Psychobiology Flashcards
What makes up a neuron?
A cell body, an axon, and dendrites
What is a synpase?
A tiny gap between neurons
What is SSRI, and explain it in details?
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. It’s linked to antidepressants. Usually, people with low serotonin takes it. After serotonin is released, the sending neuron usually takes it back. But if the neuron is stopped from doing this, more serotonin stays between the neurons, helping them communicate better and improving mood.
What is the pineal gland?
This part of the brain helps control sleep by producing a hormone called melatonin. It releases more melatonin when it’s dark, making you feel sleepy, and less when it’s light, helping you stay awake.
Explain what Dopamine is
Dopamine is a hormone associated with pleasure and motivation.
* It is released during enjoyable activities
* The brain releases dopamine to encourage behaviors that are beneficial.
* Behaviors that are harmful or unpleasant do not trigger dopamine release.
What is a neuron?
A specialized cells that send impulses in the brain.
Explain neurotransmitters
Neurotransmitters are chemicals that help neurons (nerve cells) communicate with each other. When a neuron sends an electrical signal, it triggers the release of neurotransmitters into a gap called the synapse. These chemicals then bind to receptors on the next neuron to pass along the message.
Explain synapse
A synapse is the small gap or junction between two neurons where communication occurs. It is the site where one neuron communicates with another or with an effector (such as a muscle or gland).
Explain how neurotransmission works
Neurotransmitters (e.g., dopamine, serotonin, acetylcholine) travel across the synapse and bind to receptors on neighboring neurons, influencing their activity. This process governs everything from mood and emotions to movement and thought.
Explain the function of a synapse
A synapse is the small gap or junction between two neurons where communication occurs. It is the site where one neuron communicates with another or with an effector (such as a muscle or gland.
What is the black box?
Input: Stimuli or information received from the environment (e.g., sensory input).
Processing: Internal mechanisms in the nervous system (the “black box”) that analyze and interpret the input.
Output: Behavioral responses or actions resulting from the processing, such as physical reactions or emotional responses.
Key Point: The black box describes the processing stage between input and output, emphasizing that the internal workings of the nervous system are complex and often hidden.
Explain René Descartes believes
Descartes introduced the idea that some behaviors, like reflexes, are automatic and do not require conscious thought. He proposed Cartesian Dualism, suggesting the mind and body interact, particularly in the pineal gland.
Explain reductionism in psychobiology
This approach simplifies complex behaviors by studying their fundamental components. For example, to understand the fear response, researchers focus on the role of the amygdala.
What is the occipital lobe and where is it located?
Its the visual processing area of the brain and located in the back.
Explain the gas-filled tube theory
How the mind interacts with the body. He proposed that the mind sends “animal spirits” through hollow tubes (nerves) to trigger movement in the body, like how gas flows through a tube to create motion. This analogy aimed to explain the mechanism of reflexes and voluntary actions, illustrating his belief that the mind and body, while separate entities, could still influence each other.
Explain Luigi Galvani’s Discovery
He discovered that nerves transmit electrical impulses. He demonstrated this with frog experiments, showing that muscles could contract due to nerve impulses even without brain involvement. The neuron is the key to producing movements
What was the outcome of the frog experiement?
The movement relies on electrical messages sent by neurons.
Explain the Neural Transduction
Neural transduction refers to the conversion of external stimuli (such as light, sound, or touch) into electrical impulses (neural signals) that can be interpreted by the brain
Describe the two Two types of neurons: motor and sensory.
Motor nerves control muscle movement.
Sensory nerves relay information to the brain.
Explain the model:
(Brain) —> (Nerve) —> (Muscle)
The brain sends a signal to the nerves, which carry it to the muscles. When the signal reaches the muscle, it triggers a contraction, causing movement. This process allows the brain to control voluntary actions like walking or lifting an arm.
What is basal ganglia?
Think of it as a team of different brain parts that work together to make sure your movements are smooth and well-coordinated.
Key Roles:
Helps initiate and control smooth movements.
Involved in learning habits and motor skills.
Dysfunction in the basal ganglia is linked to movement disorders like Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease.
Explain the somatosensory cortex and what it does
Its a part of the brain that processes sensory information from your body. It helps you feel things like touch, pressure, temperature, and pain.
- Located in the parietal lobe of the brain.
