Physiological Psych Flashcards Preview

GRE Psychology- Kaplan Sixth Edition > Physiological Psych > Flashcards

Flashcards in Physiological Psych Deck (64)
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1
Q

Franz Gall

A

Earliest theories that behavior, intellect, personality may be linked to brain anatomy; doctrine of phrenology, thought that areas of the brain responsible for traits would expand and you could feel them along the skull

2
Q

Pierre Flourens

A

Studied phrenology, first person to study functions of major sections of the brain by extirpation/ ablation (aka removing chunks of brain)

3
Q

William James

A

studied how the mind functioned/ adapted tot he environment. Formed functionalism - studying how mental processes help individuals to adapt to their environments

4
Q

John Dewey

A

Studied functionalism, wanted to study the organism as a whole as it functioned to adapt to the environment

5
Q

Paul Broca

A

Examined behavioral deficits of people with brain damage; found specific functional impairments associated with specific brain lesions.

6
Q

Broca’s area

A

on the left side of the brain; lesions cause the inability to produce speech, even though one can still understand it.

7
Q

Johannes Muller

A

law of specific nerve energies- each sensory nerve is excited by only one kind of energy (e.g. light, air vibrations, etc.), the brain interprets the stimulation of that nerve as that kind of energy

8
Q

Hermann von Helmoholtz

A

Measured the speed of nerve impulses

9
Q

Sir Charles Sherrington

A

Inferred existence of the synapse

10
Q

Sensory neurons

A

Also known as afferent neurons, transmit sensory information from receptors to the spinal cord and brain. Along afferent fibers into the brain.

11
Q

Motor Neurons

A

Efferent neurons, transmit motor information from brain and spinal cord to the muscles. Along efferent fibers from the brain

12
Q

Interneurons

A

Found in between other neurons and are the most numerous of the three types. Located predominately in the brain and spinal cord. Linked to reflexive behavior

13
Q

Reflex arcs

A

Control reflexive behaviors, which are crucial to survival

14
Q

Overview of the Nervous system

A

Central nervous system which is made up of the brain and spinal cord. Peripheral nervous system which is made up of somatic and autonomic. autonomic has sympathetic and parasympathetic.

15
Q

Walter Cannon

A

studied the autonomic nervous system

16
Q

Autonomic nervous system (ANS)

A

regulates heart beat, respiration, digestion, and glandular secretions (e.g. involuntary functions of internal organs and glands)

17
Q

Acetylcholine wrt ANS

A

Responsible for parasympathetic responses (e.g. rest and digest)

18
Q

Adrenaline wrt ANS

A

Responsible for sympathetic responses (e.g. flight or flight)

19
Q

Hindbrain

A

Cerebellum, medulla oblongata, reticular formation: Where brain meets spinal cord, responsible for balance, motor coordination, breathing, digesting, and general arousal.

20
Q

Midbrain (mesencephalon)

A

Inferior and superior colliculi: manages sensorimotor reflexes to promote survival, receives sensory info

21
Q

Forebrain

A

Cerebral cortex, basal ganglia, limbic system, thalamus, hypothalamus: associated with complex perceptual, cognitive, and behavioral processes including emotion and memory. Has greatest influence on human behavior

22
Q

The brain stem

A

made up of the hindbrain and the midbrain

23
Q

Limbic system

A

Septal nuclei, amygdala, hippocampus: Group of neural structures primarily associated with emotion and memory (e.g. aggression, fear, pleasure, and pain).

24
Q

Cerebral cortex

A

outer covering of hemispheres, associated with language processing, problem solving, impulse control, long-term planning, etc.

25
Q

Phylogeny v ontogeny

A

phylogeny- evolutionary development; ontogeny- development over the lifetime

26
Q

Medulla oblongata

A

Lover brain structure responsible for regulating vital functions like breathing, heart beat, blood pressure, digestion.

27
Q

Pons

A

Above the medulla, contains sensory and motor tracts between the cortex and the medulla

28
Q

Cerebellum

A

Helps maintain posture, balance, and coordinates body movements. Damage causes slurred speech, clumsiness, and loss of balance (e.g. alcohol impairs this)

29
Q

Reticular Formation

A

Interconnected nuclei: regulates arousal and alertness (sleeping and waking) and attention

30
Q

Superior colliculus

A

Receives sensory input

31
Q

inferior colliculus

A

Receives auditory input, controls reflexes in response to noises

32
Q

thalamus

A

Important relay station for incoming sensory impulses. Thalamus sorts impulses and transmits them to appropriate areas of cortex

