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Y2 Psychology > Biopsychology > Flashcards

Biopsychology Flashcards

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1
Q

Outline the key features of the nervous system

A
  • Nervous system = specialised network of cells and our primary communication system. Based on electrical (and chemical) signals
  • The nervous system has 2 main functions :
    • To collect, process and respond to information in the environment
    • To coordinate the working of different organs and cells in the body
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2
Q

Outline the structure of function of the central nervous system (CNS)

A
  • CNS = brain and spinal cord
  • Brain = centre of conscious awareness
  • Cerebral cortex (outside layer of the brain0 = highly developed in humans and is what distinguishes our higher mental functions from those of animals
  • Brain is divided into 2 hemispheres
  • Spinal cord = extension of the brain and is responsible for REFLEX ACTIONS
  • Passes messages to and from the brain and connects nerves to the PNS
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3
Q

Outline the structure of function of the peripheral nervous system (PNS)

A
  • PNS transmits messages via millions of neurons to and from the nervous system
  • PNS is subdivdied into :
    • AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM (ANS) governs vital functions in the body, e.g. breathing, heart rate, sexual arousal, stress response and digestion
    • SOMATIC NERVOUS SYSTEM (SNS) governs muscle movement, and receive information from sensory receptors
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4
Q

Outline the key features of the endocrine system

A
  • Endocrine system works alongside the nervous system to control vital functions in the body through the action of HORMONES
  • Works more slowly than the nervous system (seconds instead of milliseconds) but has widespread and powerful effects
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5
Q

Outline the function of the 8 glands in the endocrine system

A
  • Glands = organs that produce hormones
  • Pituitary gland (brain) = MASTER GLAND, controls the release of hormones from all other glands in the body
  • Pineal gland (brain) = receives information about the light-dark cycle from the environment and secretes MELATONIN
  • Thyroid gland (throat) = secretes THYROXIN which affects metabolism and growth rates
  • Parathyroid gland (behind thyroid gland) = regulates calcium levels
  • Pancreas = secretes insulin
  • Adrenal glands (above the kidneys) = secretes adrenaline
  • Ovary = secretes oestrogen
  • Testicles = secretes testosterone
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6
Q

Define hormones and give an example of a hormone in action

A
  • Hormones are secreted in the bloodstream and affect any cell in the body that has a receptor for that particular hormone
  • For example, THYROXINE produced by the thyroid gland affects cells in the heart and also cells throughout the body, which increase metabolic rates. This in turn affects growth rates
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7
Q

Describe the fight or flight response

A
  • Stressor perceived by HYPOTHALAMUS, which activates the PITUITARY GLAND
  • The sympathetic nervous system is now activated
  • ADRENALINE is released from the ADRENAL MEDULLA into the bloodstream
  • This delivers the aroused state causing an increase in heart rate, dilation of pupils and a decreased saliva production
  • The parasympathetic nervous system takes over once the stress has passed. This returns the body to its RESTING STATE
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8
Q

Compare the sympathetic state and the parasympathetic state

A
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9
Q

How many neurons do we have in the brain?

A
  • 85 billion neurons
  • Children have more neurons than adults
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10
Q

What are the 3 types of neurons?

A
  • Sensory neurons carry messages from the PNS to the CNS. LONG DENDRITES, SHORT AXONS. Located in the PNS in clusters called ganglias
  • Relay neurons connect sensory neurons to motor or other relay neurons. SHORT DENDRITES, SHORT AXONS. 97% of all neurons are relay neurons and most are located in the brain and visual system
  • Motor neurons connect the CNS to muscles and glands. SHORT DENDRITES, LONG AXONS. Cell bodies are in the CNS, but long axons form part of the PNS
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11
Q

Outline the structure of a neuron

A
  • Cell body (soma) includes a nucleus which contains the genetic material of the cell
  • Dendrites are branchlike structures that protrude from the cell body. They receive info and carry nerve impulses from neighbouring neurons towards the cell body
  • Axon carries electrical impulses away from the cell body down the length of the neuron. ONLY 1 AXON PER NEURON
  • Axon hillock determines if there will be an electrical transmission
  • Terminal buttons at the end of the axon communicate with the next neuron in the chain across the synapse
  • Nodes of Ranvier are gaps in the myelin sheath across Schwann cells
  • Myelin sheath is a layer of insulation around the nerve
  • Schwann cells produce the myelin sheath
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12
Q

