Physiological Psychology Flashcards
Who created phrenology?
Franz Gall
What is extirpation or ablation? Who pioneered this?
When various parts of the brain are surgically removed and the behavioral affects are observed.
Pierre Flourens
What is functionalism and who was the father of it?
Functionalism is a system of thought in psychology that was concerned with studying how mental processes help individuals adapt to their environments.
William James
What are the three types of nerve cells?
Motor neurons (efferent), sensory neurons (affarent), and interneurons.
Where are interneurons most found?
Brain and spinal cord.
What is an example of the reflex arc in action?
You step on a nail, the affarent neurons detect that and send a message up to the spinal cord, then directly back down the efferent neurons which take your foot away. This is without the neurons telling the brain initially. It’s the spinal cord at first.
What structures make up the CNS?
The brain and spinal cord.
What structures make up the PNS?
Nerve tissue and fibers outside the brain and spinal cord. The PNS connects the CNS to the rest of the body.
What categories are the PNS divided into?
The somatic nervous system and the autonomic nervous system.
What type of fibers are affarent?
Sensory. Affarent fibers ASCEND up to the brain.
What type of fibers are efferent?
Motor. Efferent fibers EXIT the brain and spinal cord on their way down to the muscles.
What does the somatic nervous system consist of?
Sensory and motor neurons distributed throughout the skin and muscles.
What does the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) do?
Regulates heartbeat, respiration, digestion, and glandular secretions. It manages the involuntary muscles associated with many internal organs and glands in addition to helping to regulate body temperature. AUTONOMIC controls AUTOMATIC functions.
What are the two subdivisions of the ANS?
The sympathetic nervous system and parasympathetic nervous system. These two often work in opposition to each other.
What is the main role of the parasympathetic nervous system?
To conserve energy. It’s associated with resting and sleeping states, and acts to reduce heart and respiration rates. To summarize, the Parasympathetic Nervous System promotes RESTING AND DIGESTION.
What is the neurotransmitter responsible for parasympathetic responses in the body?
Acetycholine
When does the sympathetic nervous system kick in?
Whenever you’re in a stressful situation. It’s also closely related with the “fight or flight” response.
What are some effects of the sympathetic nervous system being activated?
Increased heart rate, blood-sugar level, and respiration as well as a decreasse in digestion and widening of pupils.
What are the 3 most basic subdivisions of the human brain?
forebrain, midbrain and hindbrain
What are the hindbrain’s primary functions?
Balance, motor coordination, breathing, digestion, and general arousal processes such as sleeping and waking.
The hindbrain manages vital functioning necessary for survival.
What is the midbrain’s primary function?
To receive sensory and motor information. It is associated with involuntary reflex responses triggered by visual or auditory stimuli.
What is the funtion of the forebrain associated with?
Complex perceptual, cognitive, and behavioral processes along with emotions and memory. The forebrain has the greatest influence on human behavior.
What structures make up the brainstem?
Hindbrain and midbrain
Through evolution, what was the next brain region to develop after the brain stem? What is it responsible for?
The limbic system. Associated with emotion and memory. Aggression, fear, pleasure, pain are all associated with the limbic system.
What is the term for evolutionary development in humans?
Phelogeny
What is the medulla oblongata responsible for and where is it located?
Regulating vital functions such as breathing, heartbeat, and blood pressure. Located in the hindbrain.
What is the pons and where is it located?
Lies above the medulla and contains sensory and motor tracts between the cortex and the medulla.
What is the cerebellum?
Located in the hindbrain, the cerebellum helps maintain posture and balance and coordinates body movements.
What is the reticular formation and where is it located?
Extends from the hindbrain into the midbrain and regulates arousal, alertness and attention.
What do the superior and inferior colliculi do?
The superior colliculus receives visual input, and the inferior colliculus reveives sensory information from the auditory system. Superior is involved in SEEING.
What does the thalamus do and where is it located?
It’s a structure within the forebrain that serves as a relay station for incoming sensory information, except the sense or smell.
Where is the hypothalamus and what does it do?
The hypothalamus is responsible for a number of homeostatic functions: emotional experience during high arousal states, aggressive behavior and sexual behavior.
Who developed the conceptualization of a homeostasis?
Walter Cannon.
What is the maintenence of water balence in the body called and what structure regulates it?
Osmoregulation. Hypothalamus.
True or False?
The hypothalamus is also important in drive behaviors such as hunger, thirst, and sexual behavior.
True.
What are the 3 subdivisions of the hypothalamus?
Lateral hypothalamus, ventromedial hypothalamus, and anterior hypothalamus.
What is referred to as “The Hunger Center” and why?
