U1 (AP) 1.4-1.6 Flashcards
medulla
involved in autonomic functions (heart rate, breathing, blood pressure) and some reflexes (swallowing, vomiting, sneezing)
pons
connects the brainstem and cerebellum, involved in movement and sleep.
reticular formation
responsible for control of arousal and attention for survival
midbrain
area between the hindbrain and forebrain and coordinates various muscle movements as well as sensory(auditory and visual) information.
thalamus
responsible for receiving sensory signals coming from the spinal cord and sending it to the corresponding parts of the forebrain.
hypothalamus
responsible for motivation for survival (eating enough), sexual motivation, and the fight or flight response.
amygdala
involved in intense emotions mostly anger aggression and fear. Also responsible for “flashbulb” or emotionally intense memories.
hippocampus
+ which two conditions is it linked to (diseases)
responsible for converting short-term memories into long-term memories. all memories that are encoded MUST go through this area first because researchers know that damage to this area interferes with memory encoding and learning.
(disruption causes anterograde amnesia and possibly Alzheimer’s)
frontal lobe
front part of our brain, contains the prefrontal cortex and the motor cortex. ALSO Broca’s area but ONLY ON LEFT frontal lobe. Usually.
prefrontal cortex
+ damage consequences?
responsible for thinking, judgment, problem-solving, emotional and impulse control
damage to this area may cause lack of impulse control and problems with judgment and thinking (ex. Phineas Gage)
motor cortex
controls our voluntary movements by controlling our muscles. Is contralateral, meaning the motor cortex on the left HS controls the right side of our body and vice versa.
+ more diverse and precise areas get more tissue in this area.
parietal lobe
top of our head. contains the somatosensory cortex.
somatosensory cortex
registers our sense of touch and body position. contralateral: left somatosensory cortex controls right side of the body and vice versa.
+ more diverse and precise areas of the body get more tissue in this area.
occipital lobe
back of our head. contains the visual cortex, is responsible for the sense of vision. damage here may cause blindness.
visual cortex
sense of vision: left half of each retina is processed by the left visual cortex and right half of each retina is processed by the right VC.
temporal lobe
contains the primary auditory cortex and the auditory association cortex. Responsible for hearing and understanding language! (contains Wernicke’s area, usually only on the LEFT temp.lobe.)
primary auditory cortex
sense of hearing. not lateralized, one side is processed by both cortices on both sides (L+R)
auditory association cortex
distinguishing between sounds
(also not lateralized like the primary auditory cortex)
Broca’s Area
named after paul broca.
responsible for speech articulation. (expressing yourself) bc it controls the muscles used in speech. Damage to this area may cause Broca’s aphasia which is inability to speak properly.
wernicke’s area
responsible for understanding and comprehending language.
contralateral hemispheric organization
the idea that each side of the brain controls the opposite side of the body.
hemispheric specialization/brain lateralization
specialization of function of each hemisphere
left: Language centers: Broca and Wernicke
“interpreter”
right: spatial abilities and facial recognition, stronger at controlling emotional expression, more “creative” (not proven)
association area
any area in the cerebral cortex that is not associated with receiving sensory information or controlling muscle movements. instead, they might be resonsible for higher order functions like abstract thinking, humor and judgment.
cerebral cortex
thin layer of interconnected neurons covering the hemispheres of the brain. It is the brain’s ultimate control and information processing center.
neuroplasticity
the ability of the brain to change
neurogenesis
the ability of the brain to grow new neuron cells
long term potentiation
when a group of neurons fire together repeatedly, they start firing much more efficient and smoother, because there are then more neurotransmitters and receptors.
lesioning
destroying part of the brain, usually last choice of treatment. Can impact behavior significantly.
CAT scan or CT scan
x-ray imaging that shows pictures of the structure of the brain. ONLY structure, not function or acitivity!
MRI
uses magnetism instead of x-ray imaging so patients aren’t exposed to cancerogenic substances. Also only shows structure and not activity/ function.
PET scan
a certain chemical is ingested that contains radioactive dye. (ex: glucose) when the chemical reaches the brain it paints the active parts: red/warm colors are high activity and blue/cool colors are low activity.
fMRI
combines elements of the MRI (magnetism) and PET (coloring of active parts) to show both the structure, blood flow and function of the brain.
