Biological Psychology Flashcards
What are the 4 main parts of the brain and what does each part do?
Frontal lobe- decision making
Parietal lobe- language and movement
Occipital lobe- Sensory information
Temporal lobe- memory and emotions
Explain how a neurone works and name each part of the neurone in the answer.
An electrical impulse is detected at the dendrites and moves towards the axon hillock which then passes the impulse through many schwann cells which are surrounded by myelin sheath. Between each schwann cell there are knodes of ranvier. The electrical impulse then reaches the end of the neurone at the axon terminals
Outline the process of synaptic transmission
An electrical impulse travels down the axon terminal on the presynaptic neurone along with neurotransmitters which get packaged into vesicles. The vesicles bind to the membrane and the neurotransmitters move over the Synapses to the post synaptic neurone on the dendrites
What is tolerance?
Frequent stimulation of receptors which cause permenanr damage causing sensitivity
How does cocaine effect synaptic transmission?
Cocaine causes high amounts of dopamine in the reward systems of the brain leading to euphoria. The body tries to balance dopamine levels by producing less. Low dopamine levels cause aggression and motivates further drug use
What are the reward pathways of the brain?
Nucleus accumbens
VTA
How does heroin effect synaptic transmission?
Heroin breaks down into morphine in the synapses. Morphine attaches to the opioid receptors on the post synaptic neurone which has an analgesic effect. Repeated use causes damage to receptors and more usage is now tolerated.
How does cocaine and heroin block Synapses?
Cocaine blocks re uptake channels
Heroin blocks receptors
Outline Weinshenker and Schroeders experiment
Found changing dopamine levels in reward pathways prevented cocaine use by causing lesions in rats brains
Outline Volkows experiment
He compared brain scans of drug users and non drug users and found brain activity was less in drug users. Drug users also had more metabolites
Name some differences between hormones and neurotransmitters
Hormones are part of the endocrine system and are secreted in the blood.
Neurotransmitters are part of the CNS and travel within synapses
How does testosterone cause aggression?
High levels cause a reduced sensitivity to the fear of punishment and causes an individual to fight in the fight or flight response
How does cortisol cause aggression?
Cortisol is a hormone produced to deal with stress. It enhances the fight or flight response by stimulating the hypothalamus
Outline Dabbs et al experiment
He measured testosterone levels in male prisoners who committed a violent crime vs who’s crime was not violent. He found testosterone was higher in violent males by 10/11. Shows a positive correlation
Give the evaluation points for the Hormonal explanation of aggression
F+ Dabbs
U+ testosterone therapy
D- many others
E- not all violent criminals have higher testosterone
What is the prefrontal cortex responsible for?
Self control and decision making
What is the amygdala responsible for?
Identifying threatening stimuli in the environment
Outline what happened to Phineas Gage
A metal rod explosed through his prefrontal cortex and made him angry. Brain mapping showed the prefrontal cortex suffered most damage
Give the evaluation points for the brain functioning explanation of aggression
F+ Phineas Gage
U+ defence Chales Whitman, lack of control
D- many others
E- brain scans and Raines study
What was the aim of Raines classic study?
Investigate if brain functioning was the same in violent offenders compared to non violent offenders
What was the sample in Raines classic study?
41 murderers and 41 non murderers
Including 2 females and 6 woth schizophrenia, matched pair design
Outline the method of Raines classic study?
He performed a PET scan on each participant by injecting them with radioactive tracers and the participants had to identify dots on a screen for 32 mins