biopsychology

• What makes up the central nervous system?

  brain and spinal cord
• What makes up the peripheral nervous system?

  somatic and autonomic nervous system
• What makes up the autonomic nervous system?

  sympathetic and parasympathetic branch
• Role of the brain (CNS)


  issues orders to muscles, glands, organs, interprets information from senses
• Role of the spinal cord (CNS)


  body and brain communication, info from brain to muscles and glands, relays and regulates information
• Role of somatic nervous system


  transmit and receive messages e.g. visual and auditory
• Spinal nerves


  sensory info into spinal cord, motor commands out
• Cranial nerves


  carry info out brain (e.g. vision, taste etc.)
• Sensory neurons


  relay info to CNS (e.g. senses)
• Motor neurons


  info from CNS to other areas to control actions
• Role of autonomic nervous system


  involuntary actions such as heart beating and digestion, transmit and receive, maintain homeostasis
• Sympathetic branch


  increases activity for fight or flight response
• Parasympathetic branch


  decreases activity to stop fight or flight response
• Role of the endocrine system


  produces and secretes hormones e.g. pituitary gland, adrenal glands, testes and ovaries
• What is the outer part of the adrenal glands?

  adrenal cortex
• What is the inner part of the adrenal glands?

  adrenal medulla
• What does the adrenal cortex produce?

  cortisol (stress hormone)

  aldostrene (maintenance)
• What does the adrenal medulla produce?

  adrenaline and noradrenaline
• Ovaries explanation


  - plays a role in female reproduction and egg production

  - oestrogen and progesterone (post ovulation)
• Testes explanation


  - produces testosterone

  - develops male features e.g. facial hair, growth spurts

  
  

  Hypothalamus signals to PG how much testosterone needs to be produced. Signal is sent to the testes to produce testosterone
• Short term fight or flight response (sympathetic adrenal medullary pathway) SAM

  Hypothalamus detects stress. Activates the autonomic nervous system (sympathetic branch). Adrenal medulla activated and produces adrenaline. Causes a physiological reaction. Parasympathetic branch later activated to reduce symptoms and produce noradrenaline.
• Long term fight or flight response (hypothalamic pituitary pathway) HPA

  Hypothalamus stimulates CRF release which targets the pituitary gland. Pituitary gland produces ACTH which travels to adrenal cortex. Adrenal cortex produces cortisol which is converted to glucose.
• Role of neurons


  receive and transmit information to other cells
• Relay neurons


  signals between parts of CNS, connects motor and sensory

  - found in brain, visual system and spinal cord

  
• Synaptic transmission


  Travels down neuron to post-synaptic terminal. Chemicals released as synaptic vesicles into synaptic fluid in synaptic cleft. Post synaptic receptor sites receive message and convert into electrical impulse. Remainder in synapse is reabsorbed.
• Excitation and inhibition


  Specific ion channels, causes potential in dendrites

  Excitatory = dopamine

  Inhibitory = serotonin
• What is brain localisation?

  theory of different areas of the brain responsible for different behaviours
• Phineas Gage


  1848, explosive ignited on railway to cause an explosive to pass through left cheek and eye (through frontal lobe). Survived but caused him from being calm to become quick tempered
• Pons, midbrain, medulla oblongata


  responsible for regulating basic functions such as heart and lungs
• Frontal lobe


  thinking, planning, etc.

  emotions, behaviour and personality
• Temporal lobe


  memory, language and understanding
• Parietal lobe


  sense of world/perception, spelling
• Occipital lobe


  vision
• Broca's area


  speech reproduction (not nouns and verbs), can cause Broca's aphasia
• Wernicke's cortex


  understanding language, inability or damage can cause anomia
• Motor cortex


  muscles signals, through brain stem and spine (voluntary movement)
• Pre-frontal cortex (part of motor cortex)


  sensory information prior to movement
• Pre-motor cortex (part of motor cortex)

  plans movement
• Somatosensory cortex


  bodily sensations and touch
• Left hemisphere of the brain

  - smaller details

  Broca and Wernicke, language processing