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Biopsychology Flashcards

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1
Q

Nervous system

A

Divided into 2:
- Central Nervous System (CNS)- consists of brain and spinal cord- this where all the complex processing of information is done and decisions are made
- Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)- brings information from the senses to the CNS and transmits information from the CNS to muscles and glands

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2
Q

Central Nervous System

A

Brain:
- At the centre of awareness and decision making
- Divided into 2 hemispheres: (right hemisphere- controls left hand side of body, left hemisphere- controls right hand side of body)

Spinal cord:
- Extension of brain
- Transports messages to and from the brain to the PNS
- Responsible for reflexes

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3
Q

Peripheral Nervous System

A

Somatic Nervous System (SNS):
- Receives information from the senses and transmits it to the CNS
- Also transmits information from the CNS to direct movement of muscles

Autonomic Nervous System (ANS):
- Responsible for vital functions- e.g heartbeat, breathing, digestion
- Transmits information from and to the internal body organs- e.g liver and lungs
- Operates automatically, involuntarily

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4
Q

Autonomic Nervous System (ANS):

A

Sympathetic Nervous System:
- Stimulates functions- e.g increasing oxygen to muscles and releasing energy
- Involved in “fight or flight” response

Parasympathetic Nervous System:
- Slows the heartbeat and reduced blood pressure
- Involved in “rest and digest”

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5
Q

Neurons

A
  • Neurons carry neural information throughout the body
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6
Q

Sensory neurons

A
  • Carry signals from sensory receptors to the spinal cord and brain
  • Located in sensory organs- (e.g eyes).
  • Some terminate in spinal cord allowing quick reflex actions
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7
Q

Relay neurons

A
  • Allow sensory and motor neurons to communicate with each other
  • Located in the the brain and spinal cord
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8
Q

Motor neurons

A
  • Carry signals from the CNS to muscles (project from spinal cord to muscles)
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9
Q

Neurons (8 Points)

A
  1. Cell body contains nucleus
  2. Dendrites extend from the cell body
  3. They carry electrical impulses from other neurons towards the cell body
  4. The axon is an extension of the neuron, it carries the impulses away from the cell body
  5. It is covered by the myelin sheath, a fatty substance
  6. Main purpose of myelin sheath is to increase the speed at which impulses are carried
  7. There are breaks of between 0.2 and 2 mm in the myelin sheath- nodes of Ranvier
  8. At the end of the axon are terminal buttons which communicate with the next neuron in the chain
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10
Q

HOW TO LABEL A NEURON

A
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11
Q

How do neurons transmit signals?

A
  • Neurons do not make direct contact
  • There is a very small gap between neurons- SYNAPSE
  • The signal needs to cross this gap to continue on its journey to, or from, the CNS
  • This is done using chemicals which diffuse across the gap between 2 neurons
  • Chemicals = neurotransmitters
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12
Q

***

The synapse: Chemical transmission (5 points)

COME BACK TO!

A
  1. An electrical impulse travels along the axon of the transmitting neuron
  2. This triggers the nerve- ending of the pre- synaptic neuron to release chemical messengers called neurotransmitters
  3. These chemicals diffuse across the synapse and bind with receptor molecules on the membrane of the next neuron
  4. The receptor molecules on the second neuron bind only to the specific chemicals released from the first neuron. This stimulates the second neuron to transmit the electrical impulse
  5. Reuptake: the neurotransmitter is reabsorbed in the vesicles of the pre- synaptic neuron after it has performed its function of transmitting a neural impulse
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13
Q

Inhibitory effect

A
  • Some neurotransmitters act by making the neuron more negatively charged so less likely to fire
  • E.g SSRIs- Increase Serotonin
  • Nervous Systems “off switch”

Decrease likelihood neuron will fire

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14
Q

Excitatory effect

A
  • Other neurotransmitters increase the positive charge so make the neuron more likely to fire
  • E.g Noradrenaline- released during the fight or flight response- ready for action
  • Nervous systems “on switch”

Increase likelihood that neuron will fire

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15
Q

Endocrine system

A
  • Consists of glands which produce hormones which are released in the blood stream to the target organs which contain receptors for specific hormones
  • Hormones work more slowly than nerve impulses but often together with the nervous system
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16
Q

