BIOPSYCHOLOGY Flashcards
What is the endocrine system?
instructs glands to release hormones directly into the bloodstream
whats the nervous system
collects, processes and responds to information in the environment
what is your nervous system divided into
central nervous system and peripheral nervous system
What is the PNS divided into?
somatic and autonomic
whats the PNS
everything but brain and spinal chord
whats CNS
brain and spinal chord
What’s the somatic nervous system?
voluntary muscle movement
What’s the autonomic nervous system?
involuntary muscle movement
what are the functions of the autonomic nervous system
activate internal organs and conserve energy
what are the branches of the autonomic
sympathetic and parasympathetic
whats the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system
activates organs
whats the parasympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system
conserves energy
what does the parasympathetic and sympathetic branch do to the eyes
parasympathetic - contracts pupil
sympathetic - dilates pupil
what does the parasympathetic and sympathetic branch do to the lungs
parasympathetic - constricts bronchi
sympathetic - relaxes bronchi
what does the parasympathetic and sympathetic branch do to the heart
parasympathetic - slows heart beat
sympathetic - accelerates heartbeat
what does the parasympathetic and sympathetic branch do to the stomach intestines
parasympathetic - stimulates activities
sympathetic - inhibits activities
what does the parasympathetic and sympathetic branch do to the blood vessels or internal organs
parasympathetic - dilates vessels
sympathetic - contracts vessels
what is the somatic nervous system concerned with
muscles and sense organs
what is the autonomatic nervous system concerned with
bodily functions
where are hormones secreted to
the bloodstream
What secretes hormones?
glands
whats the main function of the endocrine system
controls vital physiological processes by regulating cell or organ activity
what does the first or immediate shock of stress involve
sympathetic branch of your ANS
what does the second or counter shock response of stress involve
the parasympathetic branch of your ANS
process of fight or flight syndrome
eyes - hypothalamus - activates sympathetic branch - adrenal medulla - releases adrenaline - increase sympathetic activity and decrease parasympathetic
what are the 3 types of neuron
motor
sensory
relay
What’s a neuron?
nerve cells that process and transmit messages through electrical and chemical signals
What are sensory neurons?
carry messages from the PNS to the CNS
structure of a sensory neuron
long dendrites and short axons
what are relay neurons
connect the sensory neuron to motor or other relay neurons
structure of a relay neuron
short dendrites and short axons
Structure of a motor neuron
Short dendrites and long axons
What’s a motor neuron?
connects the CNS to effectors such as muscles and glands
How do neurons communicate with each other?
within groups known as neural networks
what are neurons separated by
synapse
How are signals BETWEEN neurons transmitted?
Chemically across the synapse
How are signals WITHIN neurons transmitted?
electrically across the synapse
what happens when the electrical impulse reaches the end of the neuron
triggers the release of neurotransmitters from synaptic vesicles
What are neurotransmitters?
chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gaps between neurons
what effect do neurotransmitters have on the neighbouring neuron
either inhibitory or excitatory
what is excitation
When a neurotransmitter increases the positive charge of the postsynaptic neuron
what does excitation do
increases the likelihood that the neuron will fire and pass on the electrical impulse
What is inhibition?
When a neurotransmitter increases the negative charge of the postsynaptic neuron
what does inhibition do
decreases the likelihood that the neuron will fire and pass on the electrical impulse.
What is summation?
decision on whether a postsynaptic neuron with fire
where does the motor neuron carry messages
away from the brain
where does the sensory neuron carry messages
towards the brain
where does the relay neuron carry messages
in between the other neurons
what are the ways of scanning the brain
fMRI
EEG
ERP
post-mortems
What does fMRI measure?
blood flow to the brain
what does an fMRI track
oxygenated blood
What is a post-mortem?
analysis of brain after death
What is an EEG?
measures electrical impulses in the brain (as waves)
What does EEG stand for?
electroencephalogram
How does an EEG work?
electrodes placed on the scalp measure electrical activity in neurons
what premise do EEGs work on
that information is processed in the brain as electrical activity
What does ERP stand for?
event related potential
What is an ERP (event related potential)?
an application of an EEG where stimulus is presented
What does invasive mean?
clinician invades the brain or body in some way
what does spatial resolution mean
The smallest feature (or measurement) that a scanner can detect
whats temporal resolution
how reflective the scan is of real time
What’s causation?
whether the scan allow us to detect the cause of the brain changes
What is localisation of function in the brain?
The theory that lobes are associated with different functions
What do the hemispheres control?
the opposite side of the body
where is the motor area
back of the frontal lobe in both hemispheres
what does the motor area control
voluntary movement on opposite side of body
Where is the somatosensory cortex located?
front of the parietal lobe in both hemispheres.
what does the somatosensory area control
what we sense
Where is the visual cortex/area located?
occipital lobe
What does the visual cortex do?
processes visual information
where does information in the right visual field go to
the left side and vice a versa
Where is the auditory cortex located?
temporal lobe
what does the auditory area do
Analyses speech based information
Where is Broca’s area located?
left frontal lobe
What is Broca’s area responsible for?
speech production
How was Broca’s area discovered?
post mortem of Paul Broca’s patient Tan
What does damage to Broca’s area cause?
