Biopsychology Flashcards
1
Q
what are the two divisions of the nervous system
A
- central nervous system
- peripheral nervous system
2
Q
what are the two parts of the cnetral nervous system
A
brain and spinal cord
3
Q
what is the function of the brain in the central nervous system
A
process incoming information and make decisiona bout what happens
4
Q
what is the function of the spinal cord in the central nervous system
A
communicate messages and is where the information from senses is sent to the brain
5
Q
what are the two divisions of the peripheral nervous system
A
- autonomic nervous system
- somatic nervous system
6
Q
what are the two divisons of the autonomic nervous system in the peripheral nervous system
A
- sympathetic nervous system
- parasympathetic nervous system
7
Q
what are the types of neuron
A
- motor neuron
- interneuron
- sensory neuron
8
Q
function of motor neuron
A
- control movements
9
Q
function of interneuron
A
- carry sensory information and regulate motor activity
10
Q
function of the sensory neuron
A
carry information from the senses
11
Q
where is the interneuron located
A
in the spine due to the reflexes needing to be quick, so it saves time
12
Q
how does the reflex arc work
A
- pain is detected by the sensory neuron
- sensory neuron transmits it to a interneuron
- the interneuron automatically passes information onto motor neuron
- motor neuron makes muscles move out of danger
- information doesn’t reach the brain until the muscle has been instructed to move
13
Q
why are reflex arcs faster than consciously activating movement
A
through triggering movements without sending information all teh way to the brain
14
Q
what is an effector
A
a muscle that had been told to move
15
Q
what are the steps for synaptic transmission
A
- the axon terminal comes close to, but doesn’t touch the dendrite of another neuron
- synaptci vesicle (containing neurotransmitters) travels to the end of the axon terminal, and nursts which releases the neurotransmitters
- neurotransmitters diffuse over the synapse from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration
-neurotransmitters then attach to receptors on dendrites of postsynaptic neuron and begin to trigger a new action potential
16
Q
what is the steps for an action potential
A
- neuron at rest is negatively charged
- when it recieves a ‘go’ message it allows positively charged atoms, making it less negative
- when a neuron is positive enough, it passes a ‘threshold’ that triggers an electrical message to move quickly down the axon
- to speed the message up, the message (action potential) jumps from node of ranvier to node of ranvier
- when axon potential reaches the end of the axon, it triggers vesicles in axon terminal to burst, releasing the neurotransmitters
17
Q
what is excitation caused by
A
excitatory messages
18
Q
how do excitatory messages work
A
- the neurotransmitters (e.g. dopamine) make it more likely the neuron will pass the threshold and trigger an action potential
19
Q
what is inhibition caused by
A
inhibitory messages
20
Q
how do inhibitory messages work
A
the neurotransmitters (e.g. seratonin) make it less likely the neuron will pass the threshold and trigger an action potential
21
Q
what is summation
A
- when the different neurotransmitters add up in the cell body
- the ell body will only pass the ‘threshold’ if there are enough excitatory inputs compared to inhibitory inputs
- in order for an action potential to be triggered, the summation of inputs must pass the cell’s ‘threshold’ for ‘firing’
22
Q
where is the cell body in a motor neuron
A
- in the middle of the dendrites
23
Q
where is the cell body in an interneuron
A
in the middle of the axon
24
Q
where is the cell body in a sensory neuron
A
off the side of the axon
25
what is the endocrine system
a series of glands which release chemical messengers around the body through the bloodstream
26
what are the glands in the endocrine system
- pituitary gland (master gland)
- hypothalamus
- pineal gland
- adrenal gland
- testes
- ovaries
27
what does the pituitary gland do
tells other glands to release hormones and also releases human growth hormone
28
what does the hypothalamus do
control stress, sleep, body, temperature, hunger
29
what does the pineal gland produce
melatonin
30
what does the adrenal gland produce
produce adrenalin and cortisol
31
what does the testes produce
produce testosterone
