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MCAT - Behavioral Science > Biology and Behaviour > Flashcards

Biology and Behaviour Flashcards

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1
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A
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2
Q

What did Franz Gall do?

A

Earliest theory that behaviour, intellect and personality might be link to brain anatomy
Doctrine of Phrenology: if a trait is well developed, the part of the brain responsible for it would expand

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3
Q

Who believed to measure psychological attributes by measuring of the head?

A

Franz Gall

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4
Q

What did Pierre Flourens do?

A

First to study the functions of major sections of the brain

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5
Q

How did Pierre Flourens study the functions of different sections of the brain?

A

By extirpation or ablation on rabbits and pigeons.
You remove a part of the brain and observe the consequences of it

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6
Q

Who is known as the father of American psychology?

A

William James

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7
Q

What did William James do?

A

Studied how the mind adapts to the environment
Formed the foundation for functionalism

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8
Q

What is functionalism?

A

Studies how the mental processes help individuals adapt to their environment

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9
Q

What did John Dewy do?

A

An article that criticized the reflect arc

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10
Q

What did Paul Broca do?

A

Examining the behavioural deficits in people with brain damage: specific functional impairments could be linked with specific brain lesions

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11
Q

What did Herman von Helmholtz do?

A

Measure the speed of a nerve impusle

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12
Q

Who is often credited with the transition of psychology out of the realm of philosophy and into quantifiable natural science?

A

Hermann von Helmholtz

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13
Q

What did Sir Charles Sherrington do?

A

First to inferred the existence of synapses

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14
Q

What are the 3 kind of nerve cells in the nervous system?

A

Sensory neurons, motor neurons and interneurons

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15
Q

What are the differences between the 3 types of nerve cells?

A

Sensory/afferent=Collects the information and brings it to the NS
Motor/efferent=Transmit info from NS to the muscles and glands
Interneurons=linked to reflexes, doesn’t need to transmit the info to the NS

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16
Q

What are the 2 primary components of the nervous system?

A

Central (brain and spinal cord) and peripheral (nerve tissue and fibers outside of the CNS)

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17
Q

How many spinal nerves do we have?

A

31 pairs

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18
Q

How many cranial nerves do we have?

A

12 pairs

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19
Q

What is the difference between the cranial and spinal nerves?

A

Their number and spinal nerve emanate from the spinal cord and the cranial nerve emanate from the brain

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20
Q

Which 2 cranial nerves are outgrowth of the CNS?

A

Olfactory and optic nerves

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21
Q

What is the division of the PNS?

A

Somatic and autonomic
Somatic = sensory and motor neurons throughout the muscle, skin and joints
Autonomic= regular heartbeat, digestion, respiration and glandular secretions (involuntary muscles)

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22
Q

Which system helps to regulate the body temperature and how?

A

The autonomic system (especially the sympathetic) by activating sweating or piloerection

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23
Q

What are the 2 subsections of the autonomic system and what are they to each other?

A

Sympathetic and parasympathetic
They are antagonists

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24
Q

What are the functions of the parasympathetic system?

A

Conserve energy & managing digestion
Constricts pupils
Stimulates flow of saliva
Constricts bronchi
Slows heartbeat
Stimulates peristalsis and secretion
Stimulates bile release
Contracts bladder

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25
Q

What is/are the neurotransmitter of the parasympathetic NS

A

Acetylcholine

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26
Q

What is/are the neurotransmitter of the sympathetic NS

A

Acetylcholine as preganglionic
Norepinephrine postganglionic

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27
Q

What are the functions of the sympathetic nervous system?

A

Dilates pupils
Inhibit salivation
Relaxes bronchi
Accelerates heartbeat
Stimulates sweating or piloerection
Inhibits peristalsis and secretion
Stimulates glucose production and release
Secretion of adrenaline and noradrenaline
Inhibits bladder contraction
Stimulates orgasm

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28
Q

What are the layers covering the brain?

A

Skin
Periosteum
Bone
Dura mater
Arachnoid mater
Pia mater

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29
Q

What are the meninges?

A

Thick 3-layer connective tissue (dura mater, arachnoid mater and pia mater

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30
Q

What are the role of the meninges?

A

Protects the brain
Resorb cerebrospinal fluid

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31
Q

What is the cerebrospinal fluid?

A

Aqueous solution that nourishes and protects the brain and spinal cord

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32
Q

Where is cerebrospinal liquid produced?

A

By specialized cells that lines the ventricle (internal cavities) of the brain

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33
Q

What are the 3 basic parts of the human brain?

A

Hindbrain, midbrain and forebrain

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34
Q

What is the most primitive region of the brain?

A

Brainstem (hind and midbrain)

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35
Q

What is the limbic system?

A

A group of neural structures primarily associated with emotions and memory

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36
Q

What is the other name for the hindbrain?

