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Psych Paper 2 > Biopsychology > Flashcards

Biopsychology Flashcards

1
Q

Purpose of Nervous System

A

Primarily involved in taking info in from our environment and ensuring an appropriate response is carried out

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2
Q

Central Nervous System

A

Brain & Spinal Cord

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3
Q

Peripheral Nervous System

A

Nerves & Ganglion cells

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4
Q

Role of Central Nervous System

A

Where all complex processing & decision making is done

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5
Q

Role of Peripheral Nervous System

A

Brings info from the senses to the CNS & transit info from the CNS to the muscles & glands

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6
Q

Brain’s role in CNS

A

Command centre: recieves signals from sensory organs & outputs info to the muscles

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7
Q

4 Lobes of the Brain

A

Frontal, Temporal, Parietal, Occipital

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8
Q

Spinal Cord’s role in CNS

A

Sends messages to and from our brain:
- spinal cord sends messages that it has RECIEVED from our ENVIRONMENT to our BRAIN
- sends messages from our brain to tell our body HOW TO REACT

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9
Q

Parts of PNS

A

Autonomic Nervous System - involuntary actions (breathing/heart rate/digestion)
ANS includes sections: SYMPATHETIC & PARASYMPATHETIC
Somatic Nervous System - voluntary actions (muscle movement)

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10
Q

Sympathetic Branch

A

Fight or Flight - expanding energy

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11
Q

Parasympathetic Branch

A

Regular Functioning - saving and restoring energy

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12
Q

Endocrine System

A

A network of glands that release hormones into the blood stream, working alongside the nervous system to control body’s vital functions

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13
Q

Gland

A

An organ in the body that synthesises substances such as hormones

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14
Q

Hormone

A

Chemical substance that circulate in the bloodstream & only affect the target organs

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15
Q

Thyroid’s Main Hormone & Effect

A

THYROXINE - Regulates body’s metabolic rate

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16
Q

Adrenal Cortex’s Main Hormone & Effect

A

GLUCOCORTICOIDS (E.G CORTISOL) - Further release of stored glucose & fats for energy, suppression of immune system

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17
Q

Adrenal Medulla’s Main Hormone & Effect

A

ADRENALINE/NORADRENALINE - Fight or Flight response, increased heart rate & blood flow to brain and muscles

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18
Q

Testes’s Main Hormone & Effect

A

ANDROGENS (E.G. TESTOSTERONE) - development of male sexual characteristics at puberty, promotes muscle mass & growth

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19
Q

Ovaries’s Main Hormone & Effect

A

OESTROGEN - regulation of female reproductive system, menstrual cycle & pregnancy

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20
Q

Pineal’s Main Hormone & Effect

A

MELATONIN - regulation of arousal, biological rythms & sleep-wake cycle

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21
Q

Pituitary Gland

A

MASTER GLAND - as any of the hormones it secretes control the secretions of other endocrine glands (makes sure everything is working properly)

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22
Q

Fight or Flight Response

A

A response to stress, the body becomes physiologically aroused in readiness to fight or flea from an aggressor

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23
Q

Sympathetic NS’s effects during Fight or Flight

A
  • slows digestion
  • inhibits saliva production
  • increases heart rate & breathing rate
  • dilates pupils
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24
Q

Neurons

A

Nerve cells carry messages to & from the CNS
- use electrical impulses and chemical signals to transmit info between DIFFERENT AREAS IN THE BRAIN & between the BRAIN AND REST OF CNS

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25
Q

Sensory Neuron

A

Convert external stimuli from environment to corresponding internal stimuli, carrying messages from the PNS to the CNS (long dendrites/short axons)

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26
Q

Relay Neuron

A

Transmits information between neurons to allow communication between different parts of the CNS (short dendrites/short axons)

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27
Q

Motor Neuron

A

Connect the CNS to the effectors such as muscles & glands (short dendrites/long axons)

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28
Q

Synapse

A

Gap betweeen pre/post synaptic neuron

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29
Q

Neurotransmitter

A

Found in vesicles

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30
Q

Excitatory

A

More likely to fire across the synpase

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31
Q

Inhibitory

A

Less likely to fire across the synapse

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32
Q

Synaptic Transmission

A

Movement of NTs over synapse to receptor sites

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33
Q

Localisation

A

Certain parts of the brain have allocated functions

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34
Q

Cerebral Cortex

A

Outer layer of tissue in the brain, regarded the most important structure in the brain

