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Paper 2 Alevel Psychology- EVERYTHING > Biopsychology > Flashcards

Biopsychology Flashcards

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1
Q
  • What is The Nervous System?
  • Include: what it is and what it consists of
A
  • Specialised network of cells in the human body and is our primary internal communication system
  • Consists of Central Nervous System and the Peripheral Nervous System.
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2
Q
  • What is the Nervous Systems’ 2 main functions?
A
  • To collect, process and respond to info in the environment
  • To coordinate the working of different organs and cells in the body
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3
Q
  • The Central Nervous System:
  • Include: What 2 things it’s made up of and describe them, what it does
A
  • CNS is made up of brain and spinal cord:
  • The brain is the centre of all conscious awareness. Outer layer = cerebral cortex- highly developed in humans and is what distinguishes our higher mental functions from animals
  • Brain is divided in to 2 hemispheres
  • The Spinal chord is an extension of the brain and is responsible for reflex actions such as pulling your hand away from a hot plate
  • It passes messages to and from Brain and connect nerves to PNS
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4
Q
  • The Peripheral Nervous System:
  • Include: role of PNS and its sub division
A
  • Transmits messages, via millions of neurones (nerve cells), to and from PNS and is further subdivided into:

n

  • Autonomic nervous system (ANS): governs vital functions in the body such as breathing, heart rate, digestion, sexual arousal, stress responses
  • Somatic nervous system (SNS): controls muscle movement and receives info from sensory receptors
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5
Q
  • What is The Endocrine System?
A
  • One of the body’s major info systems that instructs glands to release hormones directly into the bloodstream.
  • Hormones are then carried towards target organs in the body.
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6
Q
  • Glands and hormones:
  • Include, role of glands and hormones, 2 types of glands, example- thyroxine and “master gland”
A
  • Various glands in the body, such as the thyroid gland produces hormones
  • Hormones are secreted into the bloodstream and affect and cell in the body that has a receptor for that particular hormone
  • Most hormones affect cells in several organs or through entire body, leading to diverse and powerful responses
  • E.G. Thyroid gland produces hormone thyroxine which affects cells in the heart (increases heart rate) and also affects cells throughout the body increasing metabolic rates (chemical process)- basically affects growth rates
  • Major endocrine gland= pituitary gland, located in the brain = “master gland” as it controls release of hormones from all the other endocrine glands in the body
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7
Q
  • What are the main endocrine glands in the human body?
  • Include: from brain to genitals
  • *HINT* There are 8
A
  • Hypothalamus
  • Pituitary
  • Thyroid
  • Parathyroid
  • Adrenals
  • Pancreas
  • Ovaries (female)
  • Testes (male)
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8
Q
  • Endocrine and ANS working together: Fight or Flight
  • Include: stressor with example, ANS- Parasympathetic and Sympathetic state, Stress hormone- adrenaline, physiological changes
  • *HINT* There are 4 points
A
  • When a stressor is perceived, e.g. your friend jumps out to frighten you or you think about your upcoming exams) the hypothalamus triggers activity in the sympathetic branch of the ANS
  • ANS changes from its normal resting state (parasympathetic state) to the physiologically aroused, sympathetic state
  • Stress hormone adrenaline is released from adrenal medulla (a part of adrenal gland) into the bloodstream
  • Adrenaline triggers physiological changes in the body (e.g. increased heart rate) which creates the physiological arousal necessary for fight or flight response
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9
Q
  • What are the changes associated with Sympathetic state response?
  • *HINT* There are 6 points
A
  • Increases heart rate
  • increases breathing rate
  • Dilates pupils
  • Inhibits digestion
  • inhibits saliva production
  • contracts rectum
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10
Q
  • What are the changes associated with the Parasympathetic response state?
A
  • Decreases heart rate
  • Decreases breathing rate
  • Consticts pupils
  • Stimulates digestion
  • Stimulates saliva production
  • Relaxes rectum
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11
Q
  • What happens when a threat is detected?
  • Include: acute state, ‘sick feeling’
A
  • An acute response and is an automatic reaction in the body
  • Physiological changes explain why stress, panic, or even excitement is often experienced as a ‘sick’ feeling
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12
Q
  • Once the threat has passed what happens?
  • Include: Antagonist, rest and digest response
A
  • PNS returns to its resting state
  • The parasympathetic branch of ANS works in opposition to sympathetic nervous system- its actions are antagonistic to sympathetic system
  • Parasympathetic system acts as a ‘brake’ and reduces activities of the body that were increased by actions of sympathetic branch- rest and digest response
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13
Q
  • What is a neuron?
A
  • The basic building blocks of the nervous system
  • nerve cells that process and transmit messages through electrical and chemical signals
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14
Q
  • What are the 3 type of neurons?
A
  • Motor Neurons
  • Sensory Neurons
  • Relay Neurons
