Topic 3 - Biological Foundations Flashcards

1
Q

What are neurons?

A

The building blocks of the brain.

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2
Q

What are the four types of neurons?

A
  • Sensory neurons
  • Interneurons
  • Motor neurons
  • Glial cells
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3
Q

What do sensory neurons do?

A

Help recode and transmit outside information to the spinal cord and brain.

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4
Q

What do interneurons do?

A

Communicate with other neurons.

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5
Q

What do motor neurons do?

A

Transmit messages from the central nervous system to the muscles.

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6
Q

What is the ratio of glial cells to neurons and what do they do?

A

10:1, these cells are important for waste disposal, axon protection, learning, and memory.

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7
Q

What is the basic journey through the neuron?

A
  1. Dendrite
  2. Nucleus
  3. Axon
  4. Axon terminal
  5. Synapse
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8
Q

What do dendrites do?

A

Absorb chemical stimulation from other neurons.

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9
Q

What does the nucleus do?

A

If there’s enough dendritic activity, it fires action potentials.

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10
Q

What does the axon do?

A

Conducts the electrical signal to axon terminals.

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11
Q

What does the axon terminal do?

A

Turn the electrical signal into a chemical squirt.

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12
Q

What is the synapse?

A

The jump the chemical has to make to be taken up by the next dendrite.

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13
Q

How do we observe action potentials?

A

Attaching microelectrodes to neurons.

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14
Q

Approximately how long does it take action potentials to fire?

A

5ms.

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15
Q

What are the steps for firing an action potential?

A
  1. Resting charge of -70mV
  2. Depolarization to positive charge
  3. Repolarization to negative charge
  4. Refractory period resulting in overcompensated negative charge
  5. Return to resting state in 5ms
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16
Q

What is the resting potential of the neuron?

A

The electrical charge inside the neuron when the neuron is at rest and receiving no stimulation.

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17
Q

When does an action potential become more likely?

A

When the negative resting potential becomes positive or when it becomes more negative because of hyperpolariztion.

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18
Q

What is another way in which information between neurons can be transmitted?

A

Through changes in chemical energy.

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19
Q

What are neurotransmitters?

A

Keys that unlock the gate for certain ions to jump through.

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20
Q

What do excitatory neurotransmitters do?

A

Allow positively charged ions into the postsynaptic cell, increasing the chance of an action potential.

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21
Q

What do inhibitory neurotransmitters do?

A

Allow negatively charged ions into the postsynaptic cell, decreasing the chance of an action potential.

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22
Q

What two ways do neurotransmitters reset?

A
  • Terminal reuptake

- Chemical breakdown

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23
Q

What are some important neurotransmitters?

A
  • Acetylcholine
  • Norepinephrine
  • Serotonin
  • Dopamine
  • GABA
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24
Q

What are some synthetic neurotransmitters?

A
  • Botoz

- Prozac

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25
Q

How are differences in the sensory environment coded?

A

Changes in the rate of axon firing.

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26
Q

What is key about the autonomic nervous system?

A

It’s involuntary.

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27
Q

What does the parasympathetic nervous system do?

A

Maintains bodily function and inhibits the sympathetic.

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28
Q

When does the sympathetic nervous system activate?

A

When under pressure.

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29
Q

What does the somatic nervous system do?

A

Voluntary, controls sensory and motor nerves.

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30
Q

What are the three axes of the brain?

A
  • Ventral (bottom) dorsal (top)
  • Anterior (front) posterior (back)
  • Medial (central) lateral (closer to ears)
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31
Q

What is the cerebral cortex?

A

The part of the brain that controls conscious function and psychology is most interested in.

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32
Q

What does the corpus callosum do?

A

Maintains connections between the brain’s hemispheres.

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33
Q

What does the thalamus do?

A

Relays key sensory signals (except smell) to the cortex.

34
Q

What does the hypothalamus do?

A

Controls the endocrine (hormonal) system.

35
Q

What is the hippocampus?

A

The hub related to learning, memory, and space.

36
Q

What does the cerebellum do?

A

Regulates balance and body control.

37
Q

What does the brain stem do?

A

Regulates breathing and heart rate.

38
Q

What does the frontal lobe relate to?

A

Personality and executive functioning.

39
Q

What is the homonculus?

A

Essentially, a map of the body on the brain, located on the parietal lobes.

40
Q

What do temporal lobes do?

A

Help process auditory information.

41
Q

What is Wernicke’s area

A

A part of the brain that deals with word repetition (not comprehension).