32
what does the ovaires produce
oestrogen and progesterone
33
what does oestrogen do
thicken and repair the uterus lining
34
what does progesterone do
maintain the lining
35
what is stress
when the demands of our environment are greater than our perceived ability to cope
it is unconscious decision
36
what are the two kinds of stress
acute stress
chronic stress
37
what is acute stress
short term stress, lasts a few minutes
38
what is chronic stress
long term stress
39
what kind of stress produces fight or flight
acute stress
40
how does the body produce fight or flight
- hypothalamus detects an immediate stressor
- it sends a message through the sympathetic nervous system to prepare fight or flight
- sympathetic nervous system triggers changes in all major organs
- sympathetic nervous system stimulates adrenal gland to release adrenalin which boosts supply of oxygen to brain and stops digestiom
- parasympathetic nervous system calms the body down to its resting state
41
what changes does the sympathetic nervous system trigger during fight or flight
- pupils dilate to let more light in
- the heart beats faster to pump more blood around body
- bronchial tubes dilate to allow more efficient exchange of oxygen and CO2
- the stomach stops digesting food (make you feel nauseous)
- liver releases extra glucose, blood moves from skin to muscles, heart and lungs to increase energy for movement (flight)
- sweating will be triggered to help cool the individual down when they begin to fight or run away
42
what is the chronic response
- a lot slower than fight or flight
- uses hormones e.g. cortisol
43
what is the acute response
fight or flight
44
what are the positive effects of cortisol
- lower pain sensitivity
- increases energy
45
what are the negative effects of cortisol
- inhibit immune response
- impair cognitive performance
46
what happens to your pupils during fight and flight
dilates so you can take in more light and accurately see the situation
47
explain the role of the testes
releases testosterone which causes facial hair, deepening of voice, puberty growth spurts, sex drive, maintenance of muscle strength and sperm production
48
define the purpose of the brain
control of conscious decisions
49
define gland
organ in the body that releases substances
50
differences in the organisation and/or function of the somatic and autonomic nervous system
- somatic controls skeletal muscles whilst autonomic controls smooth muscles
- somatic has sensory receptors and motor pathways whilst autonomic only has motor pathways
- somatic is voluntary whilst autonomic is involuntary
51
what happens to your digestion/saliva production during fight/flight and why
it is stopped so you don't waste energy
52
what detects the stressor in the fight or flight response
Amygdala
53
what does the endocrine system do
helps to control vital functions in the body by regulating cell and organ activity.
54
what does the peripheral nervous system do
it recieves messages from the central nervous system and sends messages to it via neurons.
It is divided into autonomic nervous system and somatic nervous system
55
what does the somatic nervous system do
controls voluntary muscle movement commanded by the motor cortex
56
what is the role of the hypothalamus
- help to connect the endocrine system and the nervous system
- it secretes lots of hormones such as growth, hormones etc
57
explain the role of the ovaries
- release progesterone which helps social cues
- release oestrogen which is involved with puberty, pregnancy, menstruation and bone strength
58
what does the autonomic nervous system
- controls autonomic, vital functions in our body such as heart rate etc
- control smooth muscles and glands
- split into sympathetic and parasympathetic
59
evaluate fight or flight
- doesn't tell whole story (some freeze)
- men and women respond differently (tend and befriend)
- not useful anymore for modern stressors
60
what is localisation
when a function or ability is focused in one part of the brain
e.g. primary visual processing in occipital cortex
motor movement in Broca's area
61
what does the case of dax state about localisation
- Dax was French doctor
- he realized people with damage to the left hemisphere experience language difficulties
- this suggests that language is localized to the left hemisphere
62
what are the localization examples in the left hemisphere?
