6. Biopsychology Flashcards

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1
Q

How do cells transmit information to each other?

A

By using electrical signals

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2
Q

What is a cell called if it can both transmit and receive electrical signals?

A

Neuron

Or neuronal cell

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3
Q

Cells use electrical signals to communicate with one another. What is the name of these electrical signals?

A

Action potentials or Nerve impulses

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4
Q

What are the 4 main structural components of a neuron?

A
  1. Dendrites
  2. Cell body
  3. Axon
  4. Axon terminal
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5
Q

Describe the process of how action potentials travel across the neuron.

A
  1. Small wave of positively charged particles flow into dendrites
  2. Causes an increase in voltage throughout the cell
  3. Particles then travel to cell body + If the change in voltage is large enough, the action potential is triggered
  4. Activation potential travels down axon to reach axon terminal
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6
Q

What process needs to occur for two neurons to communicate?

A

Synaptic transmission

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7
Q

Synaptic transmission

A

The process where the activation potential is transferred from the axon terminal of one neuron to the dendrite of another

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8
Q

Draw the structure of the synapse

A
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9
Q

Outline the process of synaptic transmission.

A
  1. Action potential arrives at pre-synaptic terminal, causing synaptic vesicles to travel to pre-synaptic membrane
  2. Synaptic vesicles fuse with pre-synaptic membrane, causing neurotransmitters to be released into synaptic cleft
  3. Neurotransmitters difuse across the synaptic cleft and towards the post-synaptic terminal, where they bind with receptors
  4. Receptors then change shape, allowing + charged particles from synaptic cleft to enter dendrite
  5. Once neurotransmitters have bound the receptors, they diffuse back into synaptic cleft - They are then removed by re-uptake proteins located on pre-synaptic membrane - (Process is called re-uptake)
  6. If the charge is large enough, then an action potential can be triggered, causing the cycle to repeat itself
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10
Q

What is the name of the process that involves removing neurotransmitters from the synaptic cleft, after they have bound to a receptor?

A

Re-uptake

Important to note: Neurotransmitters are recycled in this stage

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11
Q

Why does synaptic transmission only occur in only one direction?

A
  • Synaptic vesicles which contain the neurotransmitters are only released from the pre-synaptic membrane
  • Receptors, (which neurotransmitters bind to), are only located on the post-synaptic membrane
  • Diffusion of neurotransmitters means they can only move from a high to a low concentration
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12
Q

What are the two types of neurotransmitter?

A
  1. Excitatory
  2. Inhibitory
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13
Q
A
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14
Q
A
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15
Q

What was the aim of Sperry’s study?

A

To examine the extnet to which hemispheres are specialised for specific functions

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16
Q

What was the procedure used by Sperry?

A
  1. 11 Ps
  2. All Ps have had corpos collosum split
  3. Split-brain patient is presented with a stimulus to either their right or left visual field
  4. Vision is organised contralatterally; therefore, stimuli placed in the left visual field will be represented in the right hemisphere and vice versa
  5. P would focus on a dot in the centre of the screen, while information was presented to a specific visual field
  6. After being shown stimulus, patient is asked to respond to it:
  • a. The describe what you see task meant patients had to say what they saw
  • b. The tactile task involved the P describing what they felt or by selecting an object that felt similar
  • c. Drawing task meant Ps had to cover there eyes and draw the stimulus they saw
17
Q

What were the results of Sperry’s study?

A
  • Patient could point to a matching stimulus no matter which side the stimulus was presented to
18
Q

What did Sperry conclude?

A
  • LH is dominant in terms of speech and language
  • Language is lateralised to the LH - Wernicke’s area and the Brocca
  • RH is dominant in terms of visual-motor skill
  • Communication and connectivity of the hemispheres is as important as specific functions
19
Q

AO3: 2 generalisability points of Sperry’s study.

A

1 - Small sample size of ‘different’ Ps
* Split-brain surgery is a rare procedure
* Only a small number of Ps can be studied
* These Ps are also ‘different’ from the rest of the population
* This matters because, results cannot be generalised

2 - External validity

  • Limited external validity, as stimulus was selectively presented to one visual field
  • This doesn’t happen in real-life and therefore lacks mundane realism
  • In real life, split-brain patients will compensate for severed corpus collosum by having access to both visual fields
  • This means the results cannot necessarily be generalised to split-brain patients
20
Q

AO3: 1 reliability point of Sperry’s study.

A
21
Q

AO3: 1 application point of Sperry’s study.

A
  • Strong applications to hemispherical lateralisation
  • Small sample size with unique surgery allowed Sperry to prove that both language formation and comprehension are hemispherically lateralised to the left hemisphere
  • This matters because……………..
22
Q

AO3: 1 validity point of Sperry’s study.

A
  • Lacks temporal validity
  • More recent studies have contradicted the results
  • Ex: Some studies have proven that language isn’t lateralised to the left hemisphere and some language tasks can be performed if stimulus is presented to left visual field
  • This matters because the results may no longer be applicable
  • Results may have differed due to technological advancement in the areas of scanning and surgery
23
Q

Hemispheric Lateralisation Further Evaluation Point: EB Case Study

A
  • 2 year old boy known as EB had a large tumour in his left hemisphere
  • When the doctor removed the tumour, they removed almost all of his left hemisphere
  • Because psychologists believed language to be hemispherically lateralised to LH, they thought he would never be able to use language again
  • However, after years of rehabilitation, his language skills started to improve
  • Daneli did tests on EB to test which parts of his brain were active during language task
  • Control Group = LH
  • EB = RH
  • This is due to recruitment of homologous areas
  • This case study matters, because it shows there are exceptions to Sperry’s conclusion

However, a counterpoint could be that this was a case study, which means that the results wouldn’t be largely generalisable

24
Q

Localisation of function

A

The concept that certain function in the brain being carried out in specific areas

Ex: Broca’s area is specific to language production

25
Q

The brain is divided into two halves. What are these halves called?

A

Hemispheres

26
Q

Hemispheric Lateralisation

A

The concept that different hemispheres perform different functions

27
Q

What are two main skills that are hemispherically lateralised to the left hemisphere?

A
  • Language comprehension
  • Language production
28
Q

What skills are hemispherically lateralised to the right hemisphere?

A

Spatial skills

29
Q

Which are the main functions where the two hemispheres work together in order to perform them?

A

All 5 senses and movement

30
Q
A