Paper 2: Biopsychology

Question 1

what are the divisions of the nervous system and their functions?

Answer 1

Nervous system divides into CNS and PNS
CNS (central) = brain and spinal cord
PNS (peripheral) = all other neurons
PNS divides into ANS (autonomic) and SNS (somatic)
ANS = unconscious actions eg heart rate
SMS = conscious actions eg muscle movement
ANS divides into sympathetic and parasympathetic NS
Sympathetic = fight or flight (pupils dilate, heart and breathing rate increases, digestion slows
Parasympathetic = rest and digest (pupils constrict, heartand breathing rate decreases, digestion increases

Question 2

what is the function of the endocrine system?

Answer 2

The endocrine system consists of glands releasing hormones into the bloodstream, to act on target organs. Hormone = chemical messenger

Question 3

what is the function of the adrenal gland and where is it located?

Answer 3

Adrenaline is a hormone released by the adrenal gland - it coordinates the fight or flight response. Adrenal gland is located in the kidneys

Question 4

what is the function of the pituatary gland and where is it located?

Answer 4

The pituitary gland is known as the “master gland” as it controls the release of hormones from other glands in the body. Located in the brain

Question 5

what are the 3 types of neuron and their adaptations?

Answer 5

3 types of neuron - sensory, relay and motor - they have adaptations - myelin sheath wrapped around axons + speeds up transmission. Dendrites are branches used to connect one neuron to the next.

Question 6

what is the role of each neuron?

Answer 6

Sensory (in peripheral nervous system) connects from a receptor to a relay neuron (relay neuron is in the central nervous system). Relay neuron connects sensory to motor neuron. Motor neuron connects relay neuron to a muscle or gland. If it connects to a muscle, the muscle will contract; if it connects to a gland, the gland will release a hormone.

Question 7

what are excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters?

Answer 7

Neurotransmitters are brain chemicals. Eg serotonin. They can be excitatory (eg dopamine) or inhibitory (GABA). If it is excitatory then the postsynaptic neuron is more likely to fire an impulse, if inhibitory then it is less likely to fire an impulse

Question 8

what is localisation of brain function?

Answer 8

Localisation - the idea that specific areas of the brain are associated with particular functions and behaviours. The evidence for this is Broca and Wernicke discovering that one area was responsible for language produce (Broca’s area) and another was responsible for language comprehension (Werncke’s area)

Question 9

what are the brain hemispheres and their roles?

Answer 9

The two halves of the brain are known as the hemispheres.
The left hemisphere controls:
-the right hand side of the body
-language
-numbers
-analytical thinking

The right hemisphere controls:
-the left hand side of the body
-emotional intelligence
-creativity

Question 10

what are the 6 main areas of the brain, what do they do and where are they located?

Answer 10

-Motor area (back of the frontal lobe, controls voluntary movement in the opposite side of the body)
-somatosensory area (at the front of the parietal lobe, sensory info is processed here, mainly heat/pressure)
-visual area (in occipital lobe, processes visual info, the right eye sends info to the left visual cortex and vice versa)
-auditory area (in the temporal lobe, analyses spoken info)
-language area (only in the left hemisphere, responsible for speech production, includes Broca’s and Wernicke’s area)

Question 11

what is the broca’s area?

Answer 11

Broca’s area - responsible for speech production. Damage leads to inability to speak fluently. This condition is called Broca’s aphasia

Question 12

what is the wernicke’s area?

Answer 12

Wernicke’s area - responsible for language comprehension. Damage leads to inability to understand others, speaking nonsense. Called Wernicke’s aphasia

Question 13

evaluation of broca’s and wenicke’s areas?

Answer 13

lots of supporting evidence - stroke victims struggling to speak/understand speech.
Phineas gage got frontal lobe destroyed, changed personality; can be applied to brocas/werncikes
-: the concept of localisation of function, whilst there is lots of supporting evidence, is arguably oversimplified. This is due to the proven concept of plasticity. It states that is possible to relocate brain function, meaning it is possible that while the broca’s/wernicke’s areas are damaged, speech production or comprehension may still be possible.

Question 14

what is neuroplasticity?

Answer 14

Plasticity is the brain’s ability to make new neural connections/amend existing connections. Originally this process was only thought to take place in childhood, but now there is evidence that it happens in adulthood as well, as a result of learning and experience.

Question 15

supporting evidence for neuroplasticity? (2 things)

Answer 15

Maguire
Studied london taxi drivers and found their brains had a much larger posterior hippocampus than the control group. The posterior hippocampus is involved in spatial navigation skills. The longer they had been a london taxi driver, the bigger this area of their brain had become. This suggests that parts of the brain develop according to experience.

Other evidence - functional recovery after trauma; this is where unaffected areas of the brain are able to compensate for injury by taking over the functions of the damaged areas. Therefore people are able to recover lost function after trauma.

Question 16

what is a piece of research supporting hemispheric lateralisation?

Answer 16

Sperry’s split brain procedure

Question 17

background of sperry’s study?

