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biopsych Flashcards

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1
Q

what does the nervous system do

A

does communication
collects, processes and responds to info in environment
coordinates cells and organs

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2
Q

central nervous system (what does it do)

A

brain+spinal cord
transfers messages to/from environment and brain

brain: centre of conscious awareness
SC: responsible for reflex actions, transmits signals between brain+body

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3
Q

peripheral nervous system (autonomic and somatic)

A

limbs+torso

sends messages to/from CNS

  • autonomic nervous system: important for survival (breathing, heart rate, digestion, stress response)
  • somatic nervous system: movement and sensory information from the skin
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4
Q

endocrine system is used to

A

maintain levels of hormones using glands (slower than nervous system)

hormones = chemicals that travel via blood and affect diff organs

pituitary gland = controls when other glands secrete hormones

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5
Q

adrenal gland

A

fight or flight response (facilitates release of adrenaline)

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6
Q

pineal gland

A

produces melatonin when it’s dark to induce sleep

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7
Q

fight or flight response

A

endocrine system and autonomic nervous system work together (part of the ANS is activated, and a hormone is released)

we perceive a stressor => adrenal gland secretes adrenaline into blood => sympathetic NS is activated
- causes physiological changes so body is prepared to fight challenge or run from it
- once threat has passed the parasympathetic NS brings body back to resting state

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8
Q

ANS: sympathetic system

A

heart and BP increases
respiration accelerates, blood sugar released from liver
adrenaline/noradrenaline released from adrenal gland
=> fight or flight

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9
Q

ANS: parasympathetic system

A

heartbeat slows

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10
Q

what is a neuron and what do they do

A

nerve cell that transfers info between the nervous systems

in a reflex arc, info doesn’t go to the brain, it passes through the 3 neurons

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11
Q

dendrites

A

branch like, carry impulse from other neurons to cell body (collect in)

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12
Q

axon

A

carries impluse away from cell body

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13
Q

myelin sheath

A

fatty, protects the neuron, speeds up transmission of impulse

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14
Q

nodes of ranvier

A

gaps in myelin sheath that help to speed up the transmission

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15
Q

terminal buttons

A

at the end of axons, where communication with the next neuron happens

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16
Q

function of 3 different types of neurons

A

sensory => carry messages from PNS to CNS

relay => connect sensory and motor

motor => connects CNS to effectors

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17
Q

synaptic transmission

A

neurons separated by synapse
impulse must be transferred chemically

= when the impulse (action potential) reaches the end of the neuron it triggers the release of a neurotransmitter from the synaptic vesicles

when on the other side (dendrite of next neuron) neurotransmitter is converted back to electrical impulse

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18
Q

neurotransmitters role - excitation

A

increasing +ve charge of a neuron which increases likelihood of the next neuron firing (adrenaline)

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19
Q

neurotransmitters role - inhibition

A

increases -ve charge of a neuron which decreases likelihood of next neuron firing (serotonin)

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20
Q

neurotransmitters role - summation

A

a neuron can receive both +ve and -ve potentials, which are then summed to see what effect will be had

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21
Q

localisation of function in the brain: localisation vs holism theory

A

early theories => all parts of the brain used in processing (holistic theory)

Broca and Wernicke studies suggest diff parts perform diff tasks
=> if a certain part is damaged, function associated with it is affected

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22
Q

cerebral cortex

A

outer layer of brain

3mm thick

grey and highly folded

very developed

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23
Q

the 4 lobes

A

frontal lobe
temporal
parietal
occipital

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24
Q

frontal lobe function

A

risk assessment and decision making

motor area

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25
Q

parietal lobe function

A

processes sensory info eg pain

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26
Q

occipital lobe function

A

processes visual information

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27
Q

temporal lobe function

A

auditory/acoustic info

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28
Q

motor area (location, function, damage)

A

at the back of the frontal lobe

controls voluntary movement in opposite side of body
damage => loss of control of movements

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29
Q

somatosensory area

A

in parietal lobe

separated from motor area by the central sulcus (a valley)

deals with sensory info from skin
(the amount of that area dedicated to each body part is related to sensitivity of that body part)

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30
Q

visual area

A

in occipital lobes
eyes send info to opposite hemisphere
damage => problems seeing / understanding what you see

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31
Q

auditory area

A

in temporal lobes
analyses speech based info
damage => loss of hearing

32
Q

language areas general info

A

restricted to left side of brain in most people

33
Q

Broca’s area
(non fluent speech)

A

in left frontal lobe
- speech production
damage => slow speech that lacks fluency (Brocas aphasia) (can still understand words tho)

34
Q

Wernickes area
(fluent speech)

A

in left temporal lobe

responsible for language comprehension
damage => difficult to understand speech produce meaningless speech (Wernickes aphasia)
says neologisms (nonsense words)

35
Q

Phineas Gage case study (and which theory does it support)
(NOT FINISHED)

