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psychology essay plans > biopsychology > Flashcards

biopsychology Flashcards

1
Q

what is the nervous system divided into?

A

the central and the peripheral

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2
Q

what does the CNS consist of?

A

the brain and the spinal cord

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3
Q

the brain function

A

provides conscious awarness
involved in all psychologcal processes

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4
Q

4 main regions of the brain and what function they are linked to

A

occipital lobe- visual info
temporal lobe- auditory info
frontal lobe- higher order functioning
parietal lob- info from diff senses- role in spatial awareness

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5
Q

spinal cords function

A

transfers messages to and from the brain and the rest of the body
responsible for simple reflex actions

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6
Q

what is the PNS divided into

A

the autonomic and somatic nervous systems

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7
Q

somatic nervous system

A

maintains communication between the CNS and the outside world
consists of:
sensory receptors- carry info to spinal cord and brain
motor pathways- allows brain to control movement

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8
Q

autonomic nervous system

A

plays important role in homeostasis
only consists of motor pathways

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9
Q

what are the sub components of the autonomic nervous system

A

sympathetic
parasympathetic

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10
Q

sympathetic nervous system

A

prepares the body for fight or flight response
e.g. raises heart rate and blood pressure

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11
Q

parasympathetic nervous system

A

returns the body to natural resting state

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12
Q

similarity between brain and spinal cord

A

brain stem and spinal cord both control involuntary processes- brain stem- breathing. spinal cord- involuntary reflexes

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13
Q

difference between spinal cord and brain

A

brain consists of multiple regions that are responsible for different functions
spinal cord has one main function

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14
Q

similarity between somatic and autonomic nervous system

A

sympathetic NS (autonomic) and somatic both respond to external stimuli

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15
Q

differences between somatic and autonomic nervous systems

A

1) somatic consists of sensory receptors and motorpathways- autonomic only has motor pathways
2) autonomic consists of 2 sub components, somatic has only 1

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16
Q

What is brain plasticity

A

The brains ability to adapt and change because of experience
Experience= everything outside the body

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17
Q

What is functional recovery

A

The transfer of functions from a damaged brain area after trauma to an undamaged area

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18
Q

Example of functional recovery

A

Neural unmasking
Where dormant synapses open connections to compensate nearby damaged area of brain

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19
Q

Brain plasticity and functional recovery AO1

A

Brain plasticity- definition
Functional recovery- definition and example (neural unmasking)
Plasticity and functional recovery more common in younger people as it’s an easier process

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20
Q

Brain plasticity and functional recovery AO3 (3 strengths)

A

(+) research support for brain plasticity- Kuhn et al- found increase grey matter in various regions of brain of post who played video frames for 30 mins over 2 months period- evidence for brain plasticity- experience causing structural change in brain
(+) real life application- led to development of neurorehabilitation- motor therapy and electrical stimulation of brain used to counter negative side effects and deficits of motor cognitive functions of ppl suffering from injuries
(+) Research support for brain plasticity- found posterior hippocampul vol of London taxi drivers correlated w time as taxi driver HOWEVER biologically reductionist- limited and fails to account all diff processes involved in spatial navigation

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21
Q

What is a circadian rhythm

A

Type of biological rhythm- 24 hour- ‘body clock’ reset by light

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22
Q

Examples of circadian rhythm

A

Sleep wake cycle
Body temp
Hormone productions

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23
Q

What is the sleep cycle

A

Dictates when humans should be asleep and awake

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24
Q

What is the sleep wake cycle determined by

A

Circadian rhythms and homeostasis

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25
Q

Sleep wake cycle process

A

1) light provides primary input
2) light first detected by eye- sends messages to SCN
3) SCN uses this info to coordinate activity of entire circadian system

26
Q

What 2 things regulate biological rhythms

A

Exogenous zeitgebers
Endogenous pacemakers

27
Q

What are exogenous zietgebers

A

Environmental events that are responsible for resetting biological clock
E.g. social cues (meal times), light thag is responsible for resetting body clock each keeping on 24 hour cycle

28
Q

Endogenous pacemaker

A

Internal mechanism that govern biological rhythms
Most important= SCN- closely related to pineal gland—— work together as endogenous pacemakers but activity responsive to external cue of light (exogenous zeitgeber)
SCN (master clock)- receives info about light via optic nerve- sends signal to pineal gland- increased melatonin at night

29
Q

Circadian rhythms AO1

A

Circadian rhythm definition
Examples
Sleep wake cycle
Regulation of biological rhythms- exogenous zietgebers and endogenous pacemakers

30
Q

Circadian rhythms AO3 (3 strengths, 1 limitation)

