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Psychology A level > Biopsychology > Flashcards

Biopsychology Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the 2 functions of the nervous system?

A
  1. to collect, process and respond to info in the environment
  2. to co-ordinate the working of different organs and cells in the body
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2
Q

What are the 2 parts of the nervous system broken down into?

A

the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system

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3
Q

What does the CNS comprimise of?

A

the brain and spinal cord

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4
Q

What is the role of the spinal cord?

A

passes messages to and from the brain and connects nerves to the PNS

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5
Q

What is the role of the CNS?

A

processes, interprets and stores info and issues orders to muscles, glands and organs

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6
Q

What are the 2 parts the PNS is divided into?

A

somatic nervous system and autonomic nervous system

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7
Q

What is the role of the peripheral nervous system?

A

transmits messages via neurons to and from the CNS

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8
Q

What is the role of the autonomic nervous system?

A

governs vital functions in the body like breathing and heart rate, digestion, sexual arousal and stress response

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9
Q

What organs are controlled by the ANS?

A

heart
lungs
eyes
stomach
blood vessels

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10
Q

What are the 2 parts of the ANS?

A

sympathetic nervous system and parasympathetic nervous system

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11
Q

What is the somatic nervous systems role?

A

consists of nerves carrying sensory signals from all over the body (sense organs) to the CNS
it controls muscle movement and recieves info from sensory receptors

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12
Q

What is the role of the sympathic nervous system?

A

activates physiological arousal and prepares the body for fight/flight to cope with stress

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13
Q

What are examples of physiological changes from the SNS?

A

increase blood pressure
increases breathing rate
increase heart rate
pupils dilate
inhibition of saliva production and digestion

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14
Q

What is the role of the parasympathetic nervous system?

A

activates rest and digest response to bring the body back to its resting state after stress has passed

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15
Q

What are examples of the physicological changes from the PSNS?

A

decrease heart rate
decrease blood pressure
decrease breathing rate
pupils contrict
stimulates digestion

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16
Q

What is the role of neurons?

A

Transmit nerve impulses and signals chemically and electrically to allow communication in the nervous system

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17
Q

What do dendrites do?

A

Carry nerve impulses to the cell body

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18
Q

What does the axon do?

A

Carries away nerve impulses away from the cell body down the length of the neuron

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19
Q

What is the myelin sheath?

A

protecttive layer that wraps around nerve cells

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20
Q

What are all the features of a neuron?

A

dendrite
soma
nucleus
myelin sheath
node of ranvier
axon terminal
schwann cell

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21
Q

What are the 3 types of nerve cells?

A

sensory neurone
relay neurone
motor neurone

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22
Q

What is the role of motor neurons?

A

they connect the CNS to muscles and glands
carrying messages away from the brain
they can cause movement

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23
Q

What is the role of sensory neurons?

A

they carry messages from senses to the brain

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24
Q

What is the role of relay neurons?

A

they connect sensory neurons to motor neurons

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25
Q

What happens for a split second when a neuron is activated?

A

the inside of the cell becomes positively charged causing an action potential to occur

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26
Q

What causes the release of neurotransmitters?

A

electrical impulse travels down the axon towards the end of the neuron

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27
Q

What are excitatory neurotransmitters?

A

increase the chance of the next neurons firing

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28
Q

What are inhibitory neurotransmitters?

A

they decrease the chance of adjacent neurons firing

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29
Q

What are the 2 functions of the endocrine system?

A

to provide a chemical system of communication via the blood stream - by secreting hormones
to secrete hormones which are required to regulate many bodily functions - eg: testosterone in the maintnance of muscle strength and sperm production

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30
Q

What does the hormone thyroxine do and where is it produced?

A

produced by the thyroid gland
affects various cells - heart cells to increase heart rate
influence metabolic rate so can affect growth rates

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31
Q

Where is the pituitary gland located?

A

in the brain

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32
Q

What is the pituitary gland also known as ?

A

the master gland

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33
Q

What is the role of the pituitary gland?

A

it controls the release of hormones from all other endocrine glands in the body

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34
Q

What is the order of the sympathomedullary system?

