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Psych 1000 > Module 3 - Biological Psychology > Flashcards

Module 3 - Biological Psychology Flashcards

1
Q

Premise of Psychology

A

Human mind and body are one
- unique among other animals on the planet
- how the body functions involuntary

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2
Q

The “atoms” of the mind

A

Neurons

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3
Q

What is the basic unit of the brain (and nervous system)

A

Dendrites - Receive information from other neuron
Cel Body - Contains the nucleus and decides he activation
Axon - Conducts nerve impulses
Terminal Button - Communicate with next neuron

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4
Q

Action Potential

A

A neural impulse that travels to te terminal buttons by the axon and is generated by moving positive and negative charges ( wave moving in and out - to + and + to -)

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5
Q

Synapse

A

Action potential causes the release of neurotransmitters in synaptic gap

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6
Q

Neurotransmitters

A

Chemicals used to send a signal across the synaptic gap
- “float” across the synaptic gap until they bind with specific receptors sites on the dendrites of another neuron
- different neurotransmitters have different receptors sites

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7
Q

Reuptake

A

The process by which the vesicles reabsorbs the neurotransmitters

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8
Q

Reuptake Inhibitors

A

Medication inhibits the reuptake process
- making the vesicles wait longer in the synaptic gap before it is absorbed

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9
Q

Acetylcholine

A

Enables muscle action, attention and memory/learning

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10
Q

Dopamine

A

Influences movement, learning, attention, and emotions

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11
Q

Serotonin

A

Affectes hunger and sleep, linked to mood

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12
Q

Norepinephrine

A

Helps control alertness/attention, and arousal

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13
Q

Glutamate

A

Excitatory neurotransmitter, involved in memory learning and memory

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14
Q

Gamma-aminobutyric acid

A

Inhibitory neurotransmitter; lowers arousal, facilitates sleep, involved also n learning memory

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15
Q

Agonist

A

Molecule that fills the lockbox that the neurotransmitter cannot get in and activate the receptor site

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16
Q

3 Different types of neurons

A

Multipolar - Takes information and combines
Motor - Muscle movement
Sensory - Stimuli sends message to brain that sends signals

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17
Q

Nerve

A

Consist of neural cables containing many axons

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18
Q

Synaptic pruning

A

Elimination and creation of new connection

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19
Q

Neurogenesis

A

Production of new neuron’s from from immature stem cells (stem cells ca be programmed)

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20
Q

2 functional divisions of the human nervous systems

A
  • Central nervous system
  • Peripheral nervous system
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21
Q

Sympathetic division of autonomic nervous system

A
  • Arousing
  • “fight or flight” response (when your body excessively reacts in a moderate situation)
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22
Q

Parasympathetic devisions of the autonomic nervous system

A
  • Calming
  • “Rest and digest” (Slows down body functions and reactions)
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23
Q

Neural Communication

A

Peripheral nervous system

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24
Q

Hormonal Communication

A

Endocrine system ( allows brain to communicate information)

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25
Q

Hormones

A

Substances synthesized by the endocrine glands and travel through the bloodstream

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26
Q

Endocrine system

A

Set of glands that produce chemical messengers called hormones
- ex. Hypothalamus, pituitary, thyroid, testis, ovary, pancreas, adrenal, pancreas and parathyroids

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27
Q

Difference between endocrine and nervous system

A

Endocrine: slow, minutes to years, affects multiple organs
Nervous system; very rapid, typically within seconds and localized to one area of the body

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28
Q

Genes

A

The basic units of heredity
- guiding the process of creating proteins that make up physical structures and regulate development and physiological processes throughout the lifespan

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29
Q

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)

A

A molecule formed in a double helix shape that contains four nucleotides: adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine

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30
Q

Genotype

A

Unique genetic makeup of an organism that comprises the individual’s genetic

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31
Q

Phenotype

A

The physical traits and behavioural characteristics that show genetic variation (eye colour, intelligence and personality)