MEG
measures the brain’s activity with magnetic waves.
NREM sleep
non-rapid eye movement sleep. The mind slowly falls into “sleep so becomes inactive while the body can still move.
NREM-3
deepest stage of sleep, brain is as inactive as it gets. Sleepwalking and night terrors occur on this stage.
REM sleep
rapid-eye movement sleep. Our mind is active, our large muscles are paralyzed. Dreams occur in this stage.
circadian rhythm
our biological 24 hour cycle. As it gets dark, our sleep pressure increases and melatonin is released. As the morning comes, sleep pressure decreases and we wake up.
beta waves
waves inside our brain as we are awake/ at REM sleep.
delta waves
waves inside our brain when we are at NREM-3.
alpha waves
waves inside our brain when we are at a relaxed, awake state (nrem 1)
restoration theory of sleep
we sleep to replenish energy, neurotransmitters and hormones, and to get rid of toxins built up throughout the day.
memory consolidation theory of sleep
we sleep to improve our memory. when we sleep well we remember well.
ex: studying for a test and then getting good sleep helps you perform better on that test.
energy conservation theory of sleep
evolutionary approach to sleep, we sleep in the dark to help us protect ourselves from predators and dangers arousing from not seeing in the dark. We also conserve energy which saves energy.
psychological theory of dreaming
Freud: dreams open up a door to our unconscious. Dreams contain a manifest and latent content.
biological theory of dreaming
dreams sort out events from that day and consolidate our memory.
activation synthesis theory of dreaming
REM sleep helps store and preserve neural connections. We make sense of those connections and they become dreams.
insomnia
treatment
biases?
inability to fall or stay asleep.
Treatments would be better sleep hygiene, balanced diet and medications.
Personal and cultural biases might inhibit us from getting help with insomnia.
sleep apnea
treatment and risk factors
cessation of breath during sleep, person wakes up and falls back asleep. oxygen machines are used to treat sleep apnea.
risk factors: overweight, male, smoking, etc.
narcolepsy
treatment
falling into REM sleep uncontrollably during the day. very rare.
support and medications exist to help with this condition.
REM rebound
if a person gets shorter REM sleep than they need, then the amount of REM sleep increases and gets more often during the next sleep intervals.
hypnagogic sensations
bizarre experiences such as jerking or the feeling of falling or floating weightlessly while transitioning to sleep.
suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN)
pair of cell clusters in the hypothalamus that controls the circadian rhythm. In response to light, the SCN causes the pineal gland to adjust melatonin production, thus modifying our feelings of sleepiness.
wavelength
the distance from the peak of one wave to the next.
frequency
of complete wavelengths that can pass a point in a given time
short wavelength = what frequency?
long wavelength = what frequency?
short wl = high frequency
long wl = low frequency
hue
+ long wl what hue?
short wl what hue?
the dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light; ex:
red, green, violet.
long wl: warm colors
short wl: cool colors
intensity
the amount of energy in a light/sound wave, influences what we perceive as brightness or loudness. Determined by a wave’s amplitude. Higher amplitude = more energy = brighter/louder
lower amp = less energy = more dull/quieter
cornea
the eye’s clear, protective outer layer from which light enters. also plays a role in focusing the light.
iris
the muscle that controls the pupil. Dilates or contracts.
lens
how is it related to near-/farsightedness?
transparent and flexible structure behind the pupil that bends and changes shape to focus the light on the retina. inability of the lens to adapt like this causes nearsightedness or farsightedness.
pupil
adjustable opening at the center of the eye from which light enters.
retina
light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, contains the receptor rods and cones + the layers of neurons that begin to process visual information (photoreceptors–>bipolar cells–>ganglion cells)
accomodation
the process of which the lens changes shape or “accomodates” to focus light on the retina.
photoreceptors
first layer of neuron cells in the retina: rods and cones.
directly activated by light
rods
cells that are activated by black and white. necessary for peripheral and twilight vision.
cones
cells that are activated by color. concentrated toward the center of the retina, especially towards the fovea(center of retina). detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations.
