Brain And Neuropsychology Flashcards
The 8 parts to the nervous system
The peripheral nervous system The somatic nervous system The autonomic nervous system Sympathetic division Parasympathetic division The central nervous system The brain The spinal cord
The central nervous system function
The brain is the centre of all our conscious awareness and where we make decisions. The spinal cord carries incoming and outgoing messages between the brain and the rest of the body
The peripheral nervous system function
It supports the actions of the actions of the CNS, it receives messages from it and sends messages to it
The autonomic nervous system function
It is automatic so it cannot be controlled, it coordinates functions that are vital for life, such as breathing. It also controls homeostasis, where the process by which the body maintains a constant and balances internal state
The somatic nervous system function
Controls voluntary movement of our muscles, they are controlled consciously. It also takes in information from sensory organs, such as eyes and the skin
Sympathetic nervous system function
It prepares the body for flight or flight response, it responds to a state of physical arousal
The parasympathetic nervous system function
It provides the rest and digest response when the body is in its normal resting state
The fight or flight response process
The brain detects a threat
The body releases adrenaline
Increase of heart rate and breathing and inhibits digestion
Then returns to rest and digest
The 3 points to the James-Lange theory of emotion
Physiological arousal first
Emotion after
No physical change = no emotion
The James-Lange theory of emotion - summary
Event - arousal - interpretation - emotion
The James-Lange theory of emotion - physiological arousal first
An event activates the hypothalamus which instructs the sympathetic division, this leads to the release of adrenaline creating physiological arousal such as high breathing and heart rate
The James-Lange theory of emotion - emotion after
The brain interprets the physiological changes and the result of the interpretation is an emotion
The James-Lange theory of emotion - no physical change = no emotion
It’s the physical changes in the body that cause the emotion we feel and cause us to react in certain ways so if we don’t have a physical change in our body then we can’t experience an emotion
Neurons
They are nerve cells that send electrical and chemical signals from one to another to communicate
The 3 types of neurons
Sensory neurons
Relay neurons
Motor neurons
Sensory neurons
Carry messages from the PNS to the CNS
Sensory neuron features
They have long dendrites and short axons
Relay neurons
Connect sensory neurons to motor neurons
Relay neuron features
They have short dendrites and short axons
Motor neurons
Carry messages from the CNS to effectors in our body, such as muscles and glands
Motor neuron features
The have short dendrites and long axons
Stoma
The cell body, contains the nucleus
Nucleus
Contains genetic material
Dendrites
They carry electrical signals from neighbouring neurons to the cell body
Myelin sheath
Protects the axon and also speeds up the electrical signal
Nodes of ranvier
Gaps in the myelin sheath that make the signals go faster because they have to jump
Axon
Carries the electric signal away from the cell body and down the length of the neuron
Terminal button
They communicate with the next neuron in the chain across a gap called the synaptic cleft
Synaptic vesicle
Stores neurotransmitters
Synaptic cleft
Gap between the dendrite and the terminal button
Neurotransmitters
Tiny neuron storing the message
Postsynaptic receptor sites
Where the neurotransmitters land on the dendrites
Excitatory
Some neurotransmitters, such as adrenaline, increase the positive charge of the next neuron making it more likely to fire
Inhibitory
Some neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, generally increase the negative charge of the next neuron, making it less likely to fire
The 4 parts of Hebb’s theory of learning and neuronal growth
The brain is plastic
The brain adapts
Learning produces an engram
Cell assemblies and neuronal growth
Hebb’s theory of learning and neuronal growth - the brain is plastic
The brain is not a fixed structure and is mainly changing as new connections are made when we learn and synaptic connections become stronger
Hebb’s theory of learning and neuronal growth - the brain adapts
It can change structure and form new connections as we learn
Hebb’s theory of learning and neuronal growth - learning produces an engram
Learning something new leaves a trace in the brain, an ‘engram’. It can be made permanent if we continually practice
Hebb’s theory of learning and neuronal growth - cell assemblies and neuronal growth
During learning, groups of neurons, known as cell assemblies, fire together. The more this happens, the stronger the synaptic connections between them become. “Cells that fire together, wire together”
The 4 lobes in the brain
Frontal lobe
Temporal lobe
Parietal lobe
Occipital lobe
Frontal lobe functions
It controls thinking, planning and also includes the motor area. It also contains the Broca’s area
Frontal lobe location
At the front of the brain
Parietal lobe functions
At the front of the parietal lobe there is the somatosensory area where sensations are processed
Parietal lobe location
On top of the brain
Occipital lobe function
Contains the visual area so received information from the eyes and interprets it
Occipital lobe location
At the back of the brain
Temporal lobe function
Includes the auditory area and the Wernicke’s area
Temporal lobe location
Sides of your head, along your temples
Damage to parts of the brain - motor area
If the left side was damaged then movement on the right side of the body would be effected and opposite on the right
Damage to parts of the brain - somatosensory area
The person would be less able to feel pain and change in temperature
Damage to parts of the brain - visual area
Can cause blindness
Damage to parts of the brain - auditory area
Partial or total hearing loss
Damage to parts of the brain - Broca’s area
Difficulty in remembering and forming words
Damage to parts of the brain - Wernicke’s area
Difficulty in understanding language and unable to produce meaningful speech
Broca’s area
Controls speech production
Wernicke’s area
The understanding of language
Penfield’s study - aim
To describe the psychological responses patients gave when parts of their brain were electrically stimulated
Penfield’s study - method
People with epilepsy were put under local anesthetic and Penfield stimulated different parts of their brain and recorded the patients response
Penfield’s study - results
If the visual area was stimulated then the patient described colours and shadows. If the somatosensory area was stimulated then it produced a tingling sensation. If stimulation was applied in the temporal lobe then the patient either experienced things that had happened in the past or they felt emotions or feelings related to experiences
Penfield’s study - conclusion
The temporal lobe must have a role in storing memories and they were stores as facts of the experience and the meaning of the facts
Cognitive neuroscience
The scientific study of how biological structures influence or control mental processes
Amygadala
Plays a key role in processing emotions and is often linked to aggressive behaviour
Cognition
Refers to mental processes of the mind
Neurological damage
Any event that could cause neuron damage in the brain and can lead to loss of function or change in behaviour
The 3 scanning techniques
CT scan
PET scan
fMRI scan
CT scan
They are like an x-ray in the shape of a doughnut so they can produce in detail 3d images
PET scan
They record which parts of the brain are most active at one time. They will be injected with a small amount of radioactive substance and the most active parts of the brain will absorb it
fMRI scan
They record blood levels in different parts of the brain. When an area of the brain is more active then more blood is directed to that area
Haemodynamic response
When blood is directed to an active area
Tuliving’s gold study - aim
To see whether thinking about episodic memories produced blood flow in different parts of the brain than thinking about semantic memories
Tuliving’s gold study - method
6 participants were injected with a small amount of radioactive gold, they would then use a PET scan to show the active areas. They were asked to think about memories from their childhood and recalling facts
Tuliving’s gold study - results
When thinking about semantic memories, there was more blood flow to the back of the brain and when thinking about episodic memories, there was more blood flow to the front of the brain
Tuliving’s gold study - conclusion
Different types of memory are localised to different parts of the brain
