biopsych Flashcards
Whats the nervous system
*a network of cells in human body
*bodys internal communication system
Whats the function of the nervous system
*to collect, process, respond to info from environment
*to control organs and cells in body
What does the nervous system split off to
*Central Nervous System
*Peripheral Nervous system
What are the subdivision for the CNS
*brain
*spinal cord
What is the role of the brain in the CNS
*recieves and processes info from the senses
*centre of conscious awareness
*responsible for higher mental functions
*generates emotions and thought
*initiates respnses
*stores mem
Whats the role of the spinal cord in the CNS
*conducts signal TO and FROM the brain
*connects nerves to PNS
*controls reflex actions
What is the role of the PNS
*sends msgs TO and FROM CNS via neurons
What are the subdivisions of PNS
*autonomic nervous system
*somatic nervous system
Whats the role of the autonomic nervous system
*involuntary reponses- breathing, digestion
*controls smooth and cardiac muscles
*controls glands
*control centres are in the brain stem
*brain stem location
Whats the role of the somatic nervous system
*voluntary movements- walking
*transmits info from the brain to control skeletal muscles
*carries commands from motor cortex
*connects CNS and senses
*integrates brain w outside world
What are the branches of the autonomic nervous system
*sympathetic branch
*parasymphatetic
Whats the role of the sympathetic branch
*fight and flight response
Whats the role of the parasymphatic branch
*conserves and restores energy when relaxed
Name the structures in neurons
*dendrites
*cell body
*mylein sheath
*axon
*nodes of ranvier
*terminal button
Whats the function of the cell body
*has nucleus that contains genetic material of the cell
Function of the myelin sheath
*protect the axon
*helps to sppeed up transmission of the msg
Function of the dendrites
*where the neurotransmitter receptors are found
*when receptor and neuotrasmitter bind this cause a new electrical impulse
Function of the axon
*sends action potential thru the neuron to transmit a msg to the nxt neuron
Function of the nodes of ranvier
*speeds up transmission of impulse
*forces impulse to jump across the gaps along the axon
Function of the terminal button
*end of the neuron
*send the info thru the next neuron, thru release of neurotrasmitters
Whats the location of the sensory neuron
*PNS in clusters known as the ganglia
Whats the function of the sensory neuron
*send info from the senses (PNS) towards the brain
*receptos are found in eyes, ears, tongue, skin
Whats the structure of the sensory neuron
*long dendrites and short axons
Whats the location of the relay neuron
*brain, visual system, spinal cord- CNS
Whats the function of the relay neuron
*carry nerve impulses between neurons allowing sensory and motor neurons to communicate
*involved in analysisng the sensations from these neurons and deciding how to respond
Whats the structure of the relay neuron
*short dendrites and axons and no mylein sheath
Whats the location of the motor neuron
*cell bodies are in CNS
*long axons part of PNS
Whats the function of the motor neuron
*send info via long axons from the CNS thru to effectors- muscles or glands
Whats the structure of the motor neuron
*short dendrites, long axon
Whats the process of synaptic transmission
*begins in the pre-synap, action potential are sent down the axon until they reach presynap terminal
*neurotransmitters stored in vesicles in presynap are released into synapse
*neurotransmitters diffuse from high to low concc and bind on the complementary receptors on post synap
*when enough NTs have binded they have 2 possible outcomes: reuptake or excitatory/inhibition
What happens if an excitatory NT eg adrelanine binds to the receptor
*post synaptic cell becomes positively charged
*makes it more likely that post synap cell will fire so impulse travels down axon.
*increases the brain activity in the CNS
What happens if an inhibitory NT like serotonin binds to the receptor
*post synap cell becomes negatively charged
*prevents/reduces likelihood that post synap cell will fire
*decreases brain activity in the CNS
Whats summation
*when excitatory and inhibitory influences are added together
*if overall effect inhibitory reduces likelihood neuron will fire an impluse down postsynap
*if overall is excitatory the neuron will fire an impulse down the post synap.