33
Q

Hypothalamus

A

Divided into the lateral, ventromedial, and anterior: serves homeostatic functions, key player in emotional experience during high arousal states, aggressive behavior, and sexual behavior. Helps control endocrine functions. Self-regulates to maintain stable equilibrium within the body. Metabolism, temperature, water balance

34
Q

Osmoregulation

A

Maintenance of water balance in the body, performed by osmoreceptors in the hypothalamus

35
Q

Lateral Hypothalamus (LH)

A

Hunger center; if damaged, one will not eat/ starve (aphagia). “Less hungry”

36
Q

Ventromedial Hypothalamus (VMH)

A

Satiety center, damage leads to over eating and often obesity (hyperphagia). “Very hungry”

37
Q

Anterior Hypothalamus

A

Controls sexuality. Stimulation increases sexual behavior and damage leads to inhibition of sexual activity

38
Q

Basal Ganglia

A

Coordinates muscle movements, receiving information from cortex and relaying it through the extrapyrimidal motor system (which transports to the brain and spinal cord). Damage creates jerky, unorganized movements (e.g. Parkinson’s disease is related to damage here).

39
Q

Ventricles

A

Fluid filled cavities in the middle of the brain that link up with the spinal canal, filled with cerebrospinal fluid (irregularities associated with schizophrenia)

40
Q

Septal nuclei

A

Part of the limbic system. One of the primary pleasure centers of the brain. James Olds and Peter Milder discovered this (studying mice who would prefer this stimulated than even eating when hungry). Also inhibits aggressive behavior. if damaged, one experiences “septal rage”

41
Q

Amygdala

A

Defensive and aggressive behaviors. Lesions cause docility, hypersexuality (Kluver and Bucy did studies to link amygdala with defensive and aggressive behavior)

42
Q

Hippocampus

A

Learning and memory. Damage causes anterograde amnesia

43
Q

Cerebral cortex

A

also called neocortex,has convolutions (gyri and sucli), has 2 hemispheres and 4 lobes (frontal, parietal, temporal, occipital)

44
Q

Frontal lobe

A

Comprised of prefrontal lobes and the motor cortex. Prefrontal serves as executive function, perception, memory, emotion, impulse control, and long-term planning.

45
Q

Roger Sperry + Michael Gazzaniga

A

Studied the effects of severing the corpus collosum. Discovered that CC allowed for communication across hemispheres

46
Q

Left v Right brain hemispheres

A

Left: letters, words, language, speech, reading, writing, arithmetic, movement. Right: faces, music, emotions, creativity, sense of direction

47
Q

Neurons

A

Dendrites, cell body (soma), axon + myelin sheath, terminal buttons

48
Q

Neurotransmitters

A

chemical substances released from vesicles when neurons fire

49
Q

Glial cells

A

Care taking/ supporting functions (e.g. they form the myelin sheath, which insulates the axon. Serves to insulate nerve fibers from each other and speed up electrical impulses through neurons)

50
Q

Dendrites

A

Typically receptors of information

51
Q

Resting potential

A

Slight electrical charge (negative) store din cell membrane. Energy waiting to be released

52
Q

Ions

A

Small ions can pass through the semipermeable membrane, larger ions need receptors or channels in order to pass through (e.g. sodium-potassium pump)

53
Q

Polarized

A

resting state of the neuron is polarized, where the inside of the cell is negative and the outside is positive

54
Q

Steps to fire neurons

A

Resting potential, depolarization, action potential spike, repolarization, hyperpolarization, stable

55
Q

Absolute refractory period

A

Period corresponding to depolarization, during this time the neuron is unresponsive to any stimulation. Length of time between firing neurons controlled by this.

56
Q

Relative refractory period

A

begins after neuron achieves action potential spike; corresponds to repolarization period

57
Q

Hyperpolarization

A

more negative than usual on the inside of the cell (usually directly after repolarization). stronger stimulus is required to reach threshold potential at this point

58
Q

“all-or-nothing” law for action potentials

A

when depolarization reaches critical threshold, neuron will fire no matter what

59
Q

axon hillock

A

where the axon meets the cell body, action potentials originate here

60
Q

Terminal buttons

A

at the end of the axon, triggers release of neurotransmitters into the synapse

61
Q

synaptic cleft

A

space between the terminal buttons of presynaptic neuron and the dendrites of the postsynaptic one

62
Q

Vesicles

A

tiny sacks that store and release neurotransmitters

63
Q

Reuptake

A

Processes by which neurotransmitters are drawn back into the vesicles of terminal buttons

64
Q

binding

A

when neurotransmitters attach self to receptor sites