- Broca's area
- Wernicke's area
63
How was Broca's area developed
- Paul Broca treated a patient who he referred to as 'Tan' because that was the only syllable the patient could say
- Tan understood spoken language
- Broca studied other patients without he ability to speak and found they all had damage to one area in the left hemisphere called Broca's area
64
what is aphasia
loss of spoken language ability
65
what is Broca's aphasia
- when the patient has lost the ability to speak in a fluent way, maybe with a complete loss of speech
66
where is Broca's area located
in the inferior posterior frontal lobe
67
who is the case study for Broca's aphasia
Sarah Scott
68
Sarah Scott study for Broca's aphasia
- Sarah suffered a stroke as an A-Level student and lost the ability to speak fluently
- After 10 years, she recovered lots of the lost function
- However, she still gets tired quickly and forgets more often
69
How was Wernicke's Area developed
- Wernicke was a german doctor
- he discovered an area of the brain that's involved in understanding language
- located in posterior (back) portion of the left temporal lobe
70
where is Wernicke's area located
in posterior portion of the left temporal lobe
71
what happens when someone has damage in Wernicke's area
they were unable to understand language
72
what happens during Wernicke's aphasia
- it occurs following damage to the area bwteen temporal and parietal lobe
- individuals can speak but what they say makes no sense as they don't understand language
73
what is the case study supporting localisation
Phineas Gage
74
who was Phineas Gage
a railway worker who had to push dynamite into a hole using a metal pole
75
what happened to Phineas Gage
- one day at work, the dynamite exploded and blew the metal rod through his chin and out the top of his head
- after he was conscious, and could walk and speak
76
what symptoms did Phineas Gage show after his accident
- increased aggresion and hostility
- increase in use of swear words
- increase in rudeness
- all of these link to the frontal lobe
77
what does phineas gage provide support for
localisation in the brain
78
what area of the brain did phineas gage's symptoms link to
the frontal cortex
79
what is the alternate view to localisation
Equipotentiality
80
who proposed equipotentiality
Lashley
81
what goes against localisation in the brain
equipotentiality
82
what is equipotentiality
idea that more than one part of the brain can learn how to control a task
83
what did Lashley believe
Basic functions are localised but higher, more complex function arent
She also belived that when certain parts of the brain are damaged, as long as its not too serious, other parts of the brain would take over the lost function
84
What is the case study against localisation, and supporting equipotentiality
Jody Miller
85
what happened to Jody Miller
- had Rasmussen's syndrome which caused severe epilepsy and is life threatening
- the only treatment was to remove the whole of her right hemisphere
- her left hemisphere was able to take over the vast majority of functions
- by a teenager,she was able to go to college and study dance
86
what did marie 1906 suggest
- found damage in other parts of the brain could lead to Broac's apahasia
- suggest speech isn't localised to Broca's area but instead is spread over other areas
- therefore, localisation is likely to be incorrect
87
what is lateralisation of function
idea that some functions of the brain are completed by one of the hemispheres
e.g. spoken language is left hemisphere
88
what does contralateral mean
the left hemisphere controls the right side of body and the right hemisphere controls left side of body
89
what happens in contralateral damage
- if the right side of the brain is injured, it affects the left side of the body
- if right hemisphere occipital lobe is damaged, you will lose sight on the left visual field
90
what are the lateralisation tasks for the left hemisphere
- Planning speech
- Understanding spoken language
- Fine detail of pictures
- Logical thinking
91
what are lateralisation tasks for the right hemisphere
- Recognising emotion
- Spatial relationships
- Singing
- Hollistic processing of pictures (faces)
92
who were the researchers looking at split-brain research
Sperry
Gazzaniga
93
what does it mean if someone is split-brain?
a surgeon had cut their corpus callosum (mainly to help control epilepsy).
