lesson 3 the human brain Flashcards

1
Q

what are neurons

A

cells in the nervous system that communicate with each other to perform information processing tasks

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

ramon y cajal

A

used golgi staining to come up with neuron doctrine

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

neuron doctrine

A

neurons are discrete cellular units

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

parts of a neuron

A

cell body (soma), dendrite, axon

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

what does soma have

A

Organelles like mitochondria and ribosomes, nucleus with dna/genes

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

what do dendrites do

A

take in information (post synaptic neuron) and relay to soma

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

what does axon do

A

carries information to other neurons muscles or glands (can be very long or short)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

what are axons covered with

A

myelin sheath (why white matter is white)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

what makes myelin

A

supporting glia cells (astrocytes, myelin making, or microglia)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

why is myelin important

A

increases communication between neurons (without it, can cause multiple problems)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

synapse

A

junction between axon of one neuron and dendrites/soma of another neuron

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

types of neurons

A

sensory, motor, interneurons

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

what do motor neurons do

A

carry signals from spinal cord to muscles to produce movement

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

what do sensory neurons do

A

receive information from external world and convey to the brain via spina cord (have specialized ending on dendrites to receive signals for senses)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

what do interneurons do

A

connect all types of neurons

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

types of specialized neurons

A

purkinje (interneuron in cerebellum), pyramidal (cerebral cortex), bipolar (sensory neuron found in retina)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

what is conduction

A

movement of an electric signal within neurons

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

what is transmission

A

movement of a signal from one neuron to another as a result of chemical signal across the synapse

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

resting potential

A

difference in electric charge between outside and inside of neuronal cell membrane

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

consciousness

A

a person’s subjective experience of the world and the mind

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

phenomenology

A

how things seem to the conscious person (in their understanding of mind and behaviour)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

problem of other minds

A

difficulty of perceiving consciousness of others

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

what do people judge minds according to

A

capacity for experience (pleasure, pain, hunger) and agency (self control, planning, memory)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

why is consciousness a problem for psych science?

A

the scientific method requires that any observation made by one scientist should be available for observation by any other scientist but other minds arent observable

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

mind body problem

A

the issue of how the mind is related to the brain
and body

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

Turing test

A

having a person observe a conversation between a person and a computer. The machine/computer is said to
have passed the test if the observer is unable to accurately determine which is the machine/computer and which is the human

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

four properties of consciousness

A

intentionality (directed toward an object), unity (can integrate senes into a whole), selectivity (include some objects and not others), and transience (tendency to change)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
28
Q

dichotic listening

A

in which people wearing headphones hear different messages in each ear

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
29
Q

cocktail-party phenomenon

A

people tune in one message even while they filter out others nearby (like talking to someone and not listening to a conversation but hearing you name and your ears prick)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
30
Q

minimal consciousness

A

a low-level kind of sensory awareness and responsiveness that occurs when the mind inputs sensations and
may output behavior (you see a light, you turn toward it)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
31
Q

full consciousness

A

know and are able to report your mental state (are aware of pain and not just reacting to it)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
32
Q

self-consciousness

A

distinct level of consciousness in which the person’s attention is drawn to the self as an object (like when you’re embarrassed or the focus of attention)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
33
Q

experience-sampling or ecological momentary assessment (EMA)

A

in which people are asked to report their conscious experiences at particular times

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
34
Q

daydreaming

A

a state of consciousness in which a seemingly purposeless flow of thoughts comes to mind

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
35
Q

mental control

A

the attempt to change conscious states of mind

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
36
Q

thought suppression

A

conscious avoidance of a thought (try not to think of a polar bear and you will think of it every minute)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
37
Q

rebound effect of thought suppression

A

the tendency of a thought to return to consciousness with greater frequency following suppression

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
38
Q

ironic processes of mental control

A

ironic errors occur because the mental process that monitors errors can itself produce them