Process of the Endocrine system and the Nervous System work together to produce the acute stress response

A
  • Amygdala (scanning environment for threat)-> Hypothalamus (Activates Sympathetic Nervous System)
  • SNS sends a signal (noradrenaline) to the Adrena Medulla
  • Which produces Adrenaline
    It causes:
  • Increased heart rate
  • Increased blood pressure
  • Faster breathing
  • Mouth becomes dry
  • Digestion stops
  • Pale- blood diverted away from skin to muscles
  • Shakes- muscles ready for action
  • Body becomes ready for FIGHT or FLIGHT response
  • Parasympathetic nervous system produces GABA and brings the body back to an optimum state by slowing down the heart rate and bringing the blood pressure back to a normal level
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17
Q

Evaluation of Endocrine System

A
  • WEAKNESS: Over simplistic- at least one other response = freeze. Time to work out how to respond to stresser
  • STRENGTH: Animal testing- can relate to humans, also only use males, females too messy, assure females respond same- Beta bias = males + females = same
    In response to stresser, female produce adrenaline and oxytocin root for social bonds, to make sure others around are safe particularly children = tend and befriend reponse
    Help us understand stress related illnesses

Long term consequence:
- IBS, Heart disease, etc

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18
Q

Pituitary gland

MALE

A
  • Releases growth hormone
  • Regulates growth
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19
Q

Adrenal gland

MALE

A
  • Adrenaline and Noradrenalne
  • Increases heart rate, blood pumping from heart, stress hormone
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20
Q

Pancreas

FEMALE

A
  • Insulin and glucagon
  • Help maintain blood sugar levels
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21
Q

Ovary

FEMALE

A
  • Oestrogen and Progesterone
  • Regulate development and function of uterus, menstruation
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22
Q

Localisation of function

A
  • Refers to the principle that specific functions have specific locations within the brain
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23
Q

Motor cortex

A
  • Responsible for voluntary motor movements
  • Located in frontal lobe
  • Both hemispheres of the brain have a motor cortex
  • Regions are arranged logically next to one another
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24
Q

Somatosensory cortex

A
  • Detects sensory events arising from different regions of the body
  • Located in the parietal lobe
  • Both hemispheres have a somatosensory cortex
  • Using sensory information from the skin, the somatosensory cortex prroduces sensations of touch, pain etc, which it then localises to specific body regions
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25
Q

Visual centres

A
  • Primary visual centre in brain located in visual cortex
  • Visual processing begins in the retina, at the back of the eye, where light enters and strikes the photoreceptors (rods- darkness, cones- colour)
  • Visual cortex spans both hemispheres (right hemisphere receiving its input from the left- hand side of the visual field, while the visual cortex in the left hemisphere receives its input from the right- hand side of the visual field)
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26
Q

Auditory centres

A
  • Concerned with hearing
  • Lies within the temporal lobes
  • Auditory pathways begin in the cochlea, where sound waves are converted to nerve impulses, which travel via the auditory nerve to the auditory cortex
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27
Q

Language centres- Broca’s area

A
  • Only in left hemisphere
  • Problem with language production
  • Broca’s aphasia- Understands language but can’t produce language
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28
Q

Language centres- Wernicke’s area

A
  • Only in left hemisphere
  • Problem with language comprehension
  • Wernicke’s aphasia- produce language but doesn’t understand language
29
Q

***

AO3: Support for localisation of function:
1. Broca’s and Wernicke’s aphasia
2. (The Phineas Gage case study)
3. Brain scan evidence- semantic and episodic memories

A
  1. If you damage specific part of left hemisphere- lose ability to speak- showing that language production is localised in this one area
  2. (Support localisation- lost left frontal lobe- personality resides in left frontal lobe. Had different personality)
  3. Semantic- Knowledge- left prefrontal cortex, Episodic- Events in life- right prefrontal cortex-> Suggests those 2 functions are localised in different parts of the brain
30
Q