Whats the role of the pineal gland
*secretes melatonin
Whats the role of the pituitary gland
*secretes many diff hormones that control the functions of other glands
Whats the role of the ovaries
*anterior pit releases lh and fsh
*encourages the ovaries to release oestrogen and progesterone which reg fem menstrual cycle and fem characteristics
Role of the testes
*anterior pit releases lh and fsh
*encourages the testicles to release test
Function of the endocrine system
*chem system of com within the blood stream to reg activity of cells and organs in the body
Fight or flight response
*stressor identified by the HYPOTHALAMUS
*activates pit gland that triggers activity in the symp branch of the ANS
*adrenaline released by adrenal medulla in blood
*fight or flight reponse produced, prep body for sudden physical action- produced physicological reactions like inc heart rate.
*parasym returns body back to normal once stressor removed- return to homoestasis
What are some of the physiological reactions
*increased heart rate
*reduce saliva production
*increased blood pressure and respiration
*increase blood supply to skeletal muscle as indirect response
Fight or flight AO3
P- doesnt fully explain the stress response in females
E- research has found that females are more likely to protect offrspring (tend) and form alliances w women or offender in case of crime (befriend) than to fight or run.
E- this suggests theres a gender bias as fight or flight reposne assumes that women and men respond in the same way to a threat situation.
L- limiting the exp of fight or flight reponse
LOA: could be argued that fight or flight reponse is far too simplistic and other responses could be applicable…
P- one issue is that human behaviour is not limited to 2 reponses.
E- some psych argue that t6he first reponse to danger is to avoid confrontation thru a freeze response in which humans consider the best course of action to take for the threat theyre faced with.
L- this limits the fight or flight as doesnt con other factors like thought processes.
Role and location of motor cortex
*voluntary movements
*both hemispheres
What happens if the motor cortex is damaged?
*loss of control of fine/small movements on op side opf the body.
Whats parts of the brain are in both hem
*motor cortex
*somatosensory cortex
*visual cortex
*auditory cortex
Role of somatosensory cortex and what happens if damaged
*processes info from the senses in the skin like touch, temp, pain etc.
*damaged- problems in perceiving touch
Role of visual cortex and what happens if damaged
*receives info from eyes- processes colour and shape
*damaged- blindess, hallucinations, inabilty to see colour
Role of auditory cortex and what happens if damaged
-analyses speech based info- hearing pitch and volume
*damage- partial/full hearing loss
Role of brocas area and what happens if damaged
*production of spoken and written lang
*damage- Brocas aphasia- person shows slow speech that lacks fluency or absence pf speech
*short meaningul speech needs lots of effort
Role of wenickes area and what happens if damaged
*understanding language
*damage- Wernick’s aphasia- person cant understand spoken lang or produces nonsense words as part of speech
AO3 hem lat
Supporty;
P-Sperry
E- split brain research w a served corpus collusm, showed patients image of an object to right visual filed patient could name it verbally, but when left patient could only draw it but not name it.
E- supports that brain is lateralised and hem responsible for diff functions such as left for language.
L- increwasing the validity of research
Limitations:
P- one limitation of sperry is individual diffrences in ppts, in relation to how lat there brain was.
E- the degree to which corpus callosum was cut for each ppts varied w some having greater disconnection between hems than others.
E- means that may still be some ability for hems to communicate. weakness as rs may not be meausring true effcets of lat because of confounding variable, reduces int validity of hem lat.
P- patient EB
-language areas must be in more areas that the left hem as he was till able to speak after left hem removed.
Split brain rs AO1
*Sperry
*nat experiment
*11 ppts that had their corpus colsum severed.
*showed an image to either left or right visual field for 1/10th of second
Whats the purpose of split brain surgery
*treat epilepsy
*has side effact that hem may operate as 2 sep independent brains
AO3 Split brain
SUPPORT;
P- one strength of the rs is that it uses scientific methods.