A

SHAM ARFF
1. stressful situation
2. hypothalamus - detects and activates SNS
3. the SNS stimulates the adrenal medulla to release adrenaline
4. response - various sympathetic physiological reactions
5. flight or fight

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35
Q

What is the role of adrenaline?

A

to prepare the body for flight or fight resposne by acting on various organs

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36
Q

What are sympathetic responses with adrenaline?

A

pupils dilates
inhibits digestion
increase heart rate
increase breath rate
increase blood pressure
diverts blood to the brain and skeletal muscles

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37
Q

How do we think flight or fight has evolved?

A

from our ancestors but it is an inappropriate response to modern day stressors - creates panic and anxiety

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38
Q

What did Taylor state on female animals studies on flight or fight?

A

doesnt reflect female resposne - more likely to tend and befriend to protect themselves and their young through nurturing behaviours and forming alliances

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39
Q

What is localisation?

A

the theory that specific areas of the brain are associated with particular physical and psychological functions

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40
Q

What is the holistic theory of the brain?

A

that all parts of the brain were involved in the processing of thought and action

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41
Q

where does evidence of localisation come from?

A

brain damage cases (strokes)
brain scans
split-brain patients from epilepsy treatment

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42
Q

Where is the motor cortex located?

A

the back of the frontal lobe - in both hemispheres controlling opposite sides

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43
Q

What is the role of the motor cortex?

A

generation of voluntary motor movements
different parts of the motor cortex control different parts of the body- parts are arranged logically

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44
Q

Where is the somatosensory cortex located?

A

in the parietal lobe - both hemispheres control opposite sides

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45
Q

What is the role of the somatosensory cortex?

A

detects sensory events arising from different regions of the body, using info from the skin, produces sensations (touch,pain, temp) and localises it to the specific body regions

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46
Q

What does the sensitivity of a body part depend on?

A

the amount of somatosensory area that it occupies

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47
Q

What parts of the body take up half the somatosensory area?

A

hands and face

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48
Q

Where is the auditory centre located?

A

in the temporal lobe in both hemispheres

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49
Q

What is the auditory pathway?

A

cochlea —> brainstem —> thalamus —> auditory nerve —> auditory cortex

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50
Q

What does the cochlea do?

A

converts soundwaves into nerve impulses

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51
Q

What does the brainstem do to auditory nerve impulses?

A

basic coding - duration and intensity

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52
Q

What is the thalamus role in the auditory pathway?

A

relay station for further coding

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53
Q

What were the symptoms of Broca’s Tan patient? What was he able to do and not able to do?

A

he could understand spoken language but couldn’t speak or write his thoughts = expressive aphasia

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54
Q

What did post-mortems of damage to Broca’s area reveal about the 2 hemispheres?

A

lesions to an area in the prosterior portion of the left frontal lobe = experienced language difficulties
lesions to the same area on the right frontal lobe = did not experience language difficulties

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55
Q

where is the visual centre located?

A

in the occipital lobe on both hemispheres and recieves info from opposite sides

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56
Q

What is the visual pathway?

A

retina —> brainstem —-> optic nerve —> thalamus —-> visual cortex

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57
Q

What is the role of the visual cortex?

A

receives visual info and contains different areas for colour and shapes

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58
Q

What types of evidence supports localisation?

A

brain scans and aphasia studies

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59
Q

What is Broca’s area responsible for?

A

speech production

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60
Q

Where is Wernicke’s area located?

A

in the prosterior portion of the left temporal lobe

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61
Q

What are the synmptoms of patients with lesions to Wernicke’s area?

A

could speak but not able to understand language and what they said didnt make sense

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62
Q

What is the role of Wernicke’s area?

A

recognition and processing of language

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63
Q

What did Peterson et al find using brain scans on the language areas?

A

demonstrated how Wernicke’s area was active during a listening task and Broca’s was active during a reading task
the two areas have different functions

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64
Q

What is Broca’s aphasia?

A

an impaired ability to produce language

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65
Q

What is Wernicke’s aphasia?

A

an impaired ability to understand language

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66
Q

How does aphasia studies support localisation?

