Biopsychology Flashcards
(106 cards)
1
Q
How long is a infradian biorhythm?
A
More than 24 hours
2
Q
How long is a circadian bio-rhythm?
A
Around 24 hours
3
Q
How long is a ultradian bio-rhythm?
A
Less than 24 hours
4
Q
what does the sympathetic branch do in the nervous system?
A
readies the body for action - flight or fight
5
Q
what does the para-sympathetic branch do in the nervous system?
A
calms the body down ‘rest and digest’
6
Q
where is the antagonist in the nervous system?
A
in the autonomic nervous system between the sympathetic and para-sympathetic branches
7
Q
what is the central nervous system?
A
brain: complex commands/decisions
spinal cord: brain pns
8
Q
what is the peripheral nervous system?
A
relays information to and from the outside world, glands and muscels
9
Q
what are the two parts of the nervous system?
A
peripheral and central
10
Q
what are the two parts of the peripheral nervous system?
A
autonomic nervous system and somatic nervous system
11
Q
what does the autonomic nervous system do?
A
transmits information between bodily organs and the brain. controls smooth and cardiac muscles, glands and fat
12
Q
what does the somatic nervous system do?
A
transmits informations from receptors to CNS, and from the CNS to the muscles
13
Q
what are the two parts of the somatic nervous system?
A
sensory (sensory information)
motor (efferent) nervous system e.g skeleton musccels
14
Q
what are receptors?
A
sensory structures detecting changes in internal and external environment
15
Q
what are effectors?
A
target organs which change in response to neural commands
16
Q
what are the four lobes of the cerebral cortex?
A
perietal, frontal, temporal and occipital
17
Q
what does the frontal lobe control?
A
problem solving, emotions and speaking
18
Q
what does the temporal lobe control?
A
language, auditory and memory
19
Q
what does the parietal lobe control?
A
sensation and pain
20
Q
what does the occipital lobe control?
A
vision, colour and perception
21
Q
what is the amygdala?
A
an almond shaped structure in the temporal lobe that plays a central role in emotion and stimulus evaluation
22
Q
what is the hippocampus
A
a structure in the temporal lobe involved in longterm and spatial memory
23
Q
what is the pre-central gyrus
A
site of the primary motor cortex, which plans, controls and executes voluntary actions
24
Q
what is the post-central gyrus
A
the sight of the somato sensory, which represents tactile (touch) sensory information
25
what is tactile information?
touch
26
what does pre-central gyrus damage cause?
loss of muscle function
27
what does post-central gyrus damage cause?
difficulty in touch identification of objects and difficulty labelling parts of your own body
28
what is collateral forebrain?
when the opposite hemisphere of the Brian influences the opposite side of the body
29
what does Broca's area control?
language production
30
what is aphasia?
inability to comprehend or formulate language
31
what is hemispheric lateralisation?
some mental processes are localised inanely one hemisphere of the brain
32
when does aphasia occur?
damage to language process regions of the brain
33
who is an example of damage to Broca's area?
Mr. Loborgne could understand language but not produce it. it could only sat "tan"
34
what is Wernwicks area important for?
language comprehension
35
what are the effects of damage to Wernwicks area?
difficultlu understanding language, effortless grammatical speech that lacks meaning/context.
36
what was Sperry's study in 1968
Sperry attempted to localise actions to each side of the brain
37
what are the advantages of Sperry's brain localisation study
he had a control group
set in a lab so hard a standardised environment so it increases the internal validity
no deception so its completely ethical
38
what is the disadvantage of Sperry's brain localisation study
difficult to generalise as the study had only 11 participants, its a small sample size
39
who are the two theorists related to linguistic lateralisation
Eric Lenneberg and Denis + Whitikar
40
what is Eric lennebergs theory of linguistic lateralisation
the two hemispheres are developed to control linguistics but eventually the left side takes control
41
what is Denis and Whitikars theory of linguistic lateralisation
the let side of the brain is developed to control linguistics however if damaged the right hand side may take over - the younger the patient the more likely they will recover
42
what is brain plasticity
the brains ability to adapt and modify its structure and function as a result of experience
43
what are the disadvantages of Dennis and Whitikars theory of linguistic lateralisation
small sample size
| changes in the brain may be due to epilepsy
44
what is the Wada test by Juan Wada
injected a central nervous system depressant into the left or right internal carotid artery
to send either side of the brain to sleep
they tested the asleep hemisphere by an EEG
language and memory function is then tested
after the aesthetics is worn off the participants are asked to recall what they were shown
then repeated on other side of brain
96% of the pps speech represented on the left and only 4% on the right
45
what is an advantage of of the Wada test
a very large sample of 140 so its very easy to generalise
46
what is a disadvantage of the Wada test
order effects may impact. the results as they have to repeat the tests
47
what is the language lateralisation (auditory) test by Doreen kimura 1973
places headphones onto a subject and two separate words are played through each ear.
