Biopsychology

Question 1

outline the central nervous system

Answer 1

contains the brain and the spinal cord
.Spinal cord- relays information between the brain and the rest of the body, so the brain to monitor and regulate the bodily process, like digestion. It connects to the body via spinal nerves which connect to muscles and glands. The spinal cord also contains circuits of nerve cells that allow reflexes without brain involvement.
The Brain- Cerebrum, the cerebellum controls motor skills and balance, the diencephalon and the brian stem.

Question 2

outline the peripheral nervous system

Answer 2

contains the somatic nervous system and the automatic nervous system
.Somatic nervous system- made up of 12 pairs of cranial nerves and 31 pairs of spinal nerves. They have both sensory and motor neurones. Also, allows for very fast reflexes.
.Automatic nervous system- involuntary actions like the heartbeat are regulated by this, necessary as these actions would be inefficient if we had to think about them. Split into the sympathetic NS and the parasympathetic NS.

Question 3

outline the sympathetic and parasympathetic NS

Answer 3

Sympathetic- helps us deals with emergencies, such as increased heart and blood pressure etc. Neurones from the sympathetic NS Neurones from the SNS travel to every organ and gland to prepare the body for rapid actions. Slows down unimportant process like digestion and urination.
Parasympathetic- opposite, relaxes the body after the emergency. PSNS slows the heartbeat, digestion begins again. Rest and digest.

Question 4

outline the structure of a neurone

Answer 4

dendrites, cell body, axon, myelin sheath

Question 5

outline a sensory neurone

Answer 5

Sensory neurone- takes nerve impulses from sensory receptors to the spinal cord and brain. They convert information from the receptors into neurone impulses. Impulses reach the brain and are translated into sensations.

Question 6

outline a relay neurone

Answer 6

Relay neurone- allow sensory and motor neurones to communicate

Question 7

outline a motor neurone

Answer 7

Motor neurone- located in the CNS. When stimulated, they release neurotransmitters that bind to receptors on muscle and triggers response which lead to muscle movement. When the axon of a motor neurone fires, the muscles with which it has formed synapses with contact.

Question 8

outline an action potential

Answer 8

the transmission from one neurone to another. The dendrites receive info from the sensory receptors, the info is passed to the cell body and onto the axon. Once the info is in the axon, it travels down its length to form an electrical signal.

Question 9

outline a synaptic transmission

Answer 9

Starts at the presynaptic nerve, action potential fires, the sacs which contain synaptic vesicles are released and diffuse across the synaptic gap where they bind to the specialised receptors. Either diffuse or re-uptake occurs.

Question 10

outline the difference between excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters

Answer 10

Excitatory- more likely to fire, increase the likelihood that the signal is sent to the postsynaptic neurone e.g. noradrenaline
Inhibitory-decreases the likelihood of that neurone firing e.g. serotonin

Question 11

what are the 4 ways of studying the brain

Answer 11

Post-mortem examinations
Functional magnetic resonance imaging
Electroencephalogram
Event-related potentials

Question 12

outline post-mortem examinations (PME)

Answer 12

Post-mortem examinations
.Reveal underlying neurobiology of behaviour, there are links between brain abnormalities and psychiatric disorders e.g. schizophrenia is linked with enlarged frontal lobes.
.Broca treated a man with speech issues and found a lesion to the left frontal lobe, which suggests that the left hemisphere is linked with speech

Question 13

evaluate post-mortem examinations (PME)

Answer 13

.Allow for detailed examinations
.PMs have played a huge part in our understanding of schizophrenia
.Different causes of death can affect the brain in a different way, as well as time delay and drugs
.However, the person is already dead, so the research can’t follow up with the client

Question 14

outline functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

Answer 14

Functional magnetic resonance imaging
.Measures changes in brain activity during task changes because the blood flow changes and is measured in the active areas as they need more oxygen from red blood cells

Question 15

evaluate functional resonance imaging (fMRI)

Answer 15

.Non-invasive as there is no insertion of instruments and no exposure to harmful radiation
.Objective and reliable, more than verbal reports
.Not a direct measure of neural activity as it only shows changes in blood flow, not a quantative meaure of activity
.Only focuses on localised activity, where as communitation between regions is important too

