LT1 - Biology in Behaviour Flashcards
What does CNS stand for?
Central Nervous System
what is the CNS made up of?
The Brain and the Spinal cord.
what do the nerves in our body do?
send information to via the spinal cord (a pathway within the vertebrae) to the brain.
what does the brain do?
processes this information and sends a message to the body through the spinal cord.
what is the hippocampus responsible for?
it is responsible for short term memory.
which part of the brain is responsible for regulating eating behaviours?
Hypothalamus.
how do neurones in the brain pass messages?
through electrical impulses/neurotransmitters.
what do neurotransmitters cross to be picked up by a receptor site?
Synaptic gap
what is a gene?
a carrier of information that contributes to a persons characteristic.
how do you get your genes?
they are inherited from parents. 50% for each parent.
what are genes made up of?
DNA (DeoxyriboNucleic Acid)
what do DNA do?
Control gene activity.
where are our genes found?
in our chromosomes. which is a long double chain of DNA found within the nuclei of each human cell.
how many chromosomes do we inherit from each parent?
23 chromosomes. which is thought to account for shared behaviour traits between family members. e.g. eye colour, hair colour, height, personality.
what is a neurone?
nerve cells (with a cell body with a nucleus) and receive and transmit messages.
what are neurotransmitters?
chemical messengers responsible for passing messages from one neurone to the next. e.g. dopamine and serotonin.
what do electric impulses do?
travel down axon (nerve fibres) and release neurotransmitters from terminal buttons on each neurone,
where are receptors located?
on the dendrite (finger-like structures) of a receiving neutron.
how are receptors shaped?
so only 1 type of neurotransmitter can fit into them (works like a jigsaw). e.g. a dopamine specific receptor only accepts dopamine neurotransmitters.
what happens if the neurotransmitter is not taken by a nearby cell?
the message is stopped.
what does the nature approach say our characteristics are determined by?
our biological make up. e.g. genes we inherit from our parents.
how is our behaviour determined?
by our genotype. this is our genetic blueprint which is innate and beyond our control.
what affects our brains and nervous system?
Genes.
Since genes affect our nervous system what does that mean?
it affects or physical and psychological characteristics which in turn control behaviour.
how is our sex determined?
whether we have a Y chromosome or not.
what is it called when our behaviour is the influence of environment and upbringing?
Nurture
how is our behaviour determine in the NuRture approach?
Through our learned experiences and interactions after birth such as our relationship with our parents.
what do social learning theorists believe about children exposed to violent media?
they are more likely to be more aggressive.
what us the Nature & Nurture interaction?
This idea that we develop our phenotype through genetic inheritance interacting with the same environments we encounter. This leads us to develop into unique individuals with particular characteristics.
what does research into illnesses like schizophrenia suggest?
That faulty genes may be triggered by environment factors such as a major life event (e.g. death of a relative).
