Biopsychology Flashcards
What is the central nervous system made up of ?
brain and spinal chord
What is the peripheral nervous system made up of ?
somatic nervous system and autonomic nervous system
What is the autonomic nervous system made up of ?
sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system
What are the functions of the CNS ?
control of behaviour and regulation of body’s physiological processes ie thought, movement, emotion, breathing, heart rate, body temperature
What does the spinal chord refer to ?
a collection of nerve cells which are attached to the brain and run down the spinal column
What is the function of the spinal chord ?
-relays info between the brain and rest of the body
-allows brain to regulate processes in body ie digestion and coordinating voluntary movements
-responsible for reflex actions
How does the spinal chord connect with specific muscles and glands ?
By pairs of spinal nerves
What is the role of the occipital lobe in the brain ?
processes visual information
What is the role of the temporal lobe in brain ?
plays a key role in spatial navigation
What is the frontal lobe of the brain for ?
associated with planning, abstract reasoning and logic
What does the brain stem do ?
Connects brain and spinal chord and controls involuntary processes ie breathing
What is the role of the endocrine system ?
network of glands which secrete chemical messengers known as hormones
A target cell will have what so hormones can bind ?
receptors complementary to a specific hormone
What does the hypothalamus do ?
- connects to pituitary gland and controls the release of hormones from the gland, through the release of CRH ( corticotropin releasing hormone)
What is the pituitary gland ?
- known as the “master gland” because the hormones released by this gland control hormone release from other glands in the endocrine system
What are the two lobes making up the pituitary gland ?
anterior lobe (front lobe)
posterior lobe ( back lobe)
What does the anterior lobe do ?
releases ACTH which stimulates the adrenal cortex to release cortisol
- cortisol helps body respond to stress, increases metabolism of glucose and controls blood pressure
What does the posterior lobe do ?
releases oxytocin which is responsible for uterus contractions and mother-child bonding
What is the role of the pineal gland ?
releases hormone melatonin which controls sleep- wake cycle. production occurs when it gets dark outside.
What is the role of the thyroid gland ?
releases thyroxine which regulates metabolism
What is the adrenal gland made up of ? What are he roles of its components ?
adrenal medulla and adrenal cortex
adrenal medulla releases adrenaline and noradrenaline which play a key role in the fight or flight response
adrenal cortex releases cortisol
What do the ovaries do ?
release oestrogen which controls the regulation of the female reproductive system ie menstrual cycle
What are oestrogen and progesterone associated with ?
greater sensitivity to social cues that indicate the presence of social opportunity ie recruiting allies
What is the role of testes ?
release androgens including testosterone
responsible for facial hair development, deepening of the voice, growth spurts, sperm production, and sex drive
What is the HPA axis ?
Outline the response
- involves both CNS and endocrine system adjusting hormone balance in response to a stressor
-hypothalamus stimulates the pituitary gland by releasing CRH
- anterior pituitary gland releases ACTH
- ACTH stimulates adrenal cortex to release cortisol
What is the cerebrum?
Made up of the 4 lobes, can be split into two halves called the cerebral hemispheres
What is the role of the cerebellum ?
Involved in controlling motor skills and balance, coordinating muscles to enable precise movements
What is the role of the diancephalon ?
Lies beneath the cerebrum and on top of brain stem
Made up of thalamus which directs nerve impulses from the senses to the right part of the brain and the hypothalamus which controls the release of hormones from the PG and homeostasis
What is the peripheral nervous system ?
Consists of nerves which reach out to other parts of the body and relay info back to the CNS via nerve impulses
What is the role of the somatic nervous system ?
Maintains communication between the CNS and outside world ( made up of 12 pairs of cranial nerves and 31 pairs of spinal nerves)
Contains both sensory and motor neurons
What is the role of the autonomic nervous system
Regulates involuntary actions ie heart beat and plays a role in homeostasis
What is the role of the sympathetic nervous system ?
Causes philological changes in the body to prepare for fight or flight response
What is the role of the parasympathetic nervous system
Relaxes the individual again once the emergency has passed
What is the structure of a neuron ?
- has a long axon
- dendrites for communication with other neurons
- myelin sheath to insulate axon and allow nerve impulses to be transmitted more rapidly
What are some physiological changes brought about by the sympathetic nervous system ?
Pupils dilate, salivation inhibited, accelerated heart beat, dilation of bronchi, inhibits digestion, release of glucose, release of adrenaline and noradrenaline, bladder relaxation
What are some physiological changes brought about by the parasympathetic nervous system ?
Constricts pupils, stimulates salivation, slows heart beat, constricts bronchi, stimulates bile release and contracts bladder
What do sensory neurons do ?
Carry nerve impulses from sensory neurons to the brain and spinal chord
Sensory neurons which stop at spinal chord allow for quick reflex actions
What do relay neurons do ?
Allow sensory and motor neurons to communicate with each other
What do motor neurons do ?
Conduct signals from CNS to effector organs: muscles or glands
Release neurotransmitters that bind to receptors on muscles to trigger a response
What is action potential ?
The electrical signal carried by axons
What happens when the impulse reaches the end of an axon ?
- has to cross a gap called a synapse to transfer to the next neuron
Synaptic vesicles are sacs present at the end of an axon which contain neurotransmitters. These are released and diffuse across the gap between pre and post synaptic neuron
What is an excitatory neurotransmitter ?
Increase likelihood that an excitatory signal is sent to post- synaptic cell
Makes the nerve cell more likely to “fire”
An EPSP occurs when an excitatory neurotransmitter binds with a post synaptic receptor and causes an electric charge ( positive charge) in the cell membrane. This electric charge means the cell is more likely to fire
What is an IPSP ?