A

Rhombencephalon

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37
Q

What does the hindbrain controls?

A

Vital functions necessary for survival:
Controls, balance, motor coordination
Breathing, digestion
General arousal processes (sleeping, walking)

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38
Q

What does the rhombencephalon divides as?

A

Myelencephalon (medulla oblongata)
Metencephalon (pons and cerebellum)

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39
Q

What are the functions of the medulla oblongata?

A

Breathing, heart rate and digestion

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40
Q

Where are the pons located?

A

Above the medulla

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41
Q

What contains the pons?

A

Sensory and motor pathway between the cortex and the medulla

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42
Q

What are the functions of the cerebellum?

A

Maintain posture, balance and coordination

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43
Q

What a damage to the cerebellum would cause?

A

Clumsiness, slurred speech and loss of balance

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44
Q

What does alcohol impairs to affect speech and balance?

A

Cerebellum

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45
Q

What is the other name of the middbrain?

A

Mesencephalon

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46
Q

What characterizes the mesencephalon/midbrain?

A

involuntary reflex responses triggered by visual or auditory stimuli

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47
Q

What are the colliculi?

A

2 of the prominent nuclei in the midbrain

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48
Q

What are the roles of the colliculi?

A

Superior colliculus=visual sensory input
Inferior colliculus=auditory sensory input

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49
Q

What is the other name for the forebrain?

A

Proencephalon

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50
Q

What is the prosencephalon associated with?

A

Complex perceptual, cognitive and behavioural processes
Emotion and memory

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51
Q

Which of the 3 parts of the brain has the most influence on human behaviour?

A

Forebrain

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52
Q

What does the prosencephalon divides as?

A

Telencephalon (cerebral cortex, basal ganglia and limbic system)
Diencephalon (thalamus, hypothalamus, posterior pituitary and pineal gland)

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53
Q

What is neuropsychology?

A

Study of functions and behaviours associated with specific regions of the brain

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54
Q

What are the ways to map the brain in neuropsychology?

A

Extirpation
Creating cortical maps by stimulating the brain and have the assistance of the patient who is awake
Electroencephalogram (EEG)
Regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) - blood flow would be increase in part of the brain that are engage
Brain imaging (CT. PET, MRI, fMRI)

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55
Q

What is the role of the thalamus?

A

Is a relay station for incoming sensory information (all senses other than smell)
It sorts and transmit the information to the appropriate section in the cerebral cortex

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56
Q

What is the function of the hypothalamus?

A

4 F’s: (a lot of homeostatic functions)
Feeding
Fighting
Flighting
sexual Functioning

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57
Q

What does the hypothalamus subdivises in?

A

Lateral hypothalamus
Ventromedial hypothalamus
Anterior hypothalamus

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58
Q

What is the role of the lateral hypothalamus?

A

Hunger center
Knows when the body need more food or fluids

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59
Q

What part of the brain would lead to refuse eating or drinking and then starving to death?

A

Lateral hypothalamus

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60
Q

What is the role of the ventromedial hypothalamus?

A

Satiety center, knows when to stop eating

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61
Q

What does damages to the ventromedial hypothalamus would cause?

A

Obesity

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62
Q

What does the anterior hypothalamus controls?

A

Sexual behaviour
Also regulate sleep and body temperature

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63
Q

What is the role of the posterior pituitary?

A

Site of release for the hypothalamic hormones:
Antidiuretic hormone (ADH) or also called vasopressin
Oxytocin

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64
Q

What is the role of the pineal gland?

A

Several biological rhythms such as circadian rhythms by secreting melatonin

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65
Q

How does the pineal gland knows when to secrete melatonin?

A

It receive direct signals from the retina for coordination with sunlight

66
Q

What is the role of the basal ganglia?

A

Coordinate muscle movement with the information from the cortex to the brain and spinal cord (via the extrapyramidal motor system)
Helps make our movement smooth and our posture steady

67
Q

What disease is associated with the basal ganglia?

A

Parkinson’s
May also play a role in schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder

68
Q

What are the mains functions of the limbic system?

A

Emotion and memory

69
Q

What are the components of the limbic system?

A

Septal nuclei
Amygdala
Hippocampus
Anterior cingulate cortex

70
Q

What is the septal nuclei associated with?

A

Pleasure, it is the primary pleasure center in the brain

71
Q

What is the primary pleasure center in the brain?

A

Septal nuclei

72
Q

What is the amygdala’s function?

A

Role in defensive and aggressive behaviours

73
Q

What does lesions to the amygdala would result in?

A

Docility and hyper sexual states
(aggression and fear would be reduce)

74
Q

What is the role of the hyppocampus?

A

Learning and memory processes
Helps to form long-term memory

75
Q

How does the hippocampus communicates with other portions of the limbic system?

A

Fornix

76
Q

What is the fornix for?