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15
Q
  • What is the role of the motor neuron?
A
  • These connect CNS to effectors such as muscles and glands
  • Short dendrites
  • Long axons
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16
Q
  • What is the role of the Sensory neuron?
A
  • These carry messages from the PNS to the CNS
  • Long dendrites
  • Short axons
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17
Q
  • What is the role of the relay neuron?
A
  • These connect the sensory neurons to the motor or other relay neurons
  • Short dendrites
  • Short axons
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18
Q
  • Describe diagram of neuron structure:
A
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19
Q
  • Describe the features of the structure of a neuron:
  • Include: cell body, dendrites, axon, myelin sheath, nodes of Ranvier, terminal buttons and synapse
A
  • Cell body includes a nucleus which contains genetic material of the cell
  • Dendrites- branch like structures protrude from cell body
  • Axon carries the impulse away from the cell body down length of the neuron
  • Axon is covered in fatty layer of myelin sheath- protects axon and speeds up electrical transmission of impulse
  • Myelin sheath is segmented by gaps- nodes of Ranvier- speed uo transmission of impulse by forcing it to ‘jump’ across gaps along axon
  • end of axon- terminal buttons that communicate with the next neuron in the chain across the gap = synapse.
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20
Q
  • Electric transmission- firing of a neuron:
  • *HINT* There’s 3 points
A
  • When a neuron is in a resting state, the inside of the cell is negatively charged compared to the outside
  • When neutron is activated by stimulus, inside of cell becomes positively charged for a split second causing an action potential
  • This creates an electrical impulse that travels down the axon towards end of neuron
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21
Q
  • Define Synaptic Transmisssion:
A
  • The process by which neighbouring neurons communicate with eachother by sending chemical messages across the gap (synaptic cleft) that separates them
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22
Q
  • Chemical transmission- synapses:
  • Include: neural network, pre synaptic terminal and post synaptic receptor cell, signals with and between neurons, synaptic vesicles
A
  • Neutrons communicate with each other within neural networks -groups
  • Each neuron is separated from the next by a synapse
  • synapse includes space between them (synaptic cleft), as well as presynaptic terminal and post synaptic receptor cell
  • Signals WITHIN neurons are transmitted electrically
  • Signals BETWEEN neurons are transmitted chemically by synaptic transmission
  • When electrical impulse reaches end of neuron (presynaptic terminal) it triggers release of neurotransmitter from tiny sacs- synaptic vesicles.
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23
Q
  • Describe the diagram of the electrical transmition of a nerve impulse:
A
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24
Q
  • What is a neurotransmitter?
A
  • Brain chemicals released from synaptic vesicles that relay signals across the synapse from 1 neuron to the other
  • Neurotransmitters can be broadly divided into those that perform an excitatory function and those that perform and inhibitory function
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25
Q
  • Process of neurotransmitter:
A
  • Once neurotransmitter crosses the gap, taken up by postsynaptic reception sites- dendrites of next neutron
  • Chemical message is converted back into an electrical impulse and process of transmission begins again in this other neuron
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26
Q
  • More description of neurotransmitter:
  • Include: example
A
  • Several dozen types of neurotransmitter have been identified in the brain (as well as in spinal chord and some glands)
  • Each neurotransmitter has it done own specific molecular structure that fits perfectly into a post-synaptic receptor site- lock and key theory
  • Neurotransmitters also have specialist functions
  • E.G. acetylcholine (ACh) is found at each point where a motor neuron meets a muscle, up in its release, it’s cause muscles to contract
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27
Q
  • Define excitation:
A
  • When a neurotransmitter, such as adrenaline, increases the positive charge of postsynaptic neuron
  • Increases the likelihood that the neuron will fire and pass on the electrical impulse
28
Q
  • Define inhibition:
A
  • When a neurotransmitter, such as serotonin, makes the change of the postsynaptic neuron more negative
  • Decreases likelihood that the neuron will fire and pass on electrical impulse
29
Q
  • Define the localisation of function:
A
  • The theory that different areas of the brain are responsible for different behaviours, processes or activities
30
Q
  • Who discovered that specific areas of the brain are associated with particular physical and physiological functions in the 19th century?
A
  • Paul Broca
  • Karl Wernicke
31
Q
  • Localisation vs holistic theory:
  • Include: what was previously thought in contrast to today
A
  • Before Broca and Wernicke’s investigation scientists generally supported the holistic theory of brain- that all parts of the brain were involved in the processing of thought and action
  • In contrast, Broca and Wernicke argued for localisation of function - follows that if a certain area of the brain becomes damaged through illness or injury, the function. Associated with that area will also be affected
32
Q
  • Hemispheres of the brain and the cerebral cortex:
A
  • Brain is divided into left and right hemispheres
  • Some our physical and psychological functions are controlled or dominated by particular hemisphere = lateralisation