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32
Q

Chromosomes

A

Structures in the cellular nucleus that are lined with all of the genes an individual inherits

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33
Q

Homozygous

A

Two corresponding genes at a given location on a pair of chromosomes are the same

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34
Q

Heterozygous

A

Two corresponding genes at a given location on a pair of chromosomes that differ

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35
Q

Behavioural genomics

A

Study of DNA and the ways in which specific genes are related to

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36
Q

Human Genome Project

A

Massive effort to identify the components of the entire human genome

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37
Q

Behavioural Genetics

A

Study of how genes and the environment influence behaviour

38
Q

Monozygotic Twin

A

Come from a single egg - almost 100% genetically identical

39
Q

Dizygotic twins

A

Come from two separate egg fertilized by two different sperm cells - 50% of genes in common

40
Q

Longitudinal studies

A

Studies that follow the same individuals for many years

41
Q

Heritability

A

Statistic, expressed as a number between zero and one, that represents the degree to which generic differences among individuals contribute to individual differences in a behaviour or trait found in a population

42
Q

Gene expression

A

Occurs when the information in our genes is set to produce proteins

43
Q

Epigenetics

A

Study of changes in gene expression that occur as a result of experience and that do not alter the genetic code

44
Q

CRISPR-Cas 9

A

A technique that allow genetic material to be removes, added, or altered in specific locations of the genome

45
Q

Natural Selection

A

The process by which favourable traits become increasingly common in a population of interbreeding individuals, while traits that are unfavourable become less common

46
Q

Evolution

A

The change in frequency of genes occurring in an interbreeding population over generations

47
Q

Evolutionary Psychology

A

Attempts to explain human behaviours based on the beneficial functions they may have served in out species’ evolutionary history

48
Q

Hunter-gatherer theory

A

Which explicitly links performance on specific tasks to the different roles performed by males and females over the course of our evolutionary history

49
Q

Cell Body

A

Part of a neuron that contains the nucleus that houses the cell’s genetic material

50
Q

Dendrites

A

Small branches radiating from the cell body that receive messages from other cells and transmit those messages toward the rest of the cell

51
Q

Axon

A

Transports information in the form of electrochemical reactions from the cell body to the end of the neuron

52
Q

Axon terminals

A

Bulb-like extensions filled with vesicles

53
Q

Glial Cells

A

Specialized cells of the nervous system that are involved in mounting immune responses in the brain, removing waste, and synchronizing the activity of the billions of neuron’s that constitute the nervous system

54
Q

Refractory Period

A

Brief period in which a neuron cannot fire

55
Q

All or none principle

A

Individual nerve cells fire at the same strength every time an action potential occurs

56
Q

GABA

A

Primary inhibitory neurotransmitter of the nervous system, meaning that it prevents neuron’s from generating action potentials

57
Q

Antagonists

A

Inhibitory neurotransmitter activity by blocking receptors or preventing synthesis of a neurotransmitter

58
Q

Endorphins

A

Hormones produced by the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus that function to reduce pain and induce feelings of pleasure

59
Q

Medulla

A

Base of brainstem that helps with life sustaining functions ex. breathing and heart beat

60
Q

Pons

A

Coordinates unconscious movements and involuntary muscle
- Sleep (REM)
- taste and texture

61
Q

Mdbrain

A

Associated with movement, tracking of visual stimuli and reflexes triggered by sound
- startle reflexes

62
Q

Reticular Formation

A

Numerous small neural networks spread throughout the brain stem and filters incoming sensory information
- deciphers between relevant vs. irrelevant stimuli
- regulating cardiovascular system, breathing, sleep and consciousness

63
Q

Cerebellum

A
  • Back of the brain stem
  • coordination of voluntary movement and balance
  • acquire muscle memory
  • Classical condition over repeated exposure (smells or sounds)
64
Q

Thalamus

A

Relay centre for sensory and motor information to different parts of the cerebral cortex, medulla and cerebellum (except smell)

