Physiological Psychology Flashcards
Achromatopsia-
inheirted form of of complete color blindness that is caused by lack of of functioning in the cone cells
Cerebral achromatopsia- complete color blindness by lesion in the brain in occipitotemporal region
Agnosia:
tactile agnosia- inability to recognize familiar objects by touch
Agranulocytosis
, is an acute condition involving a severe and dangerous leukopenia (lowered white blood cell count), most commonly of neutrophils, and thus causing a neutropenia in the circulating blood.
Akathisia
movement disorder characterized by a subjective feeling of inner restlessness accompanied by mental distress and an inability to sit still. Usually, the legs are most prominently affected. Those affected may fidget, rock back and forth, or pace, while some may just have an uneasy feeling in their body.
Anomia
a form of aphasia in which the patient is unable to recall the names of everyday objects.
Anticholingeric effects
Dry mouth. Blurred vision. Dry eyes. Constipation. Urinary retention. Dizziness due to drop in blood pressure on standing up Cognitive problems (confusion) Heart rhythm disturbance.
Aphasia
loss of ability to understand or express speech, caused by brain damage.
Dysprosody
which may manifest as pseudo-foreign accent syndrome, refers to a disorder in which one or more of the prosodic functions are either compromised or eliminated completely
Gerstmanns Syndrome:
in parietal loe, involves a combination of finger agnosia, right left confusion, agraphia( inability to write) , and acalculia( inability to perform simple mathematical calculations)
Neuroleptic Maligant Syndrome
rare side effect of antipsychotic drugs, characterized by a rapid onset of motor, mental, and autonomic symptoms including muscle rigidity, tachycardia, hyperthermia and altered consciousness. drug must be stopped as soon as symptoms develop
Paresthesia
burning or prickling sensation that is usually felt in the hands, arms, legs, or feet, but can also occur in other parts of the body. The sensation, which happens without warning, is usually painless and described as tingling or numbness, skin crawling, or itching.
Tardive Dyskinesia
Side effects of traditional antipsychotic drugs, most serious, more common in females and older patients. similar to those of hungingtos disease and include involuntary rhythmic movements of the jaw, lips, tongue,
prosopagnosia
a neurological condition characterized by the inability to recognize the faces of familiar people.
synesthesia
Joining senses- rare condition in which the stimulation of one sensory modality triggers another sensory modality , might hear a color or taste a shape
Tardive Dyskinesia
Side effects of traditional antipsychotic drugs, most serious, more common in females and older patients. similar to those of hungingtons disease and include involuntary rhythmic movements of the jaw, lips, tongue,
Visual Agnosia
Damage to the occipital lobe - apprerceptive visual agnosia occurs when a person is unable to perceive objects despite visual acuity,
Associative visual agnosia- person is unable to recognize an object that he or she is focusing on
Neuron- Three components
Dendrites- branch like, recieve information from other cells and conduct it toward the cell body
Cell body- several structures including, nucleusribosomes, golgi complex.
Axon- receives information from cell body to other cells,
covered by Myelin sheath- fatty substance that works an insulator
Action Potential
electrical impulse that travels quickly through the cell.
All or none principle
when the stimulation received by a neuron exceeds a given threshold, the resulting action potential will always be of the same intensity.
Acetylcholine
ACH- found in CNS and PNS
Myasthenia gravis- autoimmune disorder that attacks ACH receptors at neuromuscular junctions
ACH- involved in REM sleep, regulation of the sleep wake cycle and learning and memory.
**degeneration of ACH cells in areas that communicate with hippocampus are associated with Alzheimers disease.
Drugs that reduce the breakdown of ACH are used for alzheimers- tacrine ( cognex), donepezil( aricept) galantamine( Reminyl) and revastigmine( exelon)
Dopamine
classified as catecholamines- involved in personality, mood, memory and sleep ,
involved in movement and linked to disorders such as parkinsons and Tourettes disorder, oversensitivty to or excessive dopamine in the caudate nucleus contributes to Tourettes disorder.
Norepinephrine
important role in mood, attention, dreaming, learning and certain autonomic functions.
Catecholamine hypothesis- predicts that some forms of depression are due to lower than normal levels of tthis neurotransmitter.
Serotonin
inhibitory effect- mood, hunger, tempature regulation, sexual activity, arousal, sleep, aggression and migraine headache.
Elevated levels of serotonin contribute to schizophrenia, Autistic Disorder, and food restriction associated with Aneroxia Nervosa,
Low levels- play a role in aggression, depression, suicide, Bulimia Nervosa, PTSD and OCD.
Dopamine hypothesis of schizoprehnia:
disorder is due to elevated dopamine levels or oversensitivity of dopamine receptors
GABA
inhibitory - plays role in eating, seizure, anxiety disorders, motor control, vision and sleep.