***

AO3: Challenges to localisation of function

A
  • Not all researchers agree with the view that cognitive functions are localized in the brain
  • A influential, conflicting, view is the equipotentiality theory (every part of the brain has equal potential)
  • Supporters of this theory believe that the basic motor and sensory functions are localised, but that higher mental functions are not
31
Q

LEARN BRAIN DIAGRAM

A
32
Q

Lateralisation

A
  • 2 halves of the human brain are not entirely alike
  • Each hemisphere has functional specialisations:
  • LEFT Hemisphere: dominant in language and speech
    RIGHT Hemisphere: dominant in visual motor tasks
33
Q

Split brain research

A
  • Investigate the different abilities of the two hemispheres (came about when, in a treatment for severe epilepsy,) surgeons cut through the bundle of nerve fibers that formed the corpus callosum
  • Where hemispheres can no longer communicate- split fibers down the middle
34
Q

Sperry and Gazzaniga’s testing procedure- USE SHEET

A

Right visual field goes to left hemisphere = saw a word but can speak. Left brain- responsible for speaking
Left visual field goes to the right hemisphere = saw a word but can’t speak but can draw

35
Q

What can be learnt from split brain research?

A
  • Left hemisphere: responsible for speech and language and mathematical skill
  • Right hemisphere: responsible for visuo- spatial processing and facial recognition
36
Q

***

AO3- Evaluation of lateralisation

A
  • Increases neural processing capacity - by using only one hemisphere to engage in a particular task e.g language - this would leave the other hemisphere free to engage in another function
  • Kim Peek- born without a corpus callosum and had fully developed language centres in both hemispheres
37
Q

***

AO3- Evaluating split brain research

A

STRENGTH:
- Standardised testing procedure allowed us to discover the differing functions of 2 hemispheres- scientific- job of hemispheres without expensive brain scanning machines

WEAKNESS:
- Individual differences- some split- brain patients have developed an ability to process language in their right hemisphere- limits how much we can generalise to wider population

38
Q

Brain plasticity

A
  • Brain’s tendency to change and adapt as a result of experience and new learning
  • Synaptic pruning- Rarely used synaptic connections are deleted and frequently used connections are strengthened- (connection between neurons when they are not working anymore)
39
Q

Brain Plasticity AO3

A
  • Kempermann put rats either in complex environments and rats housed in lab cages. Rats in complex environments had more neurons in hippocampus, formation of LTM and had shifted had more neurons and more demand on hippocampus
  • (Maguire: posterior hippocampi of taxi drivers were significantly larger relative to those of control ppts and posterior hippocampal volume was positively correlated with the amount of time they spent taxi driving- require for social memories- brains would change due to demands) -> COME BACK TO!
40
Q

Functional recovery of the brain after trauma

A
  • Following damage through trauma, the brain’s ability to redistribute or transfer functions usuallly performed by damaged areas to other, undamaged areas
41
Q

How does the brain recover functionality after trauma?

COME BACK TO!

A

1.Neuronal unmasking: Increase activation to “dormant synapses” in the brain. Increasing the rate of input to these synapses, when a surrounding brain area becomes damaged, it can then open these dormant synapses.
2. Axonal sprouting- The growth of new nerve endings which connect with other undamaged nerve cells to form new neuronal pathways

42
Q

Functional recovery AO3

COME BACK TO!

A
  • Muckli reports on a gil with one hemisphere removed but she can still see perfectly from both her left and right visual field- both visual fields enters her functioning visual cortex. Both visual vields go to 1 hemisphere- whole brain active- doing different things
  • Schneider found that patients with the equivalent of a college education are seven times more likely than those who didn’t finish high school to recover from a brain injury. New neuron connections- potential different pathways.
43
Q
  1. Individual differences
  2. Neurorehabilitation
A
  1. Can’t generalise results to everyone. E.g the younger you are, more likely to recover and make new connections with other neurons
  2. Trying to get the brain to re- connect with other parts of the body
44
Q

fMRI

A
  • Method used to measure brain activity while a person is performing a task that uses MRI techology (detecting radio waves from magnetic fields)
  • Enables researchers to detect which regions of the brain are rich in oxygen and are active
45
Q

