Biopsychology-paper 2 Flashcards
Describe the process of synaptic transmission.
- An action potential arrives at the pre-synaptic membrane, causing depolarisation.
- The vesicles move towards and fuse with the pre-synaptic membrane and release the neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft.
- The neurotransmitters diffuse across to the post-synaptic membrane and bind to complementary receptors.
- This can result in an inhibitory or exhibitory effect.
- The action potential will then be transmitted across the axon of the following neuron.
Describe the motor area of the brain.
Found in the frontal lobe, involved in regulating and co-ordinating movements. Damage to this area may result in inability to control voluntary fine motor movements.
Describe the auditory area of the brain.
Found in the temporal lobe, is responsible for the processing of auditory information and speech. Damage to this area would cause hearing loss.
Describe the visual area or the brain.
Found in the occipital lobe, is responsible for processing visual information.
Describe the somatosensory area of the brain.
Found in the parietal lobe, is responsible for information associated with our senses (e.g. heat, pressure, touch). Damage to this area will result in an inability to feel sensitivity in certain areas of the body.
Describe Wernicke’s area of the brain.
Found in the temporal lobe, responsible for speech comprehension.
Damage to Wernicke’s area will lead to Wernicke’s aphasia; fluent but non sense speech.
Describe Broca’s area of the brain
Found in the frontal lobe, responsible for speech production. Damage to this area leads to Broca’s aphasia; difficulty completing sentences.
Research support for localisation of function.
(Tulving et al)
Using PET scans it was demonstrated that semantic memories were recalled from left prefrontal cortex, whilst episodic memories were recalled from right prefrontal cortex. Showing that different areas of the brain have different functions. Further research support by Peterson et al found that Wernicke’s area is active during listening tasks whereas, Broca’s area is active during reading tasks.
Contradictory findings for localisation theory.
Some researchers take a holistic view of brain function, suggesting that each function involves multiple brain areas to be activated and that functions are not restricted to specific areas. Research by Lashley demonstrates this as 20%-50% of rats cortex’s were removed and it was found this make no difference in the rats ability to complete a maze. This suggests that intelligence and learning are too complex to be restricted to certain areas of the brain.
Supporting case study evidence for localisation theory.
Phineas Gage was injured by a rod that was blasted through the left side of his face, tearing through his prefrontal cortex. The damage involved both left and right prefrontal cortex which caused a defect in rational thinking and processing of emotions.
Define plasticity.
The brains ability to physically and functionally adapt to change in response to trauma, new experiences and learning.
Describe what is meant by axon sprouting.
Growth of new nerve endings to connect to undamaged nerve cells to form new neural pathways.
Describe the importance of homologous areas during functional recovery.
Recruitment of homologues areas on the opposite side of the brain to perform specific tasks.
What are real- world applications of plasticity?
Understanding the process involved in plasticity has contributed to the field of neurorehabillitation. Simply understanding axonal growth is encouraging new therapies. E.g. constraint- induced movement therapy is used with stroke patients.
Describe the link between age and plasticity found by Bezzola et al.
Bezzola et al found that Brian plasticity may be a life-long ability. This study showed how 40hrs of golf trained produced changes in neural representation of movement in pets aged 40-60 yrs. Using fMRI’s the researcher observed increased motor cortex activity compared a control.
Describe how cognitive reserve can be limitation of plasticity.
Schneider et al suggests the more time a person with brain injury spent in education, the greater their chances of disability- free recovery. 40% off those who experienced disability free recovery had 16+ yrs of education.
Describe what is meant by denervation supersensitivity.
Axons get aroused to a higher level to compensate for others that are lost.
What is meant by a ‘split-brain’?
When a brain has severed connections between right and left hemispheres as the corpus collosum is cut, this is done surgically to help relieve epilepsy symptoms.
Describe why methodology is a strength of sperry’s research.
the research used highly specialised an standardised procedures. Sperry was able to vary many different aspects of her basic procedure and ensure that only one hemisphere was receiving information at a time. This shows the procedure was very useful while being highly controlled.
Why does Sperry’s research have issues with generalisation?
Only 11 ppts took part in the study all of whom had epilepsy, which may have caused unique changes to at the brain, which may affect the findings. The control group has 11 ppts none had epilepsy.
Describe how an fMRI investigates the brain.
fMRI works by detecting changes in oxygenated blood flow that occur as a result of neural activity in a specific area of the brain.
fMRIs produce 3D images showing which parts of the brain are involved in particular mental processes.
Describe how an EEG investigates the brain.
EEGs measure electrical activity within the brain via electrodes fixed to a skull cap. The scan recording gives an overall account of brain activity through brainwave patterns. This can be used to diagnose neurological abnormalities through unusual arrhythmic patterns of activity.
Describe how ERP investigates the brain.
ERPs filter out any extraneous variables from EEG recordings in order to isolate data containing responses to specific stimuli. The types of brainwaves relate to a specific event are left, these are linked to cognitive processes.
Describe how post-mortem examinations investigates the brain.
The analysis of a persons brain after death, usually when a person has a rare disorder who have experienced usual deficits in mental processes.
Areas of damage within the brain are examined after death as a means of establishing the likely cause.
This may also include comparisons of atypical brains.
