Biopsychology Key Words

Question 1

Infradian rhythm

Answer 1

A type of biological rhythm with a frequency of less than one cycle in 24 hours, such as the menstrual cycle or SAD

Question 2

Ultradian rhythm

Answer 2

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

Question 3

Circadian rhythm

Answer 3

A type of biological rhythm, subject to a 24 hour cycle, which regulates a number of body processes such as the sleep/wake cycle and changes in core body temperature

Question 4

Biological rhythms

Answer 4

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 to the environment (exogenous zeitgebers)

Question 5

Shift work

Answer 5

A pattern of working through the whole 24 hours where people change the time which they work

Question 6

Generalisation

Answer 6

The extent to which findings and conclusions from a particular investigation can be broadly applied to the population. This is made possible if the sample of participants is representative of the population. It also depends on good internal and external valudity

Question 7

Pheromones

Answer 7

Chemical substances produced by the body and secreted into the air, whence they are transmitted to other animals of the same species and absorbed into their bloodstream. The pheromones then work like hormones and influence the behaviour of the receiver.

Question 8

Melatonin

Answer 8

A hormone produced by the pineal gland which increases sleepiness. in humans it is produced at night and is regulated by the suprachiasmatic nucleus

Question 9

Serotonin

Answer 9

A neurotransmitter with widespread inhibitory affects throughout the brain. It has a key role in aggressive behaviour.

Question 10

Slow wave sleep

Answer 10

Also called deep sleep, a sleep stage during which growth hormone is secreted as well as other restorative activities. It is very difficult to wake someone up during this stage which occurs more at the start of the night than towards morning

Question 11

Endogenous pacemakers

Answer 11

Internal body clocks that regulate many of our biological rhythms, such as the influence of the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) on the sleep/wake cycle

Question 12

Exogenous zeitgebers

Answer 12

External cues that may affect or entrain our biological rhythms, such as the influence of light on the sleep/wake cycle

Question 13

Sleep/wake cycle

Answer 13

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

Question 14

Cerebral cortex

Answer 14

The surface layer of the forebrain (the two hemispheres of the brain), It is grey in colour and it is highly folded to make it possible to fit the massive amount of material inside the skull

Question 15

Visual area/cortex

Answer 15

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

Question 16

Hypothalamus

Answer 16

A small subcortical brain structure made up of 2 centres; the lateral hypothalamus (LH) and the ventro-medial hypothalamus

Question 17

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

Answer 17

A method used to measure brain activity while a person is performing a task that uses MRI technology (detecting radio waves from changing magnetic fields). This enables researchers to detect which regions of the brain are rich in oxygen and thus are active

Question 18

Electroencephalogram (EEG)

Answer 18

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

Question 19

Event-related professionals (ERPs)

Answer 19

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

Question 20

Post-mortem examinations

Answer 20

The brain is analysed after death to determine whether certain observed behaviours during the patient’s lifetime can be linked to abnormalities in the brain

Question 21

PET scan

Answer 21

Position emission tomography. A brain scanning method used to study activity in the brain. Radioactive glucose is ingested and can be detected in the active areas of brain

Question 22

Hemispheric lateralisation

Answer 22

The idea that the 2 halves (hemispheres) of the brain are functionally different and that certain mental processes and behaviours are mainly controlled by one hemisphere rather than the other, as in the example of language (which is localised as well as lateralised)

Question 23

Split-brain research

Answer 23

A series of studies which began in the 1960s (and are still on-going) involving epileptic patients who had experienced a surgical separation of the hemispheres of the brain. This allowed researchers to investigate the extent to which brain function is lateralised

Question 24

Plasticity

Answer 24

This describes the brain’s tendency to change and adapt (functionally and physically) as a result of experience and new learning

Question 25

Functional recovery

Answer 25

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

Question 26

Hippocampus

Answer 26

A structure in the subcortical area of each hemisphere of the forebrain, associated with memory. It is part of the limbic system and is therefore also involved in motivation, emotion and learning

Question 27

Localisation of function

Answer 27

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

Question 28

Motor Area

Answer 28

A region of the frontal lobe involved in regulating movement

Question 29

Somatosensory area

Answer 29

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

Question 30

Visua area

Answer 30

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

Question 31

Auditory area

Answer 31

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

Question 32

Broca’s area

Answer 32

An area of the frontal lobe in the left hemispehre responsible for speech production

Question 33

Wernicke’s area

Answer 33

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

Question 34

Lobotomy

Answer 34

A form of psychosurgery in which fibres running from the frontal lobes to other parts of the brain are cut