  • Activity on left side of body is controlled by right hemisphere
  • Activity on right side of body is controlled by led hemisphere
  • Cerebral cortex = 3mm thick and appears grey due to location of cell bodies- “grey matter”
33
Q
  • What are the 4 lobes?
A
  • The Frontal lobe
  • The Parietal lobe
  • The Occipital lobe
  • The Temporal lobe
34
Q
  • The motor centre:
A
  • Back of frontal lobe (both hemispheres) is the motor area which controls voluntary movement in opposite side of the body. Damage to this area may cause loss of control over fine movements
35
Q
  • The Somatosensory centre:
A
  • Front of the parietal lobes
  • separated from motor area by central sulcus (‘valley’)
  • This is where sensory info from the skill (e.g. related to touch, heat, pressure, e.t.c) are represented
  • Amount of somatosensory area devoted to particular body part denotes its sensitivity, e.g. receptorsfor our face and hands occupy over half of our somatosensory area
36
Q
  • Visual centre:
A
  • Occipital lobe at the back of the brain = visual area
  • Each eye sends info to right visual field to left visual cortex and from left visual field to right visual cortex
  • This means that damage to left hemisphere, e.g. can produce blindness to right visual field of both eyes
37
Q
  • Auditors centre:
A
  • Temporal lobes house auditory area
  • Analyses speech-based info
  • Damage may produce partial hearing loss; the more extensive the damage, the more extensive the loss
38
Q
  • What is Broca’s area?
A
  • An area of the frontal lobe of the brain in the left hemisphere (in most people) responsible for speech production
39
Q
  • What is Wernicke’s area?
A
  • An area of the temporal lobe (encircling the auditory cortex) in left hemisphere (in most people) responsible for language comprehension.
40
Q
  • What happens when the Broca’s area is damaged?
A
  • Causes Broca’s aphasia:
  • Speech that is slow, laborious and lacking in fluency (Seen in patients like ‘Tan’- so called because that was the only word he could say
41
Q
  • What happens when Wernicke’s area is damaged?
A
  • Wernicke’s aphasia:
  • Often produce nonsense words (neologisms) as part of the content of their speech
42
Q
  • Evaluation - localisation of function in the brain:
  • *HINT* There’s 3 fat ass points
A
  • Brain scan evidence of localisation: Peterson et al. Used brain scans to demonstrate how Wernicke’s area was active during a listening task and Broca’s area was active during a reading task . Similarly LTM study- Tulving revealed semantic and episodic memories are in different parts of the prefrontal cortex
  • Neurosurgical evidence: developed in the 1950’s - Walter Freeman- introduced lobotomy but were brutal and imprecise in attempt to control aggressive behaviour. Controversially it’s still used today in extreme cases - OCD and depression- Dougherty : 44 OCD patient , lensioning cingulate gurus , post-surgical 32 week follow up = 1/3 met criteria and 14% for partial response- suggests symptoms and behaviour associated with metal desorders are localised
  • Case study evidence: Phineas Gage- pole through left cheek, passing Benin d,eft eye and exiting his skull from top of his head taking proportion of his brain- most of left frontal lobe- he survived but left mark on personality, turned from calm person to rude and quick tempered - Suggests frontal lobe is a mood regulator?
43
Q
  • Define plasticity:
A
  • AKA neuroplasticity or cortical remapping
  • Describes brain’s tendency to change and adapt (functionally and physically) as a result of experience and new learning
44
Q
  • Brain plasticity:
A
  • During infancy, brain experiences rapid growth in number of synaptic connections, peaking at approx 15,000 at 2-3 years of age = twice as many in adult brain
  • As we age, rarely used connections are deleted and frequently used connections are strengthened = Synaptic pruning
45
Q
  • What was originally thought about the changes in the developing brain?
A
  • Changes were restricted to developing brain within childhood and the adult brain, having moved beyond the critical period, would remain fixed and static in terms of function and structure
46
Q
  • What is currently thought about the development of the brain?
A
  • More recent studies suggest that at any time in life existing neural connections can change, or new neural connections formed , as a result of learning and experience (plasticity)
47
Q
  • Research into plasticity:
A
  • Eleanor Maguire- studied brain of London taxi drivers and found significantly more volume of grey matter in posterior hippocampus than matched control group
  • This part of brain= associated with development of spatial and navigation skills in humans and other animals
  • ’The Knowledge’ - test for London cabbies that assesses recall of city streets and possible routes- result of this alters structure of drivers’ brain
  • The longer they’d been in the job, the more pronounced the structural difference was = positive correlation
48
Q
  • What happens in the Functional recovery of brain after trauma?
A
  • Following physical injury, or trauma such as a stroke,unaffected areas of brain are often able to adapt and compensate for those areas that are damaged
  • functional recovery may occur in the brain after trauma = example of neural plasticity
  • Healthy brain areas may take over functions of damaged, destroyed or missing areas
49
Q
  • What happens to the brain during recovery?
A
  • Brain is able to rewire and reorganise itself by forming new synaptic connections close to damaged area
  • Secondary neural pathways that wouldn’t typically be used are activated to carry out certain functions to enable functioning to occur
50
Q
  • What are the structural changes in the brain that aid its recovery?
A
  • Axonal sprouting: growth of new nerve endings which connect with other undamaged nerve cells to from new neuronal pathways
  • Reformation of blood vessels
