Biopsychology studies and AO3 Flashcards
AO1 for NERVOUS SYSTEM
CNS = brain and spinal cord- reflex actions
Brain- cerebrum (left, right, corpus callosum), cerebellum, brain stem, diencephalon (hypothalamus, thalamus)
PNS= somatic ns (motor, sensory), autonomic ns (involuntary)
ANS- sympathetic (fight or flight- noradenaline), parasympathetic (rest and digest- acetylcholine)
AO1 for NEURONS AND SYNAPTIC TRANSMISSION
3 Types 1) Sensory 2) Relay 3) Motor Dendrites, axon, myelin sheath
- action pot. arrives
- Ca channels open
- neurot, secreted from vesicles
- removed by reuptake/ broken down
- excititory
- inhibitory
AO1 for ENDOCRINE SYSTEM
- Glands- produce and secrete
- Hormones- chemical messengers
- Negative feedback
‘releasing hormone’ -> ‘stimulating hormone’ - Pituitary gland (anterior = ACTH, posterior = oxytocin)
- Adrenal glands (cortex = cortisol, medulla = adrenaline/ noradrenaline)
AO1 for FIGHT OR FLIGHT
- Response to stress
- amygdala and hypothalamus
- Acute stress = sympathetic- adrenaline, parasympathetic
- Chronic stress = HPA (H= hypothalamus releases CRH, P = pituitary gland releases ACTH, A =adrenal cortex releases cortisol
AO3 for FIGHT OR FLIGHT
- Biological reductionism (personality, diff levels)
- Shelley and Taylor (females tend and befriend, men = more stable hormones, beta bias)
- Objective (cortisol measured scientifically)
AO1 for LOCALISATION OF FUNCTION
- Distinct areas have certain function
- Visual centre- posterior end- occipital lobe. Left processed by right and vice versa
- Auditory cortex- brain stem for decoding first
- Motor area- movement- right of SS, process for opposite side
- Samatosensory- posterior of left frontal lobe- sensory info
- Wernickes area- comprehension
- Brocas area- production
AO3 for LOCALISATION OF FUNCTION
- Broca- Tan
- Biologically reductionist (women who speak more have larger B and W)
- Nomothetic for language areas (silent reading = right temporal, left frontal/ temporal and occipital)
AO1 for LATERALISATION OF FUNCTION
- 2 halves have functional specialisations
- connected by corpus callosum
- Broca- damage to right doesn’t affect speech
- Sperry and Gazzaniga- split brain patients- LVF- not talk but could draw, RVF- talk
AO3 for LATERALISATION OF FUNCTION
- Nomothetic for language areas (silent reading = right temporal, left frontal/ temporal and occipital)
- Patients are rare (all diff with diff nerves in tact)
- JW- learnt to speak about either VF (Functional recovery)
AO1 for WAYS OF STUDYING THE BRAIN
1) POST MORTEM
- physical study of those who showed certain behaviour
2) EVENT RELATED POTENTIALS (ERP’s)
- small voltage change in response to specific stimulus
3) FUNCTIONAL MAGNETIC RESPONSE IMAGING (fMRI)
- changes in blood flow indicates neural activity as need for O2
4) ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAM (EEG)
- measures electrical activity using electrodes
- alpha, beta, delta, theta
AO3 for WAYS OF STUDYING THE BRAIN
1) P/M
- S= detailed/ Harrison- helps understanding
- W= death influences brain/ no follow ups
2) ERP
S= measures in absence of behavioural response/ non-invasive
W= Lots of trials for meaningful data/ only strong V recorded
3) fMRI
- S= useful/ non-invasive
- W= only look at bloody supply/ focused
4) EEG
- S= real time recording/ non-invasive
- W= superficial brain regions only/ activity picked up by other electrodes
AO1 for PLASTICITY AND FUNCTIONAL RECOVERY OF THE BRAIN
- Ability to adapt to changing environment
- new pathways, prune old
- 60 yr old learnt to juggle
- Davidson et al- Buddhist monks more gamma waves- permanent change
- Ability to transfer functions from damaged to undamaged
- neural unmasking
- stem cells- replace/ growth factors/ link
AO3 for PLASTICITY AND FUNCTIONAL RECOVERY OF THE BRAIN
- Maguire et al (London taxi drivers)
- Nature nurture
- Tajiri (rats- stem cells)
- > lab study
AO1 for CIRCADIAM RHYTHMS
- 24 hrs
- Sleep wake cycle
- SCN- light cues
- free running clock- even in absence of external cues
- core body temp/ hormones (melatonin)
AO3 for CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS
- Michael Siffre (cave- absence of cues- 24/25 hours)
- Biologically determinist (overridden by external cues and free will)
- Individual differences (morning vs night people)
