Task 1- Biological Bases of Behaviour

Question 1

What are the main functions of the hindbrain?

Answer 1

The hindbrain controls vital activities with no conscious control

Question 2

What are the main functions of the midbrain?

Answer 2

The midbrain receives messages from all senses (except smell) and sends them to higher brain regions

Question 3

What are the main functions of the forebrain?

Answer 3

The forebrain plays a role in how we think, feel and behave

Question 4

What is the corpus callosum and how does it function?

Answer 4

The corpus callosum is a thick band of nerve fibres that connects left and right hemispheres. It allows contralateral organisation

Question 5

What is a CAT scan?

Answer 5

Computerised (axial) tomography- scanning technique. An X-ray sends narrow beams through head and scans 180 degrees. This produces cross sectional image of brain (can be seen at any level). It also aids in detection of tumours, strokes and other injuries

Question 6

What is an MRI?

Answer 6

An MRI is a Magnetic Resonance Image, which is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body

Question 7

What is an FMRI?

Answer 7

An FMRI is a Functional Magnetic Resonance Image, which is used to measure activity in brain where neurons are consuming oxygen

Question 8

What is a PET scan? Explain the procedure

Answer 8

A PET scan is Positron Emission Tomography, which is used to analyse glucose consumption in the brain. It can identify abnormalities by comparing results with a healthy person. Glucose with a radioactive tracer is injected into the blood, and the higher energy/activity level, the higher the glucose consumption

Question 9

Who was Phineas Gage?

Answer 9

Phineas P. Gage was an American railroad construction foreman who is most remembered for his survival of an accident in which a large iron rod was driven completely through his head, destroying much of his brain’s left frontal lobe, and for that injury’s reported effects on his personality and behaviour over the remaining 12 years of his life. His friends described him as ‘no longer Gage’

Question 10

What is the main function of the cerebellum?

Answer 10

The cerebellum uses information to regulate posture and balance and coordinate fine muscle movement.

Question 11

What does the medulla control?

Answer 11

The medulla controls vital functions such as heart rate, breathing digestion and swallowing

Question 12

What are the main functions of the Temporal lobes?

Answer 12

speech and hearing

Question 13

What are the main functions of the Occipital lobes?

Answer 13

vision

Question 14

What are the main functions of the Parietal lobes?

Answer 14

bodily sensations

Question 15

What are the main functions of the Frontal lobes?

Answer 15

The frontal lobes have high mental ability and control of movement. They are also the most highly developed part of the brain

Question 16

What does the forebrain contain?

Answer 16

thalamus, cerebrum, cerebral cortex, corpus callosum

Question 17

What are the functions of the left hemisphere?

Answer 17

verbal functions, reason, interpreting information

Question 18

What are the functions of the right hemisphere?

Answer 18

non-verbal activities, spatial tasks

Question 19

What is the cell body?

Answer 19

part of a neuron which contains the nucleus and the organelles. It also controls maintenance and metabolism

Question 20

What are the dendrites?

Answer 20

part of a neuron which branches from cell body that receive incoming information

Question 21

What are axons?

Answer 21

part of a neuron that transmit information to other neurons

Question 22

What is the myelin sheath?

Answer 22

part of a neuron that protects and insulates axons

Question 23

What is an EEG?

Answer 23

Electroencephalograph- scanning technique which can investigate the whole brain without being invasive via recording brain waves. It can identify different patterns of brain waves and can indicate a problem (ie epilepsy or tumour). However it cannot provide information from deep within brain or identify part of brain activated

Question 24

Who was Roger Sperry and why is he significant?

Answer 24

Roger Walcott Sperry was an American neuropsychologist who during the 1950s and 1960s, performed experiments on cats, monkeys, and humans to study functional differences between the two hemispheres of the brain. He did this through the study of the corpus callosum. He discovered that if hemispheres were not connected, they functioned independently of one another, which he called a split-brain

Question 25

What are the 3 types of drugs?

Answer 25

depressants, stimulants and hallucinogens

Question 26

How do depressants effect the body?

Answer 26

calms activity of nervous system and slows body functions

Question 27

How do stimulants effect the body?

Answer 27

excites the nervous system and arouses body functions

Question 28

How do hallucinogens effect the body?

Answer 28

changes perceptions and gives sensory images without input from senses

Question 29

What is an example of a depressant?

Answer 29

alcohol

Question 30

What is an example of a stimulant?

Answer 30

amphetamines

Question 31

What is an example of a hallucinogen?

Answer 31

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