biological psychology

• The hindbrain is located at the base of the brain near the back of the skull
• The hindbrain is responsible for lower-brain functions such as breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure.
• The hindbrain is responsible for the coordination of vocabulary muscles, balance, posture and reflexive actions such as coughing swallowing and vomiting
• The adult human brain is about the size of a small cauliflower, weighs about 1.4 kilograms, and contains approximately 86 billion neurons
• The brain can be divided into three main physical sections: the hindbrain, the midbrain, and the forebrain
• The brain can also be divided into grey matter (areas where processing is done) and white matter (provides communication between different grey matter areas and between grey matter and the rest of the body)
• Neuropsychologists describe the brain using three main areas: the hindbrain, midbrain, and forebrain, each associated with identifiable mental processes and behavior
• The cerebral cortex is the most prominent part of the brain, responsible for important and sophisticated functions and complex information processing
• The forebrain includes the cerebral cortex involved in perception, learning, motor and conceptual activities, while areas near the center regulate internal and automatic bodily functions like body temperature, reproductive functions, eating, sleeping, and emotions
• The thalamus in the forebrain acts as a filter from sensory organs (except the nose) to the appropriate areas of the brain.
• The hypothalamus in the forebrain regulates various hormones and influences basic needs behaviors like thirst, hunger, and sleep
• The limbic system in the forebrain controls emotions and motivation
• The midbrain relays messages to the forebrain, is important in vision and hearing, and plays a crucial role in processing information related to hearing, vision, movement, pain, sleep, and arousal
• The reticular formation in the midbrain regulates levels of consciousness, alertness, respiration, blood pressure, skeletal muscle tone, pain pathways, autonomic nervous system, biological rhythms, and endocrine control
• The hindbrain, often referred to as the brain stem, is responsible for lower-brain functions like controlling basic autonomic survival functions and coordinating voluntary muscle movements, balance, posture, and reflexive actions
• The medulla oblongata in the hindbrain controls breathing, reflexes, and maintaining an upright posture of the body
• The cerebellum in the hindbrain coordinates voluntary movements, motor skills, balance, coordination, and posture
• The left hemisphere of the brain is used for language, mathematics, logic, analytic skills, and motor control of the right side of the body, while the right hemisphere is used for spatial abilities, creative abilities, perceptual skills, and motor control of the left side of the body
• The corpus callosum connects the left and right hemispheres of the cerebrum, allowing for communication and coordination between the two hemispheres
• The lobes of the cerebral cortex have sensory areas that receive and process information from sensory receptors in the body, motor areas that process information about voluntary bodily movements, and association areas that combine information from specialized areas for complex cognitive processes
• The frontal lobe, the largest of the four lobes, is responsible for higher mental abilities such as the expression of personality and regulating thinking, attention, and decision-making
• The frontal lobe is the largest of the four lobes and occupies the upper forward half of each cerebral hemisphere
• General functions of the frontal lobe include:

  • Expression of personality
  • Regulating thinking, attention, and decision-making
  • Voluntary movement through the control of skeletal muscles
  • Regulation of emotions and emotional behavior
  • Coordination of functions of other lobes and determining behavioral responses
• The primary motor cortex (PMC) in the left frontal lobe controls voluntary movements on the right side of the body
• Broca’s area (BA) in the left frontal lobe plays a crucial role in the production of articulate speech
• Broca’s aphasia (non-fluent aphasia) occurs when there is damage to Broca’s area, causing speech impairments
• Broca’s area is also involved in analyzing the grammatical structure of sentences
• In the late 1800s, Paul Broca studied patients with damage to Broca’s area and discovered that they could understand what was said to them but had difficulty articulating words
• Broca’s area is involved in coordinating messages to the lips, jaw, tongue, and vocal cords to enable a person to produce words clearly and fluently
• Wernicke’s Area (WA) in the left temporal lobe is responsible for understanding language and is often referred to as the language comprehension center
• Patients with Wernicke’s aphasia often hear words but are unable to locate the word’s meaning from their memory
• Patients with Wernicke’s aphasia experience difficulty not only with comprehending language but also with producing coherent speech
• Researchers must protect participants' physical and psychological welfare, ensuring risks do not outweigh benefits and following relevant OHS procedures
• Experimenter effect can influence research results; researchers counter this by acknowledging biases, minimizing their role, and maintaining a detached stance
• Privacy rights protect individuals from unwanted intrusion, while anonymity in research encourages honest responses
• Confidentiality in professional relationships ensures secrecy of information disclosed by patients, with exceptions under legal circumstances
• Voluntary participation ensures participants willingly decide to take part in research without pressure or coercion
• Withdrawal rights allow participants to cease participation at any time without negative consequences or pressure to continue
• Informed consent procedures require researchers to obtain written permission from participants, informing them of their rights and any potential harm
• Informed consent procedures in psychology research:

  • Participants must be informed of all necessary information
  • The consent form must inform participants about their rights and any possible physical or psychological harm that may be encountered
  • Participants should be informed about the two 'P's: Purpose (why the research is being conducted) and Procedure (research procedures employed)