A

demonstrates the importance of the language regions in the production and comprehesnsion of speech

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67
Q

What study goes against localisation?

A

Lashley

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68
Q

What did lashley find?

A

intact areas of the cortex can take over cognitive functions following injury to the area normally carrying out that function

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69
Q

What was lashley’s method to study recovery after brain injury?

A

measured rates ability to learn a maze
did deliberate damage to the rat’s brain
the damage of the rat’s brain was determined by the extent rather than the location of the damage

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70
Q

How does research on plasticity dissprove localisation?

A

after damage to a certain area = damage to certain function
the rest of the brain has the ability to attempt to recover the function
cases of stroke victims can recover

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71
Q

What is lashley’s law of equipotentiality?

A

brain circuits ‘chip in’ so the same neurologuical function is achieved

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72
Q

What is lateralisation?

A

the dominance of one hemisphere of the brain for particular physical and psychological functions

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73
Q

What is the main functions of the right hemisphere?

A

visual attention and face recognition

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74
Q

How are you able to talk about things experienced on the right side of the body when the left hemisphere is responsible for this?

A

the two hemispheres are connected and info can be transferred through connecting nerve fibres = corpus callosum

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75
Q

What is the name of the studies used to investigate lateralisation?

A

split-brain studies

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76
Q

What is the split-brain procedure to treat epilepsy?

A

cut the corpus callosum and separate the two hemispheres = preventing activities of seizure passing across the hemispheres

77
Q

Who devised split-brain studies?

A

Sperry

78
Q

What was Sperry’s method of split-brain studies?

A

ps were shown an image/word to the ps right visual feild and the same or different image to the left visual field
compared to control group who doesn’t have epilepsy or split-brain

79
Q

What did Sperry’s study show for the normal brains?

A

the normal brain shares info with both hemispheres giving it a complete pic or word

80
Q

What did Sperry’s study show for split-brains?

A

the info cannot be conveyed from each hemisphere and each visual field gave different functions = using different hemispheres

81
Q

What was the left side of the brain able to do in Sperry’s study?

A

able to describe the image when shown to right visual field

82
Q

What was the right side of the brain able to do in Sperry’s study?

A

wasnt able to describe images or report anything = the language centres on the left hemisphere

83
Q

What are the strengths of Split-brain studies?

A

high control
contributed great understanding of brain processes and lateralisation

84
Q

What are the issues with split-brain studies?

A

issues with generalisability = all patients had epilepsy which could cause unique changes
control group had split-brain with no epilepsy may have been inappropriate

85
Q

What are the 3 evaluation points for lateralisation?

A

changes with age
induvisual differences
oversimplified

86
Q

How does lateralisation change with age?

A

lateralised patterns found in younger ps tend to switch to bilateral patterns in adults
language become more lateralised to the left hemi with age

87
Q

How do induvidual differences affect lateralisation?

A

a persons preffered hand is not a clear indication of the location of the function

88
Q

What % of right handed people had left hemi dominance for language?

A

95%

89
Q

What % of left-handed people had right hemi dominance for language?

A

20%

90
Q

What % of left-handed people were bilateral in their language functions?

A

20%

91
Q

How is lateralisation oversimplified?

A

oversimplifies the functional distinction between both hemispheres as the two hemispheres are in contant communication

92
Q

What is plasticity?

A

the brain’s ability to change and adapt as a result of experience

93
Q

Is there more plasticity in childhood or adulthood and why?

A

childhood = constanly learning and experiencing new things

94
Q

What are the 3 ways a brain recovers from trauma?

A

axonal sprouting
neuronal unmasking
recruitment of similar areas on opposite sides

95
Q

What is axonal sprouting?

A

the growth of new nerve endings which connect with other undamaged nerve cells to form new neuronal pathways

96
Q

What is neuronal unmasking?

A

‘dormant’ (function blocked) synapses in the brain are reactivated by increasing the rate of input into these synapses

97
Q

What is neuronal unmasking?

A

‘dormant’ (function blocked) synapses in the brain are reactivated by increasing the rate of input into these synapses

98
Q

What was Kemperman’s study on plasticity using rats?

