biopsychology Flashcards
what is biopsychology?
Biopsychology is a branch of psychology that analyses how the brain, neurotransmitters, and other aspects of our biology influence our behaviours, thoughts, and feelings. Bio psychologists often look at how biological processes interact with emotions, cognitions, and other mental processes.
what is the nervous system ?
the nervous system consists of the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system. communicates using electrical signals.
what is the central nervous system (cns)
the cns consists of the brain and the spinal cord and its origin of all complex commands ad decisions.
what is the peripheral nervous system ?
the PNS sends information to the CNS from the outside world, and transmits messages from the CNS to muscles and glands in the body
what is the somatic nervous system ?
the SNS transmits information from receptor cells in the sense organs to the CNS it also receives information from the CNS that directs muscles to act
what is the autonomic nervous system ?
the ANS transmits information to and from internal bodily organs, it is ‘autonomic’ as the system operates involuntarily. it has two main divisions: the sympathetic and parasympathetic NS
what are the two main functions of the nervous systems ?
to collect, process and respond to information in the environment
to co- ordinate the working of different organs and cells in the body
what is the central nervous system made up from ?
Brain and the spinal cord
what is the the brain in the central nervous system?
the brain is in the centre of the conscious awareness, the outer layer of the brain (the cerebral cortex) is only 3mm thick and covers the brain like a orange peel.
what is the spinal cord in the central nervous system?
the spinal cord is an extension of the brain. it passes messages to and from the brain and connects nerves to the PNS
eg pulling your hand away from a hot plate.
the peripheral nervous system is separated into two parts what are these ?
somatic nervous system
autonomic nervous system
what is the endocrine system?
one of the body’s major information systems that instructs glands to release hormones directly into the bloodstream. these hormones are carried towards target organs in the body. communicates via chemicals
what is a gland?
a gland is an organ in the body that synthesisers substances such as hormones.
what is a hormone?
a hormone is a chemical substance that circulates in the bloodstream and only affect target organs. they are produced in large quantities but disappear quickly their effect are very powerful.
what is the fight or flight response?
this is the way an animal responds when they are stressed, the body becomes physiologically aroused in the readiness to flight an aggressor or, in some cases flee.
what is adrenaline?
adrenaline is a hormone produced by the adrenal glands which is a part of the human bodies immediate stress response system. adrenaline has a strong effect on the cells of the cardiovascular system. stimulating the heart rate, contracting blood vessels and dilating air passages
how does the endocrine system and the ANS work together?
they usually work in parallel with one another for examples, if there is a stressful event, when a stressor is perceived the first thing that happens is a part of the brain called the hypothalamus activates the pituita gland and this triggers the activity in the the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system.
what is a neuron ?
a neuron is the basic building blocks of the nervous system, neurons are nerve cells that process and transmit messages through electrical and chemical signals
what is sensory neuron?
aa sensory neuron carries messages from the PNS to the CNS. hey have long dendrites and short axons.
what are relay neurons?
these connect the sensory neurons to the motor or the other relay neurons. they have short dendrites and long axons.
what are motor neurons?
these connect the CNS to effectors such as muscles and glands. they have short dendrites and long axons.
what is the location of the neurons?
the cell bodies of the motor neurons may be in the central nervous systems but they have long axons which form part of the PNS. sensory neurons have located outside of the CNS in the PNS in a cluster known as ganglia.
relay neurons make up up to 97% of all neurons and most are found within the brain and the visual system.
electrical transmissions - what is the firing of a neuron?
when a neuron is in the resting state the inside of the cell is negatively charged compared to the outside. when the neuron is activated by a stimulus, the inside of the cell becomes positively charged for a split second causing an action potential to occur
this therefore creates a electrical charge.
what is synaptic transmission?
the process by which neighbouring neurons communicate with each other by sending chemical messages across the gap that separates them.
what are neurotransmitters?
