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A2 Biopsychology Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the strengths of localisation of function?

A

. Phineas gage ‘no longer gage’ after injury to frontal lobe

.brain scans- Peterson (1988) found only Broca’s area used in reading task and only wernickes area used in listening task

. Neurosurgical evidence- Dougherty (2002) put lesions in cingulate gyrus of OCD sufferers- 30% made full recovery, 14% made partial recovery

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2
Q

What are the limitations of localisation of function

A

Lashley’s rats- removed 10-50% of rats brains and no area affected them doing the maze more than others- shows their brains work holistically.

Plasticity- if brain undergoes trauma in some cases brain is able to reorganise itself to regain function- shows holism

Dick and Trembly- found only 2% of modern researches believe language is completely controlled by B and W areas- fMRI scans have showed language is holistic

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3
Q

What is hemispheric lateralisation

A

The idea that the two halves of the brain are functionally different and that each hemisphere has specific functions

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4
Q

Is language lateralised?

A

Yes- B and W areas are both in the left hemisphere

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5
Q

What side of the brain contributes to emotional context?

A

Right

RH is the synthesiser

LH is the analyser

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6
Q

Is movement lateralised?

A

No- but it is cross wired (contralateral wiring) RH controls movement on left and vice Versa

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7
Q

Is vision lateralised

A

No- it is both contralateral and ipsilateral each eye gets info from RVF and LVF and each is processed in the opposite side of the brain (LH or RH)

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8
Q

Outline Sperry’s experiment

A

Tested on 11 males with commissurotomy’s

Patients would stare at cross in the middle of a screen and either and image or a word would flash in the LVF and RVF

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9
Q

What were the findings of Sperry’s experiment

A

Describe what you see- when object or word was displayed in right RVF the patient could easily describe it as was processed in LH

Recognition by touch- although patients could not verbally say what they saw in LVF and processed in RH they could pick up the object they saw when presented with and array of different things- they could also select the most similar (cigarette- ashtray etc)

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10
Q

What were the findings of Sperry’s experiment

A

If word or object shown in RVF patient could easily say what it was as processed by LH. If object or word shown in LVF patient could not remember was they saw

Even though patients could not verbally describe stimulus in LVF they could pick up the object from behind a screen- they could also select object most similar to the one they saw (cigarette- ashtray etc)

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11
Q

What were the findings of Sperry’s research

A

If word or object shown in RVF patient could easily say what it was as processed by LH. If object or word shown in LVF patient could not remember was they saw

Even though patients could not verbally describe stimulus in LVF they could pick up the object from behind a screen- they could also select object most similar to the one they saw (cigarette- ashtray etc

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12
Q

What does Sperry’s research tell us about hemispheric lateralisation

A

RH is non verbal

LH is verbal

RH can still process information non verbally

When racy image showed in LVF patient would giggle even though they didn’t know what they saw

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13
Q

What are the strengths of hemispheric lateralisation

A

Highly scientific supporting evidence- Fink et Al (1996) identified with PET scans that during a visual task when an image was looked at holistically RH was more active but when asked to focus on details LH was more active

Real world applications- Gazzaniga found that spilt brain patients are better at identifying an odd one out in a group because LH has better cognitive abilities which are not interfered with by RH. Rogers showed chickens with spilt brains could feed and look for predators simultaneously.

High internal validity of evidence- Sperry’s experiment was highly controlled- cross used to focus on etc

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14
Q

What is a limitation of hemispheric lateralisation?

A

Sperry’s research lacks generalisability- only carried out on 11 men all who previously had severe epilepsy

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15
Q

What is the definition of plasticity

A

Your brains ability to change and adapt as a result of new experiences and learning. As a child you have thousands of synapses per neuron but these are cut by ‘synaptic pruning’ suggesting your brain can change during adulthood.

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16
Q

What is the definition of functional recovery

A

When brain adapts to trauma by getting other parts of brain to carry out function of damaged part

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17
Q

Outline maguires study

A

Compared brains of black cab drivers to control group chosen by matched pairs design

Significantly more grey matter in posterior hippocampus of black cab drivers

Posterior hippocampus is for spatial awareness

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18
Q

What are the strengths of plasticity

A

Maguires experiment highly controlled- used matched pairs design and MRI scans to gather data

Draganski observed 3 medical students before and after exam and all 3 had either larger or more connections in posterior hippocampus and parietal cortex

Michelli found that people who were bilingual had bigger parietal cortex’s than people who weren’t

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19
Q

What are the strengths of plasticity

A

Maguires experiment highly controlled- used matched pairs design and MRI scans to gather data