participants are asked to repeat what they heard.
participants consistently heard the word through the right ear
showing that there is a preference to process information closer to the language area of the brain
48
what is an advantage of the language lateralisation (auditory) test
has a large sample size so can be generalised
49
what is a disadvantage of the language lateralisation (auditory) test
this is an assumption so cannot be proved
50
what is Doreen Kimura study in 1964 about hand gestures
videotaped participants while talking and recorded their hand gestures
gestures are more likely to be made with the right hand rather than the left
this supports lateralisation as gesturing serves a communication function likely to be made with the hand contralateral to language function
51
what are the advantages of Doreen Kimura study about hand gestures
has a large sample size so can be generalised meaning the study is externally valid
ethical as no harm or distress
easy to repeat the study
52
what are the disadvantages of Doreen Kimuras study about hand gestures
a confounding variable could be the reason for more hand gestures from the right hand
53
what does parasympathetic branch entail
```
constricts pupils
decreased heart rate
decreased breathing rate
recreation of tear glands
stimulates digestion
relaxes rectum
```
54
what does the sympathetic branch entail
```
dialates pupils
increased heart rate
increased breathing rate
inhabition of tear glands
sweating
inhibits digestion
```
55
what is a polygraph test
measures heart rate, sweat and breathing rate to distinguish if someone is telling the truth
56
advantages of a polygraph test
there is a baseline to measure everyones anxiety around there test
added evidence in law
57
disadvantages of a polygraph test
sociopaths can convince themselves they are not lying
anxiety disorders may increase heart rate above the baseline
cannot be used to convict someone on its own
may be inconclusive
58
what is a gland
an organ that produces and releases substances into or out of the body
59
what is a hormone
"chemical messages" travel through the blood cell until they reach a targeted receptor
60
what is the pituitary glands function
regulates growth and controls the endocrine glands
61
what hormone does the thyroid gland release and what is the function
thyroxine, controls metabolism and balanced growth
62
what hormone does the parathyroid gland release and what is the function
parathormone, controls the calcium balance
63
what hormone does the adrenal gland release and what is the function
adrenaline, prepares the body for an emergency
64
what hormone does the pancreas gland release and what is the function
insuline, controls glucose level in the blood
65
what hormone do the testes release and what is the function
testosterone, controls growth and development of the males reproductive system
66
what hormone do the ovaries release and what is the function
oestrogen and progesterone, controls growth and development for females reproductive system
67
name 4 things about the endocrine system that the nervous system doesn't have
uses hormones to create changes
used glands
has slow responses
uses chemicals as messages
68
name 4 things about the nervous system that the endocrine system doesn't have
signals come from the brain
controls motor movements
has much faster responses
69
what is the cell body
(soma) contains the nucleus, where genetic information is stored, and all the cell organelles that normally function to keep the cell Alice
70
what are dendrites
they branch out from the cell body, often in huge numbers, and certain the neurotransmitter receptors that receive the chemical signals transmitted by other neurons
71
what is an axon
a long projection from the cell body that serves to carry nerve impulses away from the cell body to the axon terminals
72
what are the axon terminals
(synaptic buttons) at the end of the branches extending from the axon furthest away from the cell body. these structures produce, store and recycle the chemical messengers responsible for the transmutation of information to other neurons
73
what are the three types of neuron
sensory, motor and relay (interneuron)
74
what does a sensory neuron do
carry's messages from the PNS to the CNS
75
what are the characteristics of a sensory neuron
long dendrites and short axons
76
what does a relay neuron do
connects sensory, motor and other relay neurons
77
what are the characteristics of a relay neuron
short dendrites and axons
78
what does a motor neuron do
connects the CNS to the effectors such as muscles and glands
79
what are the characteristics of a motor neuron
short dendrites and long axons
80
what are the three parts of action potential
depolarisation, repolarisation and hyperpolarisation
81
what is depolarisation in action potential
if the electrical potential reaches -50mV (threshold potential) voltage-sensitive sodium channels open allowing sodium ions to diffuse into the neuron, further increasing its electrical potenital
82
what is repolarisation
when the neurons electrical potential reaches +40mV so that it is now more positively charged than outside the neuron, potassium channels open allowing potassium ions to diffuse out of the neuron, lowering the electrical potential
83
what is hyperpolarisation
the neurons electrical potential drops slightly below the resting potential before potassium channels close. in this brief period before the resting potenital is re-established it requires slightly more excitation to reach the threshold potential.
