Biopsychology key terms (paper 2)

Question 1

Nervous system?

Answer 1

Consists of the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system. Communicates using electrical signals.

Question 2

Central nervous system (CNS)?

Answer 2

Consists of the brain and the spinal cord. Original of all complex commands and decisions.

Question 3

Peripheral nervous system (PNS)?

Answer 3

Sends information to the CNS from outside world , transmits messages from the CNS to muscles and glands.

Question 4

Somatic nervous system (SNS)?

Answer 4

Transmits information from receptor cells in the sense organs to the CNS.

Question 5

Autonomic nervous system (ANS)?

Answer 5

Transmits information to and from internal bodily organs. It is ‘autonomic’ as the system operates involuntarily.

Question 6

Endocrine system?

Answer 6

One of the body’s major information systems that instructs glands to release hormones directly in the bloodstream. Carried towards organs in the body.

Question 7

Gland?

Answer 7

An organ in the body that synthesis substances such as hormones.

Question 8

Hormone?

Answer 8

A biochemical that circulates in the blood but only affects target organs. They are produced in large quantities but disappear quickly.

Question 9

Fight or flight response?

Answer 9

The way an animal responds in stressful situations. The body psychologically becomes aroused in readiness to fight an aggressor, or, in some cases, flee.

Question 10

Adrenaline?

Answer 10

A hormone that is produced by the adrenal glands which is part of the human body’s immediate stress response system.

Question 11

Neurone?

Answer 11

The basic building blocks of the nervous system, neurones are nerve cells that process and transmit chemical and electrical signals.

Question 12

Sensory neurones?

Answer 12

These carry messages from the PNS to the CNS. They have long dendrites and short axons.

Question 13

Relay neurones?

Answer 13

These connect the sensory neurones to the motor or other relay neurones. They have short axons and short dendrites.

Question 14

Motor neurones?

Answer 14

These connect the CNS to effectors such as muscles and glands. They have short dendrites and long axons.

Question 15

Synaptic transmission?

Answer 15

The process by which neighbouring neurones communicate with each other by sending chemical messages across the gap that separates them.

Question 16

Neurotransmitter?

Answer 16

Brain chemicals released from synaptic vesicles that relay signals across the synapse from one neurone to another.

Question 17

Excitation?

Answer 17

When a neurotransmitter, such as adrenaline, increases the positive charge of the postsynaptic neurone. This increases the likelihood that the postsynaptic neurone will pass on the electrical impulse.

Question 18

Inhibition?

Answer 18

When a neurotransmitter, such as serotonin, increases the negative charge of the postsynaptic neuron.

Question 19

Localisation of function?

Answer 19

The theory that the different areas of the brain are responsible for specific behaviours, processes or activities.

Question 20

Motor area?

Answer 20

A region of the frontal lobe involved in regulating movement.

Question 21

Somaonsensory area?

Answer 21

An area of the parietal lobe that processes sensory information such as touch.

Question 22

Visual area?

Answer 22

A part of the occipital lobe that receives and processes visual information.

Question 23

Auditory area?

Answer 23

Located in the temporal lobe and concerned with the analysis of speech-based information.

Question 24

broca’s area?

Answer 24

An area of the frontal lobe in the left hemisphere, responsible for speech production.

Question 25

Wernicke’s area?

Answer 25

An area of the temporal in the left hemisphere, responsible for language comprehension.

Question 26

Hemispheric lateralisation?

Answer 26

The idea that two halves of the brain are functionally different and that certain mental processes and behaviours are mainly controlled by one hemisphere rather than the other.

Question 27

Split-brain research?

Answer 27

A series of studies which began in the 1960s involving people with epilepsy who had experiences a surgical separation of the hemispheres of their brain to reduce the severity of their epilepsy.

Question 28

Plasticity?

Answer 28

This describes the brains tendency to change and adapt as a result of experience and new learning. This generally involves the growth of new connections.

Question 29

Functional recovery?

Answer 29

A form of plasticity. Following damage through trauma, the brain’s ability to redistribute or transfer functions usually performed by a damaged area to other, usually undamaged areas.

Question 30

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI)?

Answer 30

A method used to measure the brains activity while a person is performing a task. It detects radio waves from changing magnetic fields. It enables researchers to detect which are of the brain is rich with oxygen, thus which part is active.

Question 31

Electroencephalogram?

Answer 31

A record of the tiny electrical impulses produced by the brains activity. By measuring characteristic wave patterns, the EEG can help diagnose certain conditions of the brain.

Question 32

Event-related potentials?

Answer 32

The electrophysiological response of the brain to a specific sensory, cognitive, or motor event can be isolated through statistical analysis of EEG data.

Question 33

Post-mortem examinations?

Answer 33

The brain is analysed after death to determine whether certain observed behaviours during the persons lifetime can be linked to structural abnormalities in the brain.

Question 34

Biological rhythm?

Answer 34

Distinct patterns of changes in body activity that conform to cyclical time periods. Biological rhythms are influenced by internal body clocks (endogenous pacemakers) as well as external changes in the environment (exogenous zeitgebers).

Question 35

Circadian rhythms?

Answer 35

Biological rhythms, subject to a 24 hour cycle, which regulate a number of body processes such as the sleep/wake cycle and core changes in body temperature.

Question 36

Infradian rhythm?

Answer 36

A type of biological rhythm with a frequency of less than one cycle in 24 hours, such as menstrual cycle and seasonal affective disorder.

Question 37

Ulradian rhythm?

Answer 37

A type of biological rhythm with a frequency of more than one cycle in 24 hours, such as stages in sleep.

Question 38

Endogenous pacemakers?

Answer 38

Internal body clocks that regulate many of our biological rhythms.

Question 39

Exogenous zeitgebers?

Answer 39

External factors that affect our biological rhythms, such as the influence of light on the sleep/wake cycle.

Question 40

Sleep/wake cycle?

Answer 40

A daily cycle of biological activity based on a 24 hour period that is influenced by regular variations in the environment, such as alternation of night and day.