Biopsychology Flashcards - A Level Psychology AQA

• Nervous System is a complex network of nerves in human body, communicates via fast electrical signals
• Function of the Nervous System

  • to collect, process, and respond to information
  • to co-ordinate functions of organs/cells in the body
• Nervous System breaks down into

  • Central Nervous System
  • Peripheral Nervous System
• Central Nervous System breaks down into

  • the Brain
  • the Spinal Cord
• Brain function

  • responsible for higher brain functions like thoughts, conscious
• Spinal Cord function

  • responsible for reflexes and communicates with the Peripheral Nervous System
• Brain Lobes

  • Frontal lobe
  • Parietal lobe
  • Occipital lobe
  • Cerebellum
  • Temporal lobe
• Frontal lobe function

  • voluntary movement
  • behaviour control
  • language production
• Parietal lobe function

  • sense of touch
  • proprioception (sense of movement)
• Occipital lobe function

  • process visual information
• Cerebellum function

  • balance
  • co-ordination
• Temporal lobe function

  • process auditory information
  • long-term memory
  • object recognition
• Peripheral Nervous System breaks down into

  • the Somatic Nervous System
  • the Autonomic Nervous System
• Somatic Nervous System function

  • receives sensory information + allows skeletal muscle movement
• Autonomic Nervous System function

  • governs bodily functions like heart rate + controls endocrine system (glands + hormones)
• Autonomic Nervous System breaks down into

  • the Sympathetic Nervous System
  • the Parasympathetic Nervous System
• Endocrine System

  • regulates activity of cells and organs throughout the body
• Hormones are chemical messengers which stimulate specific organs for specific function
• Pituitary Gland

  • stimulates by the hypothalamus
  • releases the hormone oxytocin
  • responsible for uterus contractions during child birth + attachment formation
• Pineal Gland

  • releases the hormone melatonin
  • regulates biological rhythms like sleep-wake cycle
• Adrenal Gland

  • releases the hormone adrenaline
  • key hormone in fight or flight response
• Fight or Flight Response is an innate response to danger which prepares either fight threat or escape by triggering physiological arousal
• Fight or Flight Response Process

  1. Triggered by Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS)
  2. SNS signals the adrenal gland to release adrenaline
  3. Causes bodily changes associated with fight/flight
  4. When no threat, Parasympathetic Nervous System (PSNS) counteracts SNS activity -> causes return to resting level of physiological arousal (rest + digest)
• Neurons are specialised cells which carry neural information around body -> carry this via electrical impulses = action potentials
• Neuron Features

  • Soma = cell body which contains nucleus
  • Dendrites = carry action potential to the Soma
  • Axons = carry actions away from Soma
  • Axons end in Axon Terminals where they pass neural information to other cells
  • some Axons covered in fatty insulating layer = Myelin Sheath which speeds up action potentials
• Sensory Neuron (SN)

  • carry information from sensory receptors to CNS
  • sensory receptors found around the body
  • not all SN carry information to brain -> some at spinal cord to allow quick reflex actions
• Relay Neurons

  • allows sensory + motor to communicate with each other
  • only found in CNS
• Motor Neurons

  • carry information from CNS to effectors (muscles)
  • found in CNS but axons carry information to muscles + glands
• Synaptic Transmission

  1. An action potential arrives at the pre-synaptic neuron
  2. This causes vesicles containing neurotransmitters to release them into the synaptic gap
  3. Neurotransmitters diffuse across synaptic gap towards post-synaptic neuron
• Synaptic Transmission Part 2

  1. Neurotransmitters bind to receptors on post-synaptic neuron
  2. This leads to an action potential being more likely (excitatory neurotransmitters) or less likely (inhibitory neurotransmitters) to fire in post-synaptic neuron, determined by adding the excitatory + inhibitory for the summation
  3. Excess neurotransmitters are either reabsorbed into pre-synaptic neuron through transporter proteins or simply broken down
• Localisation of Function

  • refers to ideas that different areas of the brain are specialised to perform specific functions
• Specific Brain Regions

  • Motor Cortex
  • Broca's Area
  • Auditory Cortex
  • Wernicke's Area
  • Visual Cortex
  • Somatosensory Cortex
• Motor Cortex

  • frontal lobe
  • responsible for deliberate movement
• Broca's Area

  • left frontal lobe
  • responsible for speech production
• Auditory Cortex

  • temporal lobe
  • responsible processing auditory information
• Wernicke's Area

  • left temporal lobe
  • responsible for speech production
• Visual Cortex

  • occipital lobe
  • responsible processing visual information from eyes
• Somatosensory Cortex

  • parietal lobe
  • responsible for sense of touch
• Holistic View

  • alternative to Localisation of function
  • idea that whole brain works together to carry out functions
• Localisation of Function - AO3

  • holistic view evidence -> Equipotentiality theory -> argues that high brain functions aren't localised, the brain works together to carry out tasks -> Lashley removed parts of rat's brains when learning a maze -> found that when more brain parts removed, worst they did at the maze -> BUT it didn't matter which specific brain part was removed!