brain structure Flashcards
1
Q
what lobes is the brain made up of?
A
- frontal lobe
- parietal lobe
- temporal lobe
- occipital lobe
2
Q
how is the brain separated?
A
- two halves
- known as hemispheres, called laterisation
- corpus callosum is the section that joins both
- any messages travelled between hemispheres go through corpus callosum
3
Q
how is the pre frontal cortex involved in aggression?
A
- pfc has connections with a lot of parts of brain relating to neurotransmitters (chemical messages) eg dopamine + serotonin, which relate to emotions
- reasonable to fit into aggression in picture of pfc, though pfc is more about regulating emotions and so aggression itself comes from lack of regulation, rather than aggression itself coming from pfc
- aggression might be defined as lack of regulation or control over behaviour
4
Q
what is within the pfc?
A
- orbitofrontal cortex and ventromedial cortex
- orbitofrontal cortex is linked to accepting delayed gratification and rewards
- ventromedial cortex is linked to experience of emotions
- lateral prefrontal cortex is involved in making choices in behaviour by letting us see options
- all features can help regulate our behaviour
5
Q
what methods can be used to find aggression within brain?
A
- case studies of brain damaged patients
- neuroimaging techniques eg PET scans, MRI and fMRI
6
Q
what is the cortex?
A
- outer layer of brain
7
Q
what is the sub-cortex?
A
- structures below cortex (outer layer)
8
Q
give an example of delayed gratification or deferred reward
A
- saving money someone has gifted you so you could collect more and think about what to buy a later time
9
Q
give example of experienced human emotion
A
- being excited when we leave school
10
Q
give three options you could take if someone ‘cuts you up’ whilst driving
A
- honk
- try to cool down
- cuss at them but not directly
11
Q
what is the amygdala
A
- center for emotions
12
Q
where is the amygdala located
A
- in the limbic system
- limbic system has role in self-preservation - controls our flight or fight response, which is our arousal I’m the face of danger
- what is controlled is in response to emotion rather than thinking
- the limbic system is linked to our autonomic systems which respond ‘automatically’ to danger rather than in a planned way
13
Q
how does the amygdala explain aggression
A
- center for emotions, emotional behaviour and motivation
- being together internal and external stimuli (what’s going on inside and outside of individual)
- every sensory modality (all 5 senses) has input, which when combined gives us instinctive feeling or reaction to environment that will include aggression
- pfc also connects to amygdala and it’s this connection that may lead to aggressive behaviour
14
Q
how does amygdala explain aggression in animal studies
A
- if amygdala is stimulated using electrical current, animal shows aggression
- evidence that aggressive response is one role of amygdala
- if amygdala is removed, animal becomes passive and unresponsive (opposite of aggressive)
- without amygdala, animal doesn’t respond to fear either, so amygdala is taken to have role in arousal, aggression and ‘fight’ response
- amygdala is centre for identifying threat and its role in self preservation
15
Q
where’s the hypothalamus located
A
- in limbic system
16
Q
what is the role of hypothalamus
A
- to maintain homeostasis (putting body back into balance)
- many functions eg regulating hunger, thirst and response to anger, aggression
17
Q
how does hypothalamus explain aggression
A
- through regulation of hormones (chemicals produced by glands that’s are used to signal between organs and tissue)
- includes hormones that regulate sexual function
- linked to aggressive behaviour in males via production of testosterone
18
Q
other things: amygdala: animal studies (weakness + CA)
A
- findings from animal studies might be difficult to generalise to humans because animals don’t have same prefrontal cortex as humans - they’re smaller
- there are other differences including role of consciousness and planning (which involves prefrontal cortex)
-
CA: some researchers argue the basics are same between species and there experiments are worthwhile
- support from human case studies eg Phineas Gage, Blair, Colledge and Mitchell
- found many patients with psychopathic behaviour patterns have similar neurocognitive functioning to patients who have suffered damage to amygdala
19
Q
other things: ethics for animal studies (weakness + CA)
A
- animal research is immoral as animals are harmed eg having parts of brain lesioned
- CA: using animals for human behaviour is no different from using them for meat or pets
- ethical guidelines now all studying using animals require cost-benefit analysis:
- any suffering caused to animal is outweighed by potential benefit to humanity
20
Q
other things: reductionist (weakness)
A
- can be argued that brain functioning/structure as explanation for aggression is reductionist
- reduces aggressive behaviour down to the workings of specific neural circuits
- ignores other possible causes eg social learning
21
Q
supporting: Swantje
A
- there’s a negative correlation between volume of amygdala and self reported lifetime aggression
- smaller the amygdala the more lifetime aggression
22
Q
supporting: raine
A
- using objective PET scanning technique to show that offenders who had emotional impulsive aggression had low pfc functioning
23
Q
supporting: narabyashi et al
A
- 43 out of 51 patients who had amygdala removed showed reduced aggression
- evidence that amygdala relates to aggression
24
Q
other things: biological basis (strength)
A
- biological basis for aggression is consistent with genetic explanation because our genetic blueprint builds our brain structures
- therefore people with genetic blueprint for aggression would have brain structures that would lead them to aggressive responses
- could explain why, on average, males across all cultures tend to be more physically aggressive than females