A

(+) research support- siffre- found absence of cues altered circadian rhythm- when returned from underground stay w no clocks/ligbt, believed date to be month earlier- 24 hour cycle increased due to lack of external cues
(+) research support- aschoff and weber- ppts lived in bunker w no windows and only artificial light that they were free to turn on and off- found that ppts sleep wake cycle increased 25-27 hours so humans use natural light to regulate sleep wake cycle- exogenous zietgebers
(+) research support- Morgan- brad hamsters to have 20 hour circadian rhythm- SCN neurons from abnormal hamsters transplanted into normal hamsters brains and they displayed the same 20 hour circadian rhythm- shows significance of SCN and importance of endogenous pacemakers in biological rhythms
(-) reductionist- oversimplified complex phenomena e.g sleep wake cycle could be due to social norms- sleep when dark cos that’s when socially acceptable so only considers limited amount of factors

31
Q

What are neurotransmitters

A

Chemical messengers released by neurones that stimulate the development of action potential in other neurons

32
Q

Synaptic transmission process

A

1) info passed down axon of neuron as electrical impulse (action potential)
2) once action potential reaches end of axon, needs to be transferred to another neuron/tissue by crossing synaptic gap
3) electrical impulse stimulates release of neurotransmitters from synaptic vesicles
4) neurotransmitters carry signal across synaptic gap and bind to receptor sites on post synaptic cell which activate
5) once receptors on post synaptic neuron have been activated either produce excitatory or inhibitory effect on post synaptic cell
6) excitatory neurotransmitters make post synaptic cell more likely to fire
7) inhibitory neurotransmitters make them less likely to fire

33
Q

What is localisation of function

A

The idea that certain functions (e.g. language) have certain locations within brain

34
Q

6 main regions in brain, where they’re located and their function

A

1) motor area- frontal love- deals with motor info
2) visual area- occipital lobe- visual info
3) auditory area- temporal lobe- analysing and processing acoustic info
4) wernickes area- left temporal lobe- language comprehension
5) Broca’s area- left frontal lobe- language production
6) somatasensory area- parietal lobe- sensory info from skin to produce sensations

35
Q

Localisation of function AO1

A

Localisation of function definition
6 main regions, where they’re located and they’re function

36
Q

Localisation of function AO3

A

(-) functions are localised can be criticised- equipotentiality theory- motor and sensory functions localised but not higher mental functions- suggest functions aren’t localised to just 1 region
(+) lots of case studies on patients w damaged broca and wernickes area- e.g. Broca asphasia- impaired ability to produce language due to damaged Broca’s area- provides evidence to support elements of language production and comprehension localised in Broca’s and wernickes
(-) fails to take into account individual differences- found that women have larger broca and wernickes areas than men which may explain greater ease of language use amongst women- can’t generalise research to women and men equally

37
Q

what is an infradian rhythm and an example§

A

a rhythm that lasts longer than 24 hours (weekly, monthly, annually)
e.g. menstrual cycle- monthly cycle, seasonal effective disorder- seasonal depression, hibernation

38
Q

what is an ultradian rhythm and example

A

a rhythm that occurs more than once per 24 hours, can be found in the sleep pattern
e.g. human sleep patterns- humans alternate between REM and NREM slep in cycle that repeats itself every 90 mins- a person can experience up to 5 cycles a night

39
Q

biological rhythms- ultradian and infradian AO1

A

utradian rhythm definition and example
infradian rhythm definition and example

40
Q

biological rhythms- ultradian and infradian AO3

A

RESEARCH SUPPORT FOR INFRADIAN
1) reinburg cave study- women spent 3 months in cave with only small lamp to provide light- menstrual cycle shortened from 28 to 25.7 days- lack of exogenous zeitgeber affected menstrual cycle- effect of external factors on infradian
2) russel- found menstrual cycle became synchronised with other females through odour exposure- sweat samples from 1 group of wome rubbed on upper lip of another group- synchronised although seperate- synchronisation affected by pheremones (exogenous zeitgeber)
RESEARCH SUPPORT FOR ULTRADIAN
1) Gardener- stayed awake for 264 hrs- after he slept for only 15 hrs nd over several nights, recovered 25% of lost sleepbut 70% of stage 4 sleep, 50% REM and v little of other stages- highlights large degree of flexibility in terms of diff stages within sleep cycle
2) tucker et al- found differences between ppts in terms of duration of each stage, particulary stages 3 and 4- demonstrates may be innate individual diffs in ultradian rhythms- worth focusing on when investigating sleep cycle

41
Q

ways of studying the brain

A

fMRI, EEG, ERP, post mortem

42
Q

what is a fMRI

A

measures blood flow when person performs task and creates dynamic 3d map of brain- highlights areas involved in diff neural activities
strengths- non invasive, spatial resolution- 1-2mm
limitations- temporal resolution= 1-4s, causation-doesnt provide direct measure of neural activity