However, this had many side effects
94
when was split brain research most common
1960s and 1970s
95
how is visual information processed if someone is split brain
inputs from the left eye (not the left field of view) is processed by the right hemisphere
96
what did Sperry research
Split brain
97
how many participants were in Sperry's split-brain research
11 people who had split brain surgery
98
what was the procedure of Sperry's split brain research
- they sued a machine where an image is projected to patient's right visual field (left hemisphere) and the same or different image to left visual field (right hemisphere)
- in a 'normal' brain the corpus callosum would immediately share the info between both hemispheres, completing the image
- in a split-brain, info cant be transferred to other hemisphere
99
what was the findings of Sperry's split-brain research when an image was shown to the right visual field
participants could describe what was the image
100
what was the findings of Sperry's split-brain research when an image was shown to the left visual field
they claimed there was 'nothing there'
because messages can't be transferred from the right hemisphere to the left hemisphere for spoken language
101
what part of the brain controls the left visual field
right hemisphere
102
what part of the brain controls the right visual field
left hemisphere
103
what was the conclusion of Sperry's split brain research
Certain functions are lateralised
Supports the idea that the left hemisphere is verbal and the right hemsiphere is 'silent' but emotional
104
What was Gazzanig's orinigal study for?
Split-brain research
105
what did Gazzanig do for his original study?
- Used artwork of Arcimboldo
- He found that left visual field (right hemisphere) could be seen as faces, but right visual field (left hemisphere) was seen as fruit
- support lateralisation
- Show face processing is right hemisphere
106
what did previous evidence show about face processing
Suggests the ability to recognise faces is only in the right hemispherewh
107
whos artwork did Gazzanig use in his original study?
Arcimboldo
108
what did Gazzanig's original study show?
Face processing is right hemisphere
Support lateralisation
109
what was the study for lateralisation
Gazzanig's split-brain research
110
what has split-brain research shown?
- Spoken language is left hemisphere (Broca's and Wernickes area)
- Lanuage (written and spoken) can be found in both hemisphere
- Face processing is right hemisphere (Gazzanig)
- logical decision making is left hemisphere
111
what is the evaluation of split-brain research?
- No guarantee that split-brains work the same as 'normal' brains due to damage
- All split brain research is case studies which isn't representative of the population
- We don't need surgery anymore due to drugs - all patients are older now and arent representative of population
- research is in lab conditions and lack ecological validity
112
who evaluated split-brain research?
- Andrewes 2001 (3ppts)
- Gazzanig (lang in right hemisphere)
- Turk et al (J.W.)
113
what was Andrewes study in 2001?
States that many split brain studies are published with as little as 3 ppts.
Means that drawing conclusions to apply to a wider group is very difficult
114
what was Gazzanig's study for evaluation?
Suggested early discoveries have been wrong
e.g. some ppts have lang in right hemisphere
115
what was Turk et al study?
J.W. who cna now speak things shown to either hemisphere
Challenges Gazzinga's original study
116
what is plasticity of the brain?
The ability of the brain to change and adapt over time
117
what is Hebbian Theory?
Cells that fire together wire together.
The more practise of an activity, the stronger the connections
118
what was Boyke et al study?
Taught juggling to 60 year olds and found their brains adapted in the visual cortex. When they stop, the changes reversed.
119
what were the studies for plasticity of the brain?
Boyke et al
Kuhn et al
Davidson et al
Maguire et al
120
what was Kuhn et al study?
Found that plying Mario for 30 minutes a day for 2 months lead to changes in the cortex, hippocampus and cerebellum.
121
what were the changes found in Kuhn et al's study?
Navigation
Strategic Planning
Working Memory
122
what was Davidson et al's study?
Compared electric activity in brains of monks and novice students.
Found that the monks' brains has much more Gamma waves
Suggests significant change due to repeated practise
123
what was Maguire et al's study?
Showed that London cab drives had significantly larger hippocampus than non-cab drivers
The longer they had been working, the larger the hippocampus
124
What is functional recovery?
Process of recovering function that were lost due to injury or illlness
125
what are causes of brain damage?
Stroke
Disease
Tumours
Injury
Lack of key vitamins
126
what are the studies supporting functional recovery?
- Tajiri et al (stem cells into injured rats brains)
- Elbert et al (plasticity after brain injury at different ages)
- Schneider et al (higher cognitive reserve)
127
what did Tajiri et al study?
Supporting functional recovery through injecting stem cells into the injured brains of rats
128
what did Tajiri et al find?
