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Psychology 2 > Biopsychology > Flashcards

Biopsychology Flashcards

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1
Q

What is the human nervous system divided into?

A

The CNS and PNS

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2
Q

What does the CNS consist of?

A

The brain and the spinal cord

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3
Q

What is the role of the CNS?

A

Controlling behaviour and regulating physiological processes - to do this the brain receives info from sensory receptors and sends messages to glands/muscles

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4
Q

What is the role of the spinal cord?

A

relays information between the brain and rest of the body so regulates bodily processes e.g. breathing

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5
Q

What is the spinal cord connected to?

A

different parts of the body by pairs of spinal nerves which connect with specific muscles and glands

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6
Q

What tasks does the spinal cord allow us to perform?

A

Simple reflexes without involvement of the brain

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7
Q

What are the 4 main parts of the brain?

A

The cerebrum, cerebellum, diencephalon and brain stem

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8
Q

What is the largest part of the brain and what is it further divided into?

A

The cerebrum - further divided into 4 lobes

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9
Q

What are the 4 different lobes?

A

Frontal , Occipital, Temporal and Parietal

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10
Q

What is the role of the frontal lobe?

A

thought and speech production

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11
Q

What is the role of the Occipital lobe?

A

Visual processing

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12
Q

What is the role of the Temporal Lobe?

A

Auditory processing

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13
Q

What is the role of the Parietal Lobe?

A

receives sensory information

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14
Q

What is the role of the cerebellum?

A

Controls motor skills and balance (movement)

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15
Q

What re the 2 important structures within the diencephalon?

A

The thalamus and hypothalamus

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16
Q

What is the role of the thalamus?

A

acts as a relay station for nerve impulses to come from senses

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17
Q

What is the role of the hypothalamus?

A

regulating body temperature, hunger and thirst and acts as a link to the endocrine system and nervous system (controls release of hormones from the pituitary gland)

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18
Q

What is the role of the brain stem?

A

regulating automatic functions that are essential for life e.g. breathing and heartbeat (motor and sensory neurons travel through here to allow impulses to be passed between the brain and spinal cord)

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19
Q

What is the peripheral system broken down into?

A

The somatic and autonomic NS

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20
Q

What is the role of the PNS?

A

Also relays nervous impulses from the CSN to the rest of the body and vice versa

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21
Q

What does the somatic NS comprise of?

A

Sensory and Motor Neurons

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22
Q

What is the role of the somatic NS?

A

involved in reflex actions without involvement of CSN

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23
Q

What is the role of the autonomic NS?

A

body carries out some actions without your conscious awareness (involuntary movements)

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24
Q

What is the autonomic system further divided into?

A

The sympathetic and parasympathetic NS

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25
Q

What NTs does the sympathetic NS use?

A

Noradrenaline (stimulating effects)

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26
Q

What NTs does the parasympathetic NS use?

A

Acetylcholine (inhibiting effects)

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27
Q

What is the role of the sympathetic NS?

A

pushes an person into action when faced with an emergency e.g. fight or flight

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28
Q

What happens to the body in fight or flight mode?

A

increased heart rate and blood pressure, dilating blood vessels in the muscles and slows bodily processes less important in the process e.g. digestion

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29
Q

What is the role of the Parasympathetic NS?

A

relaxes the body - rest and digest and has the opposite effect on the body

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30
Q

What are neurons?

A

specialised cells that carry neural info through the body

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31
Q

What are the 3 types of neurons

A

sensory, relay and motor

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32
Q

What is the structure of a neuron

A

cell body dendrites and axon

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33
Q

What is the function of dendrites?

A

receives signals from the other neuron or sensory receptors

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34
Q

What is the function of the cell body?

A

control centre of neuron

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35
Q

Where is the impulse carried along after the cell body?

A

the axon (myelin sheath)

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36
Q

What is the function of the myelin sheath?

A

allows impulses to transmit more rapidly along the axon

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37
Q

What is the role of the sensory neurons?

A

carry nerve impulses from sensory receptors to spinal cord and brain and they convert the info from sensory receptors to neural impulses and translated into sensation

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38
Q

Some sensory neurons are terminated in the spinal cord. What effect does this have?