Question 16

outline electroencephalogram’s (EEGs)

Answer 16

Electroencephalogram
.Electrodes are applied to the scalp and electrical charges are measured from activity in the brain cells
.Used for suspected brain disorder like epilepsy
.The electrodes are graphed to show patterns e.g. someone with epilepsy will have spikes in electrical activity
.Measured in 4 ways, alpha, beta, delta, theta

Question 17

evaluate electroencephalograms (EEGs)

Answer 17

.Records activity in real-time, more accurate
.Useful in clinical diagnosis, we can see how the activity suddenly changes
.Superficial, can’t detect deeper regions like the hippocampus
.Activity can be picked up by neighbouring electrodes meaning it’s not easy to pinpoints a signal

Question 18

outline event-related potentials (ERPS)

Answer 18

Event related potentials
.Small voltages in the brain are triggered by different tasks and cognitive processing. We establish a pattern by giving stimuli multiple times and the reactions are given an average. The council out the background noise as the activity not related to the stimuli wont be consistant in the patterns.
.Waves within the first 100 milliseconds= sensory ERPs
.Waves after the first 100 milliseconds=cognitive ERPs

Question 19

evaluate event-related potentials

Answer 19

.Continuous measurement so we can easily see and manipulative responses to patterns
.Can measure processes even without a behaviour response, the person doesn’t need to respond
.ERPs are small and difficult to pick out from other electrical activities
.Activity deep in the brain isn’t recorded, only strong voltages across the scalp area, it’s restricted to the neo-cortex

Question 20

outline circadian rhythms

Answer 20

.24 hours- free running system, intolerant of changes
.Synchronised by the suprachiasmatic nuclei
.Primary input is light- sets body to the right time, photoentrainment= light-sensitive cells in the eyes which detect brightness and sends messages to the suprachiasmatic nuclei
.E.G. Sleep-wake cycle, light and dark are external signals that affect when we sleep and wake
.Dips and rises, strongest sleep drive at 1-4am and
1-3pm.
.Core body temp- lowest at 4:30 am and highest at 6 pm, sleep occurs when sleep drops and rises as you wake up
.Hormone production, melatonin from the pineal gland encourages sleep

Question 21

evaluate circadian rhythms

Answer 21

.Support for light importance- British Antarctic Station, at the end of the Antarctic summer, cortisol levels were normal. However, after 3 months of darkness, the pattern changed with the highest levels at noon. Suggests that extremes of daylight in different areas may explain variation in circadian hormones.
.Individual differences- cycle length research found it varies from 13-65 hours. Also, cycle onset can be different when their cycle reaches peak e.g. Duffy found morning people and evening people (6am-10pm, and 10am- 1am)
.Research Methodology- ps were isolated from variables that may affect their circadian rhythms like clocks and rhythms but not from artificial light, as they didn’t think it would effect it, now we know differently. They found this altered rhythms down to 22-28 hrs.
.RWA- chronotherapeutics, found the time people take treatments impacts it success e.g. people are more at risk of heart attacks in the morning
.Temperature over light- thinks the light is important as the SCN responds to light. However, temp could be more important, however, the SCN uses light to transforms light into neural messages to set the body temp.

Question 22

outline ultradian rhythms

Answer 22

.Less than 24 hours
.5 stages of sleep
.REM and NREM- 4 of NREM and the 5th is REM
.Lasts 90-100 minutes and repeats
.Basic rest-activity cycle- Kleiman suggests the 90 m rules lasts throughout the day, 90m until fatigue sets in and concentration stop

Question 23

outline infradian rhythms

Answer 23

.Over 24 hours
.Weekley- male testosterone is elevated at weekends
.Monthly- menstrual cycle, 23-36 days, 28 on av, regulated by hormones which either promote ovulation or stimulate the uterus for fertilisation. Ovulation occurs about halfway through and last bout 16-32 hours
.Annual rhythms- SAD in winter, seasons of migrating birds