neuro transmitters are chemicals released from synaptic vesicles that relay signals across the synapse from one neuron to another. neurotransmitters can be broadly divided into those that perform an excitatory function and those that perform an inhibitory function
what is excitation ?
when a neurotransmitter, such as adrenaline, increases the positive charge of of the post synaptic neuro. this increases the likelihood that the postsynaptic neuron will pass on the electrical impulse.
what is inhibition?
when a neurotransmitter, such as serotonin, increases the negative charge of the post synaptic neuron. this decreases the likelihood that the postsynaptic neuron will pass on the electrical impulse.
what is the neurochemical basis of behaviour.
neurochemistry refers to the action of the chemicals in the brain. much of our thought and behaviour relies on chemical transmissions in the brain.
disrupted neurochemistry in the brain is the basis for disorders such as OCD association with serotonin and dopamine in schizophrenia.
what is the genetic basis of behaviour ?
psychological characteristics are inherited the same way that things such as eye colour is. twin studies are used to see whether certain psychological characteristics are genetic basis.
what is genotype ?
the particular set of genes that a person possesses
what is phenotype?
the characteristics of an individual determined by both genes and the environment
what is the biological approach
a perspective that emphasises the importance of physical processes in the body such as genetic inheritance and neural function
main parts that build up the structure of a neurons are
cell body nucleus genetic dendrites axons myelin sheath terminal buttons nodes of Ranvier
what is localisation of function ?
the theory that different areas of the brain are responsible for specific behaviours. processes or activities
what is the motor area ?
a region of the frontal lobe involved in regulating movement
what is the somatosensory area?
an area of the parietal lobe that processes sensory information such as touch
what is the visual area?
a part of the occipital lobe that receives and processes visual information
what is the auditory area?
located in the temporal lobe and concerned with the analysis of speech based information
what is the broca’s area ?
an area of the frontal lobe in the left hemisphere, responsible for speech production
what is the Wernicke’s area ?
an area of the temporal lobe , encircling the auditory cortex, in the left hemisphere responsible for language comprehension.
what are the hemispheres of the brain?
left hemisphere
right hemisphere
the main part of the brain ( cerebrum) is divided into two symmetrical halves.
some functions are dominated and controlled by certain halves of the hemisphere. which is called lateralisation.
what is hemispheric lateralisation ?
the idea that the two halves of the brain are functionally different and that certain mental processes and behaviours are mainly controlled by one hemisphere rather than the other. such as language, which is localised as well as lateralised.
what is split brain research?
a series of studies that began in the 1960s involving people who had epilepsy who had experienced a surgical separation of the hemispheres of their brain to be able to reduce the severity of their epilepsy. this allowed researchers to be able to test lateral function of the brain in isolation
an example of split brain research is…
roger sperry 1968 devised a system to help study how two separated hemispheres deal with, for example, speech and vision.
11 SB participants.
used special set up in which an image could be projected to a participants RVF. - processed by LH and to LVF - processed by RH.
normal brain- corpus callosum would share this information. but in this situation this wouldn’t happen.
what is brain plasticity?
this describes the brains tendency to change and adapt as a result of experience and new learning. this generally involves the growth of new connections.
what is functional recovery?
a form of plasticity following damage through trauma. the brain’s ability to redistribute or transfer functions usually performed by a damaged area to other damaged areas.
research into plasticity such as…
Eleanor maguire 2000 studied the brains of london taxi drivers. and found a significantly higher amount of grey matter within the posterior hippocampus matched to the control group. this area is associated with navigational skills - ‘the knowledge’ test
what happens to the brain during recovery?
axonal sprouting
denervation supersensitivity
recruitment of homologous
what is axonal sprouting ?
the growth of new nerve endings which connect with other undamaged nerve cells to form new neuronal pathways
what is denervation supersensitivity ?
this occurs when axons that do a similar job become aroused to a higher level to compensate for the ones that are lost, however, it can have the negative consequence of oversensitivity to messages such as pain.
what is recruitment of homologous?