Draganski observed 3 medical students before and after exam and all 3 had either larger or more connections in posterior hippocampus and parietal cortex

Michelli found that people who were bilingual had bigger parietal cortex’s than people who weren’t

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20
Q

What is a limitation of plasticity

A

Maguires results may not be reliable- none of the taxi drivers were tested before they took their ‘knowledge test’

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21
Q

How does Jody support idea of plasticity and functional recovery

A

Had RH removed at 3

LH took up all the function of RH

Can function almost perfectly with only slight paralysis on left side

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22
Q

What happens to the brain during recovery

A

New synaptic connections

Secondary neural pathways created

Axonal sprouting

Denervation super sensitivity

Recruitment of the homologous area

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23
Q

What are the strengths of functional brain recovery

A

Real work application- help people recover from strokes etc. strapping hand behind back ( constraint induced movement therapy)

Supporting evidence- Bezzola gave people aged 40-60 40 hours of golfing lessons and their brain structures changed

Schneider found that people who stayed in education for 16 years had 40% chance of recovering from traumatic brain injuries- if in education for under 12 years 10% chance of recovery

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24
Q

What is a limitation of functional recovery

A

Not always a good thing- phantom limb syndrome occurs when somatoes sensory area remains idle for too long and another part of the brain takes up its function

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25
Q

What is a limitation of functional recovery

A

Not always a good thing- phantom limb syndrome occurs when somatoes sensory area remains idle for too long and another part of the brain takes up its function

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26
Q

How does an fMRI scan work

A

Measures changes of blood flow in brain using radio waves and a magnetic field. As a result of these changes in blood flow, researchers can produce a map showing which areas of the brain are being used

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27
Q

What are the strengths of fMRI

A

No radioactive tracer (risk free)

Clear, high resolution images

Shows where functions are localised

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28
Q

What are the weaknesses of fMRI

A

Very expensive

Patient must remain still for long period of time (bad for children, ADHD and the elderly)

Poor temporal resolution (5 second delay between event and imaging)

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29
Q

How does an EEG work

A

Measures electrical activity in the brain. Electrodes on the scalp pick up small electrical activity from functioning brain cells. When the signals from different electrodes are graphed over a period of time you get an EEG

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30
Q

What are the strengths of EEG

A

Can be used to diagnose epilepsy, sleep disorders, Alzheimer’s

High temporal resolution (detects electrical activity in under 1 second)

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31
Q

What are the weaknesses of EEG

A

General measure- only picks up on groups of neurons firing electrical impulses not individual

Researchers can find it hard to decipher when different but adjacent areas are firing

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32
Q

How does an ERP work

A

Using an statistical averaging technique researchers can tease out all extraneous brain activity from original EEG leaving only the brain activity related to the presentation of a specific stimulus.

What remains are event related potentials: types of brainwaves that are triggered by particular events. Research has revealed many different forms of ERP that can be linked to cognition or perception

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33
Q

What are strengths of ERP

A

More specific than EEG readings

Very good temporal resolution as derived from EEG

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34
Q

What are the weaknesses of ERP

A

To be successful all interference must be eliminated

Not standardised- lots of different ways it is done depending on the researches

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35
Q

How does a post mortem work?

A

Used to establish the underlying neurobiology of a particular behaviour. For example, researches study a person who displays interesting behaviour that could stem from brain damage. Then when the person dies they can examine their brain to see if they were right. An example of this is Broca and Tan

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36
Q

What are biological rhythms

A

Distinct patterns of changes in body activity that conform to cyclical time periods. For example the sleep-wake cycle. These cycles are influenced by endogenous pacemakers and exogenius zeitgebers.

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37
Q

What is a cycle that occurs ONCE every 24 hours called

A

Circadian rhythm

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38
Q

What cycle takes more than 24 hours to complete

A

Infradian rhythm

39
Q

What is the name of a cycle that occurs more than once every 24 hours called

A

Ultradian rhythm

40
Q

What is the sleep wake cycle

A

7.30 am melatonin secretion stops

9 pm melatonin secretion starts

41
Q

What is the body temperature cycle

A

4.30 am lowest body temperature

7pm highest body temperature

42
Q

What is Sieffre’s cave study and what did it find out

A

Lived in a cave in the alps for 2 months and a cave in Texas for 6 months with no natural light and no alarm clock. He found that his natural biological rhythm remained at 24-25 hours and he woke up and fell asleep on a regular schedule.

