Biopsychology Flashcards
(96 cards)
1
Q
What are the components of the nervous system?
A
The peripheral nervous system which is the systematic nervous system and the autonomic nervous system which is split into the sympathetic nervous system and parasympathetic nervous system, and the central nervous system which is the brain and the spinal cord.
2
Q
What is the central nervous system?
A
This involves the brain and spinal cord and us responsible for conscious awareness. The brain is divided into 2 hemispheres and 4 main areas. It includes the cerebrum, which contains the four lobe; temporal, occipital, frontal, and parietal; the cerebellum, diencephalon and the brain stem. The spinal cord is the extension of the brain and facilitated the transfer of messages to and from the PNS. It involves reflex actions.
3
Q
What is the peripheral nervous system?
A
This consists of the nervous system throughout the rest of the body and transmits messages via neurons to and from the CNS. It has 2 divisions, the somatic nervous system and the autonomic nervous system.
4
Q
What is the somatic nervous system?
A
It carries information from the motor cortex and involves information from sensory motor pathways. It has conscious control over movements and muscles. It transfers and receives messages from receptor cells in organs and then relays these to the CNS. It also receives messages from the CNS so muscles can move and react. This is the conscious control.
5
Q
What is the function of the cerebellum?
A
It is responsible for motor skills and coordination.
6
Q
What is the function of the diencephalon?
A
It contains the thalamus and the hypothalamus.
7
Q
What is the function of the brain stem?
A
It regulates breathing and heart rate.
8
Q
What is the autonomic nervous system?
A
This helps transmit and receive messages from internal organs and glands and it controlled by the brain stem. It involves motor pathways only. This is automatic and unconscious control. It regulates itself and is responsible for digestion, heart rate and breathing. It has 2 division; the sympathetic nervous system and parasympathetic nervous system.
9
Q
What is the sympathetic nervous system?
A
It is activated when a person is stressed. It dilates pupils, inhibits salivation, constricts blood vessels, releases airways, accelerates heart rate, increases sweating and inhibits digestion.
10
Q
What is the parasympathetic nervous system?
A
This activated when the body is relaxing. It constricts pupils, stimulates salivation, constricts airways, slows heart rate and stimulates digestion.
11
Q
What are neurons?
A
These receive and transmit information via electrical impulse to other cells.
12
Q
What is the nucleus?
A
This contains the genetic material of the cell.
13
Q
What are dendrites?
A
These are branch like structures protruding from the cell body. They carry nerve impulses from one neuron to the next.
14
Q
What is the axon?
A
This carries the electrical impulse away from the cell body towards the synapse.
15
Q
What is the synapse?
A
The ending of the neuron.
16
Q
What is the synaptic knob?
A
This is the swelling at the end of the neuron. It contains vesicles which are little sacs that hold neurotransmitter, ready to diffuse across the synaptic cleft to go to the post synaptic neuron.
17
Q
What is the synaptic cleft?
A
The gap between one neuron and the next.
18
Q
What is the myelin sheath?
A
This covers the axon, protecting it and speeds up transmission. It is segmented with gaps.
19
Q
What are Schwann cells?
A
These make up the myelin sheath.
20
Q
What are the nodes of ranvier?
A
These are the gaps in the myelin sheath, that speed up electrical impulses and force them to jump across the gaps.
21
Q
What are neurotransmitters?
A
These are chemicals released from one neuron, within the synaptic knob, then passes across the synaptic cleft to the next neuron.
22
Q
What are receptor sites?
A
These are proteins on the surface of each cell. They act as receivers to neurotransmitters like a lock and key system.
23
Q
What is the sensory neuron?
A
Impulses are taken from the PNS via the senses. This communicates with the CNS and carries information towards the brain. Some reach the brain and are under conscious control but some travel to the spinal cord, where a reflex action is requires (involuntary and unconscious).
24
Q
What is the relay neuron?