this means that specific tasks can be performed. an example would be the broca’s area was damaged, on the left side of the brain, the right side equivalent would be carrying out its functions after a period of time, functionality may then shift back to the left side.
what is a FMRI- functional magnetic resonance imaging
a method used to measure brain activity while a person is performing a task. FMRI detects radio waves from changing in the magnetic field. this enables researchers to detect which regions of the brain are rich in oxygen and thus active.
what is a electroencephalogram - EEG
a record of the tiny electrical impulses produced by the brains activity. by measuring characteristic wave patterns, the EEG can help diagnose certain conditions in the brain.
what is a event related potential - ERP’s
the electrophysiological response of the brain to a specific sensory, cognitive, or motor event can be isolated through statistical analysis of EEG data
what are post mortem examinations?
the brain analysed after death to determine whether certain observed behaviours during the persons lifetime can be linked to structural abnormalities in the brain.
what are biological rhythms?
distinct patterns of changes in the body activity that conform to cyclical time periods. biological rhythms are influenced by internal body clocks - endogenous pacemaker- as well as external changes to the environments
what are circadian rhythms
biological rhythms, subject to a 24 hour cycle, which regulate a number of body processes such as the sleep/ wake cycle and changes in core body temperature
what is the sleep wake cycle?
the sleep wake cycle is governed by internal - endogenous pacemaker. a biological clock called the suprachiasmatic nucleus. the scn lies just above the optic chiasm which provides information from the ey about light.
what is siffre’s cave study ?
siffre is a self styled cave man who has spent several extended period underground to study the effects on his own biological rhythms. deprived of exposure to natural light and sound but with access to adequate food ad drink.
siffre’s came back september 1962 after two months of being in the cave of the southern alps believing it to be august a decade later he did he same for six months in a texan cave his biological clock moved to25 rather then 24
what are infradian rhythms?
a type of biological rhythm with a frequency of less than one cycle in 24 hours such as menstruation cycle and seasonal affective disorder
what are ultradian rhythm’s ?
a type of biological rhythms with a frequency of more than one cycle in 24 hours such as the stages of sleep
what is seasonal affective disorder ?
this is a depressive disorder which has a seasonal pattern of onset and is described and diagnosed as a mental disorder in DSM- 5 as with other forms of depression
what is synchronising the menstrual circle in terms of cycles ?
although the menstrual cycle is an endogenous system evidence suggests that it may be influenced by exogenous factors such as the cycles for other women.
katherine and martha mcclintock 1998 demonstrated how menstrual cycle may synchronise as the influence of pheromones
studied 29 women with history of irregular periods sample of pheromones are collected at different stages of their menstrual cycle they were on cotton pads that was then rubbed into the upper lip of the other participants.
68% experienced changes
what are endogenous pacemakers ?
internal body clocks that regulate many of our biological rhythm’s such as the influence of the suprachiasmatic nucleus SCN on the sleep and wake cycle.
what are exogenous zeitgebers?
external factors that affect or entrain our biological rhythm’s such as the influence of light on the sleep / wake cycle
what is the sleep wake cycle?
a daily cycle of biological activity based on a 24 hour period that is influenced by regular variations in the environment such as the alternation of night and day
what are pineal gland and melatonin in relation to SCN
the SCN passes the information on day length and light that it receives to the pineal gland structure in the brain just behind the hypothalamus. during the night the pineal gland increases production of melatonin - a chemical that induces sleep and is inhibited during periods of wakefulness.
melatonin has also been seen as a factor in SAD
what are animal studies and the SCN related?
influence of the SCN has been demonstrated involving animals
decoursey destroyed the SCN connections in the brain of 30 chipmunks who were returned to their natural habitat and observed for 80 days. the sleep / wake cycle of the chipmunk’s disappeared by the end of the study a significant proportion of them had been killed by predators. - because they were awake, active and vulnerable to attack
what are changes in the environment called?
exogenous zeitgebers