Answer 17

Background: The human brain is contralateral - the left controls the right, the right controls the left. The right side of the brain takes the visual info from the left side, and vice versa. The areas for speech are only located in the left hemisphere.

Question 18

procedure of sperry’s study?

Answer 18

Procedure: studied 11 patients who got a corpus callosotomy as a treatment for their epileptic seizures. He projected info into each visual field (left and right.) participants were asked to either say what they saw, draw it, or pick it out from a group of objects.

Question 19

findings of sperry’s study?

Answer 19

Findings: info presented to the right eye (left hemisphere) could be spoken, but not if it had been delivered to the left eye (right hemisphere). Info presented to the left eye (right hemisphere) could be drawn, or picked out from objects with the LEFT hand.

Question 20

conclusions of sperry’s study?

Answer 20

Conclusions: supports lateralisation, shows the hemispheres work independently. Also shows language centres are on the left side of the brain.

Question 21

what are the 4 ways of studying the brain?

Answer 21

fMRI, EEG, ERP and post-mortem dissection

Question 22

what is fMRI?

Answer 22

fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging)
-fMRI detects blood flow in the brain
-brain areas that are more active require more blood flow
-fMRI shows you most active parts of brain

Question 23

evaluation for fMRI?

Answer 23

Evaluation:
Has a good spatial resolution (display of location in brain is accurate)
Produces a moving picture, which allows for comparison over time

Patient has to remain very still throughout - this means it is inappropriate for a lot of patients, eg children, people w/ disabilities etc
Poor temporal resolution

Question 24

what is EEG?

Answer 24

EEG
-electrodes are placed on the scalp, which record electrical activity
-the electrodes measure the activity of the cells directly below them
-the activity is displayed in brainwaves

Question 25

what is ERP?

Answer 25

ERP
-uses the same apparatus and technique as EEG, simply records activity in response to a stimulus

Question 26

evaluation for EEG and ERP?

Answer 26

Evaluation for EEG and ERP:
EEG has helped us understand the brain’s activity during sleep
Much more accessible than fMRI - don’t need to keep completely still for example
Can’t detect any deep brain activity (they can only record ~1cm deep into the brain.
You need expertise to be able to interpret the outcome from the equipment - need special training to read brainwaves

Question 27

what is post-mortem dissection?

Answer 27

Post-mortem dissection
-a person’s body and brain is dissected after they die
-it enables researchers to dissect brains of individuals who suffered trauma/illness and compare it with a neurotypical brain - eg alzheimer’s patient’s brain could be compared to healthy elderly brain

Question 28

evaluation for post-mortem dissection?

Answer 28

Evaluation
+can compare deep brain structures
-No activity can be measured bc the person is dead
-Issue with cause and effect: was the damage caused by the death or was the death caused by the damage? Eg if alzheimers patient died in car crash, there is no way of knowing how much damage was the alzheimers and how much was the car crash

Question 29

what are circadian rhythms?

Answer 29

Circadian rhythms
-operate on a 24-hour cycle (eg sleep-wake/body clock)
-this is reset by levels of light
-humans will sleep/wake according to their cycle (endogenous pacemaker), and depending on the amount of light (exogenous zeitgeber)
-exogenous zeitgebers are environmental events like the changing of light
-endogenous pacemakers are internal
-the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) in the hypothalamus is our endogenous pacemaker for the sleep/wake cycle. It detects the level of light present

Question 30

supporting evidence for circadian rhythms?

Answer 30

Supporting research
Siffre’s study
Aims: to investigate the effects of the endogenous pacemaker in absence of exogenous zeitgeber
Procedure: spent 2 months in a cave deprived of light and sound
Findings: he found that his circadian rhythm was altered slightly between 24 and 25 hours
Conclusions: demonstrates that exogenous zeitgebers calibrate the endogenous pacemakers.
Supports existence and importance of circadian rhythms

Question 31

what are infradian rhythms?

Answer 31

Infradian rhythms
-operate on a cycle longer than 24 hours (eg menstrual cycle - 28 days/emotions relating to seasons - 365 days)

Question 32

supporting research for infradian rhythms?

Answer 32

Supporting research:
McLintock
Aims: to investigate infradian rhythms
Procedure: exposed women to pheromones, which acted as exogenous zeitgeber
Findings: some menstrual cycles became close to being synchronised
Conclusions: possibility that women’s infradian rhythms can become synchronised with an exogenous zeitgeber

Evaluation - lots of counteracting evidence that suggests women’s cycles do not sync up - piece of research is unreliable.

Question 33

what are ultradian rhythms?

Answer 33

Ultradian rhythms
-operate on cycle less than 24 hours (eg heartbeat, breathing, stages of sleep)
Supporting research:
Through EEG, there have been 5 recognised stages of sleep:
Stages 1+2 - escalate your sleep
Stages 3+4 - delta waves
Stage 5 - REM sleep

Question 34

supporting research for ultradian rhythms?

Answer 34

huge bank of supporting evidence - stages of sleep are well recognised