Broca’s aphasia
how can Broca’s aphasia be described?
speech that is slow, laborious and lacking in fluency
Where is Wernicke’s area located?
left temporal lobe
what is Wernickes area responsible for
language comprehension
what does damage to the Wernicke area result in
Wernickes aphasia
What is Wernicke’s aphasia?
production of fluent but meaningless speech - neologism
what’s neologism?
nonsense words
What’s hemispheric lateralisation?
the idea that the two halves of the brain are functionally different
who looked into hemispheric lateralisation?
Sperry
Aim of Sperry’s split brain research
To find out about hemispheric lateralisation in relation to the function of left and right of the brain
Sample in Sperry’s research
11 patients with epilepsy who had undergone a commisurotomy
What’s commissurotomy?
Surgical incision of the corpus collosum
What was the procedure of Sperrys research?
Told to focus on a fixation point image/word was projected to patients right visual field and the same or different to the left
What would happen in a normal brain in Sperrys research?
The corpus collosum would immediately share the information to get a complete picture
When was Sperry’s research
1968
What is the left hemisphere responsible for?
analytic and verbal
What is the right hemisphere responsible for?
spatial ability
What is brain plasticity?
the brain’s ability to change and adapt throughout life adapt as a result of experience and new learning.
what happens during infancy with synapses
rapid growth in synaptic connections
how many synaptic connections do infants have at 2-3 years
15000 - twice as many as adult brain
What is neuroplasticity?
the ability of neural connections to form rapidly in response to stimuli
What was Maguire’s sample?
MRI scans of 16 right handed London taxi drivers Aged 32-62 and compared them to a MRI scans of 50 healthy right handed males that did not taxi drive
What did Maguire find?
Increased grey matter was found in the posterior hippocampus of taxi drivers
What does Maguire’s research show?
Supports the idea that the brain changes in response to the demands of being a taxi driver and meets demands of environment
What is neurorehabilitation?
the process of supporting people after brain trauma to regain as much function as possible
What is the posterior hippocampus associated with?
Development of spatial and navigational skills
What are biological rhythms?
a change in body processes or behaviour in response to cyclical changes within the environment
what are 3 types of biological rhythms
Circadian
Infradian
Ultradian
what are biological rhythms governed by
internal biological clocks
What are circadian rhythms?
A type of biological rhythm subject to a 24-hour cycle
examples of circadian rhythms
Sleep/wake cycle and body temperature.
what do circadian rythms help
coordinate heartrate, digestion and hormones
what are the 2 types of internal biological clocks
Endogenous pacemakers and exogenous zeitgebers
What are endogenous pacemakers?
Internal body clocks that regulate many of our biological rhythms.
Endogenous pacemaker factors
- Superchiasmatic nucleus (SCN)
- Pineal gland and Melatonin
What is the superchiasmatic nucleus (SCN)?
bundle of nerve cells located in the hypothalumus
Where is the SCN located?
above the optic chiasm
what does the optic chiasm do
receives information about light then passes the information to the pineal gland
what does the pineal gland do in when there is little light
increases the production of melatonin
Process of Melatonin Secretion
light - eyes - optic chiasm - SCN - pineal gland
What is an exogenous zeitgeber?
external factors that that rese biological clocks
Exogenous zeitgebers factors
- Light
- Social cues
How does light influence biological clock?
light is a significant factor in controlling our sleep cycle and it can rest the SNC
How do social cues influence babies biological clock?
infants circadian rhythms begin at 6 weeks and parents influence this encouraging wakefulness in the day and night routine in evening
examples of infradian rhythms
Menstrual cycle
SAD
what are infradian rhythms
Natural cycles that occur less than 1 every 24 hours and are longer than 24 hours
What does SAD stand for?
seasonal affective disorder
What’s the menstrual cycle governed by?
monthly changes in hormone levels which regulate ovulation
What is SAD caused by?
lack of melatonin from insufficient amounts of natural light
What is SAD?
A depressive disorder which has a seasonal pattern of onset
What are ultradian rhythms?
more than 1 in 24 hours and last less than 24 hours
Example of an ultradian rhythm
the sleep cycle
Sleep Stage 1 and 2 (Theta Waves)
light sleep
Sleep Stage 2: Light Sleep
light sleep
Sleep Stage 3 and 4 (delta waves)
Deep sleep characterized by regular brain patterns
Sleep Stage 5
REM, most active stage of sleep
What does REM stand for?
rapid eye movement
what 3 structural changes can happen to the brain during recovery
axonal sprouting
reformation of blood vessels
recruitment of homologous areas on opposite hemispheres
What happens in the brain during recovery?
The brain rewires and reorganises itself by forming new synaptic connections close to the area damage
What does homologous mean
similar
What is axonal sprouting?
the axon sprouts to create more synaptic connections
whats reformation of blood vessels
blood vessel reform or connect so that blood can flow
whats the recruitment of homologous areas on opposite hemispheres
damages area in one hemisphere gets the same area in opposite hemisphere to perform the function the damaged area no longer can
what is functional recovery
the brain can adapt to carry out the desired function of a damaged part of the brain
function of corpus callosum
carry information between hemispheres