65
Q

Limbic System

A
  • Located on both sides of the thalamus
  • Processes information about our internal states
  • Emotional experiences lead to memory formation
  • Hypothalamus, amygdala and hippocampus
66
Q

Hypothalamus

A
  • emotions and motivations
  • regulation of hunger and thirst
  • Experience of rewards
  • adjusts body temperature as a function of changing environment (adaptations)
  • directs the endocrine system via messages to the pituitary gland
67
Q

Amygdala

A
  • Consists of two neural clusters
  • Associated with the experience of different emotions, particularly negative ones
  • key role for fear contioning
  • damage = more fear
68
Q

Hippocampus

A
  • processing conscious, episodic memories
  • neurogenisis
  • works with the amygdala to form emotionally charged memories
  • storing memories
69
Q

Case of H.M

A
  • complete removal of the hippocampus and amygdala
  • Anterograde amnesia and moderate retrograde amnesia
  • short term memory was intact
  • no new long term memories
    (Could ride a bike but could not remember learning how to ride the bike)
70
Q

Cerebral Cortex

A

Layer covering the brain with cerconvolutions, grey matter (cell bodies), white matter (axons) and billions of glial cells that feed and protect neurons and assist neural transmission
(Processing of 5 senses)

71
Q

Occipital lobe

A
  • visual information
  • vision
  • visual association area
72
Q

Temporal Lobe

A
  • Auditory information
  • Language comprehension
  • smell
73
Q

Parietal Lobes

A
  • sensory information
  • touch and body position
  • reading, speech and taste
74
Q

Frontal Lobes

A
  • Muscle movement, including language production
  • Higher cognitive functions
  • motor cortex
75
Q

Cerebral Hemispheres

A

Right and left hemisphere that do the same thing but function contra laterally

76
Q

Motor Cortex

A

Axons receiving motor signals FROM the cortex

77
Q

Sensory Cortex

A

Axons sending sensory information TO the cortex

78
Q

Corpus Callosum

A
  • How hemispheres communicate and exchange information
  • million axons
79
Q

Broca’s Area

A

Speech atriculation and production

80
Q

Wernicke’s Area

A

Speech comprehension

81
Q

Split Brain Patients

A

Corpus callosum surgically severed but the optic chaism remain intact
- visual fields “switch sides”

82
Q

Right Hemisphere

A

Visual and Spatial Tasks
ex. creativity, motor skills for artistic work and imagination

83
Q

Left Hemisphere

A

Language and analytical thinking
ex. speaking, understanding spoken words and mathematics

84
Q

Prefrontal Cortex

A
  • Executive Function
  • Social behaviour and relationships
  • Dunbar’s number (size relative to # of connections)
  • Restraint and moral code
85
Q

4 strategies to stimulate brain

A
  1. Stimulation
  2. Lesion based
  3. Animal models
  4. Imaging
86
Q

Stimulation

A

Most recent
ex. chemically numbing, magnetically deactivating, or electrically stimulating parts of the brain

87
Q

Lesion Based Approaches

A

Surgeries and accidents
ex. Non-invasive magnetoecephalography

88
Q

Animal Models - Rats

A

Rats raised in an environment enriched vs unenriched
Results used to help in Neonatal Unit

89
Q

Electroencephalogram (EEG)

A
  • study the cortex
  • maintain where electronegativity is happening in brain
  • O2 or glucose consupmption
90
Q

Non-invasive imaging devices

A

CAT, MRI - structures
PET, fMRI - deciphering what’s active and what’s not through oxygen and glucose consumption

91
Q

Understanding how research can help us understand the brain Ex. Taxi Drivers

A

More months working = larger midposterior hippocampi

92
Q

Are the specific centres for different functions in the brain?

A

No, Areas of brain are constantly interacting. However, other areas are suppressed to “focus” on one part of the brain

Psych 1000 (5 decks)

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