biopsychology Flashcards
(26 cards)
Localisation of functions
The theory that specific areas of the brain are responsible for specific behaviours, processes or activities
Motor area
Area of the frontal lobe involved in regulating movement
Somatosensory area
Area of the parietal lobe that process sensory information
Visual area
Area of the occipital lobe that recieves and processes visual information
Auditory area
Area in the temporal lobe responsible for processing auditory information
Broca’s area
Area of the frontal lobe responsible for producing speech
Wernicke’s area
area in the temporal lobe responsible for language comprehension5
Localisation vs holistic theory
In the 19th century Broca and Wernicke discovered that different parts of the brain are responsible for specific processes and behaviours
Before this people generally supported the holistic theory, that the brain was interconnected
hemispheres of the brain
- left and right
- lateralisation - some physical or psychological functions are dominated or controlled by one of the hemispheres
- the left side of the brain controls the right side of the body and vice versa
- Language is linked to the left hemisphere
The four lobes of the brain
- Temporal lobe
- Frontal lobe
- Parietal lobe
- Occipital lobe
Broca’s aphasia
- Damage to Broca’s area
- Symptoms include difficulty producing speech, but ability to understand it
- Broca’s most famous patient nicknamed “tan” because that was the only word he could say
Wernicke’s aphasia
- Damage to Wernicke’s area
- Symptoms include difficulty understanding language, but fluent speech, however may often produce made up words as part of their speech
Strengths of localisation of functions
- Neurosurgery can be used to treat mental disorders by localising them to areas of the brain, cingulotomy involves isolating a region implicated with OCD, Dougherty et al. found that 30% of patients had fully responded and 14% partially
- Evidence from brain scans, Peterson et al. used brain scans to demonstrate how Broca’s area was active during speaking, and Wernicke’s area during listening, Buckner and Peterson found that episodic and semantic memory resides in different areas of the prefrontal cortex
- Phineas Gage, had severe damage to his left frontal lobe, he survived but he became very quick to anger in contrast to his previous calm personality
Weaknesses of localisation theory
- Lashley removed brains from rats learning a route through a maze and found that each area of the brain was equally important
- Advancements in technology has shown that neural processes such as language is actually more holistically spread across the brain
Two main functions of the nervous system
- respond to external stimuli
- co-ordinate the working of diferent cells and organs in the body
the central nervous system
- the brain - responsible for all conscious awareness
- spinal cord - responsible fro reflex action also passes message to the peripheral nervous system
the peripheral nervous system
- autonomic nervous system, sympathetic and parasympathetic - coordinates vital functions, eg heart rate and digestion
- somatic nervous system - responsible fro muscle movement and recievs information from sensory receptors
The endocrine system
- releases hormones into the bloodstream, works on negative feedback
- slower than the nervous system, but longer lasting, works with hormones rather than nerves
the endocrine system and the ANS working together
Fight or flight
- Stimuli in the form of a stressor causes the hypothalamus (part of your brain) to activate the pituitary gland, this triggers the ANS causing your body to leave it parasympathetic state and enter a sympathetic state
- heart and bretahing rate will increase, digestion will be inhibited, pupils will dilate
- Adrenaline is realeased from adrenal medulla
- This all happens immediately and automatically
- Once the threat has passed, the parasympathetic nervous system will kick in and your body will return to its normal physiollogical state
Sensory neuron
- recieves sensory information
- found in sensory receptors
relay neuron
- sends messages between the sensory and motor neuron
Motor neuron
- sends the response signal, eg muscle contractions
synaptic transmission
- sends messages between neurons
- action potential at pre-synaptic terminal triggers realse of neurotransmitter from synaptic vesicles
- neurotransmitter diffuse to postsynaptic neuron
- neurotransmitter bind to receptor sites at post synatpic neuron - lock and key theory - causing either excitation or inhibition
- left over of neurotransmiteer is either broken or reuptaken by presynaptic neuron
excitation
- positive charge increase the likeliness of excitation
- Impulse is called EPSP
