Biopsych

Question 1

What is adrenaline?

Answer 1

A hormone involved in a number of responses, namely the flight or fight response

Adrenaline prepares the body for quick action in stressful situations.

Question 2

What does the autonomic nervous system do?

Answer 2

Responsible for automatic responses, such as sympathetic or parasympathetic responses

It regulates involuntary bodily functions.

Question 3

What is Broca’s area?

Answer 3

An area in the left hemisphere dedicated to speech production, specifically the motor component

Damage to this area can result in speech production difficulties.

Question 4

What constitutes the central nervous system?

Answer 4

Made up of the brain and spinal cord

It is crucial for processing information and coordinating actions.

Question 5

Define circadian rhythms.

Answer 5

Biological processes which cycle in about 24 hours, such as the sleep-wake cycle

These rhythms regulate various physiological processes.

Question 6

What are endogenous pacemakers?

Answer 6

Internal ‘clocks’ that regulate biological rhythms, e.g. the suprachiasmatic nucleus

They play a key role in maintaining circadian rhythms.

Question 7

What is ERP?

Answer 7

Event-related potential, an imaging technique similar to EEG, focusing on electrical activity in response to a stimulus

It helps in understanding brain responses to specific events.

Question 8

What is excitation in neural terms?

Answer 8

A signal sent to the next nerve making it more likely to fire

It is essential for the transmission of nerve impulses.

Question 9

What are exogenous zeitgebers?

Answer 9

External cues that influence biological rhythms, such as daylight affecting the sleep-wake cycle

They help synchronize internal biological clocks with the environment.

Question 10

What is the fight-or-flight response?

Answer 10

The sympathetic responses that increase activity to areas designed to help escape or prepare for a fight

It includes increased blood flow to muscles and reduced blood flow to non-essential systems.

Question 11

FMRI

Answer 11

An imaging technique that monitors blood flow in the brain . Gives insight into what areas of the brain are responsible for specific activities

Question 12

Cns

Answer 12

Central nervous system made up of the brain and spinal cord

Question 13

Role of the cns

Question 14

Pns

Answer 14

Peripheral nervous system connecrs cbs to rest of the body made up of the somatic nervous system and the autonomic nervous system

Question 15

Somatic nervous system

Answer 15

Controls conscious and voluntary actions
Part of the pns
Consists of sensory and motor neurons

Question 16

Sensory neurons

Answer 16

Sensory neurones carry information from sensory receptors to the CNS and are afferent (“moving toward”) fibres.

Question 17

Motor neurons

Answer 17

Motor neurons carry information from the CNS to the muscles of the body and are efferent (“moving away from”) fibres.

Question 18

Autonomic nervous system

Answer 18

Controls gland and internal organs and involuntary
Part of pns
Made up of the sympathetic snd parasympathetic nervous systems

Question 19

Sympathetic nervous system

Answer 19

Part of the answer
Prepares body for stresss and fight or flight response

Question 20

Parasympathetic nervous system

Answer 20

Returns body to normal after fight or flight response

Question 21

Homeostasis

Answer 21

Homeostasis is a state of equilibrium, in which biological conditions (such as body temperature) are maintained at optimal levels.

Question 22

Role of sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems collectively

Answer 22

The sympathetic and parasympathetic have complementary functions. They work in tandem to maintain the body’s homeostasis.

Question 23

Brain

Answer 23

Bilateral structre that can be separated into distinct lobes

Each lobe is associated with certain types of functions

Question 24

Spinal cord

Answer 24

It routes messages to and from the brain, but has its own system of automatic process, called reflexes.
The cord is organised into 30 segments, which correspond with the vertebrae. Each segment is connected to a specific part of the body through the peripheral nervous system.

Question 25

Reflex arc

Answer 25

receptors detect change and send signal to the cns via the sensory neuron. The sensory neuron then passes the signal on to a relay neuron in the spinal cordwhich passes the signal to a motor neuron which triggers the effector (either muscles or glands) which carry out a response

Question 26

Structure of a sensory neuron

Answer 26

Cell body attched to the side of the axon

Question 27

Structure of a relationship neuron

Answer 27

Cell body in the center of cell, very thin axons with no mylon sheath

Question 28

Structure of a motor neuron

Answer 28

Cell body on top of cell - axon ubderneath

Question 29

Explain the process of the fight or flight response

Answer 29

• body senses stressor in environment
• message is sent to hypothalamus in the brain through the sensory receptors and sensory neurons in the pns
• hypothalamus coordinates a response and stimulates the sympathetic branch of the ans to increase levels of activity
• adrenaline is released from the adrenal medulla in the adrenal gland and is transported to target effectors via blood

Question 30

Explain the process of the fight or flight response

Answer 30

• body senses stressor in environment
• message is sent to hypothalamus in the brain through the sensory receptors and sensory neurons in the pns
• hypothalamus coordinates a response and stimulates the sympathetic branch of the ans to increase levels of activity
• adrenaline is released from the adrenal medulla in the adrenal gland and is transported to target effectors via blood

Question 31

2 roles of the cns

Answer 31

Controlling behaviour
Homeostasis (regulating physiological processes)