Outline electrical transmission between neurons

A

When a neuron is in a RESTING STATE, the inside of the cell is NEGATIVELY CHARGED compared to the outside

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13
Q

Describe the firing of a neuron

A
  • When a neuron is activated, the inside of the cell becomes POSITIVELY charged for a split second, causing an action potential to occur
  • This creates an electrical impulse that travels down the axon towards the end of the neuron
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14
Q

Define synapse / synaptic cleft

A

Each neuron is separated from the next by an extremely tiny gap called the synapse / synaptic cleft

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15
Q

Describe chemical transmission

A
  • Signals WITHIN neurons are transmitted ELECTRICALLY
  • Signals BETWEEN neurons are transmitted CHEMICALLY across the synapse
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16
Q

Describe the events that occur at the synapse

A
  • When the electrical impulse reaches the end of the neuron (the presypnatic terminal), it triggers the release of neurotransmitters from tiny sacs called synaptic vesicles
  • Once a neurotransmitter crosses the gap, it’s taken up by a postsynaptic receptor site on the next neuron, so an IMPULSE ONLY EVER TRAVELS IN ONE DIRECTION
  • The chemical message is converted back to an electrical impulse and the process of electrical transmission begins
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17
Q

What are neurotransmitters and how do they work? Give two examples

A
  • Neurotransmitters = chemicals that diffuse across the synapse to the next neuron
  • Each has its own specific molecular structure that fits perfectly into a postsynaptic receptor site, like a lock and key
    • Acetylcholine (ACh) found where a motor neuron meets a muscle, causing muscles to contract
    • Serotonin affects mood and social behaviour, which is why it has been implicated as a cause of depression
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18
Q

Is adrenaline excitatory or inhibitory?

A
  • EXCITATORY
  • Increases the positive charge of the postsynaptic neuron, making it more likely to fire
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19
Q

Is serotonin excitatory or inhibitory?

A
  • INHIBITORY
  • Increases the negative charge of the postsynaptic neuron, making it less likely to fire
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20
Q

Is dopamine excitatory or inhibitory?

A

EQUALLY EXCITATORY AND INHIBITORY

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21
Q

Outline summation

A
  • Excitatory and inhibitory influences are summed and must reach a certain threshold in order for the action potential of the postsynaptic neuron to be triggered
  • If the net effect of the neurotransmitters is INHIBITORY, then the postsynaptic neuron is less likely to fire (i.e. no electrical signal is transmitted)
  • It’s more likely to fire if the net effect is EXCITATORY
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22
Q

Did Broca and Wernicke argue for localisation of function or holistic theory?

A

Localisation of function

23
Q

Define localisation of function

A
  • Different parts of the brain perform different tasks and are involved with different parts of the body
  • If a certain part of the brain becomes damaged through illness or injury, the function associated with that area will also be affected
24
Q

What is localisation of function also known as?

A

Cortical specialisation

25
Q

Define hemispheric lateralisation and give an example, (e.g. language)

A
  • Some of our physical and psychological functions are controlled by a particular hemisphere
  • Language is linked to the left hemisphere
26
Q

What side of the body is controlled by the right hemisphere, and what side of the body is controlled by the left hemisphere?

A
  • Left side of the body is controlled by the right hemisphere
  • Right side of the body is controlled by the left hemisphere
27
Q

Name the four lobes of the brain

A
28
Q

What area is in the frontal lobe?

A

At the back of the frontal lobe, is the MOTOR AREA which controls voluntary movement in the opposite side of the body

29
Q

What happens if there is damage to the motor area?

A

There may a loss of control over fine movements

30
Q

What area is in the parietal lobe?

A

At the front of the parietal lobe is the SOMATOSENSORY AREA, which is where sensory information from the skin (e.g. heat, touch pressure, etc.) is represented

31
Q

What separates the somatosensory area and the motor area?

A

The CENTRAL SULCUS

32
Q

What area is in the occipital lobe?

A
  • At the back of the brain is the VISUAL CORTEX
  • Each eye sends information from the right visual field to the left visual cortex and from the left visual field to the right visual cortex
33
Q

What happens if there is damage to the left hemisphere in terms of vision?

A

Damage to the left hemisphere can produce blindness in part of the right visual fields of both eyes

34
Q

What area is in the temporal lobe?

A

Temporal lobes contain the AUDITORY CORTEX, which analyses speech-based information

35
Q

What happens if there is damage to the temporal lobes?

