordinate the activity of the biological systems within the body.
186
What does the SCN stand for?
Suprachiasmatic nucleus
187
How many sets of proteins does the SCN have?
2 which combine together and split apart every 24 hours.
188
Who do proteins in the SCN form a basic part of?
The endogenous body clock.
189
What hormone wakes us up?
Cortisol
190
What hormone helps us to fall and say asleep?
Melatonin
191
What component of the circadian rhythm triggers the release of the hormones that helps us to sleep and wake up?
SCN
192
What does it mean when researchers say that the circadian cycle is robust?
Even when there's no light to guide the SCN the body tends to maintain the circadian rhythm at about 24-25 hours.
193
What happens to the circadian cycle when we long travel long distances quickly?
It can become out of sync due to jet lag.
This is because it isn't in synchronisation with our environment.
194
What did Michel Siffre (1962) do for his first study into the circadian rhythm?
He spent 2 months in an underground cave system, where he had no external cues about day and night.
He awake, ate and slept when he wanted to.
195
What did Michel Siffre (1962) find for his first study into the circadian rhythm?
His circadian rhythm stayed fairly consistent at 24.5 hours over the 2 months, suggesting that it is robust.
196
What study suggests that the circadian rhythm is robust?
Michel Siffre's first study
197
What did Michel Siffre (1975) do for his second study into the circadian rhythm?
He spent 6 months in an underground cave in Texas.
198
What did Michel Siffre (1975) find for his second study into the circadian rhythm?
His circadian rhythm settled down to 24 hours, but occasionally it went to 48 hours.
199
How old was Michel Siffre when he went into the underground cave for the 3rd time?
60
200
What did Michel Siffre find for his third study into the circadian rhythm?
His circadian study was much slower compared to when he was younger .
Sometimes it ranged to 48 hours and his sleep ranged from 2 hours to 18 hours.
201
How does jet lag affect circadian rhythms?
The circadian rhythm will come out of sync when you travel long distances quickly because it is so robust.
202
What did Hughes (1977) study for circadian rhythms?
He studied cortisol levels in men staying in Antarctica research station.
203
What did Hughes (1977) find for circadian rhythms?
During the 3 month period of permanent darkness in Antarctica summer, the cortisol levels peaked at midday instead of 6am.
204
What does Hughes (1977) study suggest for circadian rhythms?
The lack of light influences the circadian rhythm for cortisol.
205
What is the issue with Hughes (1977) study for circadian rhythms?
Later studies have been unable to replicate it.
206
What did Duffy et al. (2001) find for circadian rhythms?
There are two types of people for when it comes to their circadian rhythms.
207
What are the two types of people that Duffy et al. (2001) suggests for circadian rhythms?
Larks - people who rise early and sleep early
Owl - people who rise late and sleep late.
208
What are our two examples of factors influencing our circadian rhythms?
Light
Body temperature
209
When do we experience our lowest body temperature?
4am which is 36 degrees.
210
When do we experience our highest body temperature?
6pm at 38 degrees.
211
What did Buhr et al (2010) find for body temperature on circadian rhyythms?
Found that body temp is more influential on circadian rhythms than light.
The temperature triggers the timings of cells to be set which causes cell tissue to become active or inactive.
212
What is a infradium rhythm?
A cycle that lasts more than 24 hours.
213
What's an example of a week long cycle?
There's a 7 day cycle of blood pressure and heart rate in humans.
214
Who said that there's a 7 day cycle of blood pressure and heart rate in humans?
Halberg et al. (2002)
215
What's an example of a month long cycle?
Menstrual cycle
216
What is the average time of the menstrual cycle?
28 dyas
217
What's the variation in the menstrual cycle?
23-36 days
218
How do hormones control the menstrual cycle?
Oestrogen levels increase and trigger ovulation around the middle of the cycle.
Progesterone levels increase which stimulates the uterus to get ready for the implantation of the embryo.
219
What is the McClintock effect?
Where women who live together have their menstrual cycle link up.
220
What did Russel et al (1980) do to investigate the McClintock effect?
He placed sweat from one woman to another on the upper lip.
221
What did Russel et al (1980) find to investigate the McClintock effect?
Found that the second the second woman's cycle linked up with the first woman.
222
Who wasn't able to replicate Russel et al (1980) study to investigate the McClintock effect?
Wilson (1992)
223
What did Wilson (1992) say for the evaluation of Russel et al (1980) study to investigate the McClintock effect?
He found that because each menstrual cycle varies in length, they can just link up by chance because he wasn't able to replicate the study.
Therefore, original details may be wrong.