A

reflexes occur quickly

39
Q

What is the role of relay neurons?

A

allow sensory and motor neurons to communicate with each other

40
Q

What is the role of the motor neurons?

A

They directly or indirectly control muscles and form synapses with muscles and control their contractions

41
Q

What is the process of motor neurons?

A

when stimulated a motor neuron releases a NT that bind to receptors on the muscle and trigger a response leading to muscle movement and when axon fires the muscle contracts

42
Q

What is the action potential?

A

It is the electrical signal that is formed when neurons transmit information to another neuron and the dendrites receive info from sensory receptors and is passed to the cell body and on to the axon

43
Q

What is the process of synaptic transmission?

A
  1. once active potential has arrived at the end of the axon it is transferred to another neuron
  2. crosses the gap betwenn to presynaptic and postsynaptic neuron (synaptic gap)
  3. at the end of the axon synaptic vesicles (contain chemical messengers called NTs) assist the transfer of the impulse
  4. when action potential reaches the synaptic vesicles NTs are released by exocytosis
  5. the NT diffuse across the gap and binds to receptors on the surface of the cell and are activated
  6. receptor molecules produce excitatory or inhibitory effect on postsynaptic neuron
44
Q

why does the process of synaptic transmission occur quickly?

A

the effects are terminated at most synapses by a process called re-uptake

45
Q

What is the re-uptake process?

A

The NT is taken up by the presynaptic neuron where it is stored and made available for later release and the quicker it is taken back (from the synaptic cleft) the shorter the effects on the postsynaptic neurons

46
Q

What can prolong the re-uptake process?

A

some antidepressant drugs can do this when the NT is left in the synapse for too long
NTs can be turned on and off after stimulated in the postsynaptic neuron through the action of enzymes produced by the body

47
Q

What are excitatory NT and Give an example of an excitatory NT?

A

acetylcholine and noradrenaline - they are the NS on switches and increases the likelihood that excitatory signals are sent to the postsynaptic cell which is then more likely to fire.

48
Q

What are inhibitory NT and Give an example of an inhibitory NT?

A

Serotonin and GABA - NS off switches and decrease the likelihood of that neuron firing and calm the body down

49
Q

What does an excitatory neuron do when it binds with a postsynaptic receptor?

A

Causes an electrical change in the membrane of that cell resulting in an EPSP which means that the postsynaptic cell is more likely to fire

50
Q

What does an inhibitory neuron do when it binds with a postsynaptic receptor?

A

results in IPSP making it less likely that the cell will fire

51
Q

Can a nerve cell receive both EPSPs and IPSPs at the same time?

A

Yes

52
Q

How is the likelihood of a cell firing determined?

A

by adding up the excitatory and inhibitory synaptic input- known as summation

53
Q

How can the strength of EPSPs increase?

A
  1. spatial summation - large number of EPSPs are generated at different synapses on the same postsynaptic membrane at the same time
  2. Temporal summation - number of EPSPs are generated at the same synapse by a number of high frequency action potentials on the presynaptic membrane
54
Q

What is the endocrine system?

A

A network of glands that manufacture and secrete chemical messengers known as hormones

55
Q

What are endocrine glands?

A

Special group of cells within the endocrine system whose function is to produce and secrete hormones

56
Q

What are the major glands of the endocrine system?

A

The pituitary gland, adrenal glands and reproductive organs (ovaries and testes)

57
Q

What is the process in the endocrine system?

A

uses blood vessels to transport hormones around the body to a specific target cell and different hormones produce different responses

58
Q

What are the 4 main areas of the brain?

A

The frontal lobe, parietal lobe, occipital and temporal lobe

59
Q

What is the role of the frontal lobe?

A

involved in logic and high order functions (maes us human)

60
Q

What is the role of the parietal lobe?

A

integrates sensory info and plays a role in spatial navigation

61
Q

What is the role of the occipital lobe?

A

processes visual information

62
Q

What is the role of the temporal lobe?

A

processes visual information

63
Q

What is the role of the brain stem?

A

connects brain and spinal cord and controls involuntary processes e.g. breathing

64
Q

What is the role of the pituitary glands?