43
Q

What does sieffres study tell us about EP and EZ

A

Our sleep wake cycle is mainly dictated by EP

44
Q

What was Folkard’s study

A

People had to live in cave with no natural light for 3 weeks and go to sleep at 11.45 and wake up at 7.45. Clock on wall completed full cycle in 22 hours not 24

45
Q

What were the findings of Folkards study and what did it show

A

Participants were unable to adjust showing EP are more influential

46
Q

What are two strengths of circadian rhythms

A

Real world application- Boivin (1996) found that night shift workers lose concentration at around 6 am and are more prone to accidents so breaks and artificial sunlight can be used to help this

Real world application- chronotheraputics can be implemented- aspirin better at preventing heart attacks if given late at night than earlier in the day

47
Q

What are two weaknesses of circadian rhythms

A

Lack of generalisability- people who volounteer to stay in caves for months or weeks are likely to be of a certain demographic and have similar characteristics- leaving many groups not represented

Differences- Czeiser found that people have different sleep cycles from 13-65 hours. Some people are ‘larks’ while others are ‘owls’ . Old people likely to have different sleep cycles (go to sleep early wake up early)

48
Q

Summarise the menstrual cycle

A

Day 1 bleeding

Day 7 oestrogen increases

Day 14 ovulation

Day 21 progesterone increases

Day 28 end of cycle

49
Q

Summarise the stages of sleep (ultradian rhythm)

A

Stage 1- 5 mins- change from wake to sleep, brainwaves are high frequency- alpha waves

Stage 2- 40-50 mins- light sleep- breathing and heart rate slow. spend half your sleep in this stage- alpha waves

Stage 3- 4- 15-20 mins- deep sleep moving to very deep sleep. Muscles relax, slow breathing, hard to wake. Waves have lower frequency and higher amplitude. Delta waves (slow wave sleep)

Stage 5 (REM)- rapid eye movement. Brain is very active so waves speed up. Dreaming occurs, hear rate and blood pressure increases, sleep paralysis may occur

Stage

50
Q

what was McClintocks study into infradian rhythms

A

had 29 participants with irregular periods

9 of the participants acted as ‘donors’ and gave pheromone samples everyday by having a cotton pad under their armpit for 8 hours, the other 20 participants would then rub this pheromone on their top lip.

51
Q

what were the findings of McClintocks study into infradian rhythms

A

68% of women saw a shift in their menstruaol cycles closer to their ‘odour donor’

52
Q

what did McClintock find about infradian rhythms and university students

A

those who lived together in un diversity halls tended to synchronise their periods

53
Q

how is seasonal affective disorder an example of infradian rhythm

A

depressed in winter and not so much in summer

Florida- effects 1.4% of population

Maine- effects 10% of population

correlation with sunlight levels as less light means melatonin secreted for longer which has an effect on melatonin

54
Q

what is a strength of infradian rhythms

A

real world application- SAD led to the establishment of light therapy where a Lightbox is used to reset melatonin levels- Sanassi found this relieved symptoms in 80% of sufferers.

55
Q

what are the limitations of infradian rhythms

A

Confounding variables- McClintock failed to control variables such as diet, stress and exercise which can impact timing of menstrual cycle

generalisability- McClintock only studied 29 women

poor real world application- Rohan found 46% of people who did light therapy relapsed the next winter compared to 27% of those who did CBT

56
Q

what is a strength of ultradian rhythms

A

real world application- scientists discovered through observing slow wave sleep that it is less common in old age. this is when growth hormone is produced so explains things such as lack of awareness, medication then can be prescribed to treat this.

57
Q

what is a limitation of ultradian rhythms

A

low external validity- research is m mainly done on people sleeping in an unnatural setting or knowing they will be observed, such as Dement and Kleitman’s experiment which observed 9 people in a sleep lab using an EEG.

58
Q

what are endogenous pacemakers

A

internal body clocks that maintain many of our biological rhythms

59
Q

what are exogenous zeitgebers

A

external factors which effect our biological rhythms

60
Q

what is an example of an endogenous pacemaker

A

the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN)

61
Q

what does the SCN do

A

bundle of nerve cells in hypothalamus

maintains sleep/wake cycle as nerve fibres from eye which detect light run just underneath it- SCN receives info about light and influences level of melatonin

62
Q

what are two pieces of research into the SCN

A

DeCoursey’s chipmunks

Ralph’s hamsters

63
Q

what was DeCoursey’s chipmunk experiment

A

Destroyed SCN in 30 chipmunks and returned them to wild

their sleep wake cycle was completely off and many were killed because of this

64
Q

what was Ralph’s hamster experiment

A

bred ‘mutant’ hamsters with a 20 hour sleep wake cycle

SCN cells of mutant hamster put in normal hamster who were then on 20 hour sleep wake cycle