A

working on a railway line

=> supports localisation of function theory

36
Q

Phineas Gage evaluation

A

in 1848 - technology not the same as now, lacks research and validity

lacks reliability - can’t replicate this as unethical so we don’t know for sure if frontal lobe causes personality for everyone

case study - not perfectly controlled so EVs could’ve caused his change in behaviour, like trauma etc

37
Q

Lashley study (and which theory does it support)

A

rats learned to run a maze
L then removed between 10 and 50% of their brains

rats were still able to remember maze route
=> supports holistic theory

38
Q

Lashley evaluation

A

used rats - we are more developed eg cerebral cortex so different impact on brain development

flawed task/lacks internal validity - task involves many different things (vision, spatial awareness, memory, smell) so even though he’s taking out some of the brain, they still have some of the bits that help the rats

39
Q

evaluation for localisationVholistic debate

A

brain scans - objective and controlled, and support localisation (eg Clive Wearing, hippocampus damaged)

neurosurgery - still used in extreme cases to treat disorders eg OCD and depression

plasticity - brain reorganises itself after damage, transfers functions to other areas (supports holistic theory)

40
Q

hemispheric lateralisation def

A

when one hemisphere controls specific activities (has a certain job)

41
Q

split brain studies general (how to qualify)

A

Sperry studied people with no communication between hemispheres, corpus callosum separated

42
Q

Sperry experiment for split brain - describing section

A

quasi - 11 Ps who had surgery for epilepsy

patients look at dot in middle of screen
item flashed up to either visual field for 1/10th of a second (to stop other eye sees it so just one hemisphere)

shown to left visual field (right hemisphere) = can not describe / say nothing was there
shown to right visual field (left hemisphere) = easily describe

therefore language centre us in left hemisphere

43
Q

Sperry split brain - recognising by touch

A

objects shown, had to select matching object from options hidden behind a screen

left visual field (right hemi) = could select with left hand, and select item most associated to picture
can’t verbally identify but can recognise

44
Q

Sperry split brain - composite words

A

two words at same time, one on either side of visual field

left visual field (right hemi) = can draw with left hand what is seen in left visual field

right visual field (left hemi) = can say what they see in right visual field

45
Q

Sperry split brain - matching faces

A

shown a face and asked to match it from a series of other faces

left visual field (right hemi) = correctly matched
right visual field (left hemi) = ignored

composite pictures (eg man on right side woman on left)
- described a man (left hemi), selected woman for matching picture (right hemi)

46
Q

so what does each hemisphere control

A

left = language centres, describes what it sees, doesn’t match faces
right = recognises what it sees, dominates drawing ability

47
Q

plasticity def

A

brains ability to change and adapt

48
Q

synaptic pruning def

A

“use it or lose it”
- connections we rarely use are deleted
- connections we frequently use are strengthened

49
Q

plasticity research: Maguire et al

A

studied brains of 16 London taxi drivers using MRI
found significantly more grey matter (connections) in the posterior hippocampus (development of spatial and navigation skills) than in matched control group
‘The Knowledge’ test assesses recall of city streets and routes
=> the longer they’d been doing the job the bigger the structural difference (+ve correlation)

50
Q

Maguire et al evaluation

A

+ control group shows there is a significant difference between taxi drivers and others (good design)
+ use of scientific objective measurements (MRI)
+ attempt to study real world phenomena (external validity)

  • can’t be sure difference is due to knowledge
51
Q

functional recovery (what is it, when does it happen)

A

following damage and trauma -eg physical injury or stroke/infection
unaffected areas sometimes able to compensate for damaged areas
can happen quickly after trauma (spontaneous recovery) and then slow down after several weeks/months

52
Q

what happens during recovery (3 methods)

A

axonal sprouting - new nerve endings grow and connect with undamaged area’s nerves to form new pathways

denervation supersensitivity - axons that do a similar job become aroused at a higher level to compensate for the lost ones

recruitment of homologous areas - on opposite hemisphere to do specific tasks, eg broca’s area damaged in left, right takes over

53
Q

factors affecting functional recovery

A

exhaustion, alcohol, stress (affect effort put into recovery)
age (old age lessens extent and speed)
gender (women recover better as brain function is not as lateralised)
education (more educated, more likely to recover)

54
Q

functional recovery - Schneider et al

A

769 Ps with a brain injury
more time spent in education, greater chance of disability free recovery DFR

40% of those with 16+ years education achieved DFR
10% of those with <12 years education achieved DFR

55
Q

functional recovery evaluation

A

+ application - contributed to neurorehabilitation (recovery slows down after a few weeks so therapy needed to maintain improvements

  • sometimes no record of functioning prior to trauma (eg no brain scans from before) so difficult to know how much the brain has recovered or whether it was like that to begin with
  • case studies / small sample sizes
56
Q

ways of studying the brain - fMRI
(functional magnetic resonance imaging)

A

measures blood flow (blood takes O2 to active areas) so low o2 areas high in deoxyhaemoglobin, which absorbs signal and appears brighter on the screen

+ shows/supports localisation of function
+noninvasive unharmful
+ high spatial resolution