The lateral hypothalamus because it has special receptors to detect when your body needs more food or liquids.
What is aphagia?
The disorder in which someone refuses to eat or drink, possibly as a result of a damaged hypothalamus. Lacking Hunger= Lateral Hypothalamus.
What is the “Satiety Center” and what does it do?
Ventromedia hypothalamus. It tells us when we’ve had enough to eat. Brain lesions in this area usually lead to obesity.
What is hyperphagia?
Excessive eating. Very Hungry= Venromedia Hypothalamus.
What portion of the brain manages the “fight or flight” response and what area of the brain typically inhibits the response?
The hypothalamus manages the response and the cortex typically inhibits it.
What is the anterior hypothalamus associated with?
Sexual behavior. A stimulated AH causes increased sexual behavior while damage to it leads to permenent inhibition of sexual activity.
What are the basal ganglia and what do they do?
Group of structures in the middle of the brain that coordinates muscle movement as it receives information from the cortex and relays this information (via the extrapyramidal motor system) to the brain and spinal cord.
Extrapyramidal motor system
Gather information about body position (from areas such as the basal ganglia) and carries this info to the brain and spinal cord. It helps to make our movements smooth and our posture steady.
What diseases are associated with the basal ganglia?
Parkinson’s disease and also possibly schizophrenia
What are ventricles?
Fluid-filled cavities in the middle of the brain that link up with the spinal canal that runs down the middle of the spinal cord.
What structures make up the limbic system?
Septum, amygdala, and hippocampus as well as portions of the hypothalamus and cortex.
What is the septum associated with?
Pleasure and aggression. It is one of the primary pleasure centers in the brain. In addition, if the septal area is damaged, aggressive behavior goes unchecked and the result is vicious behavior called septal rage.
James Olds and Peter Milner discovered the function of what structure of the brain in the 1950’s?
The septum. Stimulation of this area of the brain is intensely sexually arousing and pleasurable.
What does the amygdala do?
Plays an important role in defensive and aggressive behaviors.
Heinrick Kluver and Paul Bucy performed studies in which they damaged a part of monkeys’ brains which caused docility and hypersexual states. This is called Kluver-Bucy syndrome. What part of the brain did they damage?
The amygdala.
What does the hippocampus play a role in?
Learning and memory processes.
What is the type of amnesia called that renders the patient unable to retain any new memories?
Anterograde amnesia
What is retrograde amnesia?
Memory loss of events that transpired before the brain injury.
What are the numerous bumps and folds in the cerebral cortex called?
Convolutions
What are the four lobes of the cerebral cortex?
Frontal lobe, parietal lobe, occipital lobe, and temporal lobe.
What are the two basic regions of the frontal lobe?
Prefrontal lobes and motor cortex.
What does the prefrontal cortex do?
Governs and integrates numerous cognitive and behavioral processes. This lobe supervises processes associated with perception, memory, emotion, impulse control, and long-term planning.
What is an example of the prefrontal cortex working?
In memory, for instance, the role of the prefrontal cortex is not to store any memory traces, but rather to remind you that you have something to remember.
Why is the prefrontal cortex an example of an association area?
Because it integrates information from different cortical regions. For example, multiple inputs may be necessary to solve a complex puzzle, to plan ahead for the future, or to reach a difficult solution.
What are projection areas?
Areas that receive incoming sensory information or send out motor-impulse commands. Examples include the visual cortex, which receives visual input from the retina.
What does the motor cortex do?
Initiates voluntary motor movements by sending neural impulses down the spinal cord toward the muscles.
True or False?
In humans, the amount of cortex devoted to association areas is substantially larger than the amount devoted to projection areas.
True.
In the 1950’s, what was used to treat schizophrenia?
Prefrontal labotomies. Surgeons would disconnect the frontal lobe from the limbic system and hypothalamus, both of which regions are associated with mood and emotion.
How are the neurons in the motor cortex arranged?
Starting at the top of the motor cortex, motor neurons are connected to the toes of the opposite foot. As you move down the motor cortex, motor neurons are connected to the toes of the opposite foot.
Where is Broca’s area and what is it important for?
Broca’s area is in the left hemisphere and is vitally important for speech production.
What is located in the parietal lobe?
Somatosensory cortex
What is the somatosensory cortex?
It is involved in somatosensory processing. This projection area is the destination for all incoming sensory signals for touch, pressure, temperature, and pain.
True or false?
The somatosensory cortex and motor cortex are not closely related at all.
False. The somatosensory cortex and motor cortex are very closely related. In fact, they are so interrelated they sometimes are described as a single unit: the sensorimotor cortex.