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35
Q

4 Lobes’ primary cortexes

A

Frontal - Primary Motor Cortex
Parietal - Primary Somatosensory Cortex
Occipital - Primary Visual Cortex
Temporal - Primary Auditory Cortex

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36
Q

Frontal Lobe

A

Motor area which controls voluntary movement in the opposite side of the body

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37
Q

Parietal Lobe

A

Somatosensory areas that is separated from the motor areas by the central sulcus, area where sensory info is represented & over half of somatosensory area is for the hands and face

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38
Q

Occipital Lobe

A

Visual area where each eye sends information to the visual cortex through either the dorsal stream or ventral stream

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39
Q

Dorsal Stream

A

Where something is, tells us about our environment and how to interact with it (planning movement) - goes to parietal lobe

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40
Q

Ventral Stream

A

What something is and recognition of objects - goes to the temporal lobe where long-term memories are stored

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41
Q

Temporal Lobe

A

Auditory area which analyses speech based info

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42
Q

Broca’s Area

A

Study of ‘Tan’ - discovered a small area in the left frontal lobe responsible for speech production, SPEECH PRODUCTION

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43
Q

Wernicke’s Area

A

Found patients could produce speech that was flawless but meaningless, SPEECH COMPREHENSION

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44
Q

Hemispheric Lateralisation

A

Idea that two halves of the brain are functionally different & that certain mental processes and behaviours are mainly controlled by one hemisphere

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45
Q

Split Brain Research

A

A series of studies that began in the 1960s involving patients with epilepsy who experienced a surgical separation of the two hemispheres

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46
Q

Vision Lateralisation

A

Vision isn’t lateralised as it appears in both hemispheres (it’s contralateral & ipsilateral)
- Each eye recieves light from the LVF & RVF (linked to depth perception)

47
Q

Contralateral

A

In brains where the function is cross-wired

48
Q

Ipsilateral

A

In brains where the function isn’t cross-wired, they’re the same sides

49
Q

Corpus Callosotomy

A

Procedure that is performed to cure life-threatening epilepsy and involves severing the corpse collossum

50
Q

Sperry & Gazinga

A

Conducted many different experiments:
- describe what you see
- tactile test (select object from a group)
- drawing task (draw object)

51
Q

Sperry Findings - Describing

A

Found that when a picture was shown in LVF, the patient couldn’t describe it with spoken language

52
Q

Sperry Findings - Tactile

A

Found that when patients saw something in left eye, they couldn’t talk but could identify it unconsciously

53
Q

Sperry Findings - Drawing

A

Found that the left hand would draw clearer pictures than the right hand

54
Q

Traumatic Brain Injury

A

Something external that causes the brain to move inside the skull or damages the skull (e.g. blow to the head)

55
Q

Acquired Brain Injury

A

Occurs on a cellular level, most often associated with pressure on the brain (e.g. from a tumour/stroke/infection)

56
Q

Plasticity

A

Brain can adapt/change neural pathways and functions as a result of experience and new learning

57
Q

Functional Recovery

A

A form of plasticity where the brains ability to redistribute or transfer functions usually performed by a damaged area to another undamaged area

58
Q

Maguire’s research into plasticity

A

Black Cabs - The knowledge
- found those who took it had a larger posterior hippocampus than controls

59
Q

Hemispherectomies

A

Complete removal of a hemisphere, and usually the other hemisphere can take on many of the functions lost from this removal

60
Q

Axonal Sprouting

A

The growth of new nerve endings which connect with other undamaged nerve cells to form new neural pathways

61
Q

Recruitment of Homologous Areas

A

Areas on the opposite side of the brain to perform specific tasks

62
Q

Summation

A

The process of coming to a decision of whether there’s more of a pos/neg charges

63
Q

fMRI - AO1

A

Detects change in blood oxygenation & flow that change due to neural activity
Brain active = consumes more oxygen = fMRI detects activity

64
Q

fMRI - Strengths

A
  • Non-invasive & doesn’t involve radiation
  • Virtually risk-free
  • High spatial resolution
  • Easy to use
65
Q

fMRI - Limitations

A
  • Expensive
  • Poor Temporal Resolution
  • Image is only clear if the person stays still
66
Q

EEG - AO1

A

Measures brain waves through the masurement of electrical activity of the brain (electrodes placed on scalp)

67
Q

EEG - Strengths

A
  • More accessible than fMRI & helpful in understanding and diagnosing epilepsy
  • High temporal resolution (unlike fMRI)
68
Q

