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Biopsychology Flashcards

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1
Q

What is summation?

A
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2
Q

For an action potential to form in the post synaptic neuron it had to reach what?

A

Reach to/past threshold

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3
Q

What is an excitatory neurotransmitter?

A

They increase the likelihood of a new action potential forming as they make the electrical charge more positive = depolarisation

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4
Q

What is an inhibitory neurotransmitter?

A

Decrease the likelihood of a new action potential forming in the postsynaptic cell, this is because they make the electrical charge more negative = hyperpolarisation

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5
Q

What is summation?

A

The combined effect of all the excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters influences on the post SN, if threshold is released, an action potential will form

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6
Q

What does uni-directional mean?

A

Information passed chemically can only be passed in one direction

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7
Q

What are SSRI’s

A

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor- Block the re-absorption of serotonin into the presynaptic cell

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8
Q

What is the endocrine system?

A

Collection of glands around the body that regulate bodily functions, growth and psychological factors. Acts by releasing chemical messengers called hormones

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9
Q

Where is the pituitary gland and what does it do?

A

Master Gland
Found in the brain
Function- Controls release of hormones from other glands
Hormones- ACTH

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10
Q

What is the adrenal gland?

A

Function- Regulates fight or flight response, increasing heart rate, blood supply, sweating etc
Hormone- Adrenaline and cortisol

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11
Q

What is the pineal gland?

A

Function- Modulates sleep pattern, keeping the body to a day/night circadian rhythm. Hormone: Melatonin

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12
Q

What is the thyroid gland?

A

Found in the neck, modulates metabolism
Hormone- Thyroxine

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13
Q

What is the pancreas?

A

Function: Regulates blood sugar levels
Hormones- Insulin and glucagon

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14
Q

What is the fight or flight response?

A

Survival mechanism in response to a threat, it primes the body and mind for extreme action

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15
Q

What triggers the autonomic nervous system when a stressor is recognised? What else is triggered?

A

The hypothalamus
The endocrine system

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16
Q

What does the hypothalamus activate?

A

The sympathetic adrenomedullary pathway (SAM) and the sympathetic nervous system

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17
Q

What does the SNS stimulate?

A

The adrenal medulla, part of the adrenal gland

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18
Q

What does the adrenal medulla do?

A

Secretes adrenaline and noradrenaline into the blood stream

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19
Q

What are the effects of adrenaline and noradrenaline?

A
  • Increased blood flow to brain and muscles for quick thinking and reactions
  • Decreased blood flow to systems that are not critical e.g. digestive
  • Dilated pupils for increased vision
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20
Q

What is the HPA axis?

A

Consists of the hypothalamus, pituitary gland and the adrenal glands all working together to stimulate stress related hormones including cortisol

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21
Q

What happens in response to chronic stress e.g. over exposure to cortisol?

A

Anxiety, high blood pressure leading to increased risk of heart disease and depression

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22
Q

What are the limitations of the fight or flight response?

A
  • Beta gender bias, Taylor et al suggests that women go through tend and befriend
  • Gray suggests that neither fight or flight or tend and befriend tell the whole story as he suggests that there is an additional freeze response
  • Negative consequences of fight or flight as in modern life the stress response is repeatedly activated leading to higher cases of illness such as heart disease
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23
Q

What is localisation?

A

Specific functions of the brain have specific locations, the brain is divided into two hemispheres

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24
Q

What is the visual centers and where is it located?

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A

Located in the visual cortex in the occipital lobe
Spans both hemispheres
Visual cortex contains different areas that process different types of visual information such as colours, shapes etc
Damage to the visual cortex can cause blindness