65
Q

how is light an example of an EZ

A

reset the Bodie’s main EP the SCN and effects the sleep wake cycle

66
Q

what was Campbell and Murphy’s experiment into light as an EZ

A

wanted to see if light could be detected by the without the eyes

woke 15 participants up at random times in the night and shone light on the back of their knees

there was deviation up to 3 hours of some participants sleep wake cycles

67
Q

what are social cues (EZ)

A

external factors such as meal times and bed times which influence biological rhythms

68
Q

what are the limitations of endogenous pacemakers

A

over simplified- Damiola found that cahnging feeding pattern of mice could alter circadian rhythm of liver by 12 hours while SCN remained the same- shows SCN may not be most important EP

animal studies- supported by chipmunks and hamsters. cannot be generalised to humans and ethical issues

69
Q

what are the strengths of endogenous pacemakers

A

sieffre and folkard

chipmunks and hamsters

70
Q

what are the strengths of exogenous zeitgebers

A

real world application- research showed that light exposure on people who do East-West flights recover from jet lag- good for economy as persuades more people to fly and people travelling on business can work. more effectively

71
Q

what are the different lobes in the brain

A

frontal

parietal

temporal

occipital

72
Q

what is a ‘lobe’

A

a part of an organ that differs from the rest

73
Q

describe the somatosensory area

A

located at the front of the parietal lobes

separated from motor area by a ‘valley’

where sensory information from the skin is represented

the amount of the area dedicated to a body part denotes its sensitivity- face and hands take up over half of it

74
Q

describe the motor area

A

back of the frontal lobes

controls movements on opposite side of the body

damage can lead to loss of fine movements

75
Q

describe the visual area

A

in occipital lobe

left gets info from RFV

right gets info from LFV

damage to this area can result in partial blindness in each eye (dependant on side)

76
Q

describe the auditory area

A

temporal lobes

analyses speech based info

the more severe the damage the more extensive the loss

77
Q

describe the Broca’s area

A

located in left frontal lobe

for speech production

based off post mortum of Tan (only word he could say)

damage leads to Broca’s aphasia which is characterised by slow speech that lacks fluency

78
Q

describe Wernicke’s area

A

located in left temporal lobe

for speech comprehension

damage leads to wernicke’s aphasia- characterised by fluent speech of nonsense words (neologisms)

79
Q

what is contradictory evidence against lateralisation (ao3)

A

Nielsen analysed brain scans of 1000 people from 7-29 and found that while people did use different hemispheres for different tasks there was no evidence for a stronger side. notion of left brained and right brained people is therefore wrong

80
Q

what is supporting research for lateralisation

A

Luck’s research into Michael gazzaniga found that people with split brains were better at things such as identifying an odd one out. supports Kingstone’s idea that the LH’s better cognitive strategies are ‘watered down’ by the RH

rogers chickens

81
Q

what is the definition of plasticity

A

the idea that the brain has the ability to change throughout life.

82
Q

what did Gopnick find

A

number of synapses per neutron peaks at 15,000 at 2-3 years old- twice as many in the adult brain.

83
Q

what is synaptic pruning

A

when unused synaptic connections are deleted while frequently used ones are strengthened. this is how plasticity works

84
Q

what are two studies that support plasticity

A

Maguire

draganski

85
Q

what is functional recovery

A

when the brain recovers from trauma by other areas of the brain taking up the functions of damaged areas. this can happen rapidly (spontaneous recovery) before slowing down over the next few weeks and months when therapy may be needed for further improvement.

86
Q

what is the evaluation for plasticity

A

bezzola

bi-lingual

87
Q

what is the evaluation for functional recovery

A

constraint therapy

school

jody

88
Q

what is contrasting evidence for exogenous zeitgebers (AO3)

A

blind man with 24.9 hour sleep wake cycle was exposed to cues such as regular mealtimes and waking times etc but this did not fix the cycle

inuits in the artic circle maintain regular sleep wake cycles despite spending six months in total darkness

89
Q

what are newborn babies sleep wake cycles

A

random

90
Q

when do babies develop circadian rhythms

A

around 6 weeks

91
Q

what are babies biological rhythms like by 16 weeks

A

depends on the schedules imposed by the parents- meal times and bed times etc

92
Q

what role does the pineal gland play in secretion of melatonin

A

the SCN passes information it receives on day length and light to the pineal gland. pineal gland then increases or decreases production of melatonin

93
Q

describe the SCN

A

tiny bundle of nerves in hypothalamus in each hemisphere

nerve fibres connected to the eye cross in the optic chiasm

the SCN lies just above the optic chiasm and receives info from this structure about light levels

continues to work even when eyes are closed

94
Q
A

Psychology (13 decks)

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