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Psychobiology Flashcards

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1
Q

Adrenal cortex

A

Outer portion of adrenal gland.

Secretes stress-related hormones.

Aldosterone, cortisol.

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2
Q

Acetylcholine

A

Neurotransmitter: Allows neurons to communicate with each other.

Controls: attention, arousal in CNS; activates muscles in PNS.

Deficiency: Memory loss.

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3
Q

Serotonin

A

Inhibitory hormone.

Location: Digestive tract, CNS, pineal gland, blood platelets.

Controls: Mood, sleep, sexual desire, learning and memory.

Deficiency: Depression, aggression.

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4
Q

Axon

A

Part of the neuron.

Tube-like structure.

Transmits information from cell body to terminal buttons using electrical signals.

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5
Q

Somatosensory cortex

A

Location: Parietal lobe.

Signals come from spinal cord, brain stem and thalamus.

Processes touch signals, including pain and temperature.

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6
Q

Episodic memory

A

Part of declarative, implicit memory.

Enables recollection of specific autobiographical events.

Memories are time and space related.

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7
Q

Temporal summation

A

Single presynaptic neuron fires many times in succession.

Causes postsynaptic neuron to reach threshold and fire.

Results in larger than normal response.

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8
Q

Orientation column

A

Location: Primary visual cortex.

Vertical piece of striate cortex.

Reactive to stimulants of same orientation.

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9
Q

Anterograde amnesia

A

Loss of ability to create new memories.

Allows recollection of long-term memories from before amnesia.

Opposite of retrograde amnesia.

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10
Q

Amygdala

A

Location: Medial temporal lobe.

Almond-shaped mass of nuclei.

Part of limbic system.

Controls: Emotion, fear, pleasure, memory.

Damage: Anxiety, autism, PTSD, phobias.

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11
Q

Myelin

A

Electrically-insulating, fatty layer around axons.

Allows information to travel faster from cell body to terminal buttons.

Prevents signals from traveling to unintended neurons.

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12
Q

Corpus callosum

A

Thick bundle of neural fibres.

Runs through middle of brain, separating hemispheres.

Facilitates inter-hemispheric communication of motor, sensory and cognitive information.

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13
Q

Broca’s aphasia

A

Damage to Broca’s area, left frontal side of brain.

Spoken and written language is severely impaired.

May be able to read and understand speech.

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14
Q

Synaptic vesicle

A

Location: Inside axon, near presynaptic membrane.

Secretory vesicle containing neurotransmitters.

Releases contents into synaptic cleft after receiving nerve impulse from synaptic button.

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15
Q

Hypothalamus

A

Location: Below thalamus, above brainstem.

Part of limbic system.

Links nervous system to endocrine system via pituitary gland.

Controls: Metabolism, ANS, hormone secretion, homeostasis, temperature, hunger and thirst, sleep.

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16
Q

HM

A

Henry Molaison. Suffered global amnesia at 27 after removal of hippocampi, but left intelligence intact.

Retrograde amnesia for a few years before operation.

Played important role in development of theories linking brain function and memory, and cognitive neuropsychology.

Taught us: Short term memories do not require hippocampus. Hippocampus is required to convert short term memories into long term storage, but not for retrieval.

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17
Q

Chlorpromazine

A

Dopamine antagonist.

Anti-psychotic; used to treat schizophrenia and manic bi-polar.

Revolutionised treatment of severe mental illnesses.

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18
Q

Pure word blindness / Alexia without agraphia

A

Alexia: Cuts off information flow between visual cortex and left angular gyrus.

Usually results from brain lesion or congenital defect.

Loss of ability to read or understand written word; can not claim words from memory.

Maintains ability to write, spell and speak.

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19
Q

fMRI

A

Functional magnetic resonance imaging.

Measures brain activity by detecting associated changes in blood flow.

Non-invasive; does not involve radiation; excellent spatial resolution; good temporal resolution.

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20
Q

Beta-blocker

A

Drugs that target beta receptors found on SNS (Propranolol).

Blocks release of stress hormones (adrenaline and noradrenaline).

Used to treat anxiety-related illnesses.