E- bcs based on obj and emperical techniques such as controlled lab settings., used to identify which hem of the braoin is responsible for each task for eg ppts only able to see what they saw when image presented to right visual which sug left hem activated during lang tasks. L- increasing overall int validity of hem lat, and psychs staus as science.
LIMITS:
*individual differences
*some more cut that others, still some abiloty for communicvation, weakness as not researching true efccts of lat.
P- patient EB
-language areas must be in more areas that the left hem as he was till able to speak after left hem removed.
What does plasticity mean
*brains abilitty to change and adapt its structuires and processes due to new experiences and learning
What happens to connections we dont use
get delted
Whats func recovery
*type of plasticity
*refers to recovery of abilities and mental processes that have been aff as result to brain damage.
How is the brain able to rewire itself
*axonal sprouting- undamaged axons grow new nwerve endings which connects to neuron, where connections had been damaged.
*homologous areas- areas of opposite side of the brain take over the func
What affects recovery after trauma
P-persevarance
A-age
E-education
Stress and alchohol
AO3 plasticity and func recovery
SUPPORT;
*patient eb
-still able to speak
-suggests that EBs brain has exp *recruitment of homologous areas and shows brain can adapr to produce lang even when left hem is not present or functioning.
P- prac app
E- principles of theory taht its possible for individuals brain to recover from damage thru recruitment of hom areas has led to neurorehabilitation.
E- this is when patient prac repeatledly using affected side of bofy eg arm, whilst restraining unaff arm so can regain functioning which improves quality of life.
L- important part of applied psych
JUST FOR PLASTICTY:
P- Maguire et Al
E- studied brain of london taxi drivers, those that had been drivers for lobg time had greater volum eof grey matter in trhe area resp for spatial and nav skills- posterior hippo in comp to those only driver short time.
E- supports plasticity as suggests that changes in structure of brain can be altered by exp and greater knowledge.
L- incereasing the val
Fmri scan
*HIGH IN SPATIAL, LOW IN TEMP
*fmri- identify levls of oxyegn in blood that occurs in brain activity, identify parts of brain, produces 3d image.
EEG
*HIGH IN TEMP, LOW IS SPATIAL
*EEG- electrons on skull cap, detects small el changens resulting from brain cell act, graph elec signals, used to detect sleep patterns, diagnose brain tumors.
ERPs
*HIGH IN TEMP, LOW IS SPATIAL
*electrodes on scalp
*styimulus presented to indivi many times and their brain ac measured using graph
*all ext ac from og EEG recording is filtered leaving only responses to stim.
*study range of cog processes
POST mortem AO3
:)- ONLY insavsive way to stidy the brain, possible to get more detailed examination of brain. For rgc has allowed rs to have been able to study deeper areas of the brain such as hypothalamus which helped understand brain func in many diff behaviours.
*HARD TO ESTABLISH CAUSE AND EFFECT, ma ny ext variables that cant be easily controlled such as how long had disorder, whether they received drug treatemnt. MAKE more challenging to interpret role of specific brain aras in behaviour.
Waht r bio rhytms
*influence the way in which body systems behave
Circadian rhythm
*controlled by supracharismatic nucleus (SCN- endo pacemaker)
*lasts 24 hrs
*sleep/wake cycle
AO3 Circadian rhythms
Support:
P- RS by Decoursey et al
E- destroyed the SCN of 30 chipmunks for a period of 80 days in nat habitat. Sleep/wake cycle of chip dissappeared and by end of study sig proprtion killed by predators, this may be because they were awake when they shouldve been aleep making vul to attacks.
E- supports influence and importance of endo pacemakers such as SCN, as exo seit were not able to maintain sleep wake cycle.
L- thefore increasing validity of rs into role of endo pace.
P- support of role of endo pace conducted by Michel Siffre.
E- he lived in a cage for 6 months isolated from all ex zeit like light etc. found within few days he had developed a a consitent25 hr cycle and continued to fall asleep and wake up on a reg schedule.
