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BIOPSYCH > The Nervous System and the Endocrine System > Flashcards

The Nervous System and the Endocrine System Flashcards

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1
Q

What is a nerve?

A

bundles of fibres made up of neurons that transmit sensory/motor information

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2
Q

What is the nervous system comprised of?

A

The Central Nervous System - brain, spinal cord

The Peripheral Nervous System
- somatic nervous system
- autonomic nervous system – sympathetic branch, parasympathetic branch

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3
Q

What is the central nervous system?

A

where all the complex processing of information is done and decisions are made

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4
Q

What is the brain’s role in the CNS?

A

it provides conscious awareness and controls behaviour and regulation of the body’s physiological processes
- receives sensory information from around the body
- sends signals to effectors (muscles and glands)

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5
Q

What is the spinal cord’s role in the CNS?

A

relays information to and from the brain and the body

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6
Q

What is the Peripheral Nervous System?

A

receives information from the senses and sends it to the CNS via sensory neurons

transmits infomation from the CNS to the effectors via motor neurons

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7
Q

What are the divisions of the Peripheral Nervous System?

A
  1. Somatic Nervous System
  2. Autonomic Nervous System
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8
Q

What are the divisions of the Autonomic Nervous System?

A
  1. Sympathetic branch
  2. Parasympathetic branch
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9
Q

What is the role of Somatic Nervous System?

A

made up of sensory receptors that carry info from the outside world
to the spinal cord and brain via motor pathways to control voluntary movement

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10
Q

What are motor pathways?

A

pathway of (mostly motor) neurons that carry signals from the brain to muscles and glands

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11
Q

What is the role of the Autonomic Nervous System?

A

operates automatically, involuntarily
transmits information to and from body organs for internal functions
e.g heart beat, breathing, digestion

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12
Q

What is the role of the Sympathetic Nervous System?

A

stimulates biological functions
e.g heart rate
involved in preparing the fight or flight response

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13
Q

What is the role of the Parasympathetic Nervous System?

A

slows biological functions
e.g heart rate
involved in recovering from the fight or flight response

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14
Q

Why are the SNS and PNS antagonistic?

A

the 2 systems interact to create homeostasis

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15
Q

Explain how the SNS and PNS work together

A

anxiety and fear act as a mechanism to protect the body against stress and danger

the sympathetic nervous system prepares biological functions for situations to defend or escape, activated quickly

the parasympathetic nervous system slows biological functions to return everything to normal after the threat has passed, takes time to activate

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16
Q

How do the heart, lungs, eyes and gut respond to when the sympathetic nervous system is activated vs the parasympathetic nervous sytem?

A

Heart:
SNS - increases heart rate
PNS - decreases heart rate

Lungs:
SNS - dilates bronchi
PNS - constricts bronchi

Eyes:
SNS - dilates pupils
PNS - constricts dilation

Gut:
SNS - slows digestion
PNS - increases digestion

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17
Q

Outline the ‘fight or flight’ response

A
  1. Person enters a stressful situation
  2. The amygdala is activated which sens a distress signal to the hippocampus
  3. The hippocampus activates the SAM pathway
  4. This stimulates the adrenal medulla, part of the adrenal gland, and secretes adrenaline and noradrenaline into the bloodstream
  5. Adrenaline causes a number of physiological changes to prepare the body for fight or flight
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18
Q

What is the Sympathomedullary Pathway?

A

activated by the hippocampus
the route through which the brain directs the sympathetic branch of the ANS

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19
Q

What is the difference between adrenaline and noradrenaline?

A

Adrenaline is a hormone
Noradrenaline is a neurotransmitter

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20
Q

What hormone is associated with the fight of flight response?

A

Adrenaline

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21
Q

What are some examples of ‘fight or flight’ experiences?

A

Traffic
Exams
Public speaking
Arguments

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22
Q

What are the components (6) of the endocrine system?

A
  • Hypothalamus
  • Pituitary gland
  • Thyroid gland
  • Adrenal glands
  • Ovaries
  • Testes
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23
Q

What are the differences between the endocrine system and the nervous system?

A

Endocrine system acts slower
Endocrine system is more widespread and powerful

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24
Q

What is the endocrine system?