A

investigated whether an enriched environment could alter the no. of neurons
rats in a maze = increase in neurons in the hippocampus compared to rats in a lab cage

99
Q

What is the role of the hippocampus?

A

formation of new memories and navigational skills

100
Q

What did Maguire et al find on plasticity using london taxi drivers?

A

found more vol of grey matter in the hippocampus in taxi drivers than novice drivers

101
Q

What did Ballentyne et al find on plasticty and recovery after trauma?

A

there is more plasticity for recovery after a stroke in infancy and childhood than in adulthood

102
Q

What did Schneider find on enducational attainment and functional recovery?

A

people with the equivalent of a college education are X7 more likely to be disability-free 1 yr after a traumatic brain injury due to forming many neural adaptations

103
Q

What are the 4 ways you can study the brain?

A

fMRI
EEG
ERP
post-mortems

104
Q

What does an fMRI do?

A

detects the changes in blood oxygenation and flow that is a result of neural activity

105
Q

What happens in terms of oxygen in the brain when the brain is active?

A

when active the specific area of the brain consumes more O2 to meet its demands
blood flow is directed to the active area

106
Q

What are the good things of fMRI?

A

doesnt use radiation - non-invasive and mostly risk-free
images have high resolution

107
Q

What are the issues using fMRIs?

A

expensive
person must stay still for a clear image
poor temporal resolution
can only measure blood flow and not the direct activity of the brain - can confuse different activities

108
Q

what is temporal resolution?

A

there is a lag time behind the image on the screen and the initial firing of the image

109
Q

How do EEGs study the brain?

A

meaures electrical activity via electrodes attached to the induviduals head using a skull cap

110
Q

What does the recordings from an EEG represent?

A

brainwave patterns generated from the action of neurons
detects arrythmic patterns that may indicate neurological abnormalities

111
Q

What are the good things with using EEGs?

A

invaluble in diagnosis of conditions
high temporal resolution
can accurately detect brain activity

112
Q

What are the issues with EEGs?

A

the info is generalised
it is not useful for pinpointing the exact source of neural activities

113
Q

What is an ERP for studying the brain?

A

electrodes are attached to the scalp with a stimulus presented to the patient - researcher identifies brain activities linked to the stimulus

114
Q

What are the good things of using ERPs?

A

more specificity to the measurement of neural processes
high temporal resolution
involved in the allocation of attentional resources and maintenance of working memory

115
Q

What are the issues with using ERPs?

A

lack of standardisation in methodology
background noise and EVs must be completely eliminated

116
Q

How is a post-mortem used to investigate the brain?

A

induvidual was likely to have a rare disorder and experienced unusual deficits
the areas of damage aren examined and compared to a neurotypical brain

117
Q

What are the good things of using post-mortems to study the brain?

A

provided a foundation for early understanding = Broca and wernicke
improves medical knowledge and generate hypotheses

118
Q

What are the issues with using post-mortems?

A

causation is an issue
obseved damage may not be linked to neural deficits - other unrelated trauma or decay
ethical issues of consent

119
Q

What is a biological rhythm?

A

changes in biological activity that show regular cyclical variation over time

120
Q

What is a circadian rhythem?

A

changes in bio activity that show regular cyclical variation over time of 24hrs

121
Q

What are examples of circadian rhythms?

A

temperature
sleep-wake cycle
hormone production

122
Q

What is an infradian rhythem?

A

changes in bio activity that show regular cyclical variation over a time period over 24 hrs

123
Q

What is an infradian rhythem?

A

changes in bio activity that show regular cyclical variation over a time period over 24 hrs

124
Q

What is an example of an infradian rhythem?

A

menstrual cycle

125
Q

What is an ultradian rhythem?

A

changes in bio activity that show regular cyclical variation over time less than 24hrs

126
Q

What is an example of an ultradian rhythem?

A

the stages of sleep

127
Q

What are endogenous pacemakers?

A

internal body clocks that are created from within, they help regulate and control other systems

128
Q

What is an example of an endogenous pacemaker?

A

the superchiasmatic nucleus in the brain

129
Q

What are exogenous zeitgebers?

