Biopsychology

Question 1

What are the two main divisions of the nervous system?

Answer 1

Peripheral Nervous System- refers to the parts of the nervous system that do not include the brain and the spinal cord.
Central nervous System (CNS)- This is comprised of the brain and spinal cord. It receives information from the senses and controls the body’s responses.

Question 2

Describe the somatic nervous system.

Answer 2

Unlike the ANS, this part of the peripheral nervous system is responsible for carrying sensory and motor information to and from the central nervous system.

Question 3

Describe synaptic transmission.

Answer 3

Describe the synaptic transmission.
This refers to the process by which a nerve impulse passes across the synaptic cleft from one neuron to another (from the presynaptic neuron to the postsynaptic neuron).

Question 4

What are hormones?

Answer 4

The body’s chemical messengers. They travel through the bloodstream, influencing many different processes including mood, the stress response and bonding between mother and newborn baby.

Question 5

Describe the fight or flight response.

Answer 5

Sequence of activity within the body that is trigered when the body prepares itself for defending or attacking (fight) or running to safety (flight). This activity involves changes in the nervous system and the secretion of hormones that are necessary to sustain arousal.

Question 6

Why does the tend and befriend response occur in females?

Answer 6

This is due to the presence of oxytocin in females, which tends to induce a nurturing response. The effects of oxytocin are negated by testosterone which is why the tend and befriend response occurs largely in females.

Question 7

What are axons?

Answer 7

Axons carry the electrical impulse down the length of a neuron, these are covered in a fatty layer called a myelin sheath.

Question 8

Describe research into localisation of brain function.

Answer 8

Broca carried out a postmortem on the brain of a patiêht known as ‘Tan’ (he was only able to say ‘Tan’) and found that he had part of his left frontal lobe missing, leading to language function being associated with this area of the brain,

Question 9

How can driving a taxi help with functional recovery?

Answer 9

•SPMT
How can driving a taxi help with functional recovery?
It can help because it increases brain plasticity. Maguire et al (2000) found that taxi drivers had a significantly higher volume of grey matter in their posterior hippocampus than the control group.

Question 10

Describe split-brain research.

Answer 10

Describe split-brain research.
Sperry (1968) studied patients whose corpus callosur was severed for some reason, these patients had to watch as a word or image was projected to their right visual field (which is processed by the left hemisphere) or their left visual field, which is processed by their right hemisphere. When the object was projected to their RVF, they were able to describe what was seen, but when it was projected to the left, they said that nothing was there. However, they were able to tactilely select a matching object to the one shown to their LVF. This led Sperry to believe that they were unable to verbally identify what they had been seen, because the left hemisphere, where language is believed to be lateralised is needed for speech production.

Question 11

Why are young people more likely to recover from brain trauma?

Answer 11

This is because during infancy and childhood the parin experiences rapid grouth, forming 15,000 synaptic connections between the ages of 23 this increases the plasticity of the brain, making it more likely that other areas of the brain can take on the role of damaged parts following a brain trauma,

Question 12

What is Wernicke’s area?

Answer 12

Deals language comprehension, it is located in
the temporal lobe.

Question 13

What is an electroencephalogram?

Answer 13

This is a recording of brain activity. During the test, small sensors are attached to the scalp to pick up the electrical signals produced when brain cells send messages to each other.

Question 14

Give examples of infradian rhythms.

Answer 14

Infradian rhythms are those that last longer than 24 hours, an example of this is the female menstrual cycle and Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).

Question 15

Describe Siffre’s research.

Answer 15

Describe Siffre’s research.
Siffre spent a long period in a cave to examine the effects of free-running biological rhythms without the influence of exogenous zeitgebers. In each of his studies- one in 1962 and the other in the 70s, Siffre’s free running circadian rhythm settled at about 25 hours, just above the usual 24.

Question 16

What is an endogenous pacemaker?

Answer 16

The suprachiasmatic nucleus is an example of this, it helps to set our circadian rhythms by interacting with other parts of the body These are essentially internal biological clocks

Question 17

Give examples of circadian rhythms.

Answer 17

Give examples of circadian rhythms.
An example of a circadian rhythm is the sleep-wake cycle. Circadian rhythms are those lasting 24 hours.

Question 18

What is the suprachiasmatic nucleus?

Answer 18

This is a bundle of nerves that act like the body’s internal clock, within the hypothalamus. This helps to regulate our sleep wake-Aycles.

Question 19

What are the pros and cons of postmortem examination?

Answer 19

Pro- Postmortems allow for anatomical studying of the brain, that cannot be done on live subjects.
Con- The subject is dead, so no follow up studies or questions can be asked to the patient based on findings from the post-mortem.

Question 20

Describe the autonomic nervous system.

Answer 20

This is the part of the nervous system that controls the brain’s involuntary activities, and is self-regulating (autonomous. This is further divided into the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous systems.