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21
Q

Negative symptoms

A

Thoughts, feelings or behaviours normally present that are absent or diminished.

Often linked with schizophrenia.

Social withdrawal; apathy; poverty of speech; inability to experience pleasure; limited emotional expression; defective attention control.

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22
Q

Dopamine

A

Neurotransmitter controlling brain reward and pleasure centres.

Regulates movement and emotional responses.

Essential to normal functioning of CNS.

Deficiency: Parkinson’s disease.

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23
Q

Korsakoff’s psychosis

A

Neurological disorder, lack of thiamine in brain.

Linked to chronic alcohol abuse and/or severe malnutrition.

Symptoms: Amnesia; confabulation; poor conversation; lack of insight; apathy.

24
Q

Global aphasia

A

Loss of ability to speak and write.

Damage to Wernicke’s and Broca’s areas.

Often caused by stroke.

25
Q

Clozapine

A

Sedative, anti-psychotic drug used to treat schizophrenia.

Interferes with binding of dopamine to receptors.

Usually last resort due to serious side-effects.

26
Q

Spatial summation

A

Neural impulse propagated by the stimulation of several spatially separated neurons at same time.

Achieves action potential in neuron using input from multiple presynaptic cells.

One synapse discharge is not enough.

27
Q

Right visual field

A

Visual signals from right hemifields of both eyes.

Sent to left hemisphere of brain via optic chiasm.

Image falls on nasal retina.

28
Q

Thalamus

A

Midline symmetrical structure of two halves, between cerebral cortex and midbrain, at top of brainstem.

Part of limbic system.

Receives sensory and motor signals from spinal cord; determines what to relay to cerebral cortex.

Controls: States of consciousness, motor control, auditory, somatosensory and visual sensory signals.

29
Q

Pituitary gland

A

Small, oval endocrine gland; two lobes.

Location: Bottom of hypothalamus, base of brain.

Secretes 9 hormones that regulate homeostasis.

Controls: Growth, metabolism, maturation.

30
Q

Somatic nervous system

A

Voluntary NS; part of PNS.

Controls: Sensation (eyes, ears, tongue, skin), voluntary movement of skeletal muscles.

Afferent: Carries sensation signals into CNS.
Efferent: carries signals from CNS to muscles.

Contains 3 parts: Spinal nerves; cranial nerves; association nerves.

31
Q

Dichotic listening

A

Behavioural technique for studying brain asymmetry in auditory processing

Presentation of stimulas to one ear that differs from stimulas presented to other ear.

Result based on what part of input is selected for conscious analysis.

32
Q

Reticular formation

A

Network of neurons in central area of brainstem.

One of the oldest parts of the brain.

Transmits sensory stimuli to higher brain centres.

Controls: Consciousness, sleep, breathing, wakefulness, focus, filtering of sensory stimuli, food digestion.

Damage: Comatose state.

33
Q

Temporal lobe

A

Lower lateral lobe of either cerebral hemisphere; front of occipital lobe, below parietal lobe.

Controls: Sensory input processing; auditory perception; retention of visual memories; memory recall; language perception and production; emotion; deriving meaning; speech.

34
Q

Wernicke’s aphasia

A

Severe impairment of ability to understand spoken or written words.

Damage to medial temporal lobe; cuts off occipital, temporal and parietal regions from core language function.

Can speak normally, but not meaningfully.

35
Q

Ventricle

A

One of four interconnecting cavities of brain.

Contains cerebral spinal fluid.

Ventricle lining consists of epithelial membrane: ependyma.

36
Q

Angular gyrus

A

Location: Parietal lobe;
above temporal lobe.

Controls: Language; number processing; spatial cognition; memory retrieval; attention;
theory of mind.

Damage: Unable to
understand metaphors.

37
Q

Hippocampus

A

Location: Under cerebral cortex; in medial temporal lobe; part of limbic system.

Encodes short-term memories into long-term memories.

Controls: Spatial memory; navigation.

Damage: Alzheimer’s disease; amnesia.

38
Q

Procedural memory

A

Type of long-term memory; part of non-declarative, implicit memories; created by repetition of complex action.