A
  • Damage may produce partial hearing loss
  • The more extensive the damage, the more extensive the loss
  • Damage to Wernicke’s area may affect the ability to comprehend language
36
Q

Describe Broca’s area and Broca’s aphasia

A
  • Broca’s area = area in the left frontal lobe, responsible for SPEECH PRODUCTION
  • Broca’s aphasia = speech that is slow, laborious and lacking fluency (lower ability to produce speech)
37
Q

Describe Wernicke’s area and Wernicke’s aphasia

A
  • Wernicke’s area = area in the left temporal lobe responsible for language comprehension
  • Wernicke’s aphasia = production in neologisms (nonsense words) as part of the content of their speech, since they have lower ability to understand language
38
Q

How is evidence of neurosurgery a strength of localisation of function in the brain?

A
  • One strength of localisation theory is that damage to areas of the brain has been linked to mental disorders
  • Neurosurgery is a last resort method for treating some mental disorders, targeting specific areas of the brain which may be involved
  • For example, a CINGULOTOMY involves isolating a region called the CINGULATE GYRUS, which has been implicated in OCD
39
Q

Outline Dougherty et al.’s study into the success of cingulotomy procedures

A
  • Dougherty et al. reported on 44 people with OCD, who had a cingulotomy
  • A post-surgical follow-up after 32 weeks, about 30% had met the criteria for successful response to the surgery and 14% for partial response
  • The success of these procedures suggests that behaviours associated with serious mental disorders may be localised
40
Q

How is evidence of brain scans a strength of localisation of function in the brain?

A
  • Brain scans support the idea that many everyday brain functions are localised
  • For example, Petersen et al. used brain scans to demonstrate how Wernicke’s area was active during a listening task and Broca’s area was active during a reading task
  • This confirms localised areas for everyday behaviours. Therefore, objective methods for measuring brain activity have provided sound scientific evidence that many brain functions are localised
41
Q

How does Lashley’s rat study challenge localisation theory?

A
  • Lashley removed (10% - 50%) of rats’ cortices who were learning the route through a maze
  • No area was proven to be more important than any other area in terms of the rats’ ability to learn the route
  • The process of learning seemed to require every part of the cortex rather than being confined to a particular area
  • This suggests that higher cognitive processes, e.g. learning, are not localised, but distributed holistically in the brain
42
Q

Language localisation has been questioned. How is this a weakness of localisation of function in the brain?

A
  • Language may not be localised just to Broca and Wernicke’s areas
  • A recent review by Dick and Tremblay found that only 2% of modern researchers believe that language in the brain is controlled fully by Broca and Wernicke’s areas
  • Advances in brain imaging techniques, e.g. fMRI, mean that neural processes can be studied with more clarity
    • Language functions are distributed more holistically than was once thought
    • Language streams have been found in the right hemisphere and the thalamus
  • This suggests that, rather than being confined to a couple of key areas, language may be organised more holistically, which contradicts localisation theory
43
Q

Discuss case study evidence as an evaluation point for localisation of function in the brain

A
  • Unique cases of neurological damage support localisation theory, e.g. PHINEAS GAGE
  • HOWEVER, there are problems with case studies. It’s difficult to generalise from the findings of a single person
  • Also conclusions drawn may depend on the subjective interpretation of the researcher
44
Q

How is language lateralised in the brain?

A
  • The 2 main language centres are in the LH - Broca’s area = left frontal lobe, Wernicke’s area = left temporal lobe
  • The RH provides emotional context to what is being said
  • This had led to the suggestion that the LH is the analyser, while the RH is the synthesiser
45
Q

Explain how movement is NOT lateralised

A
  • Motor area appears in both hemispheres
  • In the case of the motor area, the brain is CROSS-WIRED (CONTRALATERAL WIRING)
  • The RH controls movement on the left side of the body, whilst the LH controls movement on the right side of the body
46
Q

Explain how vision is NOT lateralised

A
  • It’s both contralateral*** and ***ipsilateral (both opposite and same sided)
  • Each eye receives light from the left and right visual fields. The LVF of both eyes is connected to the RH and the RVF of both eyes is connected to the LH
  • This enables the visual areas to compare the slightly different perspective from each eye and aids depth perception
47
Q

Describe the split-brain operation, known as a COMMISSUROTOMY, and how it reduces epilepsy

A
  • Commissurotomy involves severing the connections between the RH and LH
  • During an epileptic seizure, the brain experiences excessive electrical activity which travels from one hemisphere to the other. To reduce fits, these connections are cut, “splitting” the brain in 2 halves
48
Q