A
This is found in the brain and spinal cord. It sends electrical impulses from one part of the CNS to another. It comes between the sensory and motor neuron. It involves the analysis of sensation and how to respond to the situation.
25
What is the motor neuron?
It sends impulses from the CNS to the glands and muscles to function via axons. They release neurotransmitters that affect the. The glands and muscles are called effectors because they are affected in some way.
26
What is synaptic transmission?
This is the process by which nerve impulses are transmitted across the synaptic cleft between the presynaptic neuron and post synaptic neuron. Messages are transmitted as electrical impulses along on neuron but then chemically via neurotransmitters along the synaptic cleft. Action potential releases the neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft via exocytosis. Once the neurotransmitters have combined with the receptor cells, 2 types of action potential occur from there; excitation or inhibition. This process ends through reuptake where the neurotransmitter is taken back up the vesicles.
27
What is excitatory potential?
This means the neuron is more likely to fire and be activated. It is likely it bund with the deception sites on the post synaptic neuron and cause a positive charge as it passes the impulse electrically. Adrenaline is an example; it is a hormone/neurotransmitter used in the fight/flight response.
28
What is inhibitory potential?
This means neurons are less likely to fire and won’t be activated. The message will be stopped at the post synaptic neuron. It is less likely to bind with the receptor site and will not continue to pass on the impulse. An example is serotonin which causes inhibition and is linked to emotion and mood.
29
What is a gland?
This is an organ in the body that synthesises hormones.
30
What is the endocrine system?
This is a series of glands which slowly release chemicals like hormones in the body via blood vessels and bodily fluids. It secretes the required amount that regulates bodily functions like metabolism and growth. It provides a chemical system of communication via the bloodstream that relies on a network of glands.
31
What are pituitary glands?
This is situated in the brain and releases hormones from other glands which regulate the endocrine system. The hypothalamus releases a releasing hormone which travels to the pituitary gland. This has two divisions the anterior and the posterior.
32
What is summation?
This is determining the likelihood that the cell will fire by adding up the excitatory and the inhibitory input.
33
What does the anterior pituitary gland release?
It releases a stimulating hormone that travels to the target gland. It is responsible for releasing ACTH which prepares the body for the fight or flight response.
34
What does the posterior pituitary gland release?
This is responsible for releasing oxytocin which is crucial for infant mother bonding.
35
What are the adrenal glands?
They are situated on top of the kidneys and have two sections; the adrenal cortex and the adrenal medulla
36
What is the adrenal cortex?
This is the outer section and produces hormones like cortisol. It is produced in high amounts when someone is chronically stressed. It is responsible for the cardiovascular system; it increases blood pressure and contracts blood vessels.
37
What is the adrenal medulla?
This is the inner section that produces adrenaline which is needed for fight or flight. It is activated when someone is acutely stressed. It increases heart rate, dilates pupils and inhibits digestion.
38
What is the fight or flight response?
This is a survival mechanism which enables us to react quickly to threatening or stressful situations. The fight response deals with the stressor and the flight causes you to run away. Both require energy. It causes the body to respond accordingly.
39
What does the hypothalamus do?
It prepares the body for accident and emergency response.
40
What does the amygdala do?
It regulates sensory signals with the emotions associated with fight or flight. It sends the signal to the hypothalamus in a stressful situation.
41
What happens during acute stress?
A stress occurs and the hypothalamus sends a signal to the adrenal medulla to release adrenaline. This increases heart rate, constricts blood vessels, increases blood flow to raise blood pressure and directs thus to the brain and muscles, releases glucose and stops digestion to save energy to prepare for fight or flight. This activate the sympathetic nervous system and fight or flight occurs. When the treat passes, the parasympathetic nervous system is activated to relax the individual.
