biopsychology

• The nervous system is split into two:

  • central nervous system (CNS)
  • peripheral nervous system (PNS)
• the parts of the human nervous system are...

  A) peripheral nervous system

  B) central nervous system

  C) brain

  D) somatic

  E) autonomic

  F) sympathetic

  
• The peripheral nervous system:

  • Transmits messages via millions of neurons to the CNS
  • split into:
  • autonomic nervous system: governs vital functions like breathing and heart rate
  • Somatic nervous system: controls muscle movement and receives information from sensory receptors
• sensory neurons:

  • found in receptors such as the eyes, ears, tongue, and skin, and carry these impulses to the brain and spinal cord
  • turn into 'sensations' such as hearing, smell, and taste
  • Not all sensory neurons reach the brain - some get stopped at the spinal cord, allowing quick reflexes.
• relay neurons:

  • found between sensory input and motor output.
  • Relay neurons allow the sensory and motor neurons to communicate
• motor neurons:

  • found in the CNS
  • Control muscle movement
  • When stimulated, they release neurotransmitters that bind to receptors on muscles to trigger responses.
• sensory neuron

  A) receptor cell

  B) dendron

  C) myelin sheath

  D) cell body

  E) axon

  
• relay neuron

  A) dendrite

  B) cell body

  C) axon

  
• motor neuron

  A) cell body

  B) nodes of ranvier

  C) schwann cells

  D) axon

  
• The type of neuron in the brain is the relay neuron
• excitatory: activates neurotransmitters

  inhibitory: stops neurotransmitters
• glands produce hormones

  hormones do not cause behaviour but they influence the behaviour and the likelihood of it occuring
• pituitary gland - regulates the functions of other endocrine glands
• ovaries - two small organs for child birth
• the two halves of the brain are called hemispheres
• there are roughly 100 billion neurons in the brain and spinal cord
• the brain...

  A) cerebrum

  B) brain stem

  C) cerebellum

  
• brain stem

  A) thalamus

  B) midbrain

  C) brain stem

  D) pons

  E) medulla

  F) spinal cord

  
• The two hemispheres are connected by a thick band of neural fibers known as the corpus callosum, consisting of about 200 million axons.
• frontal lobe:

  • voluntary movements by sending signals to muscles in the body
  • The motor area on one side of the brain controls the muscles on the other side
• Parietal lobe:

  • Somatosensory area receives incoming sensory information from the skin to produce sensations
  • The somatosensory area on one side of the brain receives information from the opposite side of the body
• occipital lobe:

  • visual area receives and processes visual information
  • Information in the right is processed in the left and information from the left is processes in the right
• temporal lobes:

  • Auditory area is responsible for analysing and processing acoustic information
  • information from the left ear goes primarily to the right hemisphere and vice versa
• left frontal lobe:

  • Broca's area is found in the left frontal lobe and is thought to be involved in language production
• left temporal lobe:

  • The Wernicke's area is thought to be involved in language comprehension
• bronca's aphasia is when the broncas area is damaged
• motor cortex:

  • rear of the frontal lobe
  • different parts of it control different parts of the body - ordered logically
• somatosensory cortex:

  • parietal lobe
  • uses sensory information to localise to the regions of the body
• visual centres:

  • occipital lobe
  • Nerve impulses from the retina are translated through the optic nerve
  • most nerve impulses terminate at the thalamus which acts as a relay station, passing info to the visual cortex
• Bronca's area:

  • posterior portion of the frontal lobe of the left hemisphere
  • speech production
  • Fredorenko et al. found two parts of the bronca's area - one for cognitive tasks such as maths and the other for speech production
• Wernickes area:

  • posterior portion of the left temporal
  • sensory region in the Wernickes is responsible for auditory and visual output
  • processing of spoken language
• Equipotentiality theory (Lashley):

  • basic motor things are localised but complex thought processes are not
• Research suggests it's more important to look at the relationship between the areas and not them alone;

  French neurologist Dejerine showed how loss of connection between the visual cortex and Wernicke's area leads to loss of the ability to read
• Localisation may be an oversimplification

  Studies have shown that when an area of the brain is injured, another area can take over its function.

  This is called cognitive remapping or plasticity.
• gender bias:

  Herasty - women have larger Broca's and Wernicke's areas

  This shows beta bias theory: the differences between men and women are ignored.
• lateralisation: the dominance of one hemisphere of the brain for particular physical and psychological functions
• the left hemisphere is considered more dominant as it controls language and preferred right hand
• left hemisphere: verbal, analytical, fine processing

  right hemisphere: visuopatial, face processing, holistic
• Roger Sperry investigated brain lateralisation

  He had patients whose Corpus Callosum was severed, separating the communication between the hemispheres.

  • He found that when an image was shown to the different visual fields, the information that was picked up was accurate when shown to the right eye (translates to the left hemisphere), whereas nothing was picked up when shown to the left eye.
•   Roger Sperry's tests:

  - visual field test

  A) corupus callosum

  B) left field

  C) right