P2 Section B (Biopsychology) Flashcards
What is the role of the Spinal Cord
the role of the spinal cord is to transfer messages to and from the brain via the peripheral nervous system and is responsible for simple reflex actions that don’t involve the brain, like jumping out from a chair when sat on a pin
Where is the Frontal Lobe and what does the frontal lobe do
the frontal lobe is in the motor area and controls movement in the opposite side of the body, dependant on what hemisphere
Where is the parietal lobe and what does it do
parietal lobe is in the somatosensory area and integrates information from the different senses (touch, heat and pressure) so plays a role in spatial navigation.
Where is the occipital lobe and what does it do
the occipital lobe is in the visual cortex and relays information from the eye’s visual field to the visual cortex
Where is the temporal lobe and what does the temporal lobe do
the temporal lobe is in the auditory area of the brain and analyses speech-based information
what happens if damage occurs to frontal lobe
if damage occurs to frontal lobe it can result in the loss of fine motor movements
what happens if damage occurs to temporal lobe
If damage occurs to temporal lobe it causes partial hearing loss and may also affect the ability to comprehend language.
Where is the Broca’s area and what is the Broca’s area responsible for.
The broca’s area is in small arch in the left frontal lobe responsible for speech production.
what is Broca’s Aphasia
Brocas aphasia is when there is damage to the Broca’s area, causing slow, laborious speech that lacks fluency .
where is the Wernicke’s Area and what is it responsible for
Wernickes area is in the left temporal lobe and is responsible for language comprehension.
What is Wernicke’s Aphasia caused by and what is it’s results
Wernicke’s Aphasia is caused by damaged to the Wernicke’s area and results in patients speaking “nonsense” words as part of their content of speech
what is the job of peripheral nervous system
the job of the peripheral nervous system is to relay nerve impulses from a sensory input to the central nervous system and back to provide a muscle response
what is the somatic nervous system
the somatic nervous system is part of the peripheral nervous system that carries sensory information from the outside world to the brain
how does the somatic nervous system carry information
the somatic nervous system carries information from sensory receptors via sensory neurons to the spinal cord and brain, and motor pathways allow the brain to control the movements via motor neurons
what is the autonomic nervous system
the autonomic nervous system is part of the peripheral nervous system involved in homeostasis of internal processes like body temperature, heart rate and blood pressure
what is the sympathetic nervous system
the sympathetic nervous system is part of the autonomic nervous system that causes flight or fight reactions by sending nerve impulses to the rest of the body to prepare for increased breathing rate, heart rate and blood pressure and suppression of digestion and salivation
what is the parasympathetic nervous system
the parasympathetic nervous system is the part of the autonomic nervous system that relaxes the body after fight or flight reactions by slowing down heart and breathing rate and restarting digestion.
what does the endocrine system do
the endocrine system sends information to glands to secrete hormone production into bloodstream.
what is the fight or flight process
the fight or flight process is when a stressor is presented and the hypothalamus of the central nervous system commands adrenaline secretion from adrenal gland into the bloodstream to increases heart rate and blood pressure - causing the fight or flight response
what is the central nervous system made up of and what does it do
the central nervous system, made up of the brain and spinal cord and provides conscious awareness.
what is a neuron
a neuron is a nerve cell that processes and transmits messages via electrical and chemical signals.
3 types of neuron
3 types of neuron are relay, sensory and motor
how is a neural impulse fired
a neural impulse is fired when a neuron is activated by a stimulus and becomes positively charged which fires the neural impulse.
what is synaptic transmission
synaptic transmission is when vesicles release neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft which then bind to cell receptor which activates them. Any excess neurotransmitters are taken back up by the presynaptic neuron and enzymes are then released to break down any leftover. Vesicles then replenish with new and reused neurotransmitters.
what is summation in neurons
summation in neurons is when the charge of inhibitory or excitatory is summed and whatever net charge is greater, that effect will occur. so if inhibitory is more then excitatory charge, it will not fire
what is the excitation effect of neurotransmitters on neighbouring neurons
the excitation effect of neurotransmitters causes a positive charge and makes the neighbouring neuron more likely to fire.
what is the inhibition effect of neurotransmitters on neighbouring neurons
the inhibition effect of neurotransmitters causes a negative charge making neighbouring neurons less likely to fire
what is localisation theory?
localisation is the theory that different areas of your brain are responsible for different behaviours, processes and activities.
the curious case of Phineas Gage
1843, 25 year old Phineas Gage was involved in an explosion where a metre length pole pierced Gages left cheek and and went through his frontal lobe and out the top of his head. He survived but it caused notable differences in his personality.
How does Doidge support brain plasticity
Doidge supports brain plasticity as he says the brain is able to make new synaptic connections during recovery and neuronal unmasking occurs whereby dormant neurons are made active to perform a task
what processes allow the brain to restructure itself?
processes allowing the brain to restructure itself are axonal sprouting, reformation and recruitment of homologous.
what is axonal sprouting (recovery of the brain)
axonal sprouting is the growth of new nerve endings which connects the undamaged nerve cells to form new neural pathways to help recover the brain
what is reformation (recovery of the brain)
reformation is the reformation of blood vessels to help recover the brain
what is recruitment of homologous (recovery of the brain)
recruitment of the homologous is using the opposite/undamaged hemisphere to carry out the task that would usually be performed by the damaged hemisphere.
what is brain plasticity
brain plasticity is the reference of the brain as plastic to represent the way it can change throughout life
how does Gopnik et al support brain plasticity
Gopnik et al supports brain plasticity as he found that during infancy, brains experience a rapid growth in synaptic connections, which peaks around the age of 2-3 years and as we get older SYNAPTIC PRUNING happens whereby unused connections are deleted and used connections are strengthened.
what did Maguire et al find on brain plasticity (brains of London taxi drivers)
Maguire found that taxi drivers had more grey matter in the posterior hippocampus in comparison to a control group and there was a positive correlation between time spent as taxi driver and more pronounced structure of brain
what is the hippocampus?
the hippocampus is the area of the brain responsible for spatial and navigational awareness
draganski et al on brain plasticity (medical student exams)
Draganski took images of 3 medical students brains 3 months before and 3 months after their final exams finding changes occurred in their posterior hippocampus and parietal cortex - which could be a result of the induced learning from the exams
what is a pro of research into brain plasticity
a pro of brain plasticity is that neurorehabilitation developed which is a movement therapy and electrical stimulation of the brain showing that although the brain can fix itself, there may still be a need for intervention to make it completely successful.