A

Communication of the hippocampus to other portions of the limbic system

77
Q

What is anterograde amnesia?

A

Not being able to establish new long-term memory
Memory before the brain injury are still intact

78
Q

What is retrograde amnesia?

A

Memory loss of events before the brain injury

79
Q

What is the function of the anterior cingulate cortex?

A

Regulation of impulse control and decision-making
Maintains connections to other parts of the limbic system and plays a role in emotion and motivation

80
Q

What is the neocortex and why is it called that?

A

It’s the cerebral cortex
Called that because it is the most recent region to evolve

81
Q

What are the bumps and folds called on the cerebral cortex?

A

Gyri (bumps) and sulci (folds)

82
Q

What are the effect of the gyro and the sulci?

A

Increase surface area in the cerebral cortex

83
Q

In what is the cerebral cortex divided in?

A

Cerebral hemisphere
4 loves (frontal, parietal, occipital and temporal)

84
Q

What are the 2 basic regions of the frontal lobe?

A

Prefrontal cortex
Motor cortex

85
Q

What is the role of the prefrontal cortex?

A

Supervising and directing the operations of other brain regions
(attention, alertness, perception, memory, emotion, impulse control, long-term planning)

86
Q

What is the role of the prefrontal cortex in memory?

A

Not to store the memory, but to remind the individual that they have something to remember

87
Q

What is an association area? An example?

A

Area that integrates input from diverse regions of the brain
Example: prefrontal cortex

88
Q

What are projection areas?

A

Perform more rudimentary perceptual and motor tasks
Example: primary motor cortex

89
Q

Where is located the primary motor cortex?

A

On the pre central gyrus in front of the central sulcus

90
Q

What is the central sulcus?

A

Divides the frontal and parietal lobes

91
Q

What is the role of the primary motor cortex?

A

Initiate voluntary movements

92
Q

What is the motor homunculus?

A

An organized pattern of which the neurone in the motor cortex are arranged systematically according to the parts of the body to which they are connected

93
Q

Where is located the Broca’s area?

A

In the frontal love.
Usually in the dominant hemisphere

94
Q

Which hemisphere is usually the dominant one?

A

Left

95
Q

Which cortex is located on the precentral gyrus and on the postcentral gyrus?

A

Precentral = motor cortex (frontal)
Postcentral = somatosensory cortex (parietal)

96
Q

What is the sensorimotor cortex?

A

A complex of both the motor cortex and the somatosensory cortex

97
Q

What is the function of the central region of the parietal lobe?

A

Spatial processing and manipulation (visualize and object in 3D, manipulate objects and map reading)

98
Q

What is the role of the somatosensory cortex?

A

Destination for all incoming sensory signals for touch, pressure, temperature and pain

99
Q

What does the occipital love contains?

A

The visual cortex (also called the striate cortex)

100
Q

What is the striate cortex?

A

Visual cortex

101
Q

What is located in the temporal lobe?

A

Auditory cortex and Wernicke’s area

102
Q

What is the auditory cortex for?

A

Sound processing

103
Q

What is the Wernicke’s area for?

A

Language reception and comprehension

104
Q

What are the functions of the temporal lobe?

A

Auditory perception, language perception and comprehension, memory processing and emotion

105
Q

What does it mean to communicate contralaterally?

A

With the opposite side of the brain

106
Q

What does it mean to communicate ipsilaterally?

A

Which the same side of the body

107
Q

What defines the predominant hemisphere?

A

The one that is more heavily stimulated during language reception and production

108
Q

What are usually the characteristics of the dominant hemisphere?

A

Analytic, well-suited to manage details (language, logic, math skills)

109
Q

What are usually the characteristics of the non dominant hemisphere?

A

Intuition, creativity, music cognition and spatial processing
Less dominant role in language, but is more sensitive to the emotional tone and mood)

110
Q

What is called a drug that mimics the action of some neurotransmitter?

A

Agonist

111
Q

What is called a drug that blocks the action of a neurotransmitter?

A

Antagonist

112
Q

What is acetylcholine used for in both the CNS and PNS?

A

Central: attention and arousal
Peripheral: transmit nerve impulse to muscles

113
Q

What are catecholamines?

A

Epinephrine, norepinephrine and dopamine

114
Q

What are the catecholamines also classified as?

A

Monoamines or biogenic amines

115
Q

In what does catecholamines plays an important role?

A

Experience of emotions

116
Q

What is controlled with adrenaline and noradrenaline?

A

Alertness and wakeness
Fight or Flight response

117
Q

What is the difference between the adrenaline and the noradrenaline?

A

Noradrenaline plays a role more local
Adrenaline plays a role systemic

118
Q

What system has noradrenaline and adrenaline as the primary neurotransmitter?

A

Sympathetic nervous system

119
Q

What are high level and low level of noradrenaline and/or serotonin associated with?