  • Recruitment of homologous (similar) areas on opposite side of brain to perform specific tasks. E.g. If Broca’s area was damaged on left side of brain, the right sided equivalent would carry out its functions and after a period of time, functionality may shift back to left side
51
Q
  • Evaluation-plasticity and functional recovery of the brain after trauma:
  • *HINT*Theres 3 fat ass ones and 1 small
A
  • Practical application: plasticity has contributed to neurohabilitation, techniques many include movement therapy and electrical stimulation to counter deficits in motor/ cognitive functioning- shows that recovery process of brain requires further intervention to be completely succesful
  • Negative plasticity: rewiring of brain can have maladaptive behavioural consequences. 60-80% of amputees have been known to develop phantom limb syndrome- sensations are unpleasant and painful and thought to be due to cortical reorganisation in somatosensory cortex that occurs sss result of limb loss
  • Age and plasticity: functional plasticity reduces with age- brain has greater ability for adaptation in childhood
  • Support from animal studies
52
Q
  • Define hemispheric lateralisation:
A
  • The idea that the 2 halves (hemispheres) of the brain are functionally different and that certain mental processes and behaviours are mainly controlled by 1 hemisphere rather than the other, as in the example of language (which is localised as well as lateralised)
53
Q
  • Hemispheric lateralisation:
A
  • left hemisphere controls ability to produce and understand language (for most people)- suggests that for most of us, language is subject to hemispheric lateralisation
  • specialised areas associated with language are said to supposedly be found in one of the brain’s hemispheres rather than both
54
Q
  • Split brain studies:
  • Include: Sperry
A
  • Sperry: involves unique group of individuals who had undergone same surgical procedure = commissurotomy- corpus callosum and other tissues were split down the middle to separate 2 hemispheres and control frequent and severe epileptic seizures
  • meant that the main communication line between 2 hemispheres was removed from Patients
  • allowed Sperry to see extent to which 2 hemispheres were specialised for certain functions and whether when separated they performed tasks separately
55
Q
  • Sperry- procedure of study:
A
  • Image or word could be projected to patients right visual field (processed by left hemisphere) and same or different image could be projected to left visual field (processes by right hemisphere)
56
Q
  • What would happen in Sperry’s research?
  • Includd: ‘normal brain’ and split-brain patient differences
A
  • In ‘normal brain’, corpus callosum would immediately share the info between both hemispheres getting compete picture of visual world
  • However, presenting image to 1 hemisphere of split-brain patient meant info couldn’t be conveyed from 1 hemisphere to other.
57
Q
  • What were the key finding In Sperry’s research?
A
  • Describing what you see:
  • Recognition by touch:
  • Composite words:
  • Matching faces:
58
Q
  • Evaluation- Split-brain research into hemispheric lateralisation
A
  • Demonstrated lateralised brain functions
  • Strength of methodology:
  • Theoretical basis:
  • Issues with generalisation:
59
Q
  • State the ways of investigating the brain through scanning and other techniques:
  • *HINT* There’s 4
A
  • Functional mag poetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
  • Electroencephalogram (EEG)
  • Event-related potentials (ERP)
  • Post-mortem examinations
60
Q
  • What is fMRI?
A
  • A method used to measure brain activity while person is performing task that uses MRI technology (detecting radio waves from changing magnetic fields)
  • Enables researchers to detect which regions of the brain are rich in oxygen and active
  • produces active 3D maps showing which parts of the brain are involved in a particular mental process
61
Q
  • What is EEG?
A
  • A record of tiny electrics, impulses produces by brain’s activity. By measuring characteristic pattern waves, the EEG can help diagnose certain conditions of the brain
  • Fixed to individuals scalp using skull cap
  • Often used by clinicians as diagnostic tool as unusual arrhythmic patterns of activity (i.e. no particular rhythm) may indicate neurological abnormalities e.g. epilepsy, Timor’s or disorder of sleep
62
Q
  • What are ERPs?
A
  • The brain’s electrophysiological response to specific sensory, cognitive, or motor event can be isolated through statistical analysis of EEG
  • Hold great interest for cognitive neuroscientists
  • Research has revealed many different forms of ERP and how, e.g. these are linked to cognitive processes such as attention and perception
63
Q
  • What are post-mortem examinations?
A
  • The brain is analysed after death to determine whether certain observed behaviours during patient’s lifetime can be linked to abnormalities in the brain
  • Patient’s subject to this are likely to be those who have a rare disorder and have experienced unusual deficits and mental processes during their lifetime
  • Areas of damage within brain are examined after death as means of likely cause of affliction person suffered
64
Q
  • fMRI: Strengths and Weaknesses:
A
  • Strengths:
  • Doesn’t rely on use of radiation like PET scans, it’s virtually risk free, non invasive and straightforward to use. Also produces images that have high spatial resolution, depicting detail by mm and providing clear picture of how brain’s located
  • Weaknesses:
  • Expensive compared to other neuroimaging techniques and can only capture clear image if person stays perfectly stil. Has poor temporal resolution due to 5 second time lag behind image on screen and initial firing of neuronal activity. It can also only measure blood flow in brain and cannot home in on activity of individual neurons- difficult to tell what brain activity is being shown
65
Q