25
What is the auditory centre and where is it located?
Concerned with hearing, in both sides of the temporal lobe
26
What is the motor cortex and where is it located?
Responsible for generation of voluntary movements, found in the back of the frontal lobe and spans both hemispheres
27
What is the somatosensory area and where is it located?
Detects sensory events e.g. touch, smell It is found in the parietal lobe and spans both hemispheres
28
What is Broca's area and where is it located?
Critical for speech production Found in the frontal lobe but ONLY ON THE LEFT HEMISPHERE
29
Who did Broca study that made him identify his area?
His patient 'Tan' who could only say Tan, he could understand speech but not produce it, he had damage to his frontal lobe in his left hemisphere
30
What is Wernicke's area and where is it located?
It is suggested to be critical in speech understanding Found in the temporal lobe but only on the LEFT hemisphere People with Wernicke's aphasia were able to produce speech but it was incoherent because they couldn't understand it
31
What did the case study of Phineas Gage show?
Gage was in an accident and ended up with a pole through his brain, he had damage to his frontal lobe which is responsible for personality He survived but his personality changed from a kind hearted changed to someone rude and grossly blasphemous
32
What are the limitations of Gage's case?
- Its a case study so it cannot be generalised - Not scientific - His behaviour may have changed due to being annoyed about his accident, he lost his eye and his looks changed A more up to date understanding of personality has shown its linked to multiple areas of the brain
33
What is the problem with using patient 'Tan' as a strength of localisation of function?
In 2007 Tan's brain was reexamined and it was found that multiple areas of his brain were damaged suggesting language could be more complex and not localised to one point.
34
What is the beta-gender bias limitation of localisation of function?
Harasty et al found that women have larger Broca's and Wernicke's areas suggesting individual differences and showing beta gender bias
35
What is lateralisation?
Each hemisphere being responsible for different things
36
What is the corpus callosum?
The bundle of nerve fibres that communicate between the two halves
37
What is one strength and one weakness of lateralisation?
+ Increases neural processing capacity. Rogers et al. found that in chickens, brain lateralisation is associated with being able to do two tasks at once - Lateralisation changes with age, decreases each decade after 25
38
Who did split brain research and what experiment type was it?
Sperry, quasi
39
What was the aim and method of Sperry's research?
Aim- Study the functions of separated hemispheres in the brain Method- 11 participants who had already undergone surgery to their corpus callosum. They had to gaze at a fixation point on a translucent screen - Slides were projected either side of the fixation point at a rate of 1 pic/ 10 seconds. Their hands were blocked from their view
40
What are the results of Sperry's research?
When an object was shown to a patients right visual field they could easily describe what was seen (because of the language centres being on the left) but when an object was presented to the left VF they couldn't describe it. the right hemisphere could draw it or select the object using the left hand
41
What are the limitations of Sperry's research?
- Its a limited sample only 11, idiographic - Lacks mundane realism as the procedure is unlike how these individuals would process information in everyday life
42
What are the strengths of Sperry's research?
- His procedure was standardised and controlled - Research supports lateralisation. Right is responsible for spatial awareness and left for language
43
What is neuroplasticity?
The brains ability to change and adapt
44
What are some reasons for plasticity?
- Learning new skills - Sudden traumatic events to areas of the brain - A result of developmental changes - Response to indirect effects of damage like bleeding (from a stroke)
45
What is structural plasticity?
Experiences/memories change a brains physical structure
46
What is functional plasticity?
Brains functions move from damaged to undamaged areas
47
What is synaptic pruning?
Connections lost over time due to lack of use (occurs mostly in infancy)
48
What is bridging?
New connections made due to use + new stimuli
49
What did Kunn's study into plasticity study and find?
ppts played super Mario for 30 minutes a day over months, he compared them to a control group who played no video games Found- difference in grey matter of video gaming ppts in areas associated with memory and coordination/movement
50
What did Davidson's study into plasticity study and find?
Tibetan monks vs. non meditation control group, monks showed a higher level of gamma wave activity supporting bridging
51
What are some of the factors effecting functional recovery rates?
- Age = Much more likely to occur in younger people as their brain is still maturing - Gender = Women are more able to recover - Rehabilitative therapy = More likely if effort is put in
52
What is neural reorganisation?
Transfer of functions to undamaged areas
52
What is neural regeneration?
Growth of new neurons to compensate for undamaged areas
53
What is neuronal unmasking?
'Dormant synapses' which can open to compensate for nearby damaged areas
54
What is the research support for plasticity?
Maguire et al studied the brains of 16 London taxi drivers and found more significantly grey matter in the area of the brain associated with the development of spatial or navigational skills compared to non-taxi drivers
55
What did the case study of EB show?
He had his entire left hemisphere removed as a 14 year old, he lost his language centres but after 2 years he regained speech and after 4 years he was developing normally
56
What is a limitation of plasticity and functional recovery?
- Individual differences demonstrated by meta analysis- IQ and educational background are correlated with better outcomes after brain injury
57

Psychology (6 decks)

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