STRENGTH of fMRI

A
  • It does not rely on use of radiation
  • E.g it is virtually risk- free, non- invasive and straightforward to use
  • Produces images that have high spatial resolution providing a clear picture of how brain is localised. (Safely providing a picture of brain)
46
Q

WEAKNESS of fMRI

A
  • It’s expensive
  • Has poor temporal resolution because there is a 5- second time lag behind image on screen
  • May not represent moment- to- moment brain activity
47
Q

EEG

Electroencephalogram

A
  • A record of the tiny electrical impulses produced by the brain’s activity.
  • By measuring characteristic wave patterns, the EEG can help diagnose certain conditions of the brain
48
Q

STRENGTH of EEG

A
  • Useful in studying stages of sleep and epilepsy
  • E.g has high temporal resolution and can accurately detect brain activity
  • Shows real- world usefulness of technique
49
Q

WEAKNESS of EEG

A
  • Has a generalised nature of the information received
  • E.g EEG signal is not useful for pinpointing the exact source of neural activity
  • Does not allow researchers to distinguish between activities originating in different but adjacent locations
50
Q

ERP

Event- related potentials

A
  • The brain’s electrophysiological response to a specific sensory, cognitive or motor event can be isolated through statistical analysis of EEG data
51
Q

STRENGTH of ERP

A
  • More specificity to measurement of neural processes
  • E.g have excellent temporal resolution
  • Frequently used to measure cognitive functions and deficits
52
Q

WEAKNESS of ERP

A
  • Lack of standardisation which makes it difficult to confirm findings
  • E.g in order to establish pure data, background ‘noise’ and extraneous material must be completely eliminated
  • This is a problem because it may not always be easy to achieve
53
Q

Post- Mortem Examinations

A
  • The brain is analysed after death to determine whether certain observed behaviours during the patient’s lifetime can be linked to abnormalities in the brain
54
Q

STRENGTH of Post- Mortem Examinations

A
  • Vital in providing a foundation for early understanding of key processes in the brain
  • E.g Broca and Wernicke relied on post- mortem studies to establish links between language, brain and behaviour
  • They continue to provide useful information
55
Q

WEAKNESS of Post- Mortem Examinations

A
  • Lacks validity: 1. might have brain damage but not affecting us in day- to- day life. 2. Brain damage might’ve been caused by death- not linked to how you behave when alive
56
Q

Circadian rhythms

A
  • Any cycle that lasts about 24 hours
  • Circadian rhythms (aka body clock) optimise an organism’s physiology and behaviour to best meet the varying demands of the day/ night cycle
  • Not only dictates when we should be sleeping, but also when we should be awake
  • Light and darkness are the external signals that determine when we feel the need to sleep and when we need to wake up
  • SCN receives information from eyes about light and darkness
  • SCN sends a message to the pineal gland to produce melatonin when it is dark
  • Melatonin makes us sleepy and keeps us asleep
57
Q

Circadian rhythms AO3

A
  • A strength of the circadian rhythm is that it is reset by levels of light.
  • E.g The sleep-wake cycle is an example of a circadian rhythm. Light is first detected by the eye, which then sends messages concerning the level of brightness to the SCN.
  • The SCN then uses this information to coordinate the activity of the entire circadian system.
  • A weakness of the circadian rhythm is that it has low generalisability.
  • For example some people may be morning people (prefer to rise early and sleep early) and others may be night people (sleep late and rise late). - This shows that there might be innate individual differences in circadian rhythms.
58
Q

Ultradian rhythms

A
  • A period of less than one day
  • Cycle is repeated approximately 5 times during the night
    5 stages:
    Stage 1 and 2:
  • Light sleep where a peoson may be easily woken
  • S1- brain waves are high frequency and have a short amplitude, alpha waves
  • S2- alpha waves continue but there are occasional random changes in patterns called sleep spindles.

