Chapter 3: Biological Psychology Flashcards
What are the functions of the frontal lobe?
Motor function, language, decision making, and planning.
What are the functions of the temporal lobe?
Hearing, understanding language, and memory.
What are the functions of the parietal lobe?
Touch and perception.
What is the function of the occipital lobe?
Vision.
What are the parts of the cerebral cortex?
The frontal lobe, temporal lobe, parietal lobe, and occipital lobe.
What is the function of the thalamus?
Acts as a gateway from the sense organs to the primary sensory cortex.
What is the function of the hypothalamus?
Maintaining a constant internal state.
What is the function of the hippocampus?
Spatial memory.
What is the function of the pituitary gland?
Directs other glands of the body under control of the hypothalamus.
What is the function of the medulla?
Basic functions such as heartbeat and breathing.
What is the function of the pons?
Unconscious process such as sleep-wake cycle.
What is the function of the midbrain?
Movement, tracking of visual stimuli, and reflexes triggered.
What is the function of the cerebellum?
Balance.
What is the function of the corpus callosum?
Connecting the two cerebral hemispheres.
What is the purpose of an electoencephalograph (EEG)
It measures electrical activity in the brain using electrodes.
What is a computed tomography (CT) scan and what does it do?
It is a three-dimensional reconstruction of multiple X-rays. It alows us to visualize the brain’s structure.
How does a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine work?
It measures the release of energy from water in biological tissues following exposure to a magnetic field.
What is an MRI superior at?
Detecting soft tissues such as brain tumours.
What does a positron emission tomography (PET) scan do?
Measures the brain’s activity in response to stimuli.
What is the purpose of a functional MRI (fMRI)?
Measures the change in blood-oxygen levels through magnetic fields.
What does a magnetoencephalography (MEG) do?
Detects electrical activity in the brain by measuring tiny magnetic fields.
What is deep brain stimulation (DBS)?
A surgical procedure that implants battery-powered electrodes within the brain to provide electrical stimulation to specific areas of the brain.
What does transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) involve?
Applying magnetic fields to the surface of the skull to create electrical fields in the brain.
What is a neuron?
A nerve cell specialized for communication with organs.
What are axons specialized for?
Sending messages to other neurons.
What is a synapse?
The space between two connecting neurons that messages are chemically transmitted through.
What is the function of glial cells?
They play a role in formation of myelin and the blood-brain barrier, responds to injury, removed debris, facilitates communication among neurons, and enhances learning and memory.
What is the most abundant type of glial cells?
Astrocytes.
What is the purpose of the myelin sheath?
It insulates axons and speeds up the transmission of electrical signals down the axon.
What is a resting potential and what is it’s value?
An electrical charge difference of -60 millivolts across the neuronal membrane when the neuron is not being stimulated or inhibited.
What is a threshold of excitation?
The membrane potential necessary to trigger an action potential.
What is an action potential?
An electrical impulse that travels down the axon triggering the release of neurotransmitters.
What is the absolute refractory period?
The time during which another action potential is impossible.
What is reuptake of neurotransmitters?
The means of recycling neurotransmitters.
What is the function of the neurotransmitter GABA?
It inhibits neurons and dampens neural activity.
What is the function of the neurotransmitter glutamate?
It excites neurons, encouraging talk between neurons.
What is the function of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine?
It plays a role in arousal, slective attention, memory, and sleep.
What is the function of the neurotransmitters called monoamines?
Activate or deactivate parts of the brain.
What is the function of the neurotransmitters called anandamides?
Play a role in eating, motivation, energy, and sleep.
What are psychoactive drugs?
Drugs that interact with neurotransmitter systems.
What are agonists?
Drugs that increase or mimic a neurotransmitter.
What are antagonists?
Drugs that block or decrease the effect of a neurotransmitter.
What is plasticity?
The ability of the nervous system to change.
What are stem cells?
Cells having the capacity to differentiate into a more specialized cell.
What is the central nervous system comprised of?
The brain and spinal cord.
What is the peripheral nervous system comprised of?
All nerves outside the central nervous system.
What is the role of the basal ganglia?
Movement, motor planning, and skill and habit learning.
What are the parts of the limbic system?
Thalamus, hypothalamus, amygdala, and hippocampus.
What is the function of the amygdala?
Emotional learning and memory, especially fear and aggression.
What are the parts of the brain stem?
Midbrain, pons, and medulla.
What is the function of the spinal cord?
It conveys information between the body and the brain.
What is the left hemisphere of the brain responsible for?
Fine-tuned language skills and actions such as making facial expressions or motion detection.
What is the right hemisphere of the brain responsible for?
Coarse language skills and visuospatial skills including face perception.
What is the motor cortex responsible for?
Body movement.
What is the somatosensory cortex responsible for?
Receiving information about sensations in the body.
What is Broca’s area?
The language part of the brain that is critical for speech formation.
What is Wernickle’s area?
The part of the brain that interprets spoken and written language.
What is the prefrontal cortex associated with?
Aspects of behaviour and personality.
What is the visual association cortex responsible for?
Analyzing visual data to form images.
What is the role of the visual cortex?
It receives nerve impulses from the visual thalamus.
What is the role of the auditory association cortex?
It analyzes sound so we can recognize words or melodies.
What is the role of the primary auditory cortex?
It detects discrete qualities of sound such as pitch and volume.
What is the limbic system thought to be?
The emotional centre of the brain.
What is the role of the somatic nervous system?
It conveys information between the CNS and the body and controlling and coordinating movement.
What are the two branches of the peripheral nervous system?
Somatic and autonomic.
What is the role of the autonomic nervous system?
It controls the involuntary actions of our internal organs and glands and participates in emotion regulation.
What part of the nervous system is responsible for the fight-or-flight response?
The sympathetic nervous system.
What is the role of the sympathetic nervous system?
Crisis reaction and fight-or-flight response.
What is the role of the parasympathetic nervous system?
It controls rest and digestion.
What is a genotype?
Our genetic makeup.
What is a phenotype?
Our observable traits.