84
what is excitation
increases the positive charge of the post-synaptic neuron. this increases the likelihood that the neuron will fire
85
inhabition
increases the negative charge of the post-synaptic neuron. this decreases the likelihood that the neuron will fire
86
what is the aim of Brachman and Sahakians study about acetylcholine and memory consolidation (1979)
to investigate the role of acetylcholine for memory consolidation
87
what is the method of Brachman and Sahakians study about acetylcholine and memory consolidation (1979)
the neurotransmitter blocking drug is administered
participants learn a list of words
the recall them a minute later
in that minute they completely a distraction task
performance of recall was then compared to a control group
88
what were the results of Brachman and Sahakians study about acetylcholine and memory consoilidation (1979)
the control group recalled aproximately twice as many words as the group who took the drug
89
when are the three times neuroplasticity occurs
at the beginning of life, through brain injury and in adulthood
90
what is de lange et al study (2008) about neuroplasticity
MRI scans show that those with chromic fatigue syndrome show grey matter reductions in the prefrontal cortex. CBT was found to increase grey matter volume in the prefrontal cortex
91
what are the negative reprecussions of neuroplasticity
prolonged drug use - leads to poorer cognitive functioning later in life and increases the risk of dementia
60-80% of amputees - also suffer from phantom limb syndrome where they continue to experience missing limbs as though they are still there
92
what is Dannelli's study about neuroplasticity (2013)
EB has a hemispherectomy at 4
after surgery he underwent an intensive rehabilitation programme
his language skills improved around the age of 5 and to the point that no problems in language abilities were reported
his right hemisphere had to compensate for the loss of the left hemisphere linguistically
he had a low IQ
93
what are the individual differences of neuroplasticity
age
94
define Fmri scans and give positive and negatives
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
| cylindrical tube that houses a very strong electrical magnet which examines the brains functional anatomy e.g a stroke
95
what is are the three biorhythms
infradian
ultradian
circadian
96
what is an infradian cycle, give examples
is more than 24 hours long and can be weekly, monthly or yearly
menstrual cycle
97
what is an ultradian cycle, give examples
is less than 24 hours long something that happens daily
| human sleep cycle and seasonal defective disorder
98
what is a circadian cycle, give examples
a 24 hour cycle
| the sleep/wake cycle
99
what is an exogenous zeitgeber
environmental cues that help regulate the endogenous pacemakers
100
endogenous pacemakers
mechanisms internal to the body (biological clocks)
101
what are the 6 studies about infradian rhythm
- women spend 3 months in cave without natural light and there menstrual cycle decreased
- woman's menstrual cycles synch through other females smell
- women want a more feminised face until they ovulate and then they prefer a masculine face
- women in the same dormitory answered a questionnaire to see if menstrual cycle synched
- the scent of a women with a normal period is rubbed onto a women with an abnormal period to see if the period could regulate
- test to see if lesbian couples menstrual cycles synched
102
what is stage 1 of the human sleep pattern
stage 1 - light sleep, muscle activity slows and occasional muscle twitching
103
what is stage 2 of the human sleep pattern
stage 2 - breathing and hear rate slows, slight decrease in body temperature
104
what is stage 3 of the human sleep pattern
stage 3 - deep sleep begins, brain begins to generate slow delta waves
105
what is stage 4 of the human sleep pattern
stage 4 - very deep sleep, rhythmic breathing, limited muscle activity and the brain produces delta waves
106
what is stage 5 of the human sleep pattern
stage 5 - rapid eye movement, brain waves speed up. and dreaming occurs, mussels relax and heart rate increases breathing is rapid and shallow