EEG - Limitations

A
  • Not useful for exact sources of activity/lacks specificity
  • Cannot distinguish between activites that started in different, adjacent areas
69
Q

ERP - AO1

A

Use similar equiptment to EEG but uses a stimulus that is presented to the PP, with the researcher looking for brain activity related to that stimulus. Response is graphed using a statistical averaging technique that filters out extraneous brain activity

70
Q

ERP - Strengths

A
  • Addresses EEG’s lack of specificity with more exactness to the measurements of neural processes
  • High temporal Resolution
71
Q

ERP - Limitations

A
  • Lack of standardisation between different reserach studies
  • Studies require complete removal of background noise & extraneous material, as they could lead to errors & flaws in ther measurement
72
Q

Post-Mortems - AO1

A

Study of the physical brain of a person who displayed a particular behaviour that suggested possible brain damage when they were alive
Enables researchers to examine deeper regions of the brain & find the possible cause of death

73
Q

Post-Mortems - Strengths

A
  • Detailed anatomical & neuroichemical examinations
  • Can access areas like the hypothalamus and hippocampus which other techniques cannot access & provide greater insight
74
Q

Post-Mortems - Limitations

A
  • Requires informed consent
  • Damage to the brain may not be linked to deficits under review but other unrelated trauma/decay (innacurate)
  • Invasive
75
Q

Types of Biological Rhythms

A

Circadian Rhythms
Ultradian Rhythms
Infradian Rhythms

76
Q

Circadian Rhythms

A

A cycle which lasts for 24 hours
SLEEP-WAKE CYCLE

77
Q

Sleep-Wake Cycle

A

The pattern of when someone is awake and when they are asleep, usually following a pattern of 16 hours awake, with 8 hours asleep
Is influenced by Internal & External Factors

78
Q

Internal Factors of SW Cycle

A
  • Lowered Body Temperature
  • Lose energy
  • Melatonin released by the pineal gland
79
Q

External Factors of SW Cycle

A
  • Light
  • Noise
  • Location
  • Temperature
80
Q

Light in SW Cycle

A

Provides the primary input to this system - acting as the external cue for sleeping or waking.
- Light is first detected by the eye, which then sends messages concerning the level of brightnmess to the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCM)
- SCN uses this info to coordinate activity oif the entire circadian system

81
Q

Homeostasis in SW Cycle

A

When an individual has been awake for a long time, homeostasis tells the body that there is a need for sleep because of energy consumption.
- This homeostatic drive for sleep increases throughout the day, and reaches its maximum in the late evening, when most people fall asleep

82
Q

Ultradian Rhythms

A

Rhythms that take place for less than 24 hours

83
Q

Nasal Cycle

A

Cycle of alternating breathing through each nostril over a length of up to 4 ours. The purpose is to help our sense of smeel, as the nostril that is breathing less allows for scents to be better detected by receptors

84
Q

Sleep Cycle

A

Sleep is split into cycles of approx. 90 minutes in length that are composed of 5 stages

85
Q

Infradian Rhythms

A

Cycles that occur over a period greater than 24 hours
Menstrual Cycle & SAD

86
Q

Menstrual Cycle

A

Lasts approximately 28 days, this cycle occurs in all cultures and is controlled by hormones suggesting it’s biological in origin.

87
Q

Seasonal Affective Disorder

A

Yearly cycle where some people become depressed as a result of the change in seasons
- Suggestred that melotonin, secreted by the pineal gland during the night is partially responsible. The lack of light in winter months results in a longer period of melotnin secretion which is linked to depressive symptoms

88
Q

Endogenous Pacemakers

A

Internal mechanisms that govern biological rhythms, particularly the circadian sleep-wake cycle
- Can be altered and affected by the environment

89
Q

Suprachiasmatic Nucleus

A

The master clock
- Tiny bundle of nerves located in the hypothalamus in each hemisphere of the brain
- Lies just above the optic chaism where it recieves info about light directly
- even when our eyes are closed it continues enabling the bio clock to adjust to changing patterns of daylight whilst we are asleep

90
Q

EP: SCN’s Role in stages

A
  1. Eye detects low light levels
  2. Melanopsin carries signals to SCN
  3. SCN alerts the pineal gland to secrete melatonin
  4. Melatonin levels increase, inducing sleep
91
Q

Exogenous Zeitgebers - light

A

Light can reset the endogenous pacemaker, the SCN and thus plays a role in the maintenance of the s/w cycle
- Has an influence on key processes that control functions such as hormone secretion & blood circulation

