Bio and personality

Question 1

How does the chemistry of the mind work?

Answer 1

Neurons communicate with neurotransmitters
Hormones stimulate or inhibit neural activity
About 60 chemicals transmit information in the brain and body
People differ in average levels; but remember that it is impossible to measure neurotransmitters in a living human brain (most data are inferential)

Question 2

What do dendrites do?

Answer 2

projections on nerve cells that typically receive stimulation

Question 3

What do Axons do?

Answer 3

pass on stimulation from the nerve cell

Question 4

What do Afferent nerves do?

Answer 4

messages travel along these nerves from the body to the brain

Question 5

What do Efferent nerves do?

Answer 5

messages travel along these nerves from the brain to the body (muscles, glands, organs)

Question 6

What do Interneurons do?

Answer 6

: organize and regulate transmission between nerve cells; the biggest bundle of these is the brain

Question 7

What is the neurotransmitter dopamine related to?

Answer 7

Possible relation with bipolar disorder, extraversion, impulsivity, and schizophrenia
Involved in responding to reward and approaching attractive objects and people
Related to sociability, general activity level, and novelty-seeking

Question 8

What does dopamine activate?

Answer 8

Activates the behavioral activation system: reward seeking; strong BAS related to being energetic and impulsive

Question 9

What is the Reward- Deficiency Syndrome Theory?

Answer 9

related to problems with processing dopamine (alcoholism, drug abuse, smoking, compulsive overeating, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, pathological gambling)

Question 10

What are the Individual differences in development of nerve cells that produce and are responsive to dopamine?

Answer 10

related to motivation to seek rewards and enjoy them; related to extraversion (esp. the assertive, dominant, and outgoing facets)

Question 11

How is dopamine related to plasticity?

Answer 11

extraversion and openness

Question 12

What is serotonin?

Answer 12

• Role in inhibition of behavioral impulses, particularly emotional impulses; “soothing/smoothing”
• benefits of avoiding excessive worrying, being too quick to anger, and being oversensitive

Question 13

What is Serotonin depletion syndrome?

Answer 13

Dangerous criminals, arsonists, and violent, suicidal individuals
Irrational anger, hypersensitivity to rejection, chronic pessimism, obsessive worry, and fear of risk taking

Question 14

What is Prozac?

Answer 14

a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI)

Question 15

What are the physical and psychological effects of prozac?

Answer 15

Physical effect: increases serotonin effectiveness
Psychological effects: controversial
Makes negative emotions less severe and doesn’t affect positive emotions

Question 16

What are Hormones?

Answer 16

biological chemicals that affects the body in a location different from where the chemical is produced

Question 17

What are the hormones; Epinephrine and norepinephrine (used to be called adrenaline and noradrenaline)?

Answer 17

Norepinephrine functions as both a neurotransmitter (in the CNS) and as a hormone in the body
Released in respond to stress; create the fight-or-flight response
Anxiety, neuroticism (think amphetamine effects)
Low levels implicated in some depression

Question 18

Fact about Testosterone?

Answer 18

-About 10 times higher concentration in men (regulated by the hypothalamus)

Question 19

Is testosterone linked with aggression?

Answer 19

Link with aggression is complex: some studies have found that high levels of testosterone (T) are related to aggression and behavioral control problems and criminal behaviors such as assault and drug use, but men with high T are not always aggressive

Question 20

What behaviors is testosterone related to for men?

Answer 20

(sociability, self-acceptance, dominance, frustration when things don’t get done, sexual experience) and women (unprovoked violent crime, sexual interest and desire, sociability, impulsivity, lower inhibition and conformity)

Question 21

Is there a causal direction between behavior and testosterone?

Answer 21

Unknown causal direction between T and behavior: T increased among fans of winning soccer team and decreased among fans of losing team; sexual activity may increase T, not the other way around

Question 22

What is Cortisol?

Answer 22

Released in response to stress (fight or flight response)
Chronically high levels in people with severe stress, anxiety, and depression
Low levels related sensation seeking
In PTSD, levels are low, despite high arousal in “stress circuits” in the brain (e.g., the amygdala and norepinephrine systems)

Question 23

What is Oxytocin?

Answer 23

The “love hormone”
Role in mother-child bonding—and father-child bonding, romantic attachment, and sexual response
Decreases fearfulness, increases sociability and relaxation

Question 24

What are research methods used for in studying the brain?

Answer 24

make it possible to observe which parts of the brain are most active.

Question 25

Frontal lobes and neocortex seem to play a role in:

Answer 25

social understanding and self-control.
emotions and decision making.
how people respond to pleasant and unpleasant stimuli

Question 26

The chemical that is released in response to stress and prepares the body for fight-or-flight is?

Answer 26

epinephrine