43
Q

what is a EEG

A

measures electrical activity through electrodes attached to scalp- small electrical charges detected by electrodes that are graphed over a period of time, indicating level of activity in brain
strengths- non-invasive (although uncomfortable), temporal resolution- 1-10ms
limitations- spatial resolution- superficial general regions only, causation- electrical activity is often detected in several areas- can be dificult to pin point exact region of activity

44
Q

what is an ERP

A

uses similar equipment to EEG, but a stimulus is presented to a ppt and researcher looks for activity related to that stimulus
strengths- non invasive although uncomfortable, temporal resolution- 1-10ms, causation- enable the determination of how processing is affected by specific experimental manipulation

45
Q

what is a post-mortem

A

when researchers study the physical brain of a person who displayed a particular behaviour while they were alive that suggested possible brain damage
limitation- causation- the deficit a patient displays during their lifetime (e.g. inability to speak) may not be linked to deficits in the brain (e.g. damaged brocas area)

46
Q

what is hemispheric lateralisation

A

the idea that the 2 halves of the brain are functionally different and that each hemisphere has functional specialisations (left- dominant for language and right- excels at visual motor tasks)

47
Q

how are the 2 hemispheres of the brain connected

A

through nerve fibres called corpus callosum- facilitate interhemispheric communication- allowing left and right hemispheres to ‘talk to one another’

48
Q

what are split brain patients

A

patients who have undergone surgical procedure where corpus callosum is cut- splits two hemispheres, used as treatment for people with severe epilepsy

49
Q

split brain research APFC

A

A- examine the extent to which the 2 hemispheres are specialised for certain functions
P- image/word projected to patients left visual field (proceesed by right hemisphere) or vice versa
when info is presented to 1 hemisphere in split brain patient- info not transferred to other hemisphere
3 tasks-
what you see- picture presented and had to describe what they saw
tactile test- object placed in left/right hand, describe what felt or select similar object
drawing task- presented picture and had to draw
F- what you see- right visual field- could describe, left- couldnt descirbe, somtimes said nothing was there
tactile- right- could describe verbally/ identify similar object, left- couldnt desribe only guesses but could identify similar object
drawing- right- could attempt to draw picture but not clear, left- clear picture drawn
C- left hemisphere dominant in speech and language
right hemisphere dominant in visual motor tasks

50
Q

hemispheric lateralisation AO1

A

definition
connected by corpus callom- facilitate interhemispheric communication- allowing left and right hemispheres to ‘talk to one another’
split brain research APFC

51
Q

hemispheric lateralisation AO3

A

(-) sample used was small
(-) patients used didnt all have the same level of disconnection of hemispheres
(-) patients had undergone drug therapy- could affectresults- ppt variables
(-) exp lacks mundane realism

52
Q

endocrine system

A

network of glands across body that secrete hormones
uses blood vessels to transport hormones around body to specific target cell and diff hormones produce diff effects

53
Q

7 glands

A

hypothalamus
pituitary gland
pineal gland
thyroid gland
adrenal gland
ovaries
testes

54
Q

hypothalamus

A

stimulates control and release of hormones from pituatry gland

55
Q

ovaries

A

releases oestrogen- controls regulation of femal reproductive system- menstrual cycle and pregnancy

56
Q

thyroid gland

A

releases thyroxine- responsible for regulating metabolism

57
Q

fight or flight AO1

A

process:
1) person enters stressful/dangerous situation
2) amygdala activated which sends distress signal to hypothalamus
3) hypothalamus activates sympathomedually pathway- the pathway running to adrenal medulla and sympathetic nervous system
4) SNS stimulates adrenal medulla
5) the adrenal medulla secretes adrenaline and noradrenaline into bloodstream
6) adreneline causes number of physiological changes to prepare body for fight or flight
ADRENALINE- physiological changes- increased heart rate to increase blood flow and movement of adrnaline, increased breathing rate to increase o2 intake

58
Q

fight or flight AO3

A

(-) human behaviour not limited to just 2 responses- suggested that 1st response to danger is avoiding it (freeze response)- people become hypervigilant and decide best course of action- fight/flight limited
(-) doesnt fully explain stress response in females- suggested that females adopt ‘tend and befriend’ response in stressful/dangerous situations- therefore shows fight/flight response limited
(-) negative/ detrrimental effect on health-may be useful survival mechanism from ancestors who faced life threatening events from predators but rarely occurs in modern day life- it can increase blood pressure so can cause damage to blood vessels and contribute to heart disease

59
Q

sensory neuron

A

fund in receptor cells and carry nerve impulses to spinal cord which are then translated into sensations
not all reach brain as some stop at spinal cord to allow quick reflex actions

60
Q

relay neurons

A

found between sensory input and motor output
found in brain and spinal cord and allow sensory and moto neurons to communicate

61
Q

motor neuron

A

found in central nervous system and control muscle movements
when stimulated they release neurotransmitters that bind to receptors on muscles to trigger a response

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