92
Q

Exogenous Zeitgebers - social cues

A

Newborns: sleep/wake cycle is random
6 weeks: circadian rhythms begin
16 weeks: babies rhythms have been entrained by the schedules imposed by parents (like adults determining meal times and bedtimes)
JET LAG - research suggests that adapting to local times for eating and sleeing is an effective way of entraining circadian rhythms and beating jetlag when trabelling long distances

93
Q

5 Stages of Sleep

A

1&2: light sleep: brain wave patterns become slower & more rhythmic (alpha waves > theta waves)
3&4: deep sleep: quite difficult to wake someone up (slower delta waves)
5: REM: body is paralysed and brain activbity resembles that of an awake person, where majority of dreaming takes place

94
Q

Strengths of Localisation

A
  • OCD Research (found activity in lateral frontal lobes & left hippocampal gyrus)
  • Phineas Gage
95
Q

Limitations of Localisation

A
  • Lashley removed areas of cortex in rats (no area was more important to learn a route through a maze)
  • Disk & Tremblay found that only 2% of modern researchers believe B&W’s areas are solely responsible for language
96
Q

Strengths of Lateralisation

A
  • Sperry’s research was one of the first of its kind & led to future groundbreaking research
  • Uses highly specialised equipment & standardised procedures
  • Fink used PET scans to identify brain area activity during a visual processing task. When looking generally, their RH was more active, when looking at specific areas their LH was more active
97
Q

Limitations of Lateralisation

A
  • Causal relationships are hard to establish as all ppts had epilepsy
98
Q

Strengths of Plasticity & Functional Recovery

A
  • ## Practical Application (neurorehabilitation)
99
Q

Limitations of Plasticity & Functional Recovery

A
  • Negative Consequences (phantom limb syndrome)
100
Q

Strengths of Circadian Rhythms

A
  • Siffre spent 6 months in a cave (24.9 hours)
  • Miles et al. studied a blind man (24.9 hours)
  • Silver et al. found hamsters circadian rhythms disappear when their SCN is damaged/removed
101
Q

Limitations of Circadian Rhythms

A
  • Duffy et al. suggest there are morning & evening people (innate differences in circadian rhythms)
102
Q

Strengths of Ultradian Rhythms

A
  • Controlled Lab Research
  • Research suggests sleep patterns are adaptive (babies need more sleep)
  • Uses EEGs & ERPs
103
Q

Limitations of Ultradian Rhythms

A
  • Assume dreams happen in REM (wrong)
104
Q

Strengths of Infradian Rhythms

A
  • Reinberg examined women in separate caves w/ only small lamp (shortened to 25.7 days)
  • Russell et al found synchrony w/ sweat sampled (due to pheromones)
  • Terman found the rate of SAD is more common in northern countries (where winter months are longer)
105
Q

Limitations of Infradian Rhythms

A

n/a

106
Q

Strengths of the Role of Endogenous Pacemakers

A
  • DeCoursey destroyed the SCN connections in the brains of 30 chipmunks & returned them to their natural habitat, finding their s/w cycle disappeared & most died
107
Q

Limitations of the Role of Endogenous Pacemakers

A
  • Reductionist (can’t be studied in isolation, interactionist approach is required)
  • Ethics (causes high levels of harm to animals used & can end up with them being killed)
108
Q

Strengths of the Role of Exogenous Zeitgebers & S/W Cycle

A
  • Crowley studied nightshift workers & found that bright lights during the night & sunglasses during the day can be used to alter rhythms
109
Q

Limitations of the Role of Exogenous Zeitgebers

A

Miles studies a blind man w/ an abnormal circadian rhythm & found that despite his exposure to social cues, his s/w cycle couldn’t be adjusted

110
Q

Strengths of Fight or Flight

A

n/a

111
Q

Limitations of Fight or Flight

A
  • Less useful for modern day
  • Has negative effects on physical/mental health
  • Androcentric Research
  • Oversimplistic
112
Q

Fight or Flight Process

A
  1. Threat is percieved by sensory receptors
  2. Amygdala sends a distress signal to the rest of the body & hypothalamus
  3. Hypothalamus releases CRH & switches from the PNS to the SNS
  4. Pituitary gland releases ACTH which triggers the adrenal medulla to release adrenaline
  5. Triggers fight or flight
113
Q

Synaptic Transmission Process

A
  1. Impulse arrives at end of presynaptic terminal
  2. Triggers release of NTs from vesicles
  3. NTs diffuse across synapse & bind with receptors on postsynaptic neuron

Psych Paper 2 (3 decks)

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