42
Q

What does the occipital lobe do?

A

Processes visual information.

43
Q

What does using the homonculus help treat?

A

Phantom limb.

44
Q

What happened to Phineas Gage and what did he help us understand?

A

A railroad rod penetrated through his left eye, lowering his benevolence and agreeableness. He helped us understand the functions each part of the brain performs.

45
Q

How can we observe the brain and brain damage?

A
  • Before and after studies
  • Lesion studies
  • Dissociation deficits
46
Q

What do lesion studies focus on?

A

The removed part of the brain.

47
Q

What do single-dissociation deficits focus on?

A

The dissociation between behaviours in a single participant with a lesion.

48
Q

What do double-dissociation deficits focus on?

A

The dissociation between behaviours between two people with mirror image lesions.

49
Q

What does TMS do and what is an advantage and disadvantage?

A

Disrupts brain’s magnetic fields:

  • Pro: safe way of simulating lesions
  • Con: effects are not long lasting for epileptic samples
50
Q

What does ERP do and what is an advantage and disadvantage?

A

Records electrical fields:

  • Pro: very precise
  • Con: spatially diffuse
51
Q

What does PET do and what is an advantage and disadvantage?

A

Records distribution of glucose:

  • Pro: allows for insights into the functionality of brain regions
  • Con: poor spatial resolution, involves radioactive substances
52
Q

What does MRI do and what is an advantage and disadvantage?

A

Records distribution of oxygenated blood:

  • Pro: helps reveal brain networks
  • Con: BOLD signal slow, not sure what it means
53
Q

What does the endocrine system do?

A

Interacts with the autonomic nervous system for body regulation and secretion of hormones into the bloodstream.

54
Q

What is the pituitary gland?

A

The main secretor of testosterone and estrogen.

55
Q

When does the adrenal gland kick in?

A

When in trouble, it kicks in with norepinephrine and epinephrine, mobilizing the body by increasing glucose and heart rate.

56
Q

What does the immune system do?

A

Figures out good and bad substances and generates antibodies to destroy biological enemies.

57
Q

What is a consequence of an external threat to an under-active immune system?

A

Infection.

58
Q

What is a consequence of an internal threat to an under-active immune system?

A

Cancer.

59
Q

What is a consequence of an external threat to an over-active immune system?

A

Allergy.

60
Q

What is a consequence of an internal threat to an over-active immune system?

A

Auto-immune reaction.

61
Q

What is an allergy?

A

An over-reaction of the immune system to an external threat that results in the excretion of too much histamine.

62
Q

What is an autoimmune reaction?

A

An incorrect attack by the immune system on our own body.

63
Q

How many cells does each body have?

A

100 trillion.

64
Q

What cells don’t contain a nucleus?

A

Red blood cells.

65
Q

How many chromosomes does each nucleus contain?

A

46, arranged in 23 pairs.

66
Q

Where does each chromosome come from?

A

One from each parent.

67
Q

What are genes?

A

Segments of DNA that hold instructions to make proteins, the building blocks of life.

68
Q

What are phenotypes?

A

Expressed characteristics inherited from your parents.

69
Q

What are genotypes?

A

Non-expressed characteristics from your parents.

70
Q

When is a trait recessive?

A

When both parents contain the gene and it’s passed onto you. They can be expressed even if both parents don’t express it.

71
Q

What is the probability of sharing a gene with your biological parent?

A

50%.

72
Q

What is the probability of sharing a gene with your biological grandparent?

A

25%.

73
Q

When will dominant genes be expressed?

A

Only when you have one copy.

74
Q

How do we study nature versus nurture in twins?

A

Find identical and fraternal twins separated at birth and raised in different environments.

75
Q

What are the components of the five-factor model?

A
  • Openness
  • Conscientiousness
  • Extraversion
  • Agreeableness
  • Neuroticism
76
Q

What is the heritability coefficient?

A

The extent to which genetics account for within-variation in a group of individuals.

77
Q

What increased through time due to adaptation?

A

Brain size.

78
Q

What decreased through time due to adaptation?

A

Jaw and teeth sizes.

79
Q

What is the key principle of evolution?

A

Characteristics that facilitate reproduction are more likely to be transmitted and vice-versa.

80
Q

What is evolutionary noise?

A

Currently neutral characteristics that may be transmitted in the future.

81
Q

What is a new adaptation phasing in?

A

Reading.

82
Q

What is an old adaptation phasing out?

A

A predisposition for sweet food.