Chapter 12 pt.1 Flashcards
Free will doesn’t explain why we act as we do.. so what does?
We do things that we find “rewarding”
How do brain circuits play a role in our behaviour?
Brain circuits increase or decrease activity in our brains, and signal reactions and feelings
What are “Androgens”?
hormones that are related to masculine characteristics, like sex drive
What are “Innate Releasing Mechanisms (IRMs)
A mechanism that detects sensory stimuli and directs an organism to do a specific action. They are present from birth
Blind children, can produce facial expressions, even when they haven’t seen them before. How is this so?
Because IRM’s aren’t learned, we are born with it (but experience can modify them)
The fact that the nervous system is often prewired to make some associations but not others has led to the concept of ___________.
preparedness
What neural structure is critical in producing motivated behaviour?
The hypothalamus, it receives projections from major subdivisions of the Nervous system
What are Regulatory Behaviours
behaviours motivated by an organisms survival (like eating and drinking/waste elimination/body temperature maintenance)
What are regulatory behaviours controlled by?
Homeostatic Mechanisms
What are Non-regulatory behaviours
opposite of regulatory behaviours, we do them but aren’t required to meet out basic survival needs, and isn’t controlled by homeostatic mechanisms (sex/parenting/reading)
What gland does the hypothalamus control?
Pituitary Gland
What are the 3 regions of the hypothalamus?
Lateral, Medial, and Periventricular
Which chemical contributes to the control of motivated behaviours, including eating and sex??
Dopamine (containing MFB fibers)
When is Oxytocin released?
During intimate moments
The hypothalamus controls the release of pituitary hormones, by producing what?]>
Releasing hormones
How does the hypothalamus help regulate the thyroid hormone
When the thyroid hormone is low, the hypothalamus releases thyroid-stimulating releasing hormone
How long does a olfactory receptor neuron last?
60 days
The receptor surface for olfaction, is the olfactory ________ in the nasal activity
Epithelium
Chemicals in the air we breathe are absorbed in the ___________.
Mucosa
Why can dogs smell better than us?
Their epithelial receptor is bigger
What are Pheromones?
an odour released by animals to act as chemosignals, and are detected by the vomeronsal organ
Sensitivity to bitterness is related to genetic differences in the ability to detect a specific chemical, what chemical is it?
PROP
Olfactory and Gustatory pathways pass through the thalamus and merge in an area behind the eye sockets known as the ____________________.
Orbitofrontal cortex
Name 3 disorders associated with a loss of smell and taste
Parkinsons disease, dementia, Covid