42
Advantages of fight or flight. (2)
- evolutionary
- adrenal
- it supports the evolutionary approach as it suggests it is a useful and adaptive survival mechanism
- studies show adrenaline is important when preparing the body for fight or flight. People with malfunctioning adrenal glands doing have the normal fight or flight response
43
Disadvantages of fight or flight. (3)
- oxytocin
- freeze
- 9/11
- women are different. They tend and befriend in stressful situations. This is when they form alliances with other women to protect offspring. Oxytocin prevents the flight response in women.
- this has ignored the freeze response, which is when people avoid confrontation, stop, look, listen and are hyper vigilant
- during 9/11 men and women chose to tend and befriend.
44
What is the localisation of function?
The idea that specific functions have a specific location in the brain.
45
What is the visual cortex?
This is the visual centre and is in the occipital lobe. Light enters the retina and strikes photoreceptors. Nerve impulses are then transmitted to the brain via the optic nerve. The majority terminates in the thalamus, which is the relay station, and this passes it onto the visual cortex. This spans both the hemispheres and contains many area, which process different information.
46
What is the auditory cortex?
This is the auditory centre and is in a the temporal lobe of both hemispheres. Sound waves are converted into nerve impulses in the cochlea, which is in the inner ear. These travel via the auditory nerve to the brain stem, which does some basic decoding, and then to the thalamus. This carries out further processing and then relays the information to the auditory cortex.
47
What is the motor cortex?
This is responsible for the generation of voluntary motor movements and is in the frontal lobe along the precentral gyrus. Different parts of the motor cortex control different parts of the body and they are arranged logically, next to each other.
48
What is the somatosensory cortex?
This detects sensory events and is located in the parietal lobe along the postcentral gyrus. It uses sensory information from the skin to produce sensations like touch, pressure, pain and temperature. These are localised to specific parts of the body.
49
What is Broca’s area?
Paul Broca treated patients with difficulty in speech production and he found lesions on their left frontal lobe. Another psychologist found two areas;one that dealt with language and the other that responded to demanding cognitive tasks.
50
What is Wernicke’s area?
Carl Wernicke found patients who were unable to understand language, with lesions in this area of the temporal lobe. This area is responsible for spoken language.
51
Advantage of the localisation of function. (1)
| - aphasia
- expressive aphasia is an impaired ability to produce language caused by damage to Broca’s area, and receptive aphasia is an impaired ability to understand language caused by damage to Wernicke’s area.
52
Disadvantages of the localisation of function.
- personality
- MRI
- communicate
- reading
- some functions are more localised than other for example, personality is very widely distributed
- MRI scans were done to examine Broca’s patients brains and several areas were damaged, suggesting that damage to Broca’s area may only cause temporary speech disruption, which is not so severe. Language may be more widely distributed.
- individual differences were found in the areas that were active during silent ready. The right temporal, left frontal and occipital lobes were active
- how brains communicate with each other may be more important than specific regions. A patient who couldn’t read had damage between his visual cortex and Wernicke’s area.
53
What is the lateralisation of function?
This is the idea that the two hemispheres have different specialisations. The left side is dominant for language and controls the right side of the body. The right side is dominant for facial recognition and is responsible for the left side of the body. Both hemispheres are connected by a bundle of nerve fibres called the corpus callosum.
54
Advantages of the lateralisation of function. (2)
- chickens
- architects
- neural processing activity is increased because one hemisphere being used, leaves the other free to do other functions. This lateralisation is similar in chickens and is associated with performing two tasks; finding food and being vigilant for predators.
- architects and the mathematically gifted have superior right hemispheric skills than left.
55
Disadvantage of lateralisation of function. (1)
| - JW
- JW developed the ability to speak out of his right hemisphere so he could speak about information presented to his left and right hemispheres.
56
What is split brain research?
Surgeons have cut the corpus callosum to prevent violent electrical activity caused by epileptic seizures. This causes information from the right visual field to go to the left hemisphere and vice versa. In split brain patients there is no way for information presented to one hemisphere to travel to the other.
57
What is some research into split brain patients?
