Biopysch

• What is the nervous system?

  specialised network of cells and is a primary internal communication system made up of the brain and the spine
• What are the two main functions of the nervous system?

  to collect processes and respond to information in the environment

  To coordinate the working of different organs and cells
• What is the sensory neuron?

  processes information from the environment and carries the information to the CNS
• What is the relay neuron?


  in the CNS, connects motor and sensory neurons
• What is the motor neuron?


  Carry signals from the CNS to effectors such as muscles or glands
• What is the role of the CNS in the human nervous system?

  passes messages to, and from the brain and connects nerves to the peripheral nervous system
• What is the role of the brain in the human nervous system?


  The centre of all conscious awareness, it receives and processes information gained from the environment
• What is the role of the spinal cord in the human nervous system?


  Responsible for all reflex actions
• What is the peripheral nervous system?


  transmits messages via millions of neurons (nerve cells) to, and from the CNS
• what is the autonomic nervous system?


  governs vital functions in the body such as breathing heart rate, digestion, sexual arousal and stress responses
• What is the somatic nervous system?


  Responsible for carrying sensory and motor information to, and from the spinal cord
• What are the two subdivisions of the autonomic nervous system?


  sympathetic and parasympathetic
• What is the motor neuron made up of?

  dendrites, which receives signals from another neuron

  Cell body (soma)

  Nucleus, which provides energy to carry out function

  Myelin sheath surrounds axon increases the speed at which signals are transmitted

  axon - signal is passed through here

  Terminal button passes along signal to next neuron

  Direction of conduction is the way that action potential is travelling to the terminal button
• What is action potential?


  The information that arrives at the axon in the form of an electrical signal
• what are the stages of synaptic transmission?

  1. Action potential arrives at presynaptic terminal

  2. Causes vesicles containing neurotransmitters to move towards presynaptic membrane

  3. Vesicles bind to membrane and release neurotransmitter into synaptic gap.

  4. Neurotransmitter diffuses across gap.

  5. Neurotransmitter binds to receptors on postsynaptic membrane. These are complimentary

  6. This causes channels in postsynaptic membrane to open and charged particles flow into the postsynaptic terminal in the dendrite.

  7. Nervous impulse can carry on journey down next neuron.
• what are excitatory neurotransmitters?


  increase the likelihood of a signal being passed on (dopamine)
• What are inhibitory neurotransmitters?


  Decrease likelihood of a signal being passed on such as serotonin
• What is the endocrine system?


  made up of series of glands releasing chemicals called hormones into blood or bodily fluids. These hormones communicate messages to the organs of the body, prompting certain responses.
• what is the function of the adrenal gland?

  Releases adrenaline important for the fight or flight response
• what is the role of the pancreatic gland?

  Releases insulin which helps regulate blood glucose levels
• What is the role of the testicle Gland?


  Releases testosterone important for normal development of male characteristics
• What is the role of the ovarian gland?


  Releases, oestrogen and progesterone, important in female reproductive cycles
• What are the similarities between the endocrine and nervous system?


  Both of these are communication methods within the body
• What are the differences between the endocrine and the nervous system?

  nervous system send messages electrically, where is endocrine sends chemical messages in blood

  Endocrine can have a long-lasting affect but nervous system is short lived

  Nervous system sends messages fast, whereas endocrine is slower
• What are the stages of the fight or flight response?

  1. if the situation is deemed a stressful the amygