(Abby) bio psychology - brain + behaviour (T1) Flashcards
what are some of the key assumptions in biological psychology
- the central nervous system is a major influence
on behaviour - behavioural & psychological development is assumed to be based on changes in the brain and general biology
- genes influence behaviour
what is the role of the brain and the spinal chord in the CNS
brain- draws together information from all over the body and sends information back out to the body in response
spinal chord- contains the nerves that carry messages between the brain and the body
define the CNS
- a central processor of information and the control centre for human behaviour
define the PNS
- branches out from the spinal chord and is a web of nerves carrying information to and from the CNS to the rest of the body
what are the 4 lobes of the brain from left to right and the acronym to remember them
- frontal lobe
- parietal lobe
- temporal lobe
- occipital lobe
- Funny Parrots Often Talk
what is the major function of the frontal lobe
- higher emotions and personality
- discission making and voluntary movement
what is the major function of the parietal lobe
- processing sensory information
what is the major function of the occipital lobe
- visual cortex and main function is vision
what is the major function of the temporal lobe
- venter for memory and learning
- hearing and language
describe what the pre frontal cortex is
- part of the frontal lobe and sits behind the forehead
- late to fully develop and only full functional in out 20s
- has executive functions like inhibiting inappropriate responses, decision making and motivational behaviour
give some info on the case study of phineas gage
- how the structure of the brain affects behaviour
- a series of case studies was done on people who suffered damage to the brain
name the left and right brain functions
left- analytic thought
- logic
- language
- science and math
right- holistic thought
- intuition
- creativity
- art & music
what is the corpus callosum and what’s its role
- massive bundle of neurons joining the 2 hemispheres together and its main function is to ensure communication between the 2
what are the ventricles in the brain
- a linked system of cavities that are filled with cerebrospinal fluid
- this fluid bathes and cushions the brain and ensures the chemical stability of the brain
what is the limbic system
- a complex system of structures and nerve networks deep inside the brain
- linked to instinct and mood
- some of the oldest parts of the brain in evolutionary terms and play a role in survival
what are the 6 parts of the limbic system
- frontal lobe
- thalamus
- temporal lobe
- amygdala
- hypothalamus
- olfactory bulb
define what a neuron is and its main role
- a specialised cell within the nervous system
- function is to communicate with thousands of other cells at a time in huge networks
- these networks adapt as we have new experiences
what is the main function of a synapse
- it is a small gap between the pre and post synaptic cleft
fill out a diagram of a synapse from left to right
- synaptic cleft
- vesicle
- pre-synaptic neuron
- protein receptors
- neurotransmitters
what is the role of a neuron
- make chains with each other forming a passage way that allows messages to be sent from one part of the brain to another
- they form new or pre existing connections every time we learn something new
what are 3 examples of neurotransmitters
- serotonin
- dopamine
- noradrenaline
what is the 1st step of synaptic transmission
- an action potential moves down the pre-synaptic neuron and causes the vesicles filled with neurotransmitter to move close to the terminal membrane
what is the 2nd step of synaptic transmission
- the vesicles fuse with the terminal membrane in a process called exocytosis
- this causes the neurotransmitter to be released into the synaptic cleft
what is the 3rd step of synaptic transmission
- the neurotransmitter binds with protein receptors in the post synaptic neuron and the pre-synaptic neuron on both:
- activation of receptors on the post synaptic neuron causes it to increase the probability of producing an action potential
- activation of the auto receptors on the pre-synaptic neuron causes the pre-synaptic neuron to stop releasing neurotransmitter
what are the 3 ways in which the neurotransmitters from synaptic transmission can be removed
- re-uptake
- broken down/degraded by enzymes
- diffusion
what are the strengths of the research on synaptic transmission when evaluating
- most of the research is done using brain scans such as pet scans which provide objective, reliable evidence of brain functioning, increasing the scientific credibility
what are the weaknesses of the research on synaptic transmission when evaluating
- much of the evidence in this field has come from studying animals which is hard to generalise to humans
- individual differences ae not taken into account as its assumed that everyone’s brains uses synaptic transmission the same way
what are recreational drugs and give an example
- drugs that are not taken for medicinal purposes like cocaine or LSD
what are reward pathways in the brain
- circuits of structures and nerves that are linked to the activities of a certain neurotransmitter, in particular dopamine
describe the dopamine pathway
- activated by natural rewarding behaviours like eating which stimulates the normal release of dopamine
- they are releases in certain areas of the brain like the nucleus, accumbens, VTA in the limbic system and the frontal cortex
define euphoria
- an intense pleasurable feeling often referred to as a high
what is the info we need to know about cocaine
- a highly addictive CNS stimulant extracted from the leaves of a coco plant
- it disrupts the normal functioning of the dopamine pathways in the brain
how does cocaine work/ what does it do
- it works by blocking the transporter receptors on the presynaptic dopamine neurons in the VTA
- as a result, the pre-synaptic neurons do not reuptake dopamine meaning it remains in the synaptic cleft for longer
- this prolongs and intensifies the stimulation of the post synaptic neuron
- because the VTA activates another area of the brain that is associated with the euphoric feeling , the user experiences a high
define dysphoria
- an intense dissatisfaction, anxiety and discomfort
how does drug addiction occur (cocaine)
- the effects are not limited to reward pathways in the brain
- there ability to alter dopamine neurotransmission in the VTA is the most important
- the brain is a self regulating system and reacts to this over production of dopamine by reducing how much dopamine you naturally produce
- this plasticity of the brain allows it to adapt to the changes imposed by the drug however not function normally without it
- the MOTIVATION to self administer becomes overpowering due to dysphoria
- this leads to repeated use and a high tolerance
what is heroin ?
- a drug made from morphine
- very effective pain relief, usually associated with chronic diseases
- highly addictive
what is the aim of the contemporary study, van den oever et al
- to investigate changes in synapses in the medial pre frontal cortex upon re exposure to heroin cues after long-term abstinence from self administration
describe stage 1 of van den oever et al study for experimental and control group
- experimental- placed in skinner style box and trained to self administer heroin by an audio visual cue
control- also placed in skinner style box however trained to self administer a sucrose solution by audio visual cues
describe stage 2 of van den oever et al study, abstinence and extinction
- abstinence- experimental group split into 2, half placed in a separate cage for 21 days during a period of forced abstinence
- extinction- other half of experimental group placed in self administration box for 21 days but no heroin during forced extinction
describe stage 3 of van den oever et al study re-exposure to drug associated cues
- half of each group was placed into a self administration box and re exposed to drug associated cues for 60 mins but no heroin
- the other half of each group was placed in self administration boxes but no drug associated cues and no heroin
describe stage 4 of van den oever et al study
- all rats decapitated and brains frozen and analysed using the mass spectrometry technique
- this allowed detection of subtle changes in receptors proteins in the synapse
what was the first result of van den oever et al study
- after a period of forced abstinence or extinction from heroin, rats that WERE associated with drug associated cues demonstrated a significantly higher amount of drug seeking behaviour
what was the 2nd results of van den oever et al study
- used mass spectrometry to study brains of rats
- rats that were exposed to drug associated cues had significantly lower than normal level of AMPA receptors
what was the 3rd result of van den oever et al study
- rats that hadnt been injected with the drug to prevent endocytosis showed significantly greater amount of drug seeking behaviour compared to those that had
what does deterministic mean
- suggests that relapse is beyond the control of the addicts meaning they have no free will
GRAVE of van den oever et al study GENERALISABILITY
- white wister rats were used which arent typical of the target population as the brain is similar but not identicle
+ reward pathways between the midbrain and prefrontal cortex that exist in humans and rats are alike
GRAVE of van den oever et al study RELIABILITY
+ all rats were trained with the same audio and visual cues and all had the same amount of time in abstinance
GRAVE of van den oever et al study APPLICATION
+ drug therapy for humans can be created such as needles and friends associated with the drug
GRAVE of van den oever et al study VALIDITY
+ the control group were trained to self administer sucrose and upon re exposure did not produce any changes in the synapse
- the study explained relapse by looking at changes in the synapse but did not consider other factors such as social factors
GRAVE of van den oever et al study ETHICS
+ the study cannot be done on humans as it would require them to be trained to self administer heroin and the brains would need to be removed for analysis
- catheters were inserted into the blood stream, they were trained to become addicted to heroin and they were killed
define hormones
- chemical substances produced in specialised glands and transported in blood to stimulate specific cells or organs into action
what role do hormones play in the role of human development in the womb
- in the womd the development of the brain is influenced by reproductive hormones
- the reproductive hormones impact on sex differences causing female and male brains to develop slightly differently
what role do hormones play in the role of human development in early childhood
- when a child is exposed to a stressful environment they release the stress hormone cortisol
- cortisol represses the immune system resulting in high levels of arousal
what role do hormones play in the role of human development in puberty and adulthood
- during puberty hormones influence changes in out bodies and mood
- the brain is also still changing during adulthood meaning hormonal imbalances in adulthood can result in brain changes making them more susceptible to things like depression
why have humans evolved to have a prolonged childhood
- longer childhood allows for more brain growth as we are the most complex creatures
- dont have to dedicate as much energy to growth so more can go to the brain
define evolution
- the gradual development of different kinds of living organisms from earlier forms throughout the history of earth
define natural selection
- gradual process by which hereditarian traits become more common or less common in the environment
what is evolutionary psychology
- a branch of psychology that looks at explaining human behaviour in terms of how any particular behaviour has aided us to survive
