Lesson 8 - 12: Unit 1

Question 1

Adrenaline

Answer 1

Known as the “stress hormone,” is released during intense emotional states such as stress, fear or anger, or during strenuous physical activity. The body reacts in this way to an increased need for energy to face danger, resist pain, or overcome a lack of oxygen.

Question 2

Leptin

Answer 2

Helps prevent hunger and regulate energy balance so that your body doesn’t trigger a hunger response when it doesn’t need energy.

Question 3

Ghrelin

Answer 3

Your stomach releases ghrelin when it’s empty to signal to your brain that it’s time to eat. Also signals to release of growth hormones, and insulin and protects your cardiovascular health.

Question 4

Melatonin

Answer 4

Controls the sleep-wake cycle in the body. A small group of nerves located in the hypothalamus (SCN) take in information from the eyes about outside light. When morning light is registered the SCN instructs the body to stop producing melatonin and start producing serotonin.

Question 5

Oxytocin

Answer 5

“The love hormone”
- Enables contractions during birth
- Supports milk flow to the breasts
- Facilitates orgasms during sexual intercourse
- Supports social relationships by promoting bonding, social trust, group cohesion and attraction
(Is released by the pituitary gland)

Question 6

Psychoactive Drugs

Answer 6

Any chemicals that change the functions of the nervous system and alter perception, mood, thinking and behavior

Question 7

Addictive

Answer 7

Changes the brain chemistry, creating a psychological dependence to avoid withdrawal symptoms

Question 8

Tolerance

Answer 8

Can be developed with continued regular use of the same dose…

Question 9

Withdrawal

Answer 9

Describes the intense discomfort and distress one experiences after stopping drug usage

Question 10

Stimulants

Answer 10

Excite neural activity; increasing levels of serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine

Question 11

Caffeine

Answer 11

• Excites neural activity and increases levels of serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine
• A stimulant that increases alertness, wakefulness, confidence and energy but can also increase anxiety, restlessness, and withdrawal-related symptoms

Question 12

Cocaine

Answer 12

• Excites neural activity and increases levels of serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine
• A stimulant that increases alertness, wakefulness, confidence and energy but can also increase anxiety, restlessness, and withdrawal-related symptoms

Question 13

Depressants

Answer 13

Reduce the activity of the CNS and induces feelings of relaxation

Question 14

Hallucinogens

Answer 14

These drugs alter moods, distort perceptions and create sensory images (also called psychedelics)

Question 14

Marijuana

Answer 14

A hallucinogen that enhances sensation, distortion of time and relaxation but also impairs learning and memory and increases the risk of developing psychological disorders.

Question 15

Agonist

Answer 15

Any drug that binds to a receptor site on a postsynaptic neuron, causing it to fire. It increases a neurotransmitter’s actions. (Ex. Opioids act as agonists - Heroin is an agonist drug that binds to opioid receptors causing them to fire…causing individuals to quickly feel pain relief…)

Question 16

Antagonist

Answer 16

Any substance or chemical that fits into a receptor site on the postsynaptic neuron, inhibiting it. It can decrease a neurotransmitter’s action by blocking production or release.

Question 17

Opioids

Answer 17

Offer pain relief

Question 18

Reuptake Inhibitors

Answer 18

A type of drug that is used to treat depression and some other conditions. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are chemicals which prevent the reuptake of excess serotonin by binding to the sites that reabsorb, this increases the synaptic concentration of serotonin and prolongs its effects.

Question 19

Brainstem

Answer 19

The crossover point where most of the nerves from each side of the brain hemispheres connect to the opposite side. Controls heartbeat and breathing

Question 20

Medulla

Answer 20

Where your cardiovascular and respiratory systems link together into a united system that controls your heart rate, breathing, blood pressure and more.

Question 21

Pons

Answer 21

Sit just above the medulla and help coordinate movements and control sleep

Question 22

Reticular Formation

Answer 22

Deep inside the brainstem, is located in the pons region.
- Helps with managing the brains reward centre, some voluntary movement, multitasking and controlling arousal.

Question 23

Thalamus

Answer 23

At the top of the brainstem, acts as the brain’s sensory control centre. Receives information from all the senses, except smell and directs the information to the higher brain regions to deal with seeing, hearing, tasting and touching.