Stage 3 and 4:
- Deep sleep or slow wave sleep (SWS)
- Brain waves are delta waves with lower frequency and higher amplitude
- Difficult to wake someone at this point

Stage 5 (REM sleep):
- Body is paralysed yet brain activity closely resembles an awake brain. - Brain produces theta waves and eyes occasionally move around, rapid eye movement (REM)
- Dreams are most often experienced during REM sleep, but may also occur in deep sleep

59
Q

Ultradian rhythms AO3

A
  • A strength of the ultradian rhythm is that there is real- world application. - - E.g it highlights the importance of adequate sleep as brain connections are strengthened and waste chemicals are cleared from the brain. - This shows the importance of REM sleep as it stimulates the CNS.
  • A weakness with studying sleep cycles is the differences observed in people, which make investigating patterns difficult.
  • E.g Tucker found significant differences between participants in terms of the duration of each stage. - - This shows that it is worth focusing on these differences during investigations into sleep cycles.
60
Q

Infradian rhythms

A
  • Duration greater than 24 hours
  • E.g Menstrual cycle lasts about one month
  • Average appears to be around 28 days
  • Menstrual cycle is regulated by hormones, which either promote ovulation or stimulate the uterus for fertilization
  • Ovulation occurs roughly half- way through the menstrual cycle, when oestrogen levels peak, and usually lasts for 16 to 32 hours
  • After the ovulatory phase, progesterone levels increase in preparation for the possible implantation of an embryo into the uterus
61
Q

Seasonal affective disorder

A
  • Persistent low mood and general lack of activity triggered during the winter months when the number of daylight hours becomes shorter
  • Due to the lack of sunlight in the morning, melatonin production continues into the day, causing feelings of sleepiness
  • Inhibits the production of serotonin
62
Q

Infradian rhythms AO3

A
  • A strength of the infradian rhythm is that it has good real life application for example it is used as a treatment for SAD- a light stimulating strong sunlight in the morning to reset melatonin.
  • It works for 60% of users. (This suggests that winter blues are not psychological.)
  • A weakness of the infradian rhythm is that research shows that external factors (exogenous pacemakers) affect the menstrual cycle and factors are not all indigenous, research shows that the menstrual cycle of a woman who lived in a cave shortened to 25.7 days from 28 days.
  • This shows that the lack of light affects internal processes.
63
Q

Biological rhythms

A
  • Cyclical changes that have evolved to suit environmental changes
64
Q

Sleep/ wake cycle

A
  • Circadian rhythm not only dictates when we should be sleeping but also when we should be awake
  • Longer you’ve been awake, more pressured to go to sleep- carry out essential functions
  • Sleep pressure- return back to optimum level/ state
  • Dangerous for us to be awake at night- predators, can’t see
65
Q

Endogenous pacemakers

A
  • SCN is important in generating the body’s circadian rhythms
  • Acts as a “master clock” which links to other brain regions that control sleep and arousal
  • SCN has a built- in 24 hour circadian rhythm which only needs resetting when external light levels change
66
Q

AO3 of Endogenous pacemakers

A
  • A strength of endogenous pacemakers is the importance of the SCN.
    E.g Morgan bred hamsters so that they had circadian rhythms of 20 hours rather than 24.
    SCN neurons from these abnormal hamsters were transplanted into the brains of normal hamsters, which displayed the same abnormal circadian rhythm of 20 hours.
    This demonstrates the significance of the SCN and how endogenous pacemakers are important for biological circadian rhythms.
  • A weakness of endogenous pacemakers is that it is biologically reductionist.
  • E.g, the behaviourist approach would suggest that bodily rhythms are influenced by other people and social norms, i.e. sleep occurs when it is dark because that is the social norm and it wouldn’t be socially acceptable for a person to conduct their daily routines during the night. - - The research discussed here could be criticised for being reductionist as it only considers a singular biological mechanism
67
Q

Exogenous zeitgebers

A
  • Receptors in the SCN are sensitive to changes in light levels during the day and use this information to synchronise the activity of the body’s organs and glands
  • Light resets the internal biological clock each day, keeping it on a 24 hour cycle
68
Q

AO3 of Exogenous zeitgebers

A
  • A strength of exogenous zeitgebers is research support for the role of melanopsin.
  • Skene and Arendt claimed that the majority of blind people who still have some light perception have normal circadian rhythms whereas those without any light perception show abnormal circadian rhythms. - - - This shows the importance of exogenous zeitgebers as a biological mechanism and their impact on biological circadian rhythms.

Psychology (17 decks)

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