- It receives signals from all over your body, allowing you to sense where your body is and what it’s feeling.
It helps you recognize things like the texture of an object or the temperature of a surface.
In short, the somatosensory cortex lets your brain understand what’s happening with your body through touch and other sensations
Whats the main function of the cerebellum?
The cerebellum is a part of the brain that helps control balance, coordination, and fine movements. It ensures that your movements are smooth and precise.
What is myelin sheath, and what is the purpose of it?
The myelin sheath is a fatty layer that covers and protects the axons of some nerve cells (neurons).
Purpose:
Insulation: It helps keep electrical signals from leaking out, like how insulation keeps electricity from escaping a wire.
Speed: The myelin sheath makes signals travel faster along the nerve, allowing quick communication between different parts of the body.
Protection: It also protects the axon from damage.
Explain the pre frontal cortex
The front of the brain. Its all the complex things happening here.
Its important for thinking, planning, and managing how you behave in different situations.
What is cerebral localisation?
Definition: The concept that specific areas of the brain are responsible for different functions.
Key Points:
Different brain parts control various activities (e.g., frontal lobe for decision-making, occipital lobe for vision).
Supported by studies showing that damage to specific areas affects certain abilities.
What is the central sulcus?
The central sulcus is a prominent groove in the brain that separates two key areas: the frontal lobe and the parietal lobe.
Who’s Phineas Gage?
A 19th-century railroad worker famous for a severe brain injury.
Accident: In 1848, an iron rod pierced his skull, damaging his frontal lobe.
Behavioral Changes: After the injury, he became impulsive and socially inappropriate, contrasting with his previous responsible personality.
Significance: His case provided early evidence of the frontal lobe’s role in personality and decision-making, linking brain function to behavior.
What is the 2 types of cells that makes up the brain?
Neurons:
Function: Main signaling cells that transmit information through electrical and chemical signals.
Role: Responsible for communication within the brain and with the rest of the body, enabling thought, feeling, and movement.
Glial Cells (Glia):
Function: Support and protect neurons.
Role: Maintain the environment around neurons, provide nutrients, remove waste, and form the myelin sheath that insulates axons.
Who discovered the synapse?
Charles Scott Sherrington
Whos disvored the first neurontransmitter and what was it called?
Henry Dale, acetylcholine
Explain the Cerebral Cortex
It’s the outer layer of the brain and is.
Functions:
Sensory Processing: It processes sensory information from your senses (like touch, sight, and hearing).
Motor Control: It is responsible for planning and executing voluntary movements.
Cognitive Functions: It plays a key role in thinking, reasoning, memory, and language.
Divisions: The cerebral cortex is divided into four main lobes:
Frontal Lobe: Involved in decision-making and planning.
Parietal Lobe: Processes sensory information.
Temporal Lobe: Responsible for hearing and memory.
Occipital Lobe: Processes visual information.
Why is the case with patient HM important?
Background: Underwent surgery to treat epilepsy, resulting in the removal of parts of his medial temporal lobes, including the hippocampus.
Memory Loss: Experienced anterograde amnesia—unable to form new long-term memories but retained short-term memory and existing memories.
Significance:
Highlighted the crucial role of the hippocampus in memory formation.
Helped distinguish between different types of memory (short-term vs. long-term) and their brain regions.
Explain anterograde amnesia
Anterograde amnesia is a condition where a person cannot form new memories after an event, while they may still recall memories from before that event
What is Purkinje cells?
Purkinje cells are a type of neuron found in the cerebellum, which is located at the back of the brain.
What is photonrecepter?
What is a receptor?
an organ or cell able to respond to light, heat, or other external stimuli and transmit a signal to a sensory nerve. Converting all of the stimuli into electrical energy to the brain.
Explain readiness potential
Readiness Potential: This brain signal indicating preparation to move happens about 300 milliseconds before a person feels aware of their decision to act.
What is miningis and where is it located?
Three layers of membranes that cover and protect your brain and spinal cord.
Dura mater: The tough, outer layer.
Arachnoid: The middle layer that looks like a spider web.
Pia mater: The delicate, inner layer that sticks closely to the brain and spinal cord.
What is the difference between the frontal lobe and the primary motor cortex (precentral gyrus)?
