biopsych content Flashcards
What are the two main divisions of the nervous system
Peripheral Nervous system : referent to the part of the nervous system that do not include the spinal chord and the brain
Central Nervous System: comprised of the brain and spinal cord, receives information from the senses and controls the body’s responses
Describe the somatic nervous system
Part of the PNS that is responsible for carrying sensory and motor information to and from the CNS
Describe synaptic transmission
Refers to the process by which a nerve impulse passes across the synaptic cleft from the pre synaptic neuron to the post synaptic neuron
Describe the process of synaptic transmission
- Action potential causes your vesicles in ur presynaptic neuron to move towards the presynaptic membrane
- The vesicles fuse to the presynaptic membrane, releasing neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft
- Neurotransmitters then move down the conc grad and bind to the receptors on the postsynaptic membrane
- Causes an excitatory or inhibitory action potential to fire
What are hormones
The body’s chemical messengers
They travel through the bloodstream influencing many different processes including mood, stress response and the bonding between mother and newborn baby
Describe the fight or flight response
The sequence of activity within the body that is triggered when the body prepares itself for defence or attack or running to safety, this activity involves chances in the NS and the secretion of Norman’s that are necessary to sustain arousal
Processes of the FoF response
- Individual experiences a trigger
- The amygdala sends a distress signal to the hypothalamus
- The hypothalamus activated the sympathomedullary pathway which is the sympathic branch of the autonomic NS
- The SNS stimulates your adrenal glads to secrete adrenaline and nor adrenaline into the blood stream
- The produces physiological changes that prepare the body for exercise
- The parasympathic branch of your nervous system returns your body to a resting state
Why does the tend and befriend response occur in females
The presence of oxytocin in females tend to induce a nursing response
The effect of oxytocin are negated by testosterone which is why the tend and befriend response largely occurs in females
What are axons
Axons carry the electrical impulses down the length of the neuron
These are covered in a fatty layer called a myelin sheath
Described research into localisation of brain function
Bro a carried out a postmortem on the Brian of a patient known as ‘tan’ he was on able to say the words tan
He found that he and a part of his left frontal lobe missing, leading to language function being associate w this part of the brain
