PSYCHOBIOLOGY: the nervous system structure

Question 1

what is meant by ‘psychology?’

Answer 1

the study of the soul & mind
what brains do

Question 2

describe the dualist approach

Answer 2

• the mind & matter are separate and different
• the interaction and influence on each other
• they are a mystery so cannot be studied

Question 3

describe the materialist approach

Answer 3

• the mind is what brains do
• it is a mystery that we can investigate

Question 4

what is ‘psychobiology’?

Answer 4

the study of the biological basis of human behaviour which studies the ‘how’ of behaviour

Question 5

what is ‘behaviour’?

Answer 5

an organism’s internally coordinated response to stimuli in the internal / external environment

Question 6

describe the 3 systems influenced by the environment

Answer 6

• immune: protects body from infection
• endocrine: maintains & regulates internal state
• nervous: controls activity by coordinating rapid & precise responses to stimuli

Question 7

what are the 3 steps of behaviour?

Answer 7

• register information
• internal change
• response

Question 8

what is a complex behaviour?

Answer 8

combining inputs to generate a variety of outputs

Question 9

how do single cell organisms register

Answer 9

molecule attaches to cell membrane

Question 10

how do single cell organisms transform the information

Answer 10

a chemical change at the cell membrane leads to a simple chemical change cascade inside the cell in a cyclic chain which feeds back on itself

Question 11

what is the single cell organisms responses

Answer 11

responses are direct results of particular behaviours

Question 12

how do complex organisms register

Answer 12

molecule attaches to receptor cell membrane

Question 13

how do complex organisms transform information

Answer 13

a chemical change at the membrane leads to a chemical change cascade inside the cell, causing chemical changes in other nerve cells so that the nerve impulse is transmitted along neural pathways

Question 14

what is the complex organisms response

Answer 14

output system activation, many different outputs

Question 15

what is the only animal which does not have a nervous system?

Answer 15

sponges

Question 16

what is a nervous system?

Answer 16

a network of electro chemically active cells which are specialised to communicate with each other

Question 17

what is a centralised nervous system?

Answer 17

central and peripheral nervous systems are separate
- functionally more hierarchically organised
- brain specialised to organise and direct neuronal communication

Question 18

what is an uncentralised nervous system?

Answer 18

simplest form
- no nerve control centre
- no control of other neuron’s or distant body part actions

Question 19

what is the CNS?

Answer 19

brain, CNS & spinal cord
encased in bones

Question 20

what is the PNS

Answer 20

peripheral nervous system

Question 21

describe the PNS when there is input from sense organs

Answer 21

somatic nervous system –> output is voluntary from skeletal muscles

Question 22

describe the PNS when there is no external input

Answer 22

autonomic NS (automatically controlled) –> sympathetic / parasympathetic –> output is involuntary from muscles and glands

Question 23

sympathetic NS

Answer 23

fight or flight

Question 24

parasympathetic NS

Answer 24

rest & maintenance

Question 25

what is behaviour?

Answer 25

detection, transformation & motor command performed by sensory & motor neurones inside the spinal cord without involving the brain

Question 26

describe the spinal cord & CNS/PNS links

Answer 26

• sensory signals from the body enters the CNS via the spinal cord
• motor signals to the body leave the CNS via the spinal cord

Question 27

what is the role of monosynaptic reflexes?

Answer 27

work to resist or dampen quick stretching of skeletal muscle to enable smooth & stable movement without us having to think about it

Question 28

describe the process of monosynaptic reflexes

Answer 28

• muscle spindles inside muscle fibres activate a sensory neurone when muscle is quickly stretched
• axons enter spinal cord via the dorsal root
• axons connect directly with the motor neurone which sends axons out via the ventral root
• the original muscle is activated causing it to contract

Question 29

what is a polysynaptic reflex?

Answer 29

sensory and motor neurones in different locations are connected via one or more interneurons in a flexible arrangement

Question 30

what is a synapse?

Answer 30

signalling link between a neurone and another cell

Question 31

what is a structural synapse?

Answer 31

the specialised sender part of the neutron comes close to the specialised receptor part of a target cell

Question 32

what is a functional synapse?

Answer 32

all neurone contribute to the same signal no matter how many contact points there are
- monosynaptic = 1 synapse links the sensory & motor
- polysynaptic = several synapses between sensory & motor

Question 33

what is learning?

Answer 33

modifying links between inputs and responses

Question 34

what is a central pattern generator?

Answer 34

spinal cord neurons generate complex movement patterns but cannot voluntarily initiate movement - the patterns are elicited in response to appropriate stimulations

Question 35

what is voluntary control?

Answer 35

initiated and controlled by the brain