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Psychology > Biopsychology > Flashcards

Biopsychology Flashcards

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)

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
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
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
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
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
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: excels at 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 ware 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 and 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
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?

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

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

Psychology (12 decks)

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