Question 24

evaluate ultradian and infradian rhythms

Answer 24

.Individual differences in sleep stages- usually due to non-bio factors, e.g. room temp, sleep hygiene etc. However, some studies have found they be biological. Ps over 11 days same conditions but found significant differences.
.Support for basic rest-activity cycle- study of elite violinists, practice sessions were limited to 90 minutes, also found in athletes
.The menstrual cycle and role of exogenous cues- the menstrual cycle is usually governed by the endogenous system like the release of hormones from the pituitary gland. However exogenous cues ca affect it, e.g. when women who don’t take oral contraception who live together can sync
.Menstrual cycle can influence mate choices- women found slightly feminised male faces to be more desirable when picking a long term relationship. But during ovulation, they wanted a more masculine face
.Belif in lunar rhythms- despite the empirical evidence, some believe in the moon influencing menstrual cycles.

Question 25

outline endogenous pacemakers

Answer 25

.Mechanisms within the body that govern the internal the biological rhythms. The suprachiasmatic nuclei is a tiny cluster of nerves in the hypothalamus and is the main pacemaker. Neurones within the SCN synchronise with each other so that their target neurones elsewhere receive correctly time-coordinated signal. The SCN receives info about light levels forms the optic nerve. Another endogenous pacemaker is the pineal gland, the SCN directs the pineal gland to increase/decrease melatonin.

Question 26

outline exogenous zeitgebers

Answer 26

.Environmental cue's such as light that helps .Light- receptors in SCN is sensitive to light changes .Social cues- e.g. meal times, useful in the absence of light cues. The protein melanopsin is critical in this

Question 27

evaluate endogenous pacemakers and exogenous zeitgebers

Answer 27

.The role of SCN- hamsters were given abnormal hampster rhythms neurones from the SCN. And they started to show abnormal rhythms, also worked the opposite way- can't generalise to humans .Seperate rhythms- although the SCN coordinates rhythms, it can fall out of step. A student spends 25 days in a controlled lab, no daylight or other zeitgebers. Her core rhythm was still 24 hours but her sleep-wake had extended to 30, with 16 hours sleep. .Support for melanopsin- some blind people are still able to entrain their circadian rhythms even though they have non-functioning rods and cones. This suggests the pathway from the retinal cells contain melanopsin is still intact. .Jet lag- found exposure to bright light prior to flying from east to west decreased the time to adjust to local time. Either had continuous bright light, intermittent bright light or dim light. BL=2.1 hours shifted, IBL=1.5 and DL=0.6. .

Question 28

outline localisation of function

Answer 28

- Specific areas/regions of the brain are associated with specific functions - Hemispheric lateralization- the brain is split into two halves, left is associated with speech and right is associated with visual functions - Motor cortex- voluntary motor movements- frontal lobe - Somatosensory cortex- processes input from sensory receptors. parietal lobe uses sensory info from the skin into sensations e.g. pain, pleasure etc - Auditory cortex- for hearing, temporal lobe, begins at the cochlea where sound waves are turned into nerve impulses at the auditory cortex - Visual cortex- occipital lobe, begins at the retina and the nerve impulses travel along the optic nerve, right hemisphere - Broca's area- patient Tan, frontal lobe - Wernick's area- comprehension of language, left temporal lobe and arcuate nucleus

Question 29

evaluate localisation of function

Answer 29

- Support for language centres from aphasia studies- studies have found damage to Broca's or Wernick's area have resulted in different types of aphasia (inability to understand/produce language) receptive aphasia is the inability to extract the meaning of a spoken or written word - Challenges to localisation- equipotential- Lashley believed that basic motor and sensory functions were localised but higher mental processes were not. Claimed that intact areas of the cortex could take over responsibility for other cog functions, this is supported as some patients were able to regain some cog abilities. - Individual differences in language areas- women have been found to have larger B + W areas than men - Language production may not be confined to Broca's area- Dronkers reassessed the preserved brain of two of Broca's patients and the MRI found other areas other than Broca's that were damaged - Communication may be more important than localisation- it's more important how areas communicate with each other, not what they do individualy

