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Psychology > Biopsychology > Flashcards

Biopsychology Flashcards

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1
Q

human nervous system

A

central NS- brain and spinal cord
peripheral NS- transmits messages via neurones to and from CNS
split into autonomic (vital fucntions eg breathing) and somatic NS
autonomic split into parasympathetic and sympathetic involved in fight or flight

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2
Q

neurone structure

A

cells that conduct nerve impulses
nucleus- control centre of cell, containing DNA
dendrite- receives nerve impulse from neurone
axon- where electrical signal passes along
myelin sheath- insulates axon from external factors affecting transmission
nodes of ranvier- speed up transmission by forcing impulse to jump

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3
Q

sensory neurone

A

carries message from PNS (sense organs) to CNS

long dendrites and short axons

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4
Q

motor

A

carry messages from CNS to effectors- muscles + glands

short dendrites and long axons

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5
Q

relay

A

transfer messages from sensory neurones to other relay or motor neurones
short dendrites and short or long axons
found in CNS

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6
Q

synaptic transmission

A

when an impulse reaches the end of a neurone, it triggers the release of a NT
chemical signals between neurones are transmitted across synapse

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7
Q

neurotransmitters

A

chemicals that diffuse across a synapse
taken up by post synaptic receptor on dendrite
affect the transfer of another impulse to another nerve or impulse
excitatory- make a neurone more likely to fire, generate an act pot in the next neurone
inhibitory- make a neurone less likely to fire, hyperpolarise PSM so act pot cant travel down
reduce brain activity

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8
Q

summation

A

effects of inhib and excit at a PSM are summed
normal brain functioning depends on inhib and excit being balanced
if there are more inhibitory than excitatory they can cancel out excitation and inhibit an action potential occurring

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9
Q

endocrine systen

A

works alongside NS to control vital functions

acts slowly using glands which release hormones into bloodstream, which have a longer lasting effect

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10
Q

fight or flight

A

in a stressful situation
sympathetic NS kicks in to prepare body to escape
adrenalin released from adrenal medulla
SNS- increase HR, pupils dilate, inhibits saliva, inhibits digestion
ParaNS- decrease HR, pupils constrict, stimulate saliva + digestion
para returns body back to resting state

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11
Q

fMRI scans

A

functional magnetic resonance imaging (while performing a task)
detect changes in blood oxygenation and blood flow to certain areas of the brain
when a brain area is more active, it consumes more o2 so more blood flows to the area
produces a 3D image of which parts of the brain are involved in certain mental processes

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12
Q

fMRI ao3

A

ad- doesn’t use radiation which makes it safer
non invasive
high spatial resolution- shows where things are happening

dis- expensive compared to other methods
poor temporal resolution- doesn’t show when things are happening

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13
Q

EEG

A

electroencephalogram
measures electrical activity within the brain via electrode on the scalp (electrical currents)
scan represents brainwave patterns generated by neurones

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14
Q

EEG ao3

A

ad- can be used to see neurological abnormalities and in diagnosis of epilepsy
high temporal validity- can detect activity at 1 ms

dis- generalised nature of information received ( comes from thousands of neurones)
not useful in pinpointing exact source of neural activity
low spatial resolution

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15
Q

ERP

A

event related potential
electrophysiological response of brain to sensory, motor and cognitive events isolated by statistical analysis
filters out extraneous brain activity from EEG and isolates response to a specific stimulus
can see brainwaves triggered by particular events

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16
Q

ERP ao3

A

ad- very good temporal validity
more specificity to measurements of neural processes than EEG

dis- lack of standardisation between methods so can’t confirm findings
poor spatial resolution as cannot map the deeper regions of the brain

17
Q

Post Mortem

A

analysis of the brain of someone who is already dead

likely to be of someone who had a rare disorder or disease

18
Q

PM ao3

A

ad- vital in providing info about the brain before neuroimaging was possible
has been used in case studies eg HM
high spatial resolution

dis- issues with causation as damage to the brain may be unrelated to trauma
ps can’t give informed consent
poor temporal resolution

19
Q

split brain research

A

involves severing the connections between the left and right hemispheres by removing corpus callosum
shows how the hemispheres function when they can’t communicate

20
Q

Sperry

A

studied 11 patients who had split brain operation
focused on dot (one eye covered) and word/image flashed up
image projected to left or right visual field (brain can’t convey info from one side to the other)
when image was shown to RVF (LH) they could describe it
image shown to LVF (RH) they could select a matching object with left hand

21
Q

sperry ao3

A

shows that brain functions are lateralised and localised- LH is verbal and RH is emotional
natural exp as IV wasn’t manipulated
high internal validity
low ecological validity
scientific procedure
small sample of ps and differences may be due to epilepsy rather than split brain
lack of controls as some ps had drug therapy previously
oversimplifies link between hemispheres as they are normally communicating all the time
sperry did do the surgery so don’t know exactly how/ why is was carried out eg severity

22
Q

hemispheric lateralisation

A

idea that halves of the brain are different and certain behaviours are controlled by each hemisphere
language-two main areas (broca + wernicke) are in left hemisphere so is lateralised
many functions are not localised as motor and somatosensory areas are in both hemispheres

23
Q

hemispheres

A

cerebrum is divided into 2 halves ( hemispheres) which are responsible for different functions
localisation- theory that there are specific areas of the cortex associated with particular cognitive functions

24
Q

frontal lobe

A

at front of brain
contains motor areas in both hemispheres; controls movement and damage may result in loss of fine movement
damage to either hemisphere would result in the opposite side of the body being damaged eg LH damaged, right side of body will struggle
Broca’s areas in left hemisphere
responsible for speech production