Patients were asked to stare at a dot on the centre of the screen and information was either presented to their left or right visual field. They were then asked to make responses with either their left (right hemisphere) or right hand (left hemisphere) or verbally (left hemisphere), without seeing their hands. When an image of a dog was flashed in their right visual field, they could say they saw a dog as the information went into the left hemisphere where the language centres are. When an image of a cat was flashed in their left visual field they could say they saw a cat because they information had gone into the right hemisphere. They could draw the cat with their left hand because the right hemisphere controls it.
58
Disadvantages of split brain research. (3)
- drug
- patient
- both
- the disconnection is greater in some patients and some may have had drug therapy for their epilepsy longer than others and this affects how the brain works.
- comparing epilepsy patients to a control who’ve had no history of epilepsy is invalid. Also they usually use as few as 3 patients in studies
- in the real world, split brain would be compensated for by the unrestricted view of both fields
59
What is brain plasticity?
This refers to the brains ability to change and adapt due to experience. It allows the brain to cope with indirect affects of brain damage like inadequate blood supply from a stroke.
60
How is brain plasticity affected by life experiences?
Nerve pathways used frequently develop stronger connection and the ones rarely used die. Developing new connections and reducing the weaker ones is a way of adapting to the changing environment. There is a decline in cognitive function with age. Researchers are looking for new connections to reverse this. A psychologist taught 60 year olds a new skill (juggling) and found an increase in grey matter in the visual cortex.
61
How is brain plasticity affected by video games?
A group of participants were given video game training for at least 30 mins a day for 2 moths on Super Mario and they were compared to a control. The video games caused a significant increase in grey matter in the visual cortex, hippocampus and cerebellum. Also new synaptic connections in these brain areas involving spatial navigation, strategic planning, working memory and motor performance were found.
62
How is brain plasticity affected by meditation?
8 practitioners of Tibetan meditation were compared to 10 students that had never meditated. Electrical sensors picked up greater gamma wave, which correlate neural activity, activity in monks even before starting to meditate.
63
Advantages of brain plasticity. (2)
- rats
- taxi
- more neurons were found in the brains of rats living in complex environments than in those houses in laboratory cages
- MRI scans of London taxi drivers showed that they has a larger hippocampus than the control and this correlated with the amount of time they spent as taxi drivers.
64
What is functional recovery?
When the brain is still recovering it is more likely that it will recover from trauma but brain plasticity and functional recovery are possible at any age. This involves neural reorganisation and neural regeneration.
65
What is neural reorganisation?
It is part of functional recovery. It is the transfer of functions from damaged areas to undamaged areas.
66
What is neural regeneration?
This is the growth of new neurons and connections to compensate for damaged ones.
67
Advantages of functional recovery. (2)
- stem
- childhood
- rats with traumatic brain injuries were tested. One group had a stem cell transplant and 3 months later they had developed neuron like cells in damaged areas.
- abilities thought to be fixed in childhood can be modified in adulthood through intensive training
68
Disadvantage of functional recovery. (1)
| - childhood
- the capacity for neural reorganisation after brain injury is greater in childhood than in adults.
69
What are post mortem examinations?
When a person dies, psychologists look for abnormalities that may explain their behaviour. Links between brain abnormalities and psychiatric disorders have been found. For example, reduced glial cells cause depression.
70
Advantage of post mortem examinations. (1)
| - detailed
- this is a more detailed examination of anatomical and neurochemical aspects that wouldn’t be possible with other methods.
71
Disadvantage of post mortem discussions. (1)
| - sample
- this lacks validity because it is a small sample and people die in a variety of ways at varying stages of a disease. The length of time between the death and the post mortem can affect the brain and so can drug therapy .
72
What is functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)?
This uses magnetic fields and radio waves to monitor blood flow in the brain. It measures the change in energy released by haemoglobin and reflects the activity of the brain through oxygen consumption. It gives a moving picture of the brain. It shows activity in regions compared during a base line task and a specific activity.