EEG: Strengths and Weaknesses:

A
  • Strengths
  • Proved invaluable in diagnosis of conditions e.g. epilepsy and contributed much to our understanding if stages involved in sleep (ultradian rhythms. Has high temporal resolution unlike fMRI and can be used accurately to detect brain activity at a resolution of a single second
  • weaknesses
  • EEG Isn’t useful for pinpointing exact source of neural activity and it doesn’t allow researchers to distinguish between activities originating in different but adjacent locations
66
Q
  • ERG: Strengths and Weaknesses:
A
  • Strengths:

n

  • Bring much more specificity to the measurement of neural processes compared to raw EEG data, excellent temporal resolutions especially when compared to fMRI’s neuroimaging- led to their widespread use in measurement of cognitive functions and deficits.
  • weaknesses:
  • Lack of standardisation in ERP methodology between research study findings which makes it difficult to confirm findings and to achieve pure data in ERP studies, background noise and extraneous material must be completely eliminated = not always easy to achieve
67
Q

Post-mortem: Strength and weaknesses:

A
  • Strengths
  • Proved vital in providing a foundation for early understanding of key processes in brain.
  • Broca and Wernicke relied on this in establishing links between language, brain and behaviour decades before neuroimaging became possible
  • Post-mortem studies help improve medical knowledge and generate hypotheses for further study
    • Weaknesses:
  • Causuation is an issue with these investigations
  • Raise ethical issues of consent from patient before death- informed consent e.g. HM = no consent

Paper 2 Alevel Psychology- EVERYTHING (3 decks)

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