Biological Psychology Flashcards
Brain hemispheres
In general, the left hemisphere controls the right side of the body (e.g. the right hand) and vice versa. The left side also controls language.
sulcus (sulci (pl))
The grooves of the brain folds
gyrus (gyri (pl))
the folds of the brain surface
cerebellum
Part of the brain at the back of the skull which coordinates and regulates muscle activity
cerebrum
the main part of the brain (consists of the hemispheres) that handles conscious thoughts and actions and more.
brain stem
the bottom, stalklike portion of the brain. connects brain with spinal cord
synapse
a junction between two nerve cells, consisting of a minute gap across which impulses pass by diffusion of a neurotransmitter
neuron
fundamental units of the brain and nervous system, cells responsible for receiving sensory input from the external world, sending motor commands to our muscles and transforming and relaying electrical signals
action potential
A sudden, fast, transitory, and propagating change of the resting membrane potential. sending signals (information)
Prosopagnosia
Neurological disorder characterised by the inability to recognise faces
Capgras syndrome (CS)
A syndrome characterised by a false belief that an identical duplicate has replaced someone significant to the patient.
double dissociation
A situation in which a lesion of brain area A impairs function 1 but not function 2 while a lesion of brain area B produces the reverse patterns
Mirror neurons
A type of brain cell that responds equally when we perform an action and when we witness someone else perform the same action
Polysomnography (PSG)
A test used to measure sleep. Records brain waves, oxygen levels in blood, hear rate, breathing, eye movement, leg movement during sleep
EEG (brain activity) + EOG (eye movement) + EMG (muscle behaviour)
Perfect storm model
The addition of multiple factors severely impacting sleep (bioregulatory pressure, psychosocial pressure and societal pressure)
circadian rhythm
physical, mental and behavioural changes that follow a 24-hour cycle. Respond primarily to light and dark.
Rapid Eye Movement (REM)
stage of sleep associated with dreaming and memory consolidation
Suprachiasmatic Nucleus (SCN)
specialised group of hypothalamic cells, receives information about light exposure from ganglion cells in retina and activates melatoniin secretion by pineal gland
Sensation
the process of the sensory organs transforming physical energy into neurological impulses the brain interprets as sensesq
Perception
The organisation, identification and interpretation of sensory information
Phenomenology
study of subjective experiences
Psychophysics
psycho - related to mind and brain
physics - scientific study of matter or energy
Absolute Threshold
The smallest amount of stimulus energy necessary for an observer to detect a stimulus
Psychometric Function
an inferential psychometric model applied in detection and discrimination tasks
Just Noticeable Difference (JND)
the smallest difference between two stimuli that a person can detect
Weber’s Law
quantifying the perception of change in a given stimulus
the ratio of the JND and to the standard stimulus is constant
= 0.1
Retina
a layer at the back of the eyeball that contains cells sensitive to light, triggers nerve impulses that pass via the optic nerve to the brain, where a visual image is formed
Retinal Stabilisation
images that remain immobile on the retina fade –> in order to reduce visual clutter
Cornea
The transparent layer forming the front of the eye
Pupil
the dark circular opening in the centre of the iris of the the eye, which varies in size to regulate the amount of light reaching the retina
Crystalline Lens
the transparent elastic structure behind the iris which is focused on the retina of the eye
Fovea
a small depression within the neurosensory retina where visual acuity is the highest
Optic Nerve
a nerve compromised of millions of nerve fibres that send visual messages to your brain to help you see
Astigmatism
A defect in the eye or in a lens that causes a deviation from the the spherical curvature, which results in distorted images, as light rays are prevented from meeting at a common focus
Photoreceptor
A structure within the eye that responds to light falling on it
Rod
A type of photoreceptor in the retina that are sensitive to light levels and give us good vision in low light
Cone
A type of photoreceptor cell in the retina that gives us our colour vision. They are concentrated in an area called the macula and help us see fine details.
Phototransduction
The sensory transduction process of the visual system by which light is detected to yield nerve impulses in the rod cells and cone cells in the retina
Bipolar Cell
Interneurons in the retina which transfer visual information from photoreceptors to amacrine and ganglion cells
Retinal Ganglion Cell
A type of neuron located near the inner surface of the retina of the eye. It receives visual information from photoreceptors via two intermediate neuron types: bipolar cells and amacrine cells