Brain and Neuropsychology Flashcards

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1
Q

nervous system functions

A

1) to collect and respond to sensory information from the environment.
2) to control the working of different organs and cells in the body

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2
Q

Central nervous system consists of:

A

brain and the spinal cord

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3
Q

Peripheral nervous system consists of:

A

Somatic and autonomic nervous system

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4
Q

Autonomic nervous system splits into:

A

the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous sytem

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5
Q

function of the central nervous sytem

A

coordinates incoming information and uses the brain to make decisions about movements or how to act.
- store of all our knowledge (memory)

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6
Q

function of the peripheral nervous system

A

Supports the actions of the CNS, recieving emssages from the CNS and sending messages to it.

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7
Q

Autonomic nervous system function

A

Network of special nerves which takes info to and from the CNS
- Cannot control it.
- Coordinates important life functions such as breathing, heart rate and digestion.
- controls homeostasis (where body maintains stable internal environment), like level of CO2 or body temp

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8
Q

Somatic nervous system function

A
  • involved in the relay of sensory and motor information to and from the CNS, consists of sensory and motor neurones
  • associated with activities traditionally thought of as conscious and voluntary, like movement and emotion
  • coordinates the reflex
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9
Q

Sympathetic nervous system function

A

Is the accelerator that leads to physiological arousal,
Increases heart rate, breathing rate, sweat rate to prepare the body for fight or flight

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10
Q

Flight or fight response stages

A
  1. the hypothalamus detects a stressor
  2. Sends a nerve impulse to the adrenal glands
  3. adrenaline is released from adrenal glands
  4. adrenaline causes the heart to beat faster, pupils dilate, breath faster, stops digestion and saliva production

Results in muscles having a better supply of oxygen and helps us have the energy for fighting or flighting

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11
Q

Parasympathetic function

A

returns the body to resting state.
Decreases bpm, improves blood supply for digestion and there is a higher production of saliva

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12
Q

Reflex arc

A

sensory neurone –> relay neurone –> motor neurone –> effector –> response

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13
Q

reflex arc in terms of touching/being near a hot surface

A

Heat is sensed on the surface of the SKIN. This is detected by a SENSORY neurone. which transports the information to the CNS. When it reaches the SPINAL CORD it connects with a relay neuron which passes the information to a MOTOR neurone.
The motor nueron is connected to an EFFECTOR or muscle which is then instructed to ACT (e.g. removing the hand from the heat)

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14
Q

how are messages sent to form reponses (SNS)

A

Stimulus –> receptor (sense organ) –> CNS –> effector (muscle/glands) –> response

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15
Q

James lange theory

A

EVENT –> AROUSAL –> INTERPRETATION –> EMOTION

emotion are caused by the way we interpret bodily reactions

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16
Q

Example of james lange theory

A

Bear in forest:
1. seeing the bear would cause the SNS to be activated
2. muscles would tense and heart will pound
3. After the changes have occured, the person would interpret this as fear (emotion)

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17
Q

no physical changes meaning (in terms of James-Lange theory)

A

No physical changes = no emotion. E.g. you gave a speech to an audience and you didn’t sweat or have an increase heart rate, you would feel as though you aren’t nervous

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18
Q

Advantages of James-Lange theory

A

Real life examples (application). Emotional states seem to follow arousal in phobis or panic disorders. E.g. a person may trip in public which leads to them feeling anxiety/embarrasement. Leading them to avoiding public situations as a link has formed between the situation and the emotion.

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19
Q

Disadvantages of James lange theory

A

Opposing theories: Cannon bard theory: proposes that emotion and arousal occur simultaneously. Feeling embarassed at the same time we blush. Also argued that not all physiological changes lead to an emotion (like exercising). Schatner and Singers theory propose that emotion does come after arousal, however, it says we need social cues to correctly label the emotion we are feeling. Heart racing in dark alleyway while being followed = fear, whereas heart racing during kissing = excitment. JT theory is reductionist.

Evidence for the existence of distinct physiological patterns corresponding to each emotion is inconclusive. Many emotions share similiar physiological responses.

20
Q

Neurone function

A

Send electrical and chemical signals to one another to communicate

21
Q

Sensory neurone

A

carries messages from the PNS to the CNS.
- long dendrites and short axons

22
Q

Relay neurone

A

connects sensory neurones to motor neurones as well as other relay neurones.
- short dendrites and short axons

23
Q

Motor neurone

A

carry messages from the CNS to effectors in our body.
- Short dendrites and long axons

24
Q

synapse

A

a junction between two neurones

25
Q

Synaptic transmission

A

the process of a presynaptic neurone converting an electrical signal to a chemical signal which is then detected by a post synaptic neurone.
(How info is passed on in neural systems)

26
Q

Neurotransmitters

A

the chemical molecules released by neurones and detected by receptor sites
- either excitory or inhibitory

27
Q

neurotrasmitter release

A

the detection of an action potential (electrical signal) causes vesicles to merge with the cell membrane, releasing neuro-tramitters. These are detected by the recpetors on the postsynaptic neurone.

28
Q

Neurotransmitter reuptake

A

after detection by receptors neurotransmitters are taken back into the presynaptic cell via transport proteins. vesicles reform ready for the neurone to fire again.

29
Q

Excitation

A

some neurotransmitters are excitory, on detection they make the post-synaptic cell more likely to fire

30
Q

inhibition

A

some neurotransmitters are inhibitory, on detection they make the post-synpatic cell less likely to fire

31
Q

Summation

A

determines if a neurone will fire by working out if there are more excitatory than inhibitory messages

32
Q

motor cortex

A

(Frontal lobe) controls deliberate movement via motor neurones

33
Q

Somatosensory cortex

A

(Parietal lobe) Recieves and processes sensory info from around the body

34
Q

auditory cortex

A

(temporal lobe) controls our ability to percieve sound and processes spoken words

35
Q

visual cortex

A

(occipital lobe) controls our abilitity to percieve things visually

36
Q

brocas area

A

(left part of the frontal lobe) Speech production. Aphasia would be loss of speech.

37
Q

Wernickes area

A

(left part of temporal lobe) Speech comprehension. Aphasia would be a loss of understanding speech.

38
Q

frontal lboe

A

controls thinking and planning

39
Q

parietal lobe

A

controls sensory perception. e.g. the five senses

40
Q

occipital lobe

A

deals with vision - has the retina

41
Q

temporal lobe

A

processing auditory information

42
Q

contralateral

A

each hemisphere controls opposite sides

43
Q

Tulvings gold scan study aim

A

to determine the location for semantic and episodic memory

44
Q

Tulvings gold study procedure

A

6 ppt (volunteer sampling)
Ppts were injected with a gold isotope which spreads into the brain to which areas were active - PET scan. 8 trials - 4 S and 4 E. Repeated measures. Ppts were told to recall childhood and historical facts.

45
Q

Tulvings gold study results

A

3 ppts gave inconclusive results and were discounted. 3 showed a clear difference in blood flow when recalling S & E memories,
E = frontal and temporal lobe
S = parietal and occipital lobes

46
Q

Tulvings gold study evaluation

A

(+) PET scan is an objective method of assessment and no subjunctive interpration is required - factual
(+) ppl cannot fake what their brains are doing = less demand characteristics
(-) only 3 ppt showed differences in blood flow - not generalisable
(-) E and S are very similar, reason why the results were inconclusive