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What is an example of an annual rhythm?
Seasonal Affective Dissorder (SAD)
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What is SAD?
Where a significant number of people will become more depressed in thee winter.
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What is an ultradian rhythm?
Shorter than 24 hours and can be repeated multiple times a day.
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What is an example of an ultradian rhythm?
Sleep
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Why is sleep an ultradian rhythm?
When you fall asleep at night you go through multiple stages lasting about 90 minutes.
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What is stage 1 of sleep cycle?
There are lots of alpha waves to begin with and then an increase in theta waves.
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What is stage 1 of sleep also known as?
Light sleep
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What is stage 2 of sleep cycle?
Mostly made up of theta waves with some sleep spindles which are linked to learning and memory.
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What is stage 2 of sleep also known as?
light sleep
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What is stages 3 and 4 of sleep cycle?
It is made up of delta waves and the person's respiratory and heart rate drops. This is where it is much harder to wake someone up.
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What is stages 3 and 4 of sleep also known as?
Deep sleep
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What is stage 5 of sleep cycle?
REM sleep brain waves are very similar to those of a person who is awake. Muscle systems are paralysed to stop a person moving in their dreams.
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Who investigated stages of sleep for ultradian rhythms?
Tucker et al (2007)
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What did Tucker et al. (2007) find for stages of sleep for ultradian rhythms?
Found that there are individual differences in sleep patterns due to genetic factors.
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What is an endogenous pacemaker?
An internal timekeeper.
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Where can you find the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN)?
Above where the optic nerves cross.
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What is it called where the optic nerves cross?
Optic chiasm.
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What does the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) receive?
A small amount of info directly from eyes.
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What do cells in the SCN synchronise?
They synchronise together and to then to other neurons in the rest of the body.
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What is the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) often called?
The master clock where it keeps 'time' through two pairs of proteins that combine together and split apart.
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What did Ralph (1990) do for the investigation of the SCN and how it's an endogenous pacemaker?
He bred hamsters to have a 20 hour circadian rhythm, then surgically removed the SCN and transplanted it into another.
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What did Ralph (1990) find for the investigation of the SCN and how it's an endogenous pacemaker?
The new hamsters have the same 20 hour circadian rhythm, suggesting that the SCN is an endogenous pacemaker.
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What are the issues with Ralph's (1990) study for the investigation of the SCN and how it's an endogenous pacemaker?
It cannot be generalised.
Unethical
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What did Folklard (1996) study for the SCN being an endogenous pacemaker?
Studied a student called Kate Aldcroft.
Volunteered to spend 25 days in a controlled lab study, with no access to any external light cues.
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Who did Folklard (1996) study for the SCN being an endogenous pacemaker?
Kate Aldcroft.
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What did Folklard (1996) find for the SCN being an endogenous pacemaker?
Her body temperature remained at a 24 hour rhythm but her circadian rhythm extended to 30 hours.
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What did Folklard (1996) conclude for the SCN being an endogenous pacemaker?
Whilst the SCN does control the circadian rhythm it is influenced by an exogenous zeitgeber.
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What are 2 examples of exogenous zeitgebers?
Daylight.
Social cues
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What is the Pineal Gland?
It receives info from the SCN and releases melatonin when there's a lack of light entering the eye.
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When does the pineal gland release melatonin?
When there's a lack of light entering the eye.
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What is an exogenous zeitgeber?
An external time giver.
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How is light an exogenous zeitgeber?
Light trains the SCN which controls the circadian rhythm. It resets each day which then synchronises the rest of the body.
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What is light detected by?
The retina
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What does the retina contain which detects the levels of light and sends that message to the SCN?
Melanopsin
258
What is the role of melanopsin in the retina?
It detects levels of light to send a message to the SCN.
259
What did Campbell and Murphy (1998) do for the investigation of exogenous zeitgebers for example light?
Other parts of the body can detect light.
Found that if you shine a light of the back of knees it can influence circadian rhythms.
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What did Shi-Yu Lee et al. (2013) find for the investigation of exogenous zeitgebers for example light?
Light therapy can help mothers of premature babies to adapt to intensive care where there's low levels of light all night which can disrupt a mothers sleep.
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What did Shi-Yu Lee et al. (2013) do for the investigation of exogenous zeitgebers for example light?
15 new mothers were given intensive light therapy during the day and monitored for their quality of sleep which did improve.
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What did Klein and Wegmann (1974) find for the exogenous zeitgeber of social cues?
Found that travelers could cope better with jet lag if they went out and socialised, suggesting that it can help their biological rhythms to the new time zone.