39
Q

how do we know the brain is organized modularly

A

brain damage (broca vs wernicke, stroke)

electrical stimulation (penfield motor cortex, homonculus somatosensory cortex)

measurement (ct scan, mri, fmri, pet scan)

40
Q

equipotentiality

A

brain is like a sponge (all parts equally capable of job, even if cut in half

41
Q

localized function

A

if one part breaks, the rest still works but the part that is damaged no longer does its function

42
Q

localization of function in the brain

A

accident, manipulation, measurement

43
Q

accident (brain damage from tumor, stroke, trauma)

A

people with specific brain damage have specific deficits like brocas/wernickes aphasia which is how we know the brain is organized in parts that each have a function

44
Q

who came up with surgical mapping

A

wilder penfield, who would poke around in brain until a response came from the patient

used brain stimulation to map out somatosensory cortex in parietal brain

45
Q

electrical stimulation (to know brain is organized modularly)

A

penfield used to stimulate motor and somatosensory cortex; stimulus in certain area of brain caused reaction in certain part like hands, face, etc

46
Q

measurement (to know brain is organized modularly)

A

mri used to measure detailed structures

47
Q

dorsal/ventral

A

back/front (belly)

48
Q

anterior/posterior

A

front/back

49
Q

how is the brain organized

A

back is necessities (cerebellum for movement and coordination, brainstem for autonomic processes) and front is luxuries (frontal lobe for complex action, decisions, personality)

50
Q

how does information flow in the brain

A

we take in information through eyes (occipital to thalamus back to other parts of brain)

51
Q

left brain function

A

sensory processing and motor control of right side

linguistic analysis (word meaning and grammar)

52
Q

right brain function

A

sensory processing and motor control of left side

paralinguistic analysis (tone of voice, humor, sarcasm)

53
Q

features of modules

A

domain specific, neurally localized, parallel

54
Q

what does domain specific mean

A

each do one specific thing

55
Q

what does neurally localized mean

A

each module corresponds to a location in the brain

56
Q

what does massively parallel mean (in terms of modularity)

A

all modules operate simultaneously

57
Q

how does pain prove modularity

A

aspects of pain are processed in different brain regions (somatosensory and anterior cingulate)

58
Q

what does mcgurk/snoop effect prove

A

that modules come into effect with each other (if shown the word yellow that is typed in red font, you get confused because you’re processing the word as yellow and the color as red and theyre in conflct)

59
Q

conscious control

A

ability to flexibly alter or suppress automatic or prepotent response (associated with the frontal cortex)

60
Q

what sense is modular

A

vision; making sure brightness, color, motion at once

61
Q

what’s system 1

A

unconscious processing (like blindsight and cocktail party phenomenon)

62
Q

what’s system 2

A

conscious experience

63
Q

conflicts between system 1 and 2

A

like seeing a snake and freaking out then calming down a second later

64
Q

ian waterman

A

had to rely on conscious control (system 2) and tell himself to balance and walk, had to look at limb for it to work vs us doing it without thinking

65
Q

what is blindsight

A

responding to visual stimuli without consciously perceiving it (blind but can walk through hallway obstacle course)

66
Q

what is a part of conscious experience

A

(conscious has a hard time controlling itself, like thought suppression polar bear)

67
Q

what module can tweak the other modules

A

conscious control

68
Q

phineas gage

A

had metal rode through frontal lobe, changed personalities and behavior, showed brain is modular

69
Q

Mirror neurons

A

active when an animal performs a behavior, such as reaching for or manipulating an object, and are also activated when another animal observes that animal performing the same behavior

70
Q

phantom limb syndrome

A

Patients can feel their missing limbs moving, even in
coordinated gestures such as shaking hands

71
Q

hindbrain

A

spinal cord/lower levels of brain execute simple functions like reflex

72
Q

executes more complex task of orienting toward an important stimulus in the environment

