Core - Chapter 2 - BLA and Neurotransmitters

Question 1

What is the interactionist approach?

Answer 1

That approach to human behavior arguing for that it doesn’t rely solely on nurture or nature, but is affected by both.

Question 2

What are the principals of the biological level of analysis?

Answer 2

• behavior can be innate because it is genetically based. (If this principle is accepted it is logical to believe that evolution may play a key roll in behavior)
• animal research can provide insight into human behavior (as a result, a significant amount of research is undertaken using animals)
• there are biological correlates of behavior. (the implication of this is that it should be possible to find a link between a specific biological factor and a specific behavior, and this is the aim of researchers working at the biological level of analysis)

Question 3

What is the reductionist approach?

Answer 3

A micro-level of research, breaking down complex human behavior into its smallest parts (e.g. focusing on the role of one gene, a neurotransmitter, a protein)

Question 4

What is the reductionist approach criticized for?

Answer 4

Being overly simplistic in explaining behavior

Question 5

What are neurons?

Answer 5

Nerve cells, one of the building blocks of behavior

Question 6

Describe neurotransmission

Answer 6

An electrical impulse travels down the axon (body) of the neuron and releases neurotransmitters which then cross the synapse (gap between two neurons). The neurotransmitters fit into reception sites on the post-synaptic membrane.

Question 7

What happens to the transmitted neurotransmitters?

Answer 7

Once the message is passed on, the neurotransmitters are either broken down or reabsorbed by the terminal buttons, known as reuptake

Question 8

Where are the neurotransmitters stored?

Answer 8

In the neurons’ terminal buttons

Question 9

What role does acetylcholine have?

Answer 9

Acetylcholine has an effect on muscle contraction, also has a role in the development of memory in the hippocampus

Question 10

What role does dopamine have?

Answer 10

Dopamine has an effect on voluntary movement, learning and feelings of pleasure

Question 11

What role does norepinephrine (noradrenaline) have?

Answer 11

Norepinephrine has an effect on arousal, alertness and stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system

Question 12

What role does serotonin have?

Answer 12

Serotonin has an effect on sleep, arousal level and emotion

Question 13

Describe a research done on the effect that serotonin has on our behavior

Answer 13

Kasamatsu and Hirai, 1999

Question 14

Describe a research done on the effect that acetylcholine has on learning and memory

Answer 14

Martinez and Kesner, 1991

Question 15

Kasamatsu and Hirai (1999)

Answer 15

How does sensory deprivation affect the brain?
Studied a group of Buddhist monks who went on a 72-hour pilgrimage to a holy mountain in Japan. During their stay they did not consume food or water, they did not speak, and they were exposed to cold, late autumn weather. After about 48 hours, they began to have hallucinations, often seeing ancient ancestors or feeling a presence by their sides. The researchers took blood samples before the monks ascended the mountain, and then again when immediately after the monks reported having hallucinations. They found that serotonin levels had increased in the monks’ brains. These higher levels of serotonin activated the parts of the brain called the hypothalamus and the frontal cortex, resulting in the hallucinations. From this study, researchers concluded that sensory deprivation triggered these release of serotonin, which actually altered the way that the monks experienced the world.

Question 16

Martinez and Kesner (1991)

Answer 16

The role of acetylcholine on learning and memory
Rats were trained to go through a maze and get to the end, where they received food. Once the rats were able to do this, he injected one group of rats with scopolamine, which blocks acetylcholine receptor sites thus decreasing available acetylcholine. He then injected a second group of rats with physostigmine, which blocks the production of cholinesterase. Cholinesterase does the “clean up” of acetylcholine from the synapse and returns the neuron to its “resting state”. The third group acted as the control group without injections.
The results showed that those rats that were injected with scopolamine were slower at finding their way round the maze and made more errors than either the control group or the physostigmine group. The physostigmine group, on the other hand, ran through the maze and found the food even more quickly than the control group, and took fewer wrong turns.
The researchers concluded that acetylcholine played an important role in creating a memory of the maze.
Limitations: can this be generalized to humans?