Frontal Lobe
Broad region at the front of the brain
Responsible for decision-making, problem-solving, personality, behavior regulation, and planning
Involves complex cognitive functions, including emotional control and speech production
Primary Motor Cortex:
A specific area in the back of the frontal lobe (along the precentral gyrus)
Controls precise, voluntary muscle movements
What is the role of the Occipital Lobe?
Function: Processes visual information. Located at the back of the brain.
Where is the Primary Motor Cortex (Precentral Gyrus) located and what is its function?
Location: On the frontal lobe, just in front of the central sulcus (precentral gyrus).
Function: Controls voluntary muscle movements.
What is the function of the Frontal Lobe?
Function: Responsible for planning movements, recent memory, and some aspects of emotions.
Where is the Central Sulcus located?
Location: Separates the frontal lobe from the parietal lobe; divides the precentral gyrus (motor cortex) from the postcentral gyrus (somatosensory cortex).
What is the function of the Primary Somatosensory Cortex (Postcentral Gyrus)?
Function: Processes body sensations like touch, pain, and temperature. Located in the parietal lobe, just behind the central sulcus.
What does the Parietal Lobe control?
Function: Responsible for processing body sensations such as touch, temperature, and pain.
Where is the Temporal Lobe and what does it do?
Location: On the sides of the brain, below the frontal and parietal lobes.
Function: Involved in hearing and advanced visual processing.
What is the role of the Occipital Lobe?
Function: Processes visual information. Located at the back of the brain.
Explain retina
The retina is a layer of photoreceptor cells at the back of your eyeball that converts light into nerve signals.
Explain simple and complex cells
Simple Cells:
Found in the brain’s visual system.
They respond to straight lines or edges in a specific direction (like a vertical line or a horizontal line).
Complex Cells:
These cells respond to lines or edges that are moving.
For example, they might respond when a vertical line moves from left to right.
Explain Unconscious Processes
Definition: Mental activities that occur without our awareness, influencing thoughts, feelings, and behaviors without conscious realization
Explain Benjamin Libet’s ressearch about brain signals
Key Finding: Libet’s experiments in the 1980s showed that brain activity related to decision-making occurs before we are consciously aware of that decision.
Readiness Potential: This brain signal indicating preparation to move happens about 300 milliseconds before a person feels aware of their decision to act.
Explain the nervours system
Is divided into 2:
Central nervous system (CNS)
peripheral nervous system (PNS)
What is the myelin sheath?
insulates the axon to increase the efficiency of the neural impulse
Without the myelin sheath, the neural impulse would be slower, weaker, and would require more energy.
What creates myelin sheath?
Myelin is produced by a type of glia called oligodendrocytes in the brain and spinal cord, and Schwann cells when found elsewhere in the nervous system.
Explain axon terminals
also called (presynaptic terminals), which form synapses with the
dendrites of other neurones and other effector organs.
Explain excitation vs. inhibition in Neural Communication
Excitation:
When a neuron is excited, it increases the likelihood that the next neuron will fire an electrical signal (action potential).
It’s like giving a “go” signal to the next neuron.
Inhibition:
In contrast, inhibition decreases the likelihood that the next neuron will fire.
It’s like a “stop” signal, preventing the next neuron from activating.
Explain the two types of blood vessels
Arteries: These blood vessels carry oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the brain and other parts of the body.
Veins: These blood vessels carry oxygen-depleted blood from the brain back to the heart.
Explain the difference between a nerve and neuron
Nerve is a lot of neurons packed together, where neuron is just one.
What are The brain and spinal cord protected with?
They are both surrounded by a protective three layer
system called the meninges:
dura mater: The tough, outer layer.
arachnoid: The middle layer that looks like a spider web.
pia mater: The delicate, inner layer that sticks closely to the brain and spinal cord.
Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF): It fills the space between the layers (in the subarachnoid space) and acts like a shock-absorber, protecting the brain and spinal cord from injury.
Blood-Brain Barrier: The blood vessels in the brain are packed tightly, which prevents harmful substances (like toxins) from entering the brain from the bloodstream.
What includes in the PNS’s somatic nervous system (SNS)?
Voluntary movements—any actions you decide to do, like walking or talking.
Sensing—it lets you feel sensations like heat, cold, pressure, and pain by sending sensory signals from your skin and muscles back to your brain.
Uses spinal nerves for body muscles and cranial nerves for head/neck muscles.