A

midbrain

73
Q

forebrain

A

most complex tasks like thinking of life in the future

74
Q

epigenetics

A

the study of environmental influences that determine whether or not genes are expressed, or the degree to which they are expressed, without altering the basic DNA sequences that constitute the genes themselves

75
Q

epigenetic marks,

A

chemical modifications to
DNA that can turn genes on or off

76
Q

DNA methylation

A

involves adding a methyl group to DNA. There are special enzymes, referred to as epigenetic writers, whose role is to add methyl groups to DNA. Although adding a methyl group doesn’t alter the basic DNA sequence, it switches off the methylated gene

77
Q

Histone modification

A

involves adding chemical modifications to proteins called histones that are
involved in packaging DNA. DNA methylation switches genes off, histone modification can either switch genes off or turn them on. But just like DNA methylation, histone modifications influence gene expression without altering the underlying DNA sequence

78
Q

chromosomes

A

strands of DNA wound around each other in a double helix configuration

79
Q

gene

A

the major unit of hereditary transmission

80
Q

Heritability

A

a measure of the variability of behavioral traits among individuals that can be accounted for by genetic factors

81
Q

corpus callosum

A

the thick band of nerve fibers that allows the two hemispheres to communicate

82
Q

homonculus

A

small man with big limbs showing somatosensory cortex (wilder penfield)

83
Q

left hemisphere controls blank and vice versa (how does split brain procedure affect this)

A

right side of brain

person with a split brain, information entering one hemisphere stays there. Without an intact corpus callosum,
there’s no way for that information to reach the other hemisphere

with information presented to right, can say it’s a key but can’t differentiate it from other things

with information presented to right, knows it’s a key but cant produce speech for it

84
Q

left vs right hemisphere activity

A

the left hemisphere controls speech, comprehension, arithmetic, and writing

the right hemisphere controls creativity, spatial ability, artistic, and musical skills. The left hemisphere is dominant in hand use and language in about 92% of people

85
Q

how is fmri better than pet scan

A

fMRI does not require any exposure to a radioactive substance. Second,
fMRI can localize changes in brain activity across briefer periods than PET, which makes it more useful for
analyzing psychological processes that occur extremely quickly, such as reading a word or recognizing a face.
With PET, researchers often have to use experimental designs that differ from those they would use in the
psychology laboratory in order to adapt to the limitations of PET technology. With fMRI, researchers can design experiments that more closely resemble the ones they carry out in the psychology laboratory

86
Q

positron emission tomography (PET)

A

a harmless radioactive substance is injected into a person’s bloodstream. The brain is then scanned by radiation detectors as the person performs perceptual or cognitive tasks, such as reading or speaking. Areas of the brain that are activated during these tasks demand more energy and greater blood flow, resulting in a higher amount of radioactivity in that region. The radiation detectors
record the level of radioactivity in each region, producing a computerized image of the activated areas

86
Q

a device used to record electrical activity in the brain

A

electroencephalograph (EEG)

87
Q

functional magnetic
resonance imaging (fMRI)

A

When active neurons demand more energy and blood flow, oxygenated
hemoglobin concentrates in the active areas; fMRI detects the oxygenated hemoglobin and provides a picture of
the level of activation in each brain area

88
Q

frontal lobes

A

The frontal lobes are important for voluntary movement, expressive language and for managing higher level executive functions

89
Q

processing auditory information and with the encoding of memory

A

temporal lobe

90
Q

responsible for processing somatosensory information from the body; this includes touch, pain, temperature, and the sense of limb

A

parietal lobe

91
Q

occipital lobe

A

vision

92
Q

brain cells fire in patterns
a pattern corresponds to a thought
one pattern causes another pattern

A

steve pinker

93
Q

Damage to somatosensory cortex

A

results in remarkably mild deficits. Surgical removal of this region in one hemisphere results in a reduced ability on the opposite side of the body in the detection of light touch and some difficulty identifying objects by touch (stereognosis).