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MCAT Behavioural Sciences > 1 Biology and behaviour > Flashcards

1 Biology and behaviour Flashcards

1
Q

Who is Franz Gall?

A

(1758-1828) One of the earliest theories that behaviour, intellect, and personality might be linked to brain anatomy.

Developed doctrine of phrenology (developed part of brain would be bigger and the bulge on the skull could be detected)

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2
Q

Who is Pierre Flourens?

A

(1794 - 1867). First person to study major sections of brain by extirpation/ablation on rabbits and pigeons

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3
Q

Who is Williams James?

A

(1842-1910). Father of American Psychology. Developed functionalism: how mental processes help individuals adapt to their environment

(to remember think of the Father of American Psychology developing theory to explain how European immigrants could adapt to North America).

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4
Q

Who is John Dewey?

A

(1859-1952). Believed psychology should focus on study of organism as a whole as it functioned to adapt to the environment.

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5
Q

Who is Paul Broca?

A

(1824-1880). Examined behavioural deficits of people with brain damage.

Broca found that a man unable to talk was unable to do so because of a lesion in a specific area on the left side of his brain (Broca’s area).

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6
Q

Who is Hermann von Helmholtz?

A

(1821-1894). First to measure speed of nerve impulse.

Because of this he is credited with transition of psychology into a field of natural science

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7
Q

Who is Sir Charles Sherrington?

A

(1857-1952). First inferred the existence of synapses. He erroneously thought these were electrical.

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8
Q

What are afferent neurons?

A

Sensory neurons. Transmit info from receptors to the spinal cord and brain.

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9
Q

What are efferent neurons?

A

Motor neurons. Transmit signals from the brain and spinal cord to muscles and glands.

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10
Q

What is the most numerous of the three types of neurons and where are they mostly located?

A

Interneurons. Found between other neurons.Predominantly located in CNS and linked to reflexive behaviour.

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11
Q

What are reflex arcs?

A

Neural circuits often involving interneurons. (e.g. stepping on a nail sensory neurons send info to interneurons in the spinal cord which then direclty communicate with motor neurons and produce a motor action before the sensory information has even reached the brain)

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12
Q

What are the two divisions of the peripheral nervous system (PNS)?

A

Somatic (sensory and motor neurons distributed throughout the skin, joints, and muscle) and autonomic (heartbeat, respiration, digestion, sweating, piloerection, and glandular secretion).

The autonomic is then divided into sympathetic and parasympathetic.

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13
Q

What is the neurotransmitter responsible for parasympathetic responses in the body?

A

Acetylcholine

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14
Q

What are the three layers of the brain meninges from shallow to deep?

A

Dura mater

Arachnoid mater

Pia mater

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15
Q

Where is cerebrospinal fluid produced?

A

Special cells within brain ventricles

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16
Q

What part of the brain is the basal ganglia located in and what is it responsible for?

A

Forebrain, movement

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17
Q

List all the principle structures in the forebrain

A
  • Cerebral cortex
  • Basal ganglia (movement)
  • Limbic system
  • Thalamus (sensory relay)
  • Hypothalamus (hunger and thirst, emotion)
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18
Q

List the principle structure in the midbrain and what they do

A

Inferior and superior colliculi.

Sensorimotor reflexes

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19
Q

List the principle structures in the hindbrain

A
  • Cerebellum (refined motor movements)
  • Medulla oblongata (Vital functioning, breathing, digesting)
  • Reticular formation (Arousal and alertness)
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20
Q

In prenatal life, the brain develops from the neural tube. At first, there are three swellings that correspond to the forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain. The forebrain and hindbrain then develop two swellings each which makes five in total. List them.

A

Prosencephalon (forebrain)

  • Telencephalon
  • Diencephalon

Mesencephalon (midbrain)

Rhombencephalon (hindbrain)

  • Metencephalon
  • Myelencephalon
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21
Q

What is the myelencephalon?

A

Part of the rhombencephalon (hindbrain) during embryonic development. Will go on to become medulla oblongata.

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22
Q

What is the metencephalon?

A

Part of the rhombencephalon (hindbrain) during embryonic development. Will go on to become pons (Contains sensory and motor pathways between cortex and medulla) and cerebellum.

23
Q

Alcohol impairs which brain structure disturbing speech and balance?

A

Cerebellum

24
Q

What is the mesencephalon?

A

Midbrain. Receives sensory and motor information from the rest of the body. Associated with involuntary reflexes.

Contains two nuclei collectively called colliculi.

Superior colliculus receives visual sensory input and the inferior colliculus receives sensory information from the auditory system (reflexes from sudden loud noises)

25
Q

What is the prosencephalon?

A

The forebrain. Associated with complex perceptual, cognitive, and behavioural processes. Emotion and memory. Only the forebrain is not necessarily needed for survival (you need midbrain and hindbrain).

During development divides into telencephalon (cerebral cortex, basal ganglia, and limbic system) and diencephalon (thalamus, hypothalamus, posterior pituitary gland, and pineal gland).

26
Q

What is regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF)?

