Lecture 1 Flashcards
What is biological psychology ?
A field of study that relates behaviour to the physical body, especially the brain
What are the levels of analysis ?
- Social
- Organ
- Neural systems
- Brain region
- Ciruit
- Cellular
- Synaptic
- Molecular
What is monoism?
mental activity and certain types of brain activity are inseparable
What is the physiological approach to behaviour ?
Relates a behaviour to the activity of the brain and other organs
What is the ontogenetic approach to behaviour ?
Describes how something develops
What is the evolutionary appraoch to behaviour ?
Reconstructs the evolutionaty history of a structure or behaviour
What is the functional approach to behaviour ?
Describes why a structure or behaviour evolved as it did
What is the cell membrane ?
Seperates the inside of the cell from the outside environment
What is the nucleus ?
contains the chromosomes/DNA
What is the endoplasmic reticulum ?
Network of thin tubes that transports newly synthesized proteins to their location
What are ribosomes ?
Sites at which the cell synthesizes new protein molecules
What is the mitochondrion ?
Performs metabolic activities and provides energy that the cell requires
What are neurons ?
Receive information and transmit it to other cells
What are dendrites ?
Short extensions that pass nerve impulses toward the cell body
receives information
What is the cell body ?
the spherical part of the neuron that contains the nucleus
processes and integrates information
What is a axon ?
A long extension of the neuron that passes nerve impulses away from the cell body
carries information across long distances from one part of the neuron to another
What is a axon terminal ?
Transmits information to another neuron
What is the myelin sheath ?
Insulating material
helps with speed of transmission
What are Nodes of Ranvier?
Short specialized regions of axon that are not insulated by myelin
Propagate electrical signal
What is a motor neuron ?
Conducts impulses along its axon to a muscle or gland
What is a sensory neuron ?
Specialized at one end to be highly sensitive to a particular type of stimulation ( touch, light, sound, etc)
What does a afferent axon do ?
It brings information into a structure
sensory neuron
What does a efferent axon do ?
It carries information away from a structure
motor neuron
What is a interneuron/intrinsic neuron
If a cell’s dendrites and axon are entirely contained within a single structure
What does astrocytes do ?
- Helps synchronize the activity of the axon by wrapping around the presynaptic terminal and taking up chemicals released by the axon
- Responsible for dilating blood vessels to bring more nutrients into brain areas with heightened activity
What does microgalia do ?
- Remove waste material, viruses, and fungi from the brain
- Also remove dead, dying, or damaged neurons
What do oligodendrocytes and Schwann cells do ?
Build the myelin sheath that surrounds and insulates certain vertebrate axons
What does a radial glia do ?
Guide the migration of neurons and the growth of their axons and dendrites during embryonic development
What is the blood-brain barrier ?
A mechanism that surrounds the brain and blocks most chemicals from entering