A

external cues from outside the body which are important in maintaining bodily rhythems

130
Q

What are examples of exogenous zeitgebers?

A

light and social cues

131
Q

What was Siffres study on circadian rhythems?

A

spent 6 months inside a cave with no EZs like natural light and time
had contact with the outside world via a telephone but he didnt know the time
researchers montiored behaviours like sleep
researchers controlled lights to wake siffre up

132
Q

What were the 2 findings of Siffre’s study?

A

his sleep-wake cycle was erratic at first but settled to 25hrs regular cycle
when he emerged on the 179th day, he thought it was the 151st

133
Q

What did morgan and silver do to investigate the superchiasmatic nucleus’ role?

A

removed the SCN from the hamsters = the circadian rhythems disappeared
transplanted SCN tissue from hamster foetuses and the circadian rhythems were re-established
also has SCN tissue transplanted from mutant hamsters - they took on their circadian rhythems of the donor

134
Q

What was a mutant hamster in morgan and silver’s study?

A

hamsters which has been bred to have longer or shorter circadian rhythems

135
Q

What does morgan and silvers study show about the SCN?

A

it is a vital endogenous pacemaker and responsible for controlling circadian rhythems

136
Q

What is the medical prac apps for research on circadian rhythems?

A

important for timing taking bloods and urine tests and for taking drugs
important for chronotherapeutics and pharacokinetics

137
Q

What is chronotherapeutics?

A

the study of how timing affects drug treatments as there are certain peak times when drugs are most effective

138
Q

What is Pharmacokinetics?

A

the action of drugs on the body and how well they are absorbed and distributed

139
Q

What are the prac apps of shift work from research of circadian rhythems?

A

shift patter of days –> evenings –> nights = the staff had many health problems like heart disease, sleeping difficulties and work-related stress
3 week rotation for 9 months = greater improvement in job satisfaction, productivity and reduced sick days

140
Q

What 2 glands influence the hypothalamus?

A

pineal gland and pituary gland

141
Q

What are 2 body processes the hypothalamus helps regulate?

A

body temp and heart rate

142
Q

What was miles et al study on EZs influence on circadian rhythems?

A

a blind man from birth
24.9 hr circadian rhythem despite being exposed to EZs - clocks and radios
had to take sedatives for sleeping and stimulants to wake him up

143
Q

What does miles et al blind man study show?

A

light is the main EZ
shows importance of having both EZs and EPs
but the EP can still operate without EZs

144
Q

What was luce and segall study on people in the arctic circle and circadian rhythems?

A

light cues are disregarded
people in arctic circle still sleep 7hrs despite the sun never setting during the summer months

145
Q

What are the issues with Siffre’s study?

A

cannot generalise - case study and unsafe to do so
different results acheived from his other studies = our internal clocks change with age

146
Q

What was Fickhards study that supports siffre’s study?

A

12 ps lived in a dark cave for 3 weeks and their clock sped up to 22 hrs cycle
only 1 person adjusted to this = proves you cannot overide endogenous pacemakers

147
Q

What are the issues with morgan and silvers hamster study?

A

use of foetal cells = may have a different circadian rhythem to an adult hamster
cannot generalise to humans = would be a painful and difficult treatment for humans

148
Q

What is the average length of a mentrual cycle?

A

28 days

149
Q

What is the endogenous pacemaker in the sleep-wake cycle?

A

the superchiasmatic nucleus

150
Q

What is the endogenous pacemaker in the menstrual cycle?

A

the pituitary gland

151
Q

What does the pituitary gland’s role in the mentrual cycle?

A

releases the hormones Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and Luteinising hormone (LH)

152
Q

What do FSH and LH lead to the production of?

A

oestrogen and progesterone

153
Q

What does oestrogen and progesterone do in the menstrual cycle?

A

cause the lining of the womb to become engorged with blood and one egg to be ripened and released
if the egg is not fertilised - the lining of the womb is shed

154
Q

What did McClintock find on women living together and their mentrual cycles?

A

women that live or spend a lot of time together can have synchronised mentrual cycles

155
Q

What are pheromones?

