biopsychology Flashcards
What are the assumptions of biopsychology?
1) The endocrine system influences our behaviour through glands and hormones
2) The central nervous system influences our behaviour through neurons and neurotransmitters
3) Humans and animals both have these two major psychological systems
What is the central nervous system?
The CNS consists of the brain and spine and deals with all complex decision making
What is the peripheral nervous system?
The PNS sends information from the environment to the CNS and transmits messages from the CNS to muscles and glands
What is the somatic nervous system?
The SNS transmits information from receptor cells to the CNS and receives information from the CNS which tells muscles how to act
What is the autonomic nervous system?
The ANS controls involuntary actions to do with physical internal processes (such as activating glands)
What are the two main divisions of the ANS and what do they do?
Parasympathetic division-makes the body relax/reduces adrenaline output from adrenal gland
Sympathetic division-increases production of adrenaline in order to enable the ‘fight or flight’ response
What does the pituitary gland do?
As the ‘master gland’ it releases hormones responsible for regulating the endocrine system
What is a sensory neuron?
A Nerve cell that carries messages from the PNS to the CNS (long dendrites, short axons)
What is a relay neuron?
A nerve cell that connects other neurons together (short dendrites, short axons)
What is a motor neuron?
A nerve cell that connects the CNS to effectors (i.e. muscles and glands), (short dendrites, long axons)
What is an inhibitory neurotransmitter?
A chemical signal sent from one neuron to another which makes the post synaptic neuron less likely to fire
What is an excitatory neurotransmitter?
A chemical signal sent from one neuron to another which makes the post synaptic neuron more likely to fire
