Biological Psychology Part 2 Flashcards
What is the endocrine system
System of glands and hormones that controls secretion of blood born chemical messengers
What are hormones?
Chemicals released into blood stream that influence certain organs and glands
Carried through blood vessels (rather than nerves), so much slower in action
What is the pituitary gland?
The master gland. Controlled by hypothalamus, directs other glands in body
Located just below hypothalamus in brain
Oxytocin hormone (love)
Adrenal glands
‘Emergency glands’
Release adrenaline and cortisol at times of arousal
Located near kidneys
Adrenaline role
Boosts energy production in muscle cells but restricts it in others
Cortisol role
Regulates blood pressure and cardiovascular function, as well as use of body’s proteins, carbs and fats
Sexual reproductive glands
Testes in males, ovaries in females
Testosterone and oestrogen
What is phrenology
1800s theory attributing bumps on the head to different personality traits. E.g bump on skull related to larger part of brain which links to psychological capacities
Discredited by neuropsychological studies of brain damage
What is the electroencephalograph?
Measures electrical activity via electrodes places on skull
Can tell where regions of the brain are active during tasks
Allows researchers to see when neural activity is occurring in real time
What is neuroimaging
Brain scans that allow the brains structure (appearance) and function (activity) to be seen
What is Computed tomography CT
A scanning technique using multiple X-rays to construct 3D image
What is Magnetic resonance imaging MRI
Uses magnetic fields to indirectly visualise brain structure
MRI is better than ct in detecting soft tissue e.g. brain tumour
What is positron emission tomography PET scan
Measures consumption of glucose like molecules to give a picture of neural activity
Measures structure and function
What is FMRI
Uses magnetic field to visualise brain activity
Measures structure and function
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
Applies strong and quickly changing magnetic fields to the surface of the skull that can either enhance or interrupt brain function
Allows us to infer causation of functioning
Magnetoencephalogtaphy MEG
Measures tiny magnetic fields generated by brain
What is lateralisation?
A cognitive function that relies more on one side of the brain than the other
What does localisation of function mean?
Certain brain areas that ‘light up’ or are active during a particular tasks e.g. evil spot in brain that is active during feelings of jealousy
Have to be careful - can’t link an action to only 1 specific area of brain as each brain region participates in many functions
What are chromosomes? How many do humans have?
Slender threads inside a cells nucleus that carrys genes
Humans have 46 - 23 from each parent
Genotype vs phenotype
Genotype is the set of genes we have, phenotype is our observable traits.
Phenotypes are shaped by environmental factors
Dominant vs recessive genes
D - masks other genes effects
R - expressed only in the absence of dominant genes
What is behavioural adaptation?
Some organisms have adaptations to make them better suited to the environment
Fitness - survive and reproduce at higher rates than other organisms
Natural selection - the adaptations have a higher frequency in the population
Brain evolution
Humans and apes shared a common ancestor 6-7 million years ago
Since, human brains have tripled in size, biggest increase in cerebral cortex
Relative brain size is associated with intelligence
What is behavioural genetics?
Studies impact of nature and nurture on psychological traits
Estimates heritability, e.g. height is highly inheritable where religious affiliation is not
What is heritability
The extent to which genes contribute to differences in a trait among individuals
Misconceptions around heritability
It applies to a single individual - no, causes of differences to groups of people, not within 1 person
Tells us whether a trait can be changed - even if something has heritability rate of 100%, environment can still effect it
It’s a fixed number - depends on environmental influences
