Biopsychology

Question 1

What are the two main components of the nervous system?

Answer 1

Central nervous system and peripheral nervous system

Question 2

What does the central nervous system (CNS) consist of?

Answer 2

Brain and spinal cord

Question 3

What is the primary function of the central nervous system?

Answer 3

Origin of all complex commands and decisions

Question 4

What is the role of the peripheral nervous system (PNS)?

Answer 4

Sends information to the CNS and transmits messages from the CNS to muscles and glands

Question 5

What does the somatic nervous system do?

Answer 5

Transmits information from sense organs to the CNS and directs muscles to act

Question 6

What is the function of the autonomic nervous system?

Answer 6

Transmits information to and from internal bodily organs

Question 7

True or False: The autonomic nervous system operates voluntarily.

Answer 7

False

Question 8

What are the two main divisions of the autonomic nervous system?

Answer 8

Sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems

Question 9

Fill in the blank: The _______ nervous system is responsible for involuntary functions.

Answer 9

Autonomic

Question 11

What is the endocrine system?

Answer 11

One of the body’s major information systems that instructs glands to release hormones directly into the bloodstream.

Question 12

What is a gland?

Answer 12

An organ in the body that synthesizes substances such as hormones.

Question 13

What are hormones?

Answer 13

Chemical substances that circulate in the bloodstream and only affect target organs. They are produced in large quantities but disappear quickly. Their effects are very powerful.

Question 14

What is the fight or flight response?

Answer 14

The way an animal responds when stressed. The body becomes physiologically aroused in readiness to fight an aggressor or, in some cases, flee.

Question 15

What is adrenaline?

Answer 15

A hormone produced by the adrenal glands which is part of the human body’s immediate stress response system. Adrenaline has a strong effect on the cells of the cardiovascular system – stimulating the heart rate, contracting blood vessels, and dilating air passages.

Question 16

What is a neuron?

Answer 16

The basic building blocks of the nervous system, neurons are nerve cells that process and transmit messages through electrical and chemical signals.

Question 17

What are sensory neurons?

Answer 17

These carry messages from the PNS (peripheral nervous system) to the CNS. They have long dendrites and short axons.

Question 18

What are relay neurons?

Answer 18

These connect the sensory neurons to the motor or other relay neurons. They have short dendrites and short axons.

Question 19

What are motor neurons?

Answer 19

These connect the CNS (central nervous system) to effectors such as muscles and glands. They have short dendrites and long axons.

Question 20

What is synaptic transmission?

Answer 20

The process by which neighbouring neurons communicate with each other by sending chemical messages across the gap (the synapses) that separates them.

Question 21

What is a neurotransmitter?

Answer 21

Brain chemicals released from the synaptic vesicles that relay signals across the synapse from one neuron to another.

Question 22

How can neurotransmitters be classified?

Answer 22

They can be broadly divided into those that perform an excitatory function and those that perform an inhibitory function.

Question 23

What is excitation in the context of neurotransmitters?

Answer 23

When a neurotransmitter, such as adrenaline, increases the positive charge of the postsynaptic neuron, increasing the likelihood that the neuron will fire and pass on the electrical impulse.

Question 24

What is inhibition in the context of neurotransmitters?

Answer 24

When a neurotransmitter, such as serotonin, increases the negative charge of the postsynaptic neuron, decreasing the likelihood that the neuron will fire and pass on the electrical impulse.

Question 25

What is the theory of localisation of function?

Answer 25

The theory that different areas of the brain are responsible for different behaviours, processes, or activities.

Question 26

What is the motor area?

Answer 26

A region of the frontal lobe involved in regulating movement.

Question 27

What is the somatosensory area?

Answer 27

An area of the parietal lobe that processes sensory information such as touch.

Question 28

What is the visual area?

Answer 28

A part of the occipital lobe that receives and processes visual information.

Question 29

What is the auditory area?

Answer 29

Located in the temporal lobe and concerned with the analysis of speech-based information.

Question 30

What is Broca’s area?

Answer 30

An area of the frontal lobe of the brain in the left hemisphere (in most people) responsible for speech production.

Question 31

What is Wernicke’s area?

Answer 31

An area of the temporal lobe (encircling the auditory cortex) in the left hemisphere (in most people) responsible for language comprehension.

Question 32

What is plasticity in the context of the brain?

Answer 32

The brain’s tendency to change and adapt (functionally and physically) because of experience and new learning.

Question 33

What is functional recovery?

Answer 33

A form of plasticity where the brain’s ability to redistribute or transfer functions usually performed by damaged areas to other, undamaged areas.

Question 34

What is hemispheric lateralisation?

Answer 34

The idea that the two halves (hemispheres) of the brain are functionally different, controlling certain mental processes and behaviours mainly by one hemisphere.

Question 35

What is split-brain research?

Answer 35

A series of studies involving epileptic patients who had experienced a surgical separation of the hemispheres of the brain, allowing investigation of brain function lateralisation.

Question 36

What is functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)?

Answer 36

A method used to measure brain activity while a person is performing a task, detecting which regions of the brain are active.

Question 37

What is an electroencephalogram (EEG)?

Answer 37

A record of the tiny electrical impulses produced by the brain’s activity, helping diagnose certain conditions.

Question 38

What are event-related potentials (ERPs)?

Answer 38

The brain’s electrophysiological response to a specific sensory, cognitive, or motor event, isolated through statistical analysis of EEG data.

Question 39

What are post-mortem examinations?

Answer 39

The analysis of the brain after death to determine if certain observed behaviours can be linked to brain abnormalities.

Question 40

What are biological rhythms?

Answer 40

Distinct patterns of change in body activity that conform to cyclical periods, influenced by internal body clocks and environmental changes.

Question 41

What is a circadian rhythm?

Answer 41

A type of biological rhythm with a 24-hour cycle, regulating processes like the sleep/wake cycle.

Question 42

What is an infradian rhythm?

Answer 42

A type of biological rhythm with a frequency of less than one cycle in 24 hours, such as menstruation.

Question 43

What is an ultradian rhythm?

Answer 43

A type of biological rhythm with a frequency of more than one cycle in 24 hours, such as the stages of sleep.

Question 44

What are endogenous pacemakers?

Answer 44

Internal body clocks that regulate biological rhythms, such as the influence of the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) on the sleep/wake cycle.

Question 45

What are exogenous zeitgebers?

Answer 45

External cues that may affect biological rhythms, such as the influence of light on the sleep/wake cycle.

Question 46

What is the sleep/wake cycle?

Answer 46

A daily cycle of biological activity based on a 24-hour period (circadian rhythm), influenced by environmental variations.