Question 30

outline plasticity and functional recovery of the brain

Answer 30

.Plasticity- refers to the ability of the brain to change and adapt synapses, pathways and structures in the light of various experiences e.g.trauma .Youth matters more likely to recover the younger ou are, specifically under 20. Nerve pathways that are used a lot get stronger and those rarely used die. Develop new connections and prune away old ones to adapt to new environments, also causes a natural decline in cognitive functioning. .Playing video games- requires different complex cog and motor demand. Kuhn compared a control group with a group of gamers who trained 2 months, 30 mins a day. Found a signif increase in grey matter in the hippocampus and cerebellum. Resulted in new synaptic connections involved with spatial navigation. .Meditation- Tibetan monks, 10 volunteer students fitted with electrical sensors. Greater Gamma waves in the monks, even after meditating, God for brain efficiency .Recovery after trauma .Neural unmasking, Wall identified dormant synapses. Thier functions are blocked. Increasing neural input will unmask and create structures .Stemcells can also be used, as unspecialised cells can take up the jobs of other cells. Implanted to replace the dead or dying cells. Neural reorganisation and neural regeneration

Question 31

evaluate plasticity and functional recovering of the brain

Answer 31

- Animal studies- Kempermann found increased no. of neurones in the brain of rats housed in complex/enriched environments, increased posting in the hippocampus which is associated with new memories. - Human studies- Maguire, London taxi drivers, MRI scanner, the posterior hippocampus were larger compared to controls, also correlated to how long they had been taxi driving. High eco-diversity, support older adults plasticity. - Juggling- Boyke, due to the natural decline in cog neural functioning, researching looked into older patients. 60-year-olds they were taught a new skill, juggling and found it increased grey matter in the visual cortex, however, only temporary changes - Education- found patients with the equivalent of a college education, were 7 times more likely to recover after 1 year after a severe brain injury. A retrospective study based on US brain injury data. 39.2% of patients with 16 or more years of education had achieved disability-free recovery but those who had less than 12 years of education, only 9.7% recovered.

Question 32

outline lateralisation and split-brain research

Answer 32

.The two hemispheres are connected by a bundle of nerves called the corpus callosum. One treatment for epilepsy is to severe the two hemispheres by cutting the corpus callosum to stop violent electrical activity transferring from one hemisphere to other. .Sperry and Gazzaniga- screen in front of them. Fixate on one central dot and then to say when a picture came up on either side the experimenter asked what they could see. As the left is for the visual field, if they saw something on the right they could say, but if they saw something on the left, they couldn't see as it goes to the right side of the brain.

Question 33

evaluate lateralisation and split-brain research

Answer 33

- Little evidence to suggest is advantageous- some say lateralization increases neural processing but there is little empirical support. Rogers found lateralisation in chickens is beneficial to multitask to eat and watch for predators, but still not enough evidence. - Relationship between lateralization and immune system-mathematically gifted people tend to have superior right hemispheres and more likely to be left-handed and suffer higher rates of problems with their immune system - Lateralisation changes with age, lateralized patterns in younger people tend to switch to the bilateral pattern when older. Language became more lateralised to the left with increasing age in youth but after 25 it decreased every decade. - Language may not be restricted to the left- Gazzaniga may be wrong as though damage to the left was detrimental to language, one patient J.W developed the capacity to speak out right hemisphere when present with or left visuals - Limitation to split brain research- it's barely carried out these days, not a sufficient amount of numbers for an experiment. Conclusions can't be drawn due to confounding variables, epilepsy could have caused the problems

Question 34

outline the fight or flight response

Answer 34

- Amygdala and the hypothalamus- threat= amygdala is mobilised, associates sensory signals with emotions. Then sends a distress signal to the hypothalamus. Either acute response (attack) or chronic (stressful job) - Acute response- the sympathetic nervous system is triggered. Adrenaline circulates through, pushes blood to muscles. The PSNS then calms it all down. - Chronic- the HPA axis, hypothalamus, pituitary gland, adrenal gland. The hypothalamus releases corticotrophin-releasing hormone. The pituitary gland releases adrenocorticotrophic hormone. The adrenal gland releases cortisol.

Question 35

evaluate the fight or flight responses

Answer 35

- Tend and befriend, rats, found in women there may be hormone to stop fight, oxytocin - In nowadays- the effects of everyday life may repeatedly cause fight or flight, bad, blood pressure, too much cortisol suppresses the immune system - Fight Flight or freeze, not to run but to avoid confrontation. Stop and listen and weigh up options