73
Advantage of fMRI’s. (1)
| - activity
- it captures brain activity unlike MRIs and post mortems
74
Disadvantage of fMRI’s. (1)
| - interpretation
- the interpretation is complex as it is affected by temporal resolution, biased interpretation and the base line task used. Also they are expensive, use a reduced same and are less valid.
75
What are electroencephalogram (EEG)?
This measures general activity linked to states like sleep and arousal. These electrodes are placed on the scalp and detect neuronal activity directly below where they’re placed. Differing numbers of electrodes are used depending on the focus. EEG patterns are electrical signals from electrodes graphed over a period of time. The patterns of epilepsy patients are spikes of electrical activity and those of brain injury are slowing.
76
Advantage of EEG’s. (1)
| - diagnosis
- it is useful for clinical diagnosis like for epilepsy. They record neural activity associated with it and can recognise seizures. It is also cheaper.
77
Disadvantage of EEG’s. (1)
- it has poor spatial resolution
78
What are event related potentials (ERPs)?
These are electrodes placed on the scalp and detect neuronal activity directly below in response to a stimulus that the researcher introduces. It is difficult to pick out and establish the specific response so it requires many presentations of the stimulus. This is so extraneous variables won’t constantly occur. ERP waves generated in the first 100 milliseconds after the sensory ERP is presented. This reflects the initial response physical characteristics of the stimulus. ERPs generated after the first 100 milliseconds are how the stimulus is evaluated. These are cognitive ERPs and these demonstrate information processing.
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Advantage of ERPs. (1)
| - absence
- it measures the processing of the stimulus even in the absence of the behavioural response and is measured covertly.
80
Disadvantage of ERPs. (1)
| - deep
- important electrical activity occurring deep in the brain is not recorded so the generation of ERPs are restricted to the neocortex .
81
What are biological rhythms?
These are cyclical changes that have evolved because the environment has cyclical changes. The three types are circadian, infradian and ultradian.
82
What are circadian rhythms?
These last 24 hours and are the biological representation of a 24 hour day. It optimises psychology and behaviour to meet the demands of day and night. It is driven by the suprachiastmatic nuclei in the hypothalamus, which is a pacemaker that controls the rate of something occurring. It must be constantly reset so our bodies are in synchrony with the outside. Photoentrainment is when natural light sets the body clock. Light sensitive cells in the eye that are brightness detectors, send messages about the environmental light to the SCN, and this uses the information to coordinate activity.
83
What is the sleep wake cycle?
This is an example of a circadian rhythm. Light and darkness are external signals that determine when to sleep and wake up. It dips and rises at different times so the strongest sleep drive is at 2-4am and 1-3pm. It is under homeostatic control and this drive for sleep gradually increases throughout the day, in the late evening being when it’s maximum, because of the amount of energy used during wakefulness. The circadian rhythm keeps us awake as long as there is daylight and it makes us sleepier the longer we are awake. The internal circadian rhythm maintains a 24-25 hour cycle even without natural light.
84
Advantages of circadian rhythms. (1)
| - chronotherapeutics
- chronotherapeutics is used because it’s important that the right concentration of drug is released to the target area when it is needed the most. The most risk of a heart attack is in the early morning, so medication is taken before sleep and isn’t released until 6am.
85
Disadvantages of circadian rhythms. (4)
- natural
- individual
- peak
- temperature
- artificial light can also alter circadian rhythms. Psychologists altered participants circadian rhythms to 22 and 28 hours using artificial light alone.
- there are individual differences in the length of cycles. They can vary from 13-165 hours.
- different people have different peak time for sleeping. Morning people wake up early and sleep early but evening people wake up late and sleep late.
- temperature controls the body clock not light. The SCN transforms neural messages about light levels into ones that set the body’s temperatures. These fluctuations set the timing of cells.
86
What are ultradian rhythms?