Question 24

Cerebellum

Answer 24

Extending from the bottom of the brainstem. Helps with:
- Non-verbal learning
- Skill memory
- Judging time
- Modulating emotion
- Discriminating sounds and textures
- Helps the pons coordinate voluntary movement (helps with agility)

Question 25

Amygdala

Answer 25

• Linked to aggression and fear (regulates emotional responses)
• Excessive activity of the amygdala causes heightened fear, aggression and fear response
  (Removing it can make you more calm)

Question 26

Hypothalamus

Answer 26

Regulates body maintenance (thirst, body temp, sexual behaviour), influences hunger, helps maintain a steady internal bodily state (pays attention to incoming orders from the brain…)

Question 27

Hippocampus

Answer 27

Processes conscious, explicit memories and decreases in size and function as we grow up

Question 28

Limbic System

Answer 28

Contains the amygdala, hypothalamus, hippocampus, thalamus and pituitary. Which are all responsible for emotion, motivation and memory processing

Question 29

Contralateral hemispheric organization

Answer 29

Each hemisphere (right and left) controls the opposite side of the body

Question 30

Hemispheres

Answer 30

• There is a left hemisphere and a right hemisphere, each controls the opposite side of the body.
• They ‘talk to each other’ through the corpus callosum
• Each hemisphere contains 4 different lobes which are responsible for different things

Question 31

Lobes

Answer 31

Each hemisphere contains 4 lobes:
- Frontal lobe
- Partietal lobs
- Temporal lobe
- Occipital lobe
All are responsible for different things

Question 32

Cerebral Cortex

Answer 32

Your body’s ultimate control and information processing centre (thinking ‘crown’) It is what the hemispheres are a part of… referred to as the white and gray matter.

Question 33

Corpus Callosum

Answer 33

Is the ‘neural bridge’ that allows the 2 hemispheres of your brain to work together and communicate with each other

Question 34

Executive Functioning

Answer 34

Is a set of mental skills. It includes working memory, flexible thinking, and self-control. We use these skills every day to learn, work, and manage daily life.

Question 35

Occipital Lobes

Answer 35

Controls the visual information and is located in the back of the brain. Information from the left half of the visual field is processed in the right occipital lobe and information from the right field is processed in the left occipital lobe

Question 36

Temporal Lobes

Answer 36

Controls auditory (sounds and hearing) and linguistic processing. Located on the sides of the brain.
Wernicke’s area is located there and responsible for understanding language and forming meaningful sentences

Question 37

Parietal Lobes

Answer 37

Dedicated to all touch sensations (touch, heat, pressure) and movement sensations. At the from of the lobe is the Samoatosensory strip… This lobe is also organised contralaterally

Question 38

Frontal Lobes

Answer 38

At the back of the frontal lobe is the Motor Cortex and it is responsible for voluntary skeletal movement in the opposite part of the body.
Broca’s area is found in the frontal lobe and controls the production of speech.

Question 39

Association Areas

Answer 39

Parts of the cerebral cortex that help with higher functioning such as learning, remembering and thinking

Question 40

Prefrontal Cortex

Answer 40

The most frontal part of the frontal lobe.
It enables judgment.
Is responsible for:
- personality and self-identity
- planning and processing of new memories
- thinking and decision-making (higher-order thinking)
- organization
-time management
- motivation (executive functioning)

Question 41

Higher-order Thinking

Answer 41

It goes beyond basic observation of facts and memorization

Question 42

Hemispheric Specialisation

Answer 42

The idea that 2 hemispheres of the brain are functionally different and that certain mental processes and behaviours are mainly controlled by one hemisphere (language in the left hemisphere)

Question 43

Split Brain Research

Answer 43

A surgery where they split the corpus callosum in half - splitting up the 2 hemispheres.
- Is done on people suffering from epileptic seizures; a disorder where abnormal brain activity bounces across both hemispheres
- This research allows researchers to see how the 2 hemispheres are specialized for certain things

Question 44

Broca’s Area & Aphasia

Answer 44

• Broca’s area controls speech production
• Brocas aphasia is the difficulty with speech production
• It is located in the frontal lobe

Question 45

Wernicke’s Area & Aphasia

Answer 45

• Wernicke’s area controls language comprehension
• Wernicke’s aphasia is the difficulty with language comprehension
• It is located in the temporal lobe on the left side

Question 46

Brain Plasticity

Answer 46

The brain’s ability to change, especially during childhood, by recognizing after damage or by building new neural pathways when exposed to new environment stimulus

Question 47

EEG

Answer 47

Electrodes placed on the scale measure electrical activity in neurons and send information to a computer, to record/present

Question 48

fMRI

Answer 48

When a region of the brain becomes active it uses oxygenated blood. An fMRI measures this blood flow to identify areas of activity

Question 49

Lesioning

Answer 49

An abnormal change in the structure of an organ or part due to injury or disease.
Brain lesioning is a treatment option where they purposefully damage tiny clusters or defective brain cells (leaving the surrounding area unharmed)