When they implanted stem cells into injured brains of rats, they went to the injury site and turned into new neurons
129
what did Elbert et al study?
Supporting functional recovery through studying plasticity after brain injury at different ages.
130
what did Elbert et al find?
They studied plasticity after brain injury at different ages and found that functional recovery is greater in childhood.
131
according to Elbert et al, what age is functional recovery greater?
In childhood
132
what did Schneider et al study?
Supporting functional recovery, through studying those with higher cognitive reserve.
133
what did Schneider et al find?
that those with higher education (congitive reserve), were more likely to regain more abilities through functional recovery.
134
what is a mechanism?
A biological explanation for how something happens
135
what are the mechanisms that explain functional recovery?
- Neuronal unmasking (dormant synapses)
- Axonal sprouting (sprout new axons over legions)
- Neurogenesis (when brain is injured, new neurons are created)
136
what are the real world examples of functional recovery?
Jody Miller - right hemisphere removed.
Sarah Scott - Stroke
137
what happens during Neuronal Unmasking?
- Previously unused dormant synapses become used to help rgain lost functions.
- Over time, the once dormant synapses create new structures/functions within the brain
138
who discovered the dormant synapses involved in neuronal unmasking?
Wail 1977
139
what happens during Axonal Sprouting?
- Cells next to legions sprout new axons to help make new connections, and recover from damage.
- The sprouting stays within the correct brain area/layer of the cortex
140
who found axonal sprouting?
Delier et al 2006
141
what did Delier et al say in 2006 about axonal sprouting?
Found that axonal sprouting could help to explain some recovery of lost function.w
142
what did Delier et al say in 2006?
That axonal sprouting could help to explain some recovery of lost function in the brain
143
what happens during Neurogenesis?
There is growing evidence that when the brain in injured, new neurons are created.
However, this is only in some areas.
144
what is a negative of neurogenesis?
It only occurs in some areas
145
what could neurogenesis help?
Correct damage done by strokes
146
Waht is spatial resolution?
It refers to the smallest object/image that a scanner can detect.
If it high resolution, it can detect small objects
147
what is temporal resolution?
the accuracy of the scanner in relation of time: or how quickly the scanner can detect changes in brain activity.
148
what are the ways of studying the brain?
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
- Electroencephalography (EEG)
- Event related potentials (ERP)
- Post Mortem
149
what does fMRI stand for?
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
150
what does a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) show?
Show the researcher which parts of the brain are the most active
151
what is functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) based on?
The assumption that the most active parts of the brain will require the greatest blood flow
152
what is the process for functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)?
- ppts are scanned while completing a task (e.g. identifying different emotions on faces), and while completing a control task (e.g. faces showing no emotion)
- the brain activity is recorded for both tasks
- the researchers compare the brain activity for the experimental task with control task
- the differences indicate which parts of the brain are active when completing the experimental task
153
what are the strengths of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)?
- it is non-invasive and doesnt need radiation, so its ethically safe
- it can identify activity in small areas of the brain, giving good spatial resolution
154
what are the weaknesses of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
- it uses blood flow - not a perfect measure of activity. Some parts of the brain may have high activity and low blood flow
- it works slowly as it has to wait for the blood flow (poor temporal resolution)
- unable to identify networks (might not be measuring what they intend to measure
155
what does EEG stand for?
Electroencephalography
156
how does Electroencephalography (EEG) work?
- electrodes are placed onto a participants scalp to measure the electrical field changes
- the signal is then fed through an amplifier and then filtered using computer software.
- a computer then records the electrical changes over time.
157
what are the strengths of Electroencephalography (EEG)?
- it is a real time recording of brain activity, allows researcher to discover exactly whats happening
- excellent temporal resolution (1,000 times better than fMRI)
- very useful in diagnosis of epilepsy, sleep disorders, and some cancers
158
what are the weaknesses of Electroencephalography (EEG)?
- poor spatial resolution (hard to say where activity comes from)
- only works for neurons that are close to the scalp (signals from deeper regions of brain aren't strong enough to reach electrodes on scalp)
159
what does ERP stand for?