Low levels of GABA have been linked to anxiety disorders and benzodiazepines and other CNS depressants reduce anxiety by enhancing the effects of GABA.
degeneration of cells that secrete GABA in the basal ganglia contribute to motor symptoms in hungingtons disease
Glutamate
excitatory neurotransmitter , plays role in learning and memory and in long term potential,
Excessive glutamate receptor activity( excitotoicity) can lead to seizures and may contribute to stroke related brain damage, huntingtons diease, Alzheimers disease,
Endorphin
inhibitory- analegesic properties and may be responsible for pain relief produced by accupunture, also involved in pleasurable experiences, memory, learning and sexual behavior.
Spinal Cord- Five groups
top to bottom: cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacrum, and coccyx
Quadriplegia vs Paraplegia
Quadriplegia- involves a loss of sensory and voluntary motor functioning in the arms and legs.
Paraplegia- damage at the thoracic level- entails a loss of sensory and voluntary functioning in the legs.
Meninges
brain and spinal cord are encased in three membranes: dura mater, arachnoid, and pia mater
Cerebral Ventricles/Hydrocephalus
caused by an obstruction of the flow of CSF that leads to a build up of fluid and some enlargements of the ventricles, and larger than normal ventricles have been found in individuals with schizophrenia
Somatic Nervous System
consists of sensory nerves that carry information from the bodys sense receptors to the CNS and motor nerves that carry information from the CNS to the skeletal muscles, voluntary movements
Sympathetic and Parasympathetic
Sympathetic Branch: associated with arousal and expenditure or energy, dialtion of pupils, dry mouth, increased blood pressure “fight or flight”
Parasympathetic Branch: conservation of energy and is active during digestion and periods of rest and relaxation.
Autonomic Nervous System:
sensory nerves that convey signals from receptors in the viscera to the CNS and motor nerves that carry signals from the CNS to the smooth muscles, cardiac muscles
unvoluntary movements, biofeedback, hypnosis, and have been found to bring some back to voluntary control
Development of the CNS
Five stages:
Proliferation: New cells are produced inside the neural tube beginning when the embryo is about 2.5 weeks old
Migration: immature neurons migrate to their final destination in the brain beginning at about 8 weeks.
Differentation: develop axons and dendrites
Myelination: axons of some nuerons myelinate, which occurs when gilal cells form an insulating sheath around cells axon
Synaptogensis: occurs postnatally, both genetic and experience factors
Evaluation of the spinal cord
Spinal X ray: initial diagnostic test,
followed by MRI- permits evaluation of soft tissue of the spinal column
Neuroimaging Techniques:
CT and MRI- structural neuroimaging techniques that provide information on the physical structure of the brain.
CT- utlizies x rays to obtain images of horiztional slices of brain tissue
CT- useful for diagnosing pathological conditions such as tumors, blood clots, and MS
MRI- uses magnetic fields and radio waves, better resolution, more detailed images
PET and FMRI - functional neuroimaging techniques
PET Scan- ( Positron emission tomography) and FMRI- provide information on brain activity
PET- individual is injected with a substance, provide information on cerebral blood flow, glucose metabolism, and oxygen consumption
PET- used for cerebrovascular disease, Alzheimers diease, and dementia, Schizophrenia.
Hindbrain
brain structure that contains medulla, pons, and cerebellum
Medulla
influences the flow of information between the spinal cord and and the brain,
Coordinates swallowing, coughing, sneezing, vital functions such as breathing, heartbeat and blood pressure.
Damage to the medulla is often fatal
Cerebellum
important for balance and posture, vital to performance of coordinated and refined motor movements
such as the timing and coordination of motor acts, and cognitive functioning
*abnormalities in cerebellum have been linked to autism, schizophrenia, and ADHD
damage to the cerebellum can cause ataxia-
Midbrain:
includes the superior and inferior colliculi, substanstia nigra and reticular formation
Thalamus
involved in motor activity, language, and memory and acts as a relay station for al incoming sensory information and transmits to the appropriate area for all the senses except **olfaction*
Hypothalamus /Suprachiasmatic Nucleus
- one of smallest brain structures involved in vital functions such as hunger, thirst, sex, sleep body tempature, movement and emotional reactions.
- damage to the hypothalmus can involve uncontrollable laughter or intense rage and aggression.
SCN- mediates the sleep wake cycle and other circadian rhythms, involved in seasonal affective disorder
Basal Ganglia
consists of three forebrain structures and one midbrain structure , caduate nuclues, putamen, globus pallidus, substantia nigra-
*involved in planning, organizing, and coordinating voluntary movement,
play a role in sensorimotor learning, and emotional states
**several disorders including Hungingtons disease, Parkinson’s disease, Tourette. OCD and ADHD
*problems linked to behavioral inhibition in ADHD have been linked to smaller than normal caudate nucleus
Amygdala
integrates, coordinates, and directs emotional activities, emotions to memory, recall of emotional charged events such as flashbulb memories
Hippocampus
involved with processing spatial, visual and verbal information and consolidating declarative memories,
*bilateral removal as a treatment for epilespy causes anterograde and retrograde amnsia for events occurring up to three years prior the surgeru