Biopsychology

Question 1

Central Nervous System (CNS)
-Spinal Cord
-Brain

Answer 1

-Compromised of the brain and spinal cord, receives information from the body’s sense, controls body’s responses.
-A bundle of nerve fibers enclosed within the spinal column and which connects nearly all parts of the body within the brain.
-The part of the central nervous system that is responsible for coordinating sensation, intellectual and nervous activity.

Question 2

Peripheral Nervous System
-The Somatic Nervous System
-The Autonomic Nervous System
-The Sympathetic Nervous System
-The Parasympathetic Nervous System

Answer 2

-All the nerves outside the CNS make up the peripheral nervous system, two main divisions: Somatic Nervous System & Autonomic Nervous System.
-Somatic - responsible for carrying motor and sensory information to and from the CNS
-Autonomic - Governs the brain’s involuntary activities(stress, heartbeat) and is self-regulating. Further split into the sympathetic and parasympathetic NS’s
-Sympathetic - Primarily involved in responses that helps us to deal with emergencies, such as increasing heart rate and blood pressure.
-Parasympathetic - Primarily involved in relaxing the body after an emergency, such as decreasing heart rate and blood pressure.

Question 3

Neurons (Structure & Function, S&F)
-Sensory
-Relay
-Motor

Answer 3

-Specialized to carry neural information throughout the body
-Sensory - (S) Specialised receptor endings which detect stimuli, (F) Carry nerve impulses from sensory receptors to spinal cord and brain.
-Relay- (S) Have numerous short dendrites to receive signals from multiple sensory neurons, (F) Allow sensory and motor neurons to communicate with another.
-Motor- (S) Possess a long axon to reach muscle fibers, (F) Form synapses with muscles and control their contraction.

Question 4

Synaptic Transmission Process

Answer 4

1. Once an action potential has arrived at the terminal of the axon, it needs the synaptic vesicles to release neurotransmitters to diffuse across the synaptic gap between the pre and post synaptic cell.
2. The neurotransmitters that the vesicles have released bind to specialised receptors on the surface of the cell that recognise it and are activated.
3. The neurotransmitters have now carried out the action potential’s messages across the neurons.

Question 5

Excitatory and Inhibitory Neurotransmitters

Answer 5

Excitatory - Make the post-synaptic cell more likely to fire, nervous system’s ‘turn-on’ switch.
Inhibitory - Make the post-synaptic cell less likely to fire, the nervous system’s ‘turn-off’ switch.

Question 6

Endocrine System
-Endocrine Glands
-Hormones

Answer 6

-A network of glands throughout the body that manufacture and secrete chemical messengers, hormones.
Endocrine Glands -Special groups of cells within the endocrine system, whose function is to produce and secrete hormones

Question 7

Pituitary Gland

Answer 7

-The Master Gland, whose primary functions to influence the release of hormones from other glands.
-Controlled by the hypothalamus
-High levels of hormones produced in other endocrine glands can stop the hypothalamus and pituitary releasing more of their own hormones, this is called negative feedback, and prevents hormone levels from rising too high.

Question 8

The Adrenal Glands

Answer 8

-The Adrenal glands are made up of the outer region, the adrenal cortex and the inner region, the adrenal medulla.
-The cortex is necessary for life, the medulla is not.

Question 9

The fight-or-flight response

Answer 9

A sequence of activity within the body that is triggered when the body prepares itself for defending or attacking(fight) or running away to safety (flight).

Question 10

Localisation of Function

Answer 10

Refers to the belief that specific areas of the brain are associated with specific cognitive processes.

Question 11

Broca’s Area

Answer 11

-Area of the frontal lobe, in the left hemisphere related to speech production.

Question 12

Wenicke’s Area

Answer 12

-An area of the temporal lobe of the brain important in the comprehension of language.

Question 13

The Motor Cortex

Answer 13

-Region responsible for the generation of voluntary motor movements.

Question 14

Somatosensory Cortex

Answer 14

-Region that processes input from sensory receptors in the body that are sensitive to touch

Question 14

Visual Centre

Answer 14

-Located in the visual cortex, in the occipital lobe

Question 15

Auditory Centre

Answer 15

-Located in the auditory cortex, in the auditory lobes

Question 16

Hemispheric Lateralisation

Answer 16

-Refers to mental processes in the brain being mainly specialised to either the left or right hemisphere.
-The two hemispheres are connected by the corpus callosum.

Question 17

The Left Hemisphere

Answer 17

-Right side of the body
-Right visual field
-Speech Production(Broca’s area)
-Speech Comprehension(Wernicke’s Area)

Question 18

The Right Hemisphere

Answer 18

-Left side of the body
-Left visual field
-Spatial Awareness
-Visual-motor Skills (E.g. Facial Recognition)

Question 19

Split-Brain Research

Answer 19

-Sperry & Gazzaniga tested the capabilities of the separated hemipsheres.
-In split-brain patients, the information presented to one hemisphere has no way of travelling to the other hemisphere.
-In a typical study, the patient would be asked to focus on a dot in the centre of a screen, whilst information was presented to either the left or right visual field.
-They would then be asked to make responses with their left/right hand or state verbally.

Question 20

Brain Plasticity

Answer 20

-Refers to the brain’s ability to modify its own structure and function as a result of experience.

Question 21

Plasticity as a result of Life Experience

Answer 21

-As people gain new experiences, nerve pathways that are used frequently develop stronger connections, whereas neurone that are rarely used eventually die.
-The brain remoulds through development of new connections and pruning away weak ones.
-Boyke et al(2008) - Found evidence of brain plasticity in 60 years old taught a new skill - juggling, they found increases in grey matter in the visual cortex.