A

Low= depression
High = anxiety and mania

120
Q

What is the role of dopamine?

A

Movement and posture

121
Q

Where would you normally find high level of dopamine?

A

Basal ganglia (helps with smooth movements)

122
Q

What is the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia?

A

Theory that schizophrenia (delusions, hallucinations and agitation) arise from too much dopamine or oversensitivity to dopamine

123
Q

What is serotonin classified as?

A

Monoamine or biogenic amine

124
Q

What is the role of serotonin?

A

Regulating mood, eating, sleeping and dreaming

125
Q

What is the full name of GABA neurotransmitters?

A

'’y’‘-aminobutyric acid

126
Q

What is the role of GABA neurotransmitter?

A

Stabilizing neural activity in the brain (hyperpolarization of the postsynaptic membrane)

127
Q

What is the role of glycine as a neurotransmitter?

A

Inhibitory in the CNS by increasing chloride influx into the neuron

128
Q

What is the difference and similarity of glycine and glutamate as neurotransmitters?

A

Both acts on the SNC, but glycine is an inhibitory and glutamate is an excitatory neurotransmitter

129
Q

What is the difference between neurotransmitters and neuromodulators?

A

Neuromodulators are relatively slow and have longer effets on the postsynaptic cell

130
Q

What is the most important peptide in neurotransmission to know?

A

Endorphins

131
Q

What are endorphins?

A

Peptides that are natural pain killers
Effect similar to morphine and other opioids

132
Q

Why are hormones slower than neurotransmitter?

A

They have to travel through the bloodstream

133
Q

What is the hypophyseal portal system?

A

Connects the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland

134
Q

What is the pituitary gland divide as?

A

Anterior and posterior pituitary

135
Q

What is the role of the anterior pituitary?

A

Release hormones that regulate activity of endocrine system glands everywhere in the body
(however, the anterior pituitary is controlled by the hypothalamus)

136
Q

What do the adrenal glands divide as?

A

Adrenal medulla and adrenal cortex

137
Q

What does the adrenal glands releases?

A

Adrenal medulla: epinephrine and norepinephrine
Adrenal cortex: corticosteroids (cortisol) and testosterone and estrogen

138
Q

What is an innate behaviour?

A

Something that is genetically programmed, would happen regardless of one environment and experiences

139
Q

What are learned behaviours?

A

Based on experience and environment

140
Q

What is an adaptive value?

A

The extent to which a trait or behaviour positively benefits a species

141
Q

What is nature vs nurture

A

Nature = inherited characteristics
Nurture = influence of an environment and physical surroundings

142
Q

What are the 3 methods to determine a degree of genetic influence on behavior?

A

Family studies, twin studies and adoption studies

143
Q

What is a limit of family studies?

A

Families share both genetics and environment, so it’s hard to know which of is in cause

144
Q

What are a concordance rates?

A

The likelihood that both twins exhibit the same trait

145
Q

What are critical periods?

A

Specific periods in development that a child if particularly susceptible to environment factors

146
Q
A
146
Q

What are the 2 plates of the neural tube?

A

Alar plate = sensory neurons
Basal plate = motor neurons

147
Q

What could cause exposure to X-Rays of the baby?

A

Retardation, defects of the skull/spinal chords/eyes, cleft palate and limb deformities

148
Q

Which medication is associated with neural tube defects?

A

Anti-epileptic medications

149
Q

What is a primitive reflex?

A

A reflex that disappear with age

150
Q

What is the Moro reflex?

A

A primitive reflex when a infant react to abrupt movements of their heads by flinging of their arms, then slowly retracting their arms and crying

151
Q

How could the Moro reflex hint of problems?

A

If it is continued after one year = strong suggestion of development difficulties
If it is asymmetrical = maybe an underlying neuromuscular problem

152
Q

What is the grasping reflex?

A

When the baby grabs whatever is put in his or her hand

153
Q

What is the difference between gross and fine motor skills?

A

Gross motor skills involve large muscle groups (walking, crawling, etc.)
Fine motor skills involve smaller muscles (drawing, catching, waving)

154
Q

What is stranger anxiety?

A

Fear and apprehension of infamiliar individuals

155
Q

What is separation anxiety?

A

Fear of being separated from a parental figure

156
Q

When does stranger and separation anxiety happens?

A

Apport 7 months and 1 year respectively

157
Q

What is parallel play?

A

When children play side by side, without influencing each other behaviour

158
Q

When does parallel play occurs?

A

2 years

159
Q

At what age does a child starts engaging in sex-types play, knows its gender identity and knows its full name?

A

3 years

160
Q

When does romantic feelings for other begins?

A

Age 5

161
Q

What are developmental milestones?

A

Several abilities that are expected to emerge at a particular time in a person’s development

MCAT - Behavioral Science (6 decks)

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