A

secretes hormones required to regulate bodily functions e.g metabolism

provides chemical system of communication via the bloodstream

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25
What do the endocrine glands do?
they are organs that produce and secrete hormones (chemical substances) that regulate activity of cells of other organs
26
Where are hormones secreted?
into the bloodstream
27
Which is the main gland in the endocrine system?
Pituitary gland as it controls other glands
28
What is the role of the hypothalamus?
regulates the endocrine system connected to pituitary gland and stimulates and controls its release of hormones
29
What is the role of the pituitary gland?
the master gland secretes stimulating hormones into the bloodstream to activate other glands to produce hormones involved in negative feedback loop: reduces amount of stimulating hormones secreted when hypothalamus detects target hormones in bloodstream
30
What is the role of the thyroid gland?
releases thyroxine - regulates metabolism metabolism is involved in the chemical process of converting food into energy
31
What is the role of the adrenal glands?
Adrenal medulla - releases adrenaline and noradrenaline Adrenal cortex - releases cortisol
32
What does cortisol do?
Stimulates the release of glucose to provide the body with energy while suppressing the immune system
33
What is the role of the ovaries?
releases oestrogen which controls the regulation of the female reproductive system (menstrual cycle, pregnancy)
34
What is the role of the testes?
produces testosterone which is responsible for the development of male sex characteristics (muscle growth, sperm production)
35
What is the feedback loop?
If there is not enough hormone circulating in the blood, the endocrine glands make more, increasing blood hormone levels If there is too much hormone, the glands stop producing it, leading to lower blood hormone levels
36
Describe the process of the feedback loop
The hypothalamus releases a hormone 1 This stimulates the pituitary gland to release hormone 2 This stimulates the target gland to to release hormone 3 Once enough is secreted, this hormone either inhibits the release of hormone 1 or hormone 2
37
How do neurons transmit signals?
No direct contact Neurons carry action potentials, once they reach the presynaptic terminal it triggers the release of neurotransmitters from synaptic vesicles The neurotransmitters diffuse across a synapse to or from the CNS
38
What do hormones do when they reach their target cell?
Stimulate receptors on the surface or inside of cells This causes a physiological reaction in the cell altering its activity
39
What are the differences between the SNS and ANS?
SNS - sensory and motor pathways - voluntary ANS - motor only - involuntary ANS controls internal organs and glands SNS controls skeletal muscle, movement ANS controls centres in the brain stem and hypothalamus SNS carries commands from the motor cortex
40
What are sensory neurons?
long dendrites carry information from senses to the brain
41
What are relay neurons?
many dendrites, short axon passes information from neuron to neurons
42
What are motor neurons?
long axons carry movement signals to muscles from CNS
43
Which neuron is only found in the CNS?
Relay
44
Which neuron carries nerve impulses from the brain/spinal cord to the muscles/glands?
Motor
45
Which neuron carries nerve impulses between neurons?
Relay
46
What is a reflex arc?
Starts at a sensory neuron at a receptor then a relay neuron in the spinal cord processes pain signals sends a motor signal to the motor neurons at an effector quickly
47
Which neurons are found in the SNS?
Sensory Motor
48
Which neurons are found in the ANS?
Motor
49
Explain the structure of a neuron
Cell body contains the nucleus Dendrites extend from the cell body Carries electrical impulses from other neurons towards the cell body Axon carries impulses away from cell body Covered by a sheath of myelin which increases the speed at which the electrical impulses travel Breaks in the myelin sheath called nodes of Ranvier of which action potentials jump between to speed up transmission
50
What are nodes of Ranvier?
Breaks in the myelin sheath of which action potentials jump between To speed up transmission
51
What is myelin sheath and what is its purpose?
Fatty substance Increases speed at which electrical impulses travel
52
What are excitatory neurotransmitters?
make the post-synaptic cell more likely to carry an excitatory post-synaptic potential (EPSP) (fire)
53
What is an example of an excitatory neurotransmitter?
noradrenaline
54
What are inhibitory neurotransmitters?
make the post-synaptic cell more likely to carry an inhibitory post-synaptic potential (IPSP) (not fire)
55
What is an example of an inhibitory neurotransmitter?
serotonin
56
What is meant by summation?
whether the post-synaptic neuron carries anaction potential will depend on the overall sum of excitatory vs inhibitory neurotransmitters received
57
Explain excitatory and inhibitory effects
Info is passed down the axon of the neuron as an action potential Once the action potential reaches the axom terminal button it crosses the synaptic cleft between the pre-synaptic and post-synaptic neuron When the action potential reaches the synaptic vesicles at the end of the neuron, they release neurotransmitters which carry a signal They bind to receptor sites in the post-synaptic cell that then become activated This either produces excitatory or inhibitory effects on the post-synaptic cell Whether the post-synaptic neuron fires will depend on the summation of these effects
58
AO3 Taylor et al Research on the fight or flight response may be gender-biased
females- tend and befriend may be because females evolved in the context of being the primary caregiver
59
AO3 Lee and Harley Research on the fight or flight response may be gender-biased
SRY gene directs aggression in males may be responsible for stress - producing adrenaline females do not carry this gene and higher more oestrogen and oxytocin
60
AO3 LINK Research on the fight or flight response may be gender-biased
WEAKNESS evidence suggests both genders respond with some differences to stressful situations this needs to be considered for a complete explanation
61
AO3 EVIDENCE Fight or flight can have negative consequences
Increased blood pressure caused by adrenaline can lead to damaged heart vessels and heart disease Release of high levels of cortisol can weaken the immune system
62
AO3 LINK Fight or flight can have negative consequences
High number of modern-day stressors e.g employment, study negative effect on health and wellbeing Research conducted should consider response may not be adaptive
63
AO3 Gray There may be more reactions to stress than the fight or flight response
argues 1st stage of stress is freeze to avoid confrontation state of hyper-vigilance where information is collected to make the optimal decision to avoid a particular threat
64
AO3 Von Dawans et al There may be more reactions to stress than the fight or flight response
stress increased cooperative and friendly behaviour suggests human can respond socially and collectively to stress rather than 'fight or flight' or 'tend and befriend'
65
AO3 LINK There may be more reactions to stress than the fight or flight response
WEAKNESS human response to stress may be more complex and varied than proposed More research should be done to explore this
66
Evaluations for the 'Fight or Flight' response
- Research on the fight or flight response may be gender-biased - Fight or flight can have negative consequences - There may be more reactions to stress than the fight or flight response

BIOPSYCH (2 decks)

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