E- suggest that sleep wake controlled by end pace due to him developping consitent rhytm when away from ext cues showing its primarily governed by endo than exo.
L- thefore increasing valifity
LIMITATIONS;
Decoursey– animal bias
E- humans may have more compex inteactions between endo and exo as there are a greater number of exo that can influence rhythms in humans such as social int, comp to animals instictive responses to limited ext factors.
L- thefore issues w extrapolating findings of rs in humans, which limits his findings
Infradian rhythyms intro
*last longer that 24 hrs
*for eg female menstrual sycle, which operates on a 28-35 day cycle and regulated by glands and hormones
Whats the endo pacemaker in infradian rhythm like menstrual cycle
*pituitary glands
Exo variable in menstrual cycle
*light, stress, pheromones, lead to inconsistent/dysregulated rhytm
AO3 infradian rhythms
RS by Russell
E- sample of women wear cotton pads under arm, pads then rubbe on upper lip of 5 sexually ninactive women. Processes repeated daily for 5 months. Fpund that 4/5 women developed sync periods.
E- shows infrandian rhytm of period can be aff by exo factors as well as controlled by endo factors which may influnce length of rhythm.
DISCUSSION: was field exp, low control over ext variables. RS took opart in nat environment whether other exo factors like light, stres couldve affected rhythm. L- making it diff to estbalish cause and effect
P- role of exo zeitber like pheromones can be explained by evolutionary psychologits.
E- wouldve been ad iin evo past for social grp to sync pregnancies so women breast feed at same time so one mother could take over caring in orphaned child.
E-shows ex zeit play an important role in mainitaining infradian rhythms
Whats an ultrardian rhythm and an example
*occurs more frequently than once every 24 hrs
*5 stages of sleep
Describe the 5 stages of sleep
Stages 1 and 2- alpha waves, light sleep, NREM, can be easily awoken
Stages 3 and 4- delta waves, deep sleep, body repairs msucles
Stage 5- brain activity resembles awake brain, body paralysed, neurostransmitter levels replinished
How are the 5 stages of sleep studied
Using EEGs
*ecltrodes on skull cap
*measure brain actvity and how frequent the brain waves are occuring and when
What are some exogenous factors tht can affect the ultraradian rhythms
*exercise- research has found that those who run ultra marathons spend more time in stage 3 and 4 as their muscles may be getting repaired
*mental health- indi w depression have been found to spend more time in stage 5 earlier than the average person and increased REM
AO3 ultraradian rhythms
Strengths:
P- practical applications in understanding age- related changes in sleep
E- knowledge that groeth hormone is produced during stage 4 of sleep has been associated with sleep deficit in old age as rs has found older ppl spend less time in stage 4 sleep.
E- as a result of this rs. medication and relaxation techniques have been developed to increase stage 4 sleep in older indi, preventimg issues associated with old age like reduced alterness and increases physical health.
L-therefore rs investigating ultraradian rhythms is an important part of applied psych.
P- one strength is that it uses scientific methods. Based on emperical and objective methods such as EEGs to meausre brain activity and contolled lab settings.
E- measure the ac of the brain throughout the 5 stages of sleep- identify the length of the rhymth and how many times it occurs thruout the duration of sleep whilst excluding ext variables that may affect sleep like noise and temp.
E- increases the overall internal validity of rs investigating the role of endo factors in ultrarardian rhytms, raising psychs scientifc status
Limitations:
P- rs into exo and endo factors in the ultraradian rhymths may have low ecological validity.
E- rs conducted in an artficial setting in which ppts have to wear a electrose skull cap, the sleep experienced may not reflect their sleep patterns governed by exo pacemakers due to unfamililar surrondings.
E- may alter the length of ultraradian rhythyms, making it diff to gen findings to exp how ultraradian works irl
L- reducing the ext valifity of rs into ex and endo factors in ultra rhythms