Outline Sperry’s research into the split-brain

A
  • 11 people who had a split-brain operation were studied using a special setup, in which an image could be projected to the LVF (processed by the RH)
  • In the “normal” brain, the corpus callosum would immediately share the info between both hemispheres, giving a complete picture of the visual world
  • HOWEVER, presenting the image to one hemisphere of a split-brain participant meant that the info CANNOT be conveyed from that hemisphere to the other
  • When a picture of an object was shown to a participant’s RVF (linked to LH) they could describe what was seen
  • But they could NOT do this if the object was shown to the LVF - they said there was nothing there
  • This is because, in the connected brain, messages from the RH are relayed to the languages centres in the LH, but this is not possible in the split brain
  • Although participants could not give verbal labels to objects projected in the LVF, they could select a matching object out of sight using their left hand (linked to RH)
  • The left hand was also able to select an object that was most closely associated with an object presented to the LVF (e.g. an ashtray was selected in response to a picture of a cigarette)
  • These observations show how functions are lateralised in the brain and support the view that the LH is verbal and the RH is “silent but emotional”
49
Q

How is lateralisation in the connected brain a strength of hemispheric lateralisation and split-brain research?

A
  • Even in connected brains, the 2 hemispheres process info differently
  • Fink et al. used PET scans to identify which brain areas were active during a visual processing task
  • When participants with connected brains were asked to attend to global elements of an image, (e.g. looking at a picture of a whole forest) regions of the RH were much more active
  • When required to focus in on the finer details (e.g. individual trees), the specific areas of the LH tended to dominate
  • This suggests that hemispheric lateralisation is a feature of the connected brain, as well as the split brain
50
Q

How is the idea of one brain a weakness of hemispheric lateralisation and split-brain research?

A
  • The idea that the LH is an analyser and the RH is a synthesiser may be wrong
  • There may be different functions in the RH and LH, but research suggests that people do NOT have a dominant side of their brain, which creates a different personality
  • Nielsen et al. analysed brain scans from over 1000 people aged 7-29 and found that people use certain hemisphere for certain tasks (evidence for lateralisation)
  • HOWEVER, there was no evidence of a dominant side, i.e. not artist’s brain or mathematician’s brain
  • This suggests that the notion of right or left brained people is wrong
51
Q

Discuss lateralisation vs plasticity as an evaluation point for hemispheric lateralisation and split-brain research

A
  • Lateralisation is adaptive as it enables two tasks to be performed simultaneously with greater efficiency
    • Rogers et al. showed that lateralised chickens could not find food while watching for predators, but “normal” chickens couldn’t
  • HOWEVER, neural plasticity could also be seen as adaptive
    • According to Holland et al., following damage through illness or traumas, some functions can be taken over by non-specialised areas in the opposite hemisphere. For example, language function can literally “switch sides”
52
Q

How is research support for split-brain research a strength of hemispheric lateralisation and split-brain research?

A
  • Gazzaniga showed that split-brain participants actually perform BETTER than a connected control group on certain tasks
  • For example, they were faster at identifying the odd one out in an array of similar objects than normal controls
  • In the normal brain, the LH’s better cognitive strategies are “watered down” by the inferior RH, according to Kingstone et al.
  • This supports Sperry’s earlier findings that the left brain and right brain are distinct
53
Q

How are generalisation issues a weakness of hemispheric lateralisation and split-brain research?

A
  • A limitation of Sperry’s research is that causal relationships are hard to establish
  • The behaviour of Sperry’s split-brain participants was compared to a neurotypical control group
  • An issue is that none of the participants in the control group had epilepsy
  • This is a major CONFOUNDING VARIABLE. Any differences that were observed between the two groups may be the result of epilepsy, rather than the split brain
  • This means that some of the unique features of the split-brain participants’ cognitive abilities might have been due to their epilepsy
54
Q

Discuss ethics as an evaluation point of hemispheric lateralisation and split-brain research

A
  • The commissurotomy wasn’t performed for the purpose of the research. So in that sense, Sperry’s participants were not deliberately harmed
  • In addition, all procedures were explained to the split-brain participants and their fully informed consent was obtained
  • HOWEVER, the trauma of the operation might mean that the participants did not later understand the implications of what they had agreed to
  • They were subject to repeated testing over a lengthy period of time (years in some cases), and this may have been stressful over time

Y2 Psychology (2 decks)

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