  • expensive
57
Q

ways of studying the brain - EEG
(electroencephalogram)

A

measures electrical activity using electrodes fixed to scalp

+ safe/painless
+ temporal resolution so can see something as it happens
+ used to diagnose epilepsy and brain activity in sleep

  • increases seizures in people already prone
  • low spatial resolution
58
Q

ways of studying the brain - ERP
event related potentials

A

uses EEG with a specific stimulus response

+ done multiple times and use average, accurate
+easy, non invasive

  • low spatial resolution
59
Q

ways of studying the brain - post mortem

A

compares structural differences in dead brain and neurotypical one (broca and wernicke used)

+ can see deeper into the brain than the scans
- makes assumption that the structure difference is what causes change, but can’t be sure

60
Q

biological rhythm def

A

change in body activity in a cycle

61
Q

3 types of rhythms are

A

circadian 24h
infradian more than 24h
ultradian less than 24h

62
Q

sleep wake cycle influenced by

A

exogenous zeitgeber (daylight) or would it be the same without external influences

63
Q

circadian rhythm sleep wake cycle study Siffre

A

he spent 6 months underground alone in a cave (no natural light / sounds)
sleep/wake cycle erratic at first but settled to a 25 hour cycle
=> we have an innate mechanism for a circadian rhythm even in absence of exogenous zeitgebers

64
Q

sleep wake cycle study Folklard et al

A

12 Ps lived in dark cave for 3 weeks
went to bed and woke up according to time on clock
researchers gradually sped up the clock (what P thought was 24h was 22)
- only one P could adjust comfortably
=> suggests our circadian rhythm cannot be easily influenced by external factors

65
Q

circadian rhythm eval

A

+ real life application with shift workers, better understanding of how desynchronisation affects productivity
- artificial light in studies can influence (exogenous zeitgeber)
- individual differences, age, lark/owls affect case studies, small sample sizes

66
Q

infradian rhythm - menstrual cycle

A

approx 28 days
oestrogen rises ovary releases egg, progesterone thickens womb lining, egg absorbed and womb lining shed

67
Q

menstrual cycle study Stern and McClintock

A

29 women with history of irregular periods
pheromones collected from 9 of them at different points during cycle (sponge under armpit for 8h)
sponge from start of cycle rubbed on upper lip of other Ps on day 1 (same on day 2 etc)
- 68% Ps experienced changes to their menstrual cycle
=> menstrual cycle can be influenced by exogenous factors (other women)

68
Q

infradian - seasonal affective disorder

A

depressive disorder with seasonal pattern, circannual rhythm
symptoms triggered in winter (less daylight)
melatonin secreted for longer because it’s darker for longer
can affect production of serotonin - lower levels

69
Q

eval infradian

A

+ evolutionary explanation for syncing - women fall pregnant together to care for offspring together
- menstrual cycle affected by loads, stress, diet, EVs
+ application to real life - SAD treatment phototherapy (light box to reset melatonin)

70
Q

ultradian rhythms - stages of sleep

A

5 stages, spans 90 mins, different level of brainwave activity measured by EEGs

stage 1 and 2 - light sleep easily woken. brainwave patterns slow and more rhythmic (alpha waves)

stage 2 and 3 - deep sleep not woken easily (slow waves) (delta waves)

stage 5 - REM (rapid eye movement) sleep paralysis, brain activity speeds up (dreaming) resembling awake brain (theta waves)

71
Q

eval ultradian

A

+ Van Carter et al real world application - slow wave sleep reduces in older adults, growth hormone normally released in SWS is also reduced, relaxation and meditation can be used to increase SWS
+ EEGs scientific and objective measure
- but people may not sleep in a normal way due to being connected to machinery

72
Q

endogenous pacemakers def

A

internal body clock that regulates biological rhythms
(suprachiasmatic nucleus influences sleep/wake cycle)
=> bundle of nerve cells in hypothalamus in each hemi , receives light info even if eyes closed, adjusts body clock)
=> sends info to pineal gland for melatonin

73
Q

DeCoursey et al study endogenous pacemakers

A

destroyed SCN connections in 30 chipmunks
observed for 80 days
- sleep wake cycle disappeared and a lot were killed by predators
=> shows importance of SCN in maintaining sleep wake cycle

74
Q

exogenous zeitgebers def

A

external factors influencing body clock
LIGHT - influences SCN and also affects hormone secretion

75
Q

exogenous (light) study - Campbell and Murphy

A

15 Ps, light shone on back of knee, affected sleep wake cycle
= light can be detected by skin receptor sites and doesn’t have to be received by the eyes

76
Q

other exogenous zeitgebers- social cues

A

mealtimes and bedtimes influence biological rhythms
from 6 weeks old we develop sleep wake cycle, by 16 weeks entrained to circadian rhythm, influenced by parents

77
Q

general eval for internal external factors

A
  • animal studies - generalisability and ethics
  • in real life both interact, so may not be valid to study them individually (interactionist)

a psychology (11 decks)

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