A

It is connected to the hypothalamus and is known as the master gland. It stimulates the release of hormones from other glands

65
Q

What is the role of the hypothalamus?

A

It is connected to the pituitary gland and is responsible for the release of hormones

66
Q

What is the pituitary gland further divided into?

A

Anterior (front) and posterior (rear)

67
Q

What hormone does the anterior part release?

A

ACTH which stimulates the adrenal cortex and releases cortisol

68
Q

What hormone does the posterior part release?

A

releases oxytocin responsible for uterus contractions

69
Q

What hormone does the pineal gland release?

A

melatonin which induces sleep

70
Q

What 2 parts are the adrenal glands divided into?

A

the adrenal cortex (outer part) and the adrenal medulla (inner part)

71
Q

What does the adrenal cortex release?

A

releases cortisol responsible for the stimulation of glucose

72
Q

What does the adrenal medulla release?

A

adrenaline and noradrenaline which play a key role in the fight or flight response

73
Q

What do the testes release?

A

testosterone in the androgens

74
Q

What is testosterone responsible for?

A

The male characteristics e.g. aggression

75
Q

What do the ovaries release?

A

oestrogen which controls the regulation of the female menstrual cycle

76
Q

What is the fight or flight response?

A

An activity within the brain that is triggered when the body prepares itself for defending or running away

77
Q

What is the role of the amygdala in the fight or flight response?

A

It is mobilised (organises) when a person is faced with a threat and associates sensory signals with emotions e.g. fear or anger

78
Q

What does the amygdala send to the hypothalamus?

A

distress signals?

79
Q

What does the hypothalamus do as a result?

A

It is a command centre communicating with the rest of the body via the sympathetic NS

80
Q

What are the 2 types of stressors?

A

Acute (sudden e.g. personal attack) or chronic (ongoing e,g, stressful job)

81
Q

What happens to the sympathetic NS during acute stressors?

A

It processes the body for rapid action and the SNS sends a signal to the adrenal medulla which releases adrenaline into the bloodstream

82
Q

What does adrenaline do to the body?

A

It causes physiological changes such as heart rate increasing, blood pushed to vital organs such as muscles and breathing becomes more rapid

83
Q

What else does adrenaline trigger the release of?

A

blood sugar (glucose) and fats which supply energy to parts of the body associated with the fight or flight

84
Q

What does the parasympathetic NS do when the threat has passed?

A

it dampens down the stress repsonse and slows down heart beat and reduces blood pressure - rest and digest response

85
Q

What happens during a chronic stressor?

A

If the brain continues to think something is a threat and the hypothalamus activates a stress response system called the HPA axis

86
Q

What does the HPA axis consist of?

A

hypothalamus, pituitary gland and adrenal glands

87
Q

What does the ‘H’ stand for and what is its role?

A

Hypothalamus - it releases the hormone CRH which is released into the bloodstream

88
Q

What does the ‘P’ stand for and what is its role?

A

Pituitary gland - CRH causes the pituitary gland to produce and release ACTH and that is transported in the bloodstream to its target site in the adrenal glands

89
Q

What does the ‘A’ stand for and what does it do?

A

Adrenal glands- ACTH stimulates the adrenal cortex and releases e.g. cortisol

90
Q

What are the effects of cortisol?

A

Some are positive e.g. quick burst of energy and others are negative e.g. impaired cognitive performance and lower immune repsonse

91
Q

What is the feedback?

A

The hypothalamus and pituitary have special receptors that monitor cortisol levels and if it rises above normal they initiate a reduction in CRH and ACTH

92
Q

Evaluation (weakness) how are there individual differences?

A

for females behavioural responses to stress are more characterised by tend and befriend rather than fight or flight - protecting them and infant through nurturing behaviours and forming alliances (fleeing to often would put the infant at risk)

93
Q

Evaluation - What are the negative consequences of the fight or flight response?

A

If the stress response is repeatedly active e.g. cause increased blood pressure it can lead to physical damage in the blood vessels and eventualy can cause heart disease
and too much cortisol can suppress immune responses

94
Q

Evaluation- the freeze response can also be present?

A

The initial freeze response is hyper-vigilant as they are alert to the slighest sign of danger and freezing focuses the attention on how to react

Psychology 2 (2 decks)

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