These last less than 24 hours like the 5 stages of sleep. The stages are light sleep, very light sleep, deep sleep, very deep sleep and non rapid eye movement (NREM), and rapid eye movement (R.E.M.). EEG patterns show that when we enter deep sleep our brain waves are slow and heart rate and breathing decreases.
87
What is the basic rest activity cycle (BRAC)?
This is an example of a circadian rhythm. It is a 90 minus cycle that continues when you are awake. It suggests that we progressively move from a state of alertness into a state of psychological fatigue. The human mind can focus for 90 mins; towards the end the body runs out of resources. This causes a loss of concentration, fatigue and hunger.
88
What are infradian rhythms?
These last longer than 24 hours, which could be weeks, months, or years. An example is the menstrual cycle. This varies in length; 23-36 day cycles but the average us 28 days. Hormones regulate this and ovulation occurs halfway through around 16-32 hours when oestrogen levels are at their peak. After ovulation occurs progesterone increases in preparation of possible implantation of the embryo in the uterus.
89
Advantages of ultradian and infradian rhythms. (2)
- violinists
- women
- elite violinists have practice sessions limited to 90 mins and they frequently napped. The best napped more. This was also common among athletes, chess players and writers so this supports BRAC.
- infradian rhythms affect behaviour. Women have a preference for feminised male faces for long term relationships but have a preference for masculine ones during ovulation.
90
Disadvantages of infradian and ultradian rhythms. (2)
- individual
- pheromones
- there are individual differences in sleep patterns as they could be determined by genetics. Participants were studied over 11 days and nights in a laboratory and they were assessed in sleep duration, time taken to fall asleep and amount of time in each stage. They found a differences in all.
- if several women of childbearing age live together and aren’t on the pill, the can synchronise their periods. The sweat was taken from one group and out in the upper lip of the other group and their periods synchronised. This shows they were affected by pheromones.
91
How are biological rhythms reset?
Endogenous pacemakers and exogenous zeitgebers are used to reset and maintain internal body clocks with the outside.
92
What are endogenous pacemakers?
These are internal biological rhythms. The suprachiasmatic nuclei is the master clock so it controls all the other biological clocks. Neurons in the SCN synchronise with each other and target neurons in other partsof the body to receive time coordinated signals. The other clocks don’t maintain circadian rhythms for long so the SCN is needed. It’s built in circadian rhythm doesn’t need resetting when external light levels change. If the biological clock is running late then the morning light shifts the clock. It also regulates the manufacture and secretion of melatonin. The SCN sends the signal to th pineal gland to increase production and secretion what night and to decrease during the day.
93
Advantages of endogenous pacemakers. (1)
| - Kate
- Kate Aldcroft spent 25 days in a laboratory with no access to daylight or other zeitgebers and her core body temperature rhythm was still at 24 hours.
94
Disadvantage of endogenous pacemakers. (1)
| - Kate
- Kate Aldcrofts sleep wake cycle extended to 30 hours with periods of sleep up to 16 hours so external influences are needed.
95
What are exogenous zeitgebers?
These are environmental factors like light that are responsible for maintaining biological clocks. The light sensitive receptors in the SCN synchronise the body’s activity and reset the body’s clock. The protein in the retina that is light sensitive is called melanopsin. Moving to the night shift or travelling to another country in a different time zone causes the endogenous pacemakers to be out of synchrony with the exogenous zeitgebers of light. Thus disrupts sleep patterns, increases anxiety, decreases alertness and decreases vigilance.
96
Advantages of exogenous zeitgebers. (3)
- blind
- flight
- light
- a vast majority of blind subjects with some light perception had normal circadian rhythms. Those without had poor ones.
- exposure to bright light prior to and east-west flight caused the time the participants needed to adjust to the local time on arrival to decrease.
- psychologists compared the sleep wake and rest activity cycle of 2 groups over 5 weeks. One group had normal warm artificial light and the other group had artificial blue light. They all kept daily logs and had devices to measure their movement. The warm light group synchronise their circadian rhythms to the natural light of dawn and blue light group synchronised to office hours.
