Biopsychology Flashcards
(33 cards)
What are the two parts of the central nervous system (CNS)?
- brain
- spinal cord
What is the peripheral NS?
- neurons that connect CNS to the rest of body
What is the autonomic NS?
- one division of peripheral NS
- controls unconscious activities
What is the somatic NS?
- one division of peripheral NS
- controls conscious activities
What is the sympathetic NS?
- one division of autonomic NS
- gets body ready for action e.g. fight or flight
What is the parasympathetic NS?
- one division of autonomic NS
- calms body down
What triggers a fight or flight response?
- hypothalamus triggers activity in the sympathetic branch
- stimulates adrenal medulla, releases adrenaline and nonadrenaline
What body changes occur during fight or flight?
- blood pressure & heart rate increase
- digestion decreases
- muscles tense
- perspiration increases
- breathing rate increases
- pupil size increases
- salivation decreases
What does the motor cortex do?
- controls voluntary movement
What does Brocas area do?
- produces speech
What does Auditory cortex do?
- processes information from the ears
What does Wernicke’s area do?
- understands languages
What does Visual cortex do?
- processes info from eyes
What does somatosensory cortex do?
- processes info about touch, pain, temperature, and body position
What is meant by plasticity?
- brain’s ability to alter its structure and function in response to changes in environment
How does plasticity work?
- new neural pathways form
- using neural pathway strengthens it
What is meant by functional recovery?
- brain damage can result in loss of function
- brain has potential to recover some of its function
- brain begins to rewire itself
What are the uses of fMRI scans?
- 3D scans providing structural and functional info
- part of the brain that is involved with a function will be more active
- can diagnose medical problems, show diseased or damaged areas of the brain
What are the strengths and weaknesses of fMRI scans?
Strengths:
- non invasive
Limitations:
- very expensive to buy and run
- can be a problem for people with claustrophobia
- poor temporal resolution (don’t show changes over time accurately)
What are EEGs?
- show overall electrical activity of the brain
- multiple electrodes are placed on scalp and produce wave patterns
What are the uses of EEGs?
- used in sleep studies
- used to study depression and schizophrenia
- abnormal EEGs have been used for anorexia nervosa
What are the strengths and limitations of EEGs?
Strengths:
- non invasive
- cheaper to carry out than fMRI scans
- good temporal resolution
Limitations:
- poor spatial resolution (hard to work out where waves originate from)
What are ERPs?
- show electrical activity in response to a stimulus
What are the uses of ERPs?
- memory research, information processing
- show differences of people suffering from psychiatric disorders compared to healthy people