Controls: Performance of particular actions (tying shoes; driving; reading).

Resides below level of conscious awareness; Difficult to remember where skill was learnt.

39
Q

Action potential

A

Explosion of electrical activity created by depolarising current of -55.

Occurs when neuron sends informations down axon, away from cell body.

Neural membrane allows positively charged ions in and negatively charged ions out.

All or none principle.

40
Q

Killer T cells

A

Heterogeneous group of T cells.

Share properties of T cells and NK cells.

Destroys target cells when specifically activated by T cells.

Plays central role in cell-mediated immunity.

41
Q

Autonomic nervous system

A

Regulates involuntary nervous system; part of PNS.

Location: Medulla oblongata; lower brain stem.

Functions below level of consciousness.

Divides into parasympathetic and sympathetic NS.

Controls: Heart rate; digestion; respiratory rate; salivation; perspiration; sexual arousal; reflexes.

42
Q

Lateral geniculate nucleus

A

Processing centre for visual information received from retina, which is then relayed to occipital lobe.

Location: Inside thalamus.

Terminus of fibres of the optic tract.

43
Q

Wada test

A

Administered to epilepsy patients.

Used to to determine whether right or left cerebral hemisphere is dominant for speech

Inject anaesthetic into right or left internal carotid artery.

44
Q

Secondary appraisal

A

Carried out after primary stress appraisal.

Assessment of ability to cope with consequences of an event.

Used to predict which emotions will be elicited from certain circumstances.

45
Q

Node of Ranvier

A

Tiny gaps formed between myelin sheaths.

Axonal membrane is not insulated at these points, allowing it to generate electrical activity and conduction.

Allows nutrients and waste to enter and exit neuron.

46
Q

Optic chiasma

A

X-shaped space where optic nerves cross to other hemisphere.

Location: Bottom of brain; immediately below hypothalamus; in front of pituitary gland.

Nasal half of left eye crosses with temporal half half of right eye; nasal half of right eye crosses with temporal half of left eye.

47
Q

Left visual field

A

Visual signals from left hemifields of both eyes.

Sent to right hemisphere of brain via optic chiasm.

Image falls on temporal retina.

48
Q

Apraxia

A

Motor planning disorder of CNS.

Loss of ability to execute coordinated muscular movements or manipulate objects, despite desire and physical ability.

Caused by damage to specific areas of cerebrum.

49
Q

Substantia nigra

A

Location: Midbrain.

Black appearance due to melanin pigment within dopamine-producing neurons.

Controls: Reward; addiction; movement.

Damage: Parkinson’s disease.

50
Q

Postcentral gyrus

A

Location: Parietal Lobe, just posterior to central sulcus.

Parallel to precentral gyrus of temporal lobe

Location of primary somatosensory cortex: main sensory receptive area for touch (temperature, pain).

51
Q

Nigrostriatal pathway

A

Efferent neural pathway connecting substantia nigra with corpus striatum.

One of 4 major dopamine pathways; part of basal ganglia motor loop.

Controls: Head and eye movement.

Loss of dopamine neurons results in Parkinson’s disease.

52
Q

Basal ganglia

A

Group of structures that regulates voluntary movement, balance, eye movements, posture.

Location: Deep within cerebral hemispheres; part of corpus striatum; links thalamus with motor cortex.

Controls: Cognition and emotion; reward and punishment; addiction and habit.

Damage: Parkinson’s; Huntington’s; cerebral palsy.

53
Q

Delusions

A

Belief held with strong conviction despite superior evidence to the contrary.

Often symptom of mental illness.

Linked to schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder, psychotic depression.

54
Q

Prosopagnosia

A

Face blindness/ visual agnosia: impaired ability to recognise faces.

Damage to fusiform gyrus.

Must use object recognition (piecemeal, feature by feature) system to recognise faces.

55
Q

Peripheral nervous system

A

Consists of nerves and ganglia outside brain and spinal cord.

Connects CNS to limbs and organs.

Relays information to and from CNS.

Divides into somatic and autonomic NS.

Controls voluntary and involuntary actions.

Psychology (1 decks)

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