Question 22

Plasticity through video games

Answer 22

-Video games makes many different complex cognitive and motor demands.
-In a study where ppts played Super Mario for two months, significant increases in grey matter were found in various areas of the brain.

Question 23

Meditation

Answer 23

-Davidson et al.(2004) compared eight Tibetan monks with 10 students with no previous meditation experience.
-He fitted both groups with electrical sensors and asked them to meditate for short periods.
-The electrodes picked up much greater activation of gamma waves in the monks.
-Found that meditation made changes in the brain in the short and long term.

Question 24

Functional Recovery

Answer 24

-Refers to the brain's ability to modify its own structure and function as a result of experience.

Question 25

Functional Recovery: Neuronal Unmasking

Answer 25

-Wall(1977) identified 'dormant/silent synapses' in the brain - synaptic connections that exist anatomically but their function is blocked. -Can 'unmask' when there is an increase in the rate of neural input in surrounding areas (i.e. when these areas get damaged) -The unmasking of such dormant synapses opens connection s to regions of the brain that are not normally activated, which in time gives way to the development of new structures.

Question 26

Functional Recovery: Stem Cells

Answer 26

-Unspecialised cells which have the potential to give rise to different cell types that carry out different functions, including taking on the characteristics of nerve cells. -Stem cells can be implanted into the brain, directly replacing dead cells. -Or can be transplanted and secrete growth factors that rescue injured cells.

Question 27

Ways of Studying the brain

Question 28

fMRIs +Evaluation

Answer 28

-Measures brain activity by detecting changes in blood oxygenation and flow that indicate increased neural activity. -Strength - non- invasive, doesn't expose the brain to potentially harmful radiation. -Limitation - does not offer a direct measure of neural activity - not a true quantitative measure.

Question 28

EEG's +Evaluation

Answer 28

-method of recording changes in the electrical activity of the brain using electrodes attached to the scalp. -Strength - provides a recurring of the brain's activity in real time rather than a still image of the passive brain. -Limitation - cannot reveal what is going on in the deeper regions such as the hypothalamus or hippocampus.

Question 29

ERP's +Evaluation

Answer 29

-A technique that uses raw EEG data and uses it to investigate cognitive processing of a specific event, takes multiple readings and averages them. -Strength - Can measure the processing of stimuli even in the absence of a behavioural response. -Limitation - requires a large number of trials to gain meaningful data.

Question 30

Post-mortem examinations +Evaluation

Answer 30

-A way of examining the brains of people who have shown particular psychological abnormalities prior to their death in an attempt to establish the possible neurobiological cause, post passing away -Strength - allow for a more detailed examination of anatomical and neurochemical aspects of the brain. -Limitation - As people die in a variety of circumstances and at varying stages of disease, these factors can influence the post-mortem brain.

Question 31

Circadian Rhythms

Answer 31

-A pattern of behaviour that occurs or recurs approximately every 24 hours, and which is set and reset by environmental light levels.

Question 32

Sleep-Wake Cycle

Answer 32

-Refers to alternating states of sleep and waking that are dependent on the 24 hour circadian cycle. -Circadian rhythms dip and rise at different times of the day - between 2-4am and between 1-3pm, in these times the dips are less intense if we have had sufficient sleep, and more intense when we are sleep deprived. -The sleep-wake cycle does not work alone, homeostasis also prompts us to go to sleep when we have been awake for a long period of time.

Question 32

Key Study: Siffre's Cave Study(1962)

Answer 32

Procedure -Provides evidence for a free-running circadian rhythm. -Siffre subjected himself to long periods of time living underground in order to study his own circadian rhythms. -While living underground he had no external cues to guide his rhythms - no daylight, no clocks or radio. -The only thing that influenced his behaviour was his internal body clock (endogenous pacemaker).

Question 33

Ultradian Rhythms

Answer 33

-Cycles that last less than 24 hours, such as the cycle of sleep stages that occur throughout the night. -E.g. The Five Sleep Stages -E.g. Appetite - Across one day we go through multiple cycles of feeling hungry and full again.

Question 34

Infradian Rhythms

Answer 34

-Rhythms that have a duration of over 24 hours, may be weekly, monthly or even annually -E.g. - Female Menstrual Cycle, lasts 28 days -E.g. - Annual Rhythms

Question 35

Endogenous Pacemakers

Answer 35

-Mechanisms within the body that govern the internal, biological bodily rhythms.

Question 36

Endogenous Pacemakers - The Suprachiasmatic Nucleus(SCN)

Answer 36

-Is an endogenous pacemaker -In the hypothalamus, generates the body's circadian rhythms, acts as the master clock. -The SCN receives information about light levels via the optic nerve. -The SCN also regulates the manufacture and secretion of melatonin in the pineal gland via an interconnecting neural pathway.

Question 37

Endogenous Pacemakers - The Pineal Gland

Answer 37

-SCN sends signals to the pineal gland, directing it to increase production and secretion of the hormone melatonin at night and to decrease it as light levels increase in the morning. -Melatonin inhibits sleep by inhibiting the brain mechanisms that promote wakefulness.

Question 37

Exogenous Zeitgebers

Answer 37

-An environmental cue, such as light, that helps to regulate the biological clock in an organism.

Question 37

Exogenous Zeitgebers - Light

Answer 37

-Receptors in the SCN are sensitive to changes in light levels during the day and use this information to synchronise the activity of the body's organs and glands. -Light resets the internal biological clock each day, keeping it on a 24-hour cycle.

Question 38

Exogenous Zeitgebers - Social Cues

Answer 38

-Social Stimuli such as mealtimes and activities, may also have a role as zeitgebers.