Occurs when inhibitory neurotransmitter binds with the post- synaptic receptor ie seratonin
Makes it less likely that the nerve cell will “fire”.
The negative charge of the post-synaptic neuron increases
What does summation refer to ?
The net effect of the EPSPs and IPSPs. This can be determined by adding up the positive and negative charges. This determines how likely the neuron is to “fire”
Which nervous system is involved in the fight or flight response ?
Sympathetic nervous system
Describe the fight or flight response
- person enters a stressful/ dangerous situation
- activation of amygdala; sends a distress signal to hypothalamus
- hypothalamus activates the SAM pathway - the pathway going towards the adrenal medulla and sympathetic nervous system
- SNS stimulates adrenal medulla
- secretes the hormones adrenaline and noradrenaline Into blood stream
- causes physiological changes ie increased breathing rate, heart rate, pupil dilation, sweat production etc
What is the purpose of the pupil dilation
Increase light intake and vision
What is the role of sweat production ?
To regulate body temperature
What is the purpose of inhibiting digestion ?
- to provide the energy for the fight or flight response ( conserving energy)
What was Gray’s research regarding fight or flight response ?
(1988) Gray’s research suggests that the first response to danger is to completely avoid confrontation - shown by “freeze” response
This is where humans are hypervigilant ( alert to smallest signs of danger) while they judge situation and decide on best action to take
shows that F&F theory is limited, and may involve more than two responses
What did research show about the fight or flight response in females ?
doesn’t fully explain the stress response in females
Taylor et al ( 2002) suggests that females adopt a “tend and befriend” response in stressful situations. Rather than running away or fighting, are more likely to protect offspring and themselves through nurturing behaviors and forming alliances with other women
this shows that the fight or flight response isn’t very applicable to females ( an example of beta bias- psychologists assuming that females and males respond in same way to stress)
How can the fight or flight response be detrimental for health ?
may have been a useful survival mechanism for ancestors who faced life threatening situations ie attack from predators, modern day life doesn’t require such an intense biological response
also cortisol release can suppress the immune response, as well as damaging blood vessels and causing heart disease, meaning that in
modern day life stress response can hinder rather than help survival.
this highlights that fight or flight response is a maladaptive response in daily life
What is localisation
The theory that specific areas of the brain are associated with particular physical and psychological functions
What is the cerebral cortex divided into ?
Left and right hemispheres
What is lateralisation ?
The idea that certain physical or psychological functions are controlled by certain hemispheres of the brain ie the idea that your left hemisphere is more logic based, right hemisphere is more creative
Where is the motor cortex located. What does it do ?
In frontal lobe in region called precentral gyrus
Controls voluntary movement
Where is the somatosensory area located ? What does it do
Located in the parietal lobe of both hemispheres
Sensory information received from skin eg touch, heat pressure
Where is the visual area located ? What does it do ?
Located in the occipital lobe
Interprets visual signals from the retina in the eyes
Which regions are contralateral ?
Motor cortex, visual cortex and somatosensory area
What does contralateral mean ?
Each hemisphere of the brain controls the opposite side of the body, ie the left hemisphere controls the right hand side of body
Where is the auditory centre found ? What does it do ?
What are the two hemispheres in the brain connected by ?
Corpus callosum, this facilitates communication between left and right hemispheres
What was Sperry and Gazzaniga’s research ? ( 1967)
- first to study the capabilities of split brain patients
What is an advantage of brain lateralisation ?
Increases neural processing ( or ability to multi task)
Rogers et al 2004 found that in domestic chicken, brain lateralization was associated with increased ability to perform two tasks simulatan- being vigilant for predators and finding food.
What is brain plasticity
Brain’ ability to adapt and change because of experience
Includes everything outside the body eg driving a car, playing an instrument
What is a functional recovery ?
Transfer of functions from a damaged area of the brain after trauma to other undamaged areas
- does this through neural unmasking: dormant synapses open connections to compensate for a nearby damaged region of brain
Maguire et al 2000 - taxi drivers study
- the role of the hippocampus is to facilitate spatial memory
- taxi drivers undergo extensive training to remember all routes
- Maguire wanted to see whether these people underwent structural changes in their hippocampus
Method of Maguire’s study
16 right handed male London taxi drivers, who had been driving for 1 and a half years
50 right handed males who were not taxi drivers ( used as a comparison)
Mean age didn’t differe between the groups
Structural MRI scans were obtained of these participants
Result of Maguire’s study
- increased grey matter in the brains of taxi drivers found in the posterior hippocampus
- changes with navigation experience: correlation found between time spent as a taxi driver and volume in right posterior hippocampus
Results provide support of the idea of brain plasticity and suggest that experience changes brain structure
Also provide evidence for structural differences between the hippocampus of London taxi drivers and control participants, suggesting practice with spatial navigation affects hippo
What are some positive points about Maguire’s study ?
- lab experiment, meaning it has high internal validity
- the method used was objective ( MRI scans)
- arguably also a quasi experiment: high ecological validity because IV not manipulated by researcher, not artificial
What is axonal sprouting ?
Growth of new nerves which connect to other undamaged nerves to form new pathways and regain some of the lost function
What is neuronal unmasking ?
Secondary neural pathways which are normally unused because they have low neural input, are activated to enable functioning to continue
Danielli et al ( 2013) key study
- patient EB had his left hemisphere removed aged 2 and a half due to a large but benign tumour
- his language centres would have been severely affected
- but by 17 years old, patient EB had language performance similar to a healthy adult control
- this is an example of recruitment of a homologous area as the right hemisphere eventually took over function of language