A

Brain mapping method. Detects broad pattern of neural activity based on increased blood flow.

To measure blood flow, the patient inhales a harmless radioactive gas, as special device that can detect radioactivity in the bloodstream can then correlate radioactivity levels with regional cerebral blood flow.

27
Q

What is computed tomography (CT)?

A

Multiple x-rays are taken at different angles and processed by a computer to cross sectional slices of the tissue.

28
Q

What is positron emission tomography) (PET)?

A

Radioactive sugar is injected and absorbed into the body, and its dispersion and uptake throughout the target tissue is imaged.

29
Q

The thalamus receives all sensory information except that of which sense?

A

Smell. That goes to the olfactory bulb in the limbic system (still part of the forebrain, but not the thalamus)

30
Q

What part of the forebrain controls the autonomic nervous system?

A

Hypothalamus, which keeps homeostasis. Drives behaviour from hunger, thirst, and sexual behaviour.

31
Q

What is the lateral hypothalamus?

A

Hunger centre. Special receptors for detecting satiety. Drives eating and drinking. Ablation causes no eating or drinking to death.

32
Q

What is the ventromedial hypothalamus?

A

Satiety center. Provides signals to stop eating. Brain lesions usually cause obesity.

33
Q

What is the anterior hypothalamus?

A

Controls sexual behaviour, sleep, and body temperature.

34
Q

What diencephalon differentiated structure releases oxytocin and antidiuretic hormone (ADH/vasopressin)

A

Posterior pituitary, Comprised of axonal projections from the hypothalamus.

35
Q

What is the extrapyrimadidal system?

A

Tracts of motor neurons that travel through the pyramids of the medulla.

Part of basal ganglia. Gathers information about body position and carries this information to the central nervous system. Does not function directly through motor neurons.

Basal ganglia makes our movements and our posture steady. Destruction of parts of the basal ganglia associated with parkinsons.

36
Q

What are the three main components of the limbic system in the forebrain?

A
  • Septal nuclei (pleasure centre of the brain, associated with addictive behaviour)
  • Amygdala (fear and rage, lesions result in docility and hypersexual states)
  • Hippocampus (learning and memory, communicates with rest of the limbic system by the fornix)
37
Q

What are the folds and valleys in the brain called?

A

Gyri (folds) and sulci (valleys)respectively

38
Q

What are the four lobes of the cerebral cortex and their function?

A
  • Frontal lobe (a SUPERVISOR, prefrontal cortex and motor cortex, it is an association area and RECEIVES input from diverse brain regions)
39
Q

Where is the primary motor cortex located?

A

ON the fontal lobe of the cerebral cortex in front of the central sulcus and ON the precentral gyrus (just in front of parietal lobe)

40
Q

True or false. Broca’s area is only found in one hemisphere

A

TRUE. The dominant hemisphere (can be either left or right, but usually left)

41
Q

Where is the somatosensory cortex located?

A

On the poscentral gyrus (on the opposite side of the central sulcus from the primary motor cortex). On the PARIETAL lobe.

It is a projection area and the desitination for all incoming sensory signals for touch, pressure, temp, and pain.

42
Q

What is the striate cortex?

A

The visual cortex on the occipital lobe. Striate means striped (like striations) and this is how the occipital lobe appears under a microscope.

43
Q

What is Wernicke’s area?

A

language reception and comprehension. Located on temporal lobe.

44
Q

Why can stimulation of the temporal lobe evoke memories of past events?

A

The hippocampus is located deep inside the temporal lobe.

45
Q

Give an example of ipsilateral communication in the brain.

A

Hearing. Signal is received by temporal lobe on the same hemisphere as ear.

This is in contrast to most other sensory signals which use contralateral signaling (e.g. left eye signals to occipital lobe of right hemisphere)

46
Q

What is the dominant hemisphere of the brain?

A

It is whatever one is analytical. Can be left or right (but usually left) regardless of handedness.

The non-dominant hemisphere is creative and spatially specialized.

47
Q

Loss of cholinergic neurons connecting with the hippocampus is associated with ______

A

Alzheimer’s

48
Q

List the catecholamines and what they are responsible for (primarily).

A
  • Epinephrine (alertness and wakefulness)
  • Norepinephrine (neurotransmission)
  • Dopamine (movement, posture)

All involved in the experience of emotions

49
Q

How does GABA stabilize neural activity in the brain?

A

Causing hyperpolarization of the postsynaptic membrane

50
Q

How does glycine hyperpolarize the postsynaptic membrane and inhibit activity in the CNS?

A

Increases chloride influx into the neuron hyperpolarizes the postsynaptic membrane, similar to the function of GABA.

51
Q

What is the term for the type of behaviour that is programmed as a result of evolution and is seen in all individuals regardless of environment or experience?

A

Innate behaviour

52
Q

What is the term for the extent to which a trait or behaviour positively benefits a species by influencing the evolutionary fitness of the species thus leading to adaption through natural selection?

A

Adaptive value

53
Q

List the primitive reflexes of a human baby

A
  • Rooting reflex

MCAT Behavioural Sciences (12 decks)

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