A

biological substances that act like hormones but are released into the air rather than the bloodstream
do not have a smell
carry messages from one induvidual of one species to another of the same species

156
Q

What was Stern and McClintock study on pheromones and menstrual cycles?

A

donor women = wore cotten pads under their arms for 8hrs
recipient women = rubbed the cotten pads on their upper lip
repeated daily for several months
dates of menstrual cycles were recorded

157
Q

What did Stern and McClintock find?

A

68% of recipient women’s cycles changed to be more similar to the donor woman’s cycle

158
Q

What is a good thing of McClintock’s research on mentrual synchrony?

A

evolutionary bias = has evolutionary value so women would become pregnant at the same time for babies who lost mothers to have a better chance at survival
synchrony was an adaptive straegy

159
Q

What is an issue with McClintock’s research on menstrual synchrony?

A

methodological limitations = other factors involved like diet and exercise - women who were living together may have been experiencing similar lifestyles

160
Q

How long does a sleep cycle last for?

A

90 mins

161
Q

How many stages of sleep are there?

A

4

162
Q

What are the 4 stages of sleep?

A

REM, N1, N2, N3

163
Q

What stage of the sleep cycles do dreams mostly occur?

A

REM

164
Q

What does REM stand for?

A

rapid eye movement

165
Q

What 2 stages of sleep are mostly theta waves?

A

REM and N1

166
Q

What happens to your body during REM?

A

eye movements become rapid
breathing and heart rate increase
limb muscles are temporarily paralysed
brain activity increases

167
Q

What happens to the body during N1?

A

heart rate and breathing rate slow down
muscles begin to relax

168
Q

What happens to the body during N2?

A

sleep spindles form in the brain
heart rate and breathing rate slow down even more
no eye movements
body temp drops

169
Q

What waves are found in N3?

A

delta waves

170
Q

What happens to the body during N3?

A

heart rate and breathing rate at its slowest
body fully relaxed
no eye movements
tissue repair and growth
cell regeneration
immune system strengthens
sleep walking and night terrors occur

171
Q

What is a polysomnograph?

A

measuring brain activity using an EOG, EMG and an EEG at once

172
Q

What does and EOG measure?

A

eye movements

173
Q

What does an EMG meaure?

A

muscle movements

174
Q

What are the sleep cycles controlled by?

A

endogenous pacemakers

175
Q

What are the two endogenous pacemakers controlling the sleep cycles?

A

the Raphe nuclei and the locus coeruleus at the base of the brain

176
Q

How does the Raphe nuclei control sleep cycles?

A

a drop in serotonin in the raphie nuclei onsent non-REM sleep

177
Q

How does the locus coerulus control the sleep cycles?

A

produces noradrenaline and acetylcholine

178
Q

What is the role of noradrenaline and acetylcholine in sleep?

A

inhibits motor neurons asscociated with large muscles which onsets sleep paralysis

179
Q

Who studied humans sleep cycle?

A

Dement and Kleitman

180
Q

What was the method Dement and Kleitman use to investigate sleep?

A

lab study
using a polysomnograph to record body temp,pulse rate etc
obsevred ps sleeping for REM
and ps self-reports of dreams
x9 ps studied for 61 nights

181
Q

What 2 things were Dement and kleitman’s ps not allowed to consume during the study?

A

caffeine and alcohol

182
Q

What did Dement and kleitman find on the duration of sleep cycles?

A

92 mins cycles

183
Q

What is an issue with Dement and kleitman’s sleep study?

A

bad validity = different conditions than sleeping at home

184
Q

What was Jouvet’s method of studying EPs in sleep using cats?

A

lesioned the raphe nucleus in cats
and lesioned the locus coerulus in cats

185
Q

What did lesions to the raphe nucleus cause in cats?

A

resulted in sleeplessness

186
Q

What did lesions to the locus coerulus result in in cats?

A

loss of REM sleep

187
Q

What is an issue with Jouvets cat study?

A

trauma to other areas of the brain may have been caused and been a factor in effecting sleep

188
Q

What is cortical specialisation?

A

the idea that different parts of the brain perform different tasks and are involved with different parts of the body

Psychology A level (10 decks)

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