Biological approach Flashcards
What is the Biological Approach?
The biological approach combines psychology and biology to provide physiological explanations for human behaviour.
What does biological psychology explain?
It explains how we think, feel and behave in terms of physical factors within the body
What makes up the central nervous system?
Brain and the spinal cord
What is the name for the two halves of the brain?
Hemispheres
How many neurons are in the brain and spinal cord?
Roughly 12 billion
What are the two branches in the autonomic nervous system?
Sympathetic branch and Parasympathetic branch
What is the sympathetic branch?
The flight or fight response which is linked to survival and reproduction
What is the Parasympathetic branch?
You at rest
What is aphasia?
Someone who has lost the ability to understand or produce speech
What is the motor area of the brain responsible for?
Controlling movement
What is the somatosensory cortex/area?
The primary sensory area
What is the holistic theory of the brain?
All parts of the brain are used for an action / process
What does Localisation of brain functioning mean?
-The extent to which brain functions are controlled by each hemisphere of the brain
-If you damage an area of the brain, you damage the function that area is responsible for.
What is the acronym to remember the order of the lobes of the brain?
(from front to back)
Frontal lobe
Parietal lobe
Occipital lobe
Temporal lobe
What does the frontal lobe control?
Movement, personality, higher level thinking (e.g. problem solving)
What is the parietal lobe responsible for?
Processing information from our senses
What is the occipital lobe responsible for?
Vision
What is the Temporal Lobe responsible for?
Audio
Synaptic transmission process (6 steps)
1) An impulse arrives at the end of the presynaptic neurone
2) Pre synaptic vesicles move towards, and fuse with presynaptic membrane, this releases neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft
3) The neurotransmitters diffuse across the synaptic cleft
4) Neurotransmitters attach to receptors on the postsynaptic membrane
5) This triggers an impulse which travels along the post synaptic neurone
6) The neurotransmitters are recycled or destroyed once an impulse is sent
Schizophrenia
High levels of dopamine in the brain
How to treat Schizophrenia
Antipsychotics- needs to decrease dopamine levels
Depression
Low levels of serotonin
How to treat depression
Antidepressants- needs to increase serotonin
Anxiety
High levels of adrenaline
