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BioPsych Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the two main subdivisions of the nervous system

A

Central Nervous System (CNS) and Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

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2
Q

What are the two parts of the CNS

A

Brain, Spinal Cord

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3
Q

What does the Spinal Cord Control?

A

Reflex actions

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4
Q

Describe the nervous system

A

A specialised network of cells which is the primary method of internal communication

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5
Q

What are the two main functions of the nervous system

A
  1. To collect, process and respond to information in the environment.
  2. To co-ordinate the working of different organs and celss
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6
Q

What are the two subdivisions of the of PNS

A

Autonomic nervous system (ANS) , somatic nervous system (SNS)

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7
Q

What are the two subdivisions of the Autonomic nervous system

A

Sympathetic nervous system, Parasympathetic nervous system

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8
Q

What does the CNS do with the PNS?

A

The CNS passes messages to and from the brain and connects nerves to the PNS

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9
Q

What does the PNS do?

A

The PNS transmits messages via millions of neurons (nerve cells), to and from the central nervous system

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10
Q

What does the somatic nervous system do?

A

This is the part of the PNS that is responsible for carrying sensory and motor information to and from spinal cord

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11
Q

What does the autonomic nervous system do?

A

This controls body functions such as Breathing, heart rate, digestion etc. (subconcious)

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12
Q

What does the sympathatic nervous system do?

A

Brings about change in the body, eg. increases heart rate, dilates pupils, slows digestion

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13
Q

What does the parasympathatic nervous system do?

A

Returns the body to normal after the sympathetic nervous system makes changes, e.g reduces heart rate, contracts pupils, increasing digestion.

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14
Q

What are the sympathatic and parasympathetic nervous system to eachother?

A

Antagonistic

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15
Q

What controls the fight / flight instinct?

A

Sympathetic nervous system

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16
Q

What brings the body back to normal after the fight / flight response

A

Parasympathetic nervous system

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17
Q

What is a synpase@

A

A synapse is the ‘gap’ between the axon of one nerve and the dendrite of the next one

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18
Q

What are the 3 main types of neurons

A

Motor, Relay, Sensory

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19
Q

What are the two parts of a synpase called

A

Presynaptic neuron, post synaptic neuron

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20
Q

what does dopamine do

A

Releases feelings of pleasure, it is inhibitory

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21
Q

What does Serotonin do

A

Involved in mood, appetite and sensory perception. Usually inhibitory

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22
Q

What does adrenaline do

A

Fight / flight response, both a neurotransmitter and a hormone

23
Q

What does Acetylcholine do

A

Used by spinal cord and neurons to control muscles and regulate memory

24
Q

What do circadian rhythms relate to

A

A 24 hr cycle ; e.g the sleep/wake cycle, and ow that affects body temperature

25
Q

What do Ultradian rhythms relate to

A

A rhythm which occurs more than once a day, e.g cycles of REM and NREM in a single nights sleep

26
Q

What do Infradian rhythms relate to

A

Cycles that occur less than once a day ; eg menstruation (monthly)

27
Q

What are Endognous pacemakers?

A

Internal biological structures that regulate and control rhythms, e.g the SCN

28
Q

What are Exogenous Zeitgebers?

A

External environmental factors that influence the rhythms, e.g light levels

29
Q

What are the 4 methods of studying the brain

A

fMRI, EEG, ERP, Post Mortem

30
Q

Explain an fMRI

A

Detects changes in blood flow to show where activity is in the brain (functional Magnetic resonance imaging)

31
Q

Explain an EEG (Electroencephalogram)

A

(Electroencephalogram) Measures brain activity through electrodes

32
Q

Explain an ERP

A

(Event-related potential) Shows brainwaves triggered by events from EEG recordings

33
Q

Explain a post mortem

A

Can only be done when a person is dead, aims to link behaviour deficits to specific areas of the brain.

34
Q

Give a pro and con of an fMRI

A

+ High spatial resolution, risk free, non-invasive
- Expensive, poor temporal resolution

35
Q

Give a pro and con of an EEG

A

+ Real world uses, high temporal resolution
- Comes from 1000s of neurons, hard to identify a source

36
Q

Give a pro and con of an ERP

A

+ More specific than EEG, higher temporal resolution than an fMRI
- No standardised method, background noise hard to control

37
Q

What does the endocrine system do

A

Works alongside nervous system to control vital functions in the body.

38
Q

What are glands

A

Organs in body that make hormones e.g. the thyroid gland produces thyroxine.

39
Q

What are hormones

A

Chemical substances in bloodstream that target specific organs e.g. thyroxine targets heart and metabolism.

40
Q

What is the pituitary gland

A

The ‘master gland’ in the brain, controls the release of all other hormones in the body.

41
Q

What is the fight or flight response

A

The body becomes physiologically aroused in response to stress, to fight an aggressor or flee.

42
Q

What are the 3 types of neurons

A

Relay, Motor, Sensory

43
Q

What happens in synaptic transmission

A

When a nerve impulse passes from a presynaptic neuron to a postsynaptic neuron

44
Q

What are axons?

A

Axons carry electrical impulses down the length of neuron, these are covered in a fatty layer called a myelin sheath.

45
Q

Describe research into the function of the brain (Broca)

A

Broca found that a patient who could only say the word “Tan” had part of their left frontal lobe missing, leading to the discovery that this area affected speech

46
Q

What did Magiure et al find out when researching taxis

A

It increases brain plasticity, helping with functional recovery. Taxi drivers had a significant increase in grey matter in their posterior hippocampus

47
Q

Describe Hemispheric Lateration

A

This is the ideas that the brain’s two hemispheres are responsible for different functions; that particular functions (such as language) are the responsibility of one hemisphere but not the other- the function is lateralised

48
Q

Who did Sperry’s (1968) research study

A

People who had their two hemispheres of the brain surgically separated as a remedy for epilepsy.

49
Q

What happened in Sperry’s research

A

An image or word was projected to the right visual field (processed by the left hemisphere), and another image was projected to the left visual field (processed by the right hemisphere). In split-brain patients, information cannot be transmitted from one side to another.

50
Q

What were the results of Sperry’s research

A

When an image was shown to the left visual field, participants had difficulty describing it due to the lack of language processing in the right hemisphere of the brain. However, when they were then told to select a similar object from a bag, they succeeded, showing the right hemisphere is involved in understanding objects.

51
Q

Evaluate Sperry’s split-brain research

A

+ supports that left hemisphere supports verbal and analytical tasks, while right hemisphere is better at spatial and muscle tasks
+ highly controlled so high reliability
- low ecological validity
- small sample size of 11, so may not be generalisable

52
Q

What is Wernicke’s area

A

Part of brain that deals with understanding language, located in the temporal lobe

53
Q

Describe Siffre’s research into rhythms

A

Siffre spent a long period in a cave to examine the effects on biological rhythms without exogenous zeitgebers. The results showed that his 24 hour cycle became 25 hours.

Psychology (8 decks)

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