fovea
central point of the retina where the cones cluster.
ganglion cells
axons of these cells make up the optic nerve that sends these impulses to the thalamus to a region called LGN (lateral geniculate nucleus)
LGN (lateral geniculate nucleus)
specific region at the thalamus that receives visual info from the optic nerve and sends it to the visual cortices of the occipital lobes.
optic nerve
nerve that is made up of the axons of ganglion cells and it carries neural impulses to the brain for vision.
blind spot
the point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, called the blind spot because there are no photoreceptors there.
transduction
translation of incoming stimuli into neural signals. applies to all sensations (hearing, vision, smell, taste, touch)
trichromatic theory
cones have three types: one detects red, other blue, other green. different combinations and ratios of these visual info processed by each cone is developed into colors.
opponent process theory
how does it explain afterimages and color blindness?
sensory receptors in the retina come in pairs of opposite hues (red-green, blue-yellow, black-white). Some cells are activated by green but inhibited by red, etc.
afterimage: when you exhaust your sensors for one color, when you stare into a white screen the other one of the pair fires more, so red->green,
blue->yellow, etc.
color blindness: if color sensors come in pairs and a person is missing one pair, they might have difficulty perceiving that hue: missing red/green: red/green color blindness.
color vision is a combination of ….
both the trichromatic and opponent process theories.
amplitude (hearing)
height of the wave, determines loudness
frequency(hearing)
how frequent the waves come by (dense or loose?), determines pitch
pinna
outer ear
ear canal
canal in our ear from which sound enters.
eardrum + anatomical name?
anatomical name: tympanic membrane
when sound hits the eardrum it vibrates and transmits the vibration to the three bones.
the three bones and their anatomical names +
what do they do?
hammer : malleus
anvil: incus
stirrup:stapes
get the vibration from the eardrum and send it to the oval window
cochlea
snail shell shaped structure that contains fluid and the organ of corti.
organ of corti
neurons activated by the movement of tiny hairs(cilia). when the fluid inside the cochlea moves, the hairs move, and transduction occurs.
auditory nerve
transmits the neural impulse from the organ of corti to the brain
sound localization
determining the location of a sound by measuring if it sounded louder to the right or left ear.
place theory of pitch
when the hair cells inside the organ of corti move they bend in response to high or low pitches. This bend in different places creates the perception of pitch.
- good at explaining high pitches but not low
frequency theory
we sense pitch because the hair cells fire at different rates (frequencies) in the cochlea.
conduction deafness
occurs when something goes wrong with the transduction of the sound to the cochlea (ear canal, eardrum, 3 bones, oval window)
can be treated with surgery.
nerve deafness
when the hair cells are damaged at the organ of corti due to prolonged exposure to loud noises.
no treatment or cure bc these cells do not regenerate.
auditory disparity
difference in loudness or arrival times can help us understand which way the sound is coming from (left/right)
similar to sound localization.
gate control theory of pain
some pain messages are higher priority than others. swings open for intense-enough pain messages but stays shut for lower-priority messages, which we won’t feel.
taste receptors:
6 of them
definition
receptors on our papillae (bumps on tongue) and inside cheek, roof on mouth.
Types: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, umami (savory/meaty) and oleogutus (taste of fat)
supertaster
when a person’s papillae are tightly packed together on the tongue.
nontaster/ medium taster
when the papillae are spread apart on the tongue.
olfaction process
sense of smell. Molecules from substances rise into the air and get picked up by our nose. Then they sit on the mucous membrane and are absorbed by receptor cells. The receptor cells are linked to the olfactory bulb.
olfactory bulb +
how is it different than other senses?
gathers messages from the receptor cells in the nose and sends this to the brain. Info is sent differently than other 4 senses: goes to the amygdala and then hippocampus instead of thalamus. may explain the strong connection between smell and memories.
vestibular sense
tells us our body orientation. controlled by the fluid in the three semicircular canals in the inner ear. when the fluid moves, the hair cells in the canals move, activating neurons and sending the info to the brain.
kinesthesis/ kinesthetic sense
gives us feedback/info about the orientation of specific body parts: perceived by info sent from receptors in muscles +joints and visual info.