Event related potential
160
what is event related potential (ERP) used for?
- to measure the electrical activity in the brain following a task or stimulus (e.g. angry face)
- determine what the brain is doing millisecond by millisecond
- see what the unconscious brain is doing
161
what causes noise in the brain?
- when something happens in the brain, the neurons fire (actional potential)
- normally these action potentials are too small to be measured because of teh 'noise' from other neurons
- 86 billion neurons firing makes a lot of random noise
162
what is the procedure of the event related potential (ERP)?
- ppts has an EEG attached to their scalp
- researcher shows the ppt the same picture 20 times
- they record the brain activity each time
- the activity for the picture will be the same each time
- the 'noise' changes each times and is random
- this noise will cancel out the noise from other recordings
163
what are the strengths of event related poentials (ERP)?
- they can be manipulated experimentally
- this allows congitive neuroscientists to carefully test what is happening in the brain following different stimuli
- it has good temporal resolution
164
what are the weaknesses of event related potentials (ERP)?
- because a large number of trials are needed, there is a risk of practise, fatigue and boredom influencing the recording
165
what do post mortems examine?
At a basic level, they look at which general areas have been damaged.
At a complex level, the brain is disected and examined under a microscope.
It looks at the size or volume of brain areas
166
what are the examples of post mortems?
Broca - Tan
Annese et al - HM
167
what did Broca do for a post mortem?
He completed a post mortem on Tan, and found that his damage was in one area, now known as Broca's area
168
what did Annese et al do for a post mortem?
They completed a post mortem on HM, which confirmed that his memory loss was due to the removal of his hippocampus
169
what are the strengths of post mortems?
- They allow researchers to study anatomy in fine detail
- The detail is way more in depth than other ways of studying the brain
170
what are the weaknesses of post mortems?
- Can't examine brain activity
- It is hard to know if the damage found during post mortems was the cause of patients disordered behaviour
171
what are the comparison points for electroencephalography (EEG) and event related potential (ERP)
- EEG is a real time recording whilst ERP is averaged recordings to a stimulus
- EEG is used to diagnose medical issues (epilepsy) and ERP is used for researching how the brain works
172
what are the comparison points for electroencephalography, event related potential, fMRI and post mortems?
- EEG and ERP record brain activity every 1-2ms but fMRI is slower at 1-2 seconds and post mortem has no activity at all
- fMRI and post mortem can research any part of the brain but EEG and ERP only work well for surface
173
how often do electroencephalography and event related potentials measure brain activity?
every 1-2 milliseconds
174
how often does an fMRI record brain activity?
every 1-2 seconds
175
what is the scale that fMRI and post mortems identify areas of the brain?
1mm or less
Good spatial resolution
176
what is the circadian rhythm?
The body's natural sleep/day rhythm
177
what is the first circadian rhythm?
Sleep/wake cycle
178
how often does the circadian rhythm occur?
It repeats roughly every 24 hours
179
what controls the circadian rhythm?
It is controlled by the exposure to light and dark
180
when are the body's strongest drives to sleep?
Between 2-4 am and 1-3pm
181
what controls the circadian rhythm?
The biological cycles, including the suprachiasmatic nucleus
182
what does the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) control?
It monitors the light level which coordinates the activity of the biological systems
183
what does the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) contain?
SCN contains two sets of proteins which combine together and split apart once every 24 hours
184
how many neurons in the retina send information straight to the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN)?
10% of neurons in the retina send information straight to the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN)
185
what does the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) trigger the release of?
- It triggers the release of cortisol when its light to give us energy
- It triggers the release of melatonin when its dark
186
why is the circadian system robust?
It is robust because even if there's no light it tends to maintain rhythm every 24-25 hours
187
what is jet lag?
The result of our circadian rhythm no longer being in synchronization with out environment
188
who gave support for the circadian system being robust?
Michel Siffre
189
what did Michel Siffre study?
The circadian system being robust
