Psych Semester 1 Exam Flashcards
What is the central nervous system’s function?
recieves sensory information from the PNS, processes a response and then responds
What is the CNS comprised of?
the brain and the spinal cord
What does the spinal cord communicate in the body?
- motor (efferent) information from the brain (CNS) to the body (PNS)
- sensory (afferent) information from the body (PNS) to the brain (CNS)
What is the peripheral nervous system’s function?
conveys info from the body’s organs, muscles and glands to the CNS and vice versa.
involves both sensory and motor messages
What is the PNS comprised of?
all of the nerves and neurons in the rest of the body including muscles, organs and glands.
What two nervous systems are apart of the PNS?
autonomic NS and somatic NS
What does homeostasis mean?
returning to normal operation
What is the somatic nervous system?
What role does it play within the CNS?
is responsible for voluntary movement of skeletal muscles via motor neurons
communicates recieved sensory info (eg. pressure & temperature) to the CNS via motor neurons
What is the autonomic nervous system?
What role does it play within the CNS?
self-regulating system that contols involuntary functions eg. heartrate, digestion
links the CNS to the body’s non-skeletal muscles, organs and glands
What two nervous systems are apart of the autonomic nervous system?
sympathetic NS and parasympathetic NS
What does the sympathetic NS do?
activates the internal muscles, organs and glands to prepare for vigorous activity or to deal with stressful/threatening situation
(preparing body for fight-or-flight response)
What does the parasympathetic NS do?
maintains homeostasis or normal bodily functioning eg. resting HR, BR, digestion, etc
(returning body to a state of calm after a period of increased arousal)
What are the four lobes of the cerebral cortex?
frontal lobe, parietal lobe, occipital lobe and temporal lobe
What are the primary cortice and association areas of the frontal lobe?
- voluntary movement (PC)
- higher mental processes (eg. language production, planning, problem solving, reasoning , judgement (AA)
- personality and emotions (AA)
What would damage to the frontal lobe cause?
changes to personality & emotions e.g Phineas Gage
also changes in problem solving and flexibility
What is the primary motor cortex and where is it located?
- a band of cortex located at the back of the frontal lobe
- responsible for voluntary movements of skeletal muscles
- contralateral control
- top of the motor cortex controls the bottom of the body & vice versa
What is contralateral control?
control the opposite side of the body eg. left and right hemispheres
What would damage to the primary motor cortex cause?
unable to move parts of the body on the opposite side of damage
What is the Broca’s area?
- region of the frontal lobe responsible for speech and articulating words
What is the parietal lobe and where is it located?
(PC and AA’s)
- located behind the frontal lobe & in front of the occipital lobe
- recieves and processes sensory information (PC)
- spatial reasoning (AA)
- spatial awareness = sense of position of body (AA)
What would damage to the parietal lobe cause?
(hint: left and right differ)
left parietal lobe - disrupt ability to understand spoken or written language
right parietal lobe - cause spatial neglect or visuo-spatial deficits
What is the primary somatosensory cortex and where is it located?
- band of cortex front of parietal lobe
- responsible for recieving & processing sensory info
- contralateral control
- top of motor cortex controls bottom of body & vice versa
What would damage to the primary somatosensory cortex cause?
unable to process sensation from parts of the body on the opposite side of damage (numb)
What is the occipital lobe and where is it located?
- located at the rear of each cerebral hemisphere
- recieving and processing visual info (PC)
- integrating visual info with other lobes eg. sound, touch, taste, smell (AA)
What does damage to the occipital lobe cause?
gaps in vision, inability to visually recognise things
What is the temporal lobe and where is it located?
- located below the temples above the ear in each hemisphere
- recieves and processes auditory info (PC)
- long term memory, particularly facial recognition (AA)
- language comprehension (AA)
What does damage to the temporal lobe cause?
trouble recognising songs, sounds & faces
Where is the auditory cortex?
inside of the temporal lobe, processes auditory information
What does the left auditory cortex process?
verbal sounds
What does the right auditory cortex process?
non-verbal sounds
What three units is the brain divided into?
the hindbrain, midbrain and forebrain
Where is the hindbrain located and what is its purpose?
- located at the base of the brain near the back of the skull
(bottom back) - part of the autonomic nervous system
What does the hindbrain include?
cerebellum, medulla, pons
Where is the midbrain located and what is its purpose?
- located in the area between hindbrain & forebrain
(middle) - part of the central nervous system
- sends messages to different parts of the brain/spinal cord
What does the midbrain include?
reticular activating system - processing of sensory information, sleep & arousal)
Where is the forebrain located and what is its purpose?
- largest part of the brain and is located at the top, front
- recieving and processing sensory information
- motor function & language
What does the forebrain inlude?
thalamus (sensory stimuli excluding smell), cerebrum (high order thinking processes), hippocampus (explicit memories), amygdala (forming emotional memories)
What is hemispheric specialisation?
idea that one hemisphere has specialised functions or exerts greater control over a particular function
What connects the hemispheres and allows them to communicate?
the corpus callusom
What does the left hemisphere contol?
- verbal functions
- analytical functions
e.g logical reasoning, organisation, critically evaluating
What does the right hemisphere control?
- non-verbal functions
- spatial & visual thinking
- recoginising faces, patterns & tunes
- creative thinking
- recognising emotions
What is neural plasticity?
the way the brain changes in response to stimulation from the environment
What is developmental plasticity?
ability of synapses to change or modify in response to experience during growth and development
What are the three types of neurons?
motor neurons, inter neurons and sensory neurons
What two synapse processes are involoved in developmental plasticity
synaptogenesis - involves the formation of new synapses between the brains neurons
synaptic pruning - weak or unused connections are eliminated (brain automatically removes excess neurons so networks can expand to enable new learning)
What two non-synaptic processes contribute to the development of the brain?
development of myelin (myelination) - allows neurons to be more efficient
frontal lobe development - the last part of the brain to fully mature
What stage of life does myelination occur?
begins before birth during fetal devlopment and continues into early adulthood
What is one psychological reason for young adolsecents risk-taking behaviours?
underdeveloped prefrontal cortex - responsible for reasoning, problem-solving and impulse control
What is adaptive plasticity?
changes in the brain’s neural structure to enable adjustment to experience and compensate for lost function in the event of brain damage
How does the brain compensate for damage? (adaptive plasticity)
re-organisation - shift in connections that might alter the function/structure of a particular area of the brain
What does re-organisation involve?
- re-routing = neurons near damaged areas seek new active connections with healthy neurons
- sprouting = growth of new dendrites to make new neural connections
What is the reflex arc?
A type of neural circuit that begins with a sensory neuron at its receptor and ends with a motor neuron - directly bypass the brain and create a reflex