25
Q

temporal lobe

A

contains auditory area in both hemispheres; analyses speech based info and damage may result in hearing loss
Wernicke’s area in left hemisphere
responsible for understanding speech

26
Q

parietal lobe

A

top of brain
somatosensory area in both hemispheres
where sensory info from skin (touch, heat, pressure) is represented

27
Q

occipital lobe

A

back of brain
contains visual area in both hemispheres
damage may result in blindness

28
Q

localisation ao3 (adv)

A

Dougherty studied 44 people who had surgery for OCD (on specific area of brain-cingulate gyrus- linked with OCD)
1/3 got better (alleviated symptoms) supporting localisation but not everyone did- 14% partially recovered
empirical, scientific data

Peterson used brain scans to demonstrate how Broca’s area was active during reading task + Wernicke’s area was active during listening tasks
brain scans are objective

Phineas Gage- had a pole through his head- frontal lobe (involved in personality) - and survived but had a complete change in personality, from a calm, reserved person to an aggressive drunk
showing local as only this was affected

Broca’s aphasia- patient had a lesion in Broca’s area and the only word he could say was Tan showing the importance of Broca’s in speech production

29
Q

localisation ao3 (dis)

A

Harasty- found individual differences as women have larger Broca’s area than men so localisation isn’t as fixed as the theory suggest

idea of plasticity undermines lateralisation as it shows that brain functions can change

Lashley- proposed the idea that processes are distributed holistically. rats were trained to complete a maze, could complete in same time when parts of brain were removed (equipotentiality)

Dick and Tremblay found that only 2% of modern researchers think that language is completely controlled by Broca + Wernicke’s area due to advances in brain imaging techniques- language is more holistic

Donkers conducted an MRI scan on Tan’s brain to try and confirm Broca’s findings, there was lesion on Broca’s area but found issues with other areas may have also contributed to the loss of speech production

  • broca’s is not the only important part and may be due to damage of other areas
  • may be due to how the brain communicates rather than the exact areas
30
Q

brain plasticity

A

brain’s ability to change and adapt (functionally+ physically) as a result of experience or learning
in infancy brain experiences rapid growth in number of synaptic transmissions
brain plasticity occurs throughout our lives as a result of learning
as we age, rarely used connections are deleted and frequently used are strengthened- synaptic pruning

31
Q

plasticity ao3 (support)

A

Maguire- studied brains of London taxi drivers
found sig. more grey matter in hippocampus compared to controls- associated with the development of spatial and and navigation skills
positively correlated with their time as a taxi drivers (eg longer= more grey matter)
complex test they take alters brain structure
cause and effect- may be taxi drivers due to this

Draganski- studied brains of medial students before and after final exams
learning induced changes occurred in posterior hippocampus and parietal cortex

32
Q

plasticity ao3 (neg)

A

negative plasticity- may cause negative behavioural consequences
brain’s adaption to prolonged drug use leads to poorer cognitive functioning later in life
60-80% of amputees develop phantom limb syndrome where they feel like their limbs are still there (unpleasant)

33
Q

recovery from brain trauma

A

where unaffected areas of the brains adapt and compensate for damaged areas ( specific form of plasticity)
neural reorganisation- transfer of functions to undamaged areas
neural regeneration- growth of new neurones/ connections to compensate for damaged areas
axonal sprouting- growth of new nerve endings which connect with undamaged neurones
neuronal unmasking- unmasking of dormant synapses, opening connections to new regions of the brain
affected by age as younger people are still growing new synapses/ connections so easier to change
plasticity helps to deal with indirect effects of brain damage eg from inadequate blood supply after a stroke

34
Q

recovery from brain trauma- case study

A

EB- had virtually entire left hem removed aged 2.5
was given substantial rehab for language and gradually recovered
tested at 17, had excellent language with minor grammatical problems
right hem had compensated
organisation of language areas on RH mirrored what is seen in a healthy LH which refers to neural reorganisation

35
Q

recovery from trauma ao3

A

practical applications- contributes to field of neuro rehabilitation and encourages new therapies to be tried out

Elbert et al- found that the capacity for neural reorganisation is much greater in children than in adults- less effective in older brains, may explain why adults find change more demanding (individual differences in RFT)

limitation- person’s education level may affect how they recover due to their cognitive reserve
disability free recovery achieved only 10% of people with >10 years of education compared to 40% with <16 years

36
Q

localisation

A

idea that individual parts of the brain have specific functions
eg frontal lobe- motor area and broca’s area (LH)
broca and wernicke important in speech production and understanding; only found in left hemisphere
broca- speech production
broca’s aphasia- damage to broca’s area results in slow, laborious speech
wernicke’s area- understanding speech
wernicke’s aphasia- damage to wernicke’s may result in producing nonsense words

37
Q

lateralisation ao3

A

evidence that hemispheres process info differently and lateral. is feature of split brain and connected brain

  • Fink et al used PET scans to identify which areas of the brain were active in a visual task
  • ps with connected brain looked at global elements of the picture (eg whole picture) the RH was used
  • when they had to focus on the finer detail the LH dominated

the L and RH have different functions but we do not have a dominant side of the brain eg one side dominates and this determines personality

-Nielsen et al analysed brain scans of 1000 people and found evidence for lateralisation but no evidence for a dominant side

38
Q

somatic NS

A

transmits sensory info from body/ sense receptors to the brain/ CNS
controls voluntary movements by transmitting info from brain to effectors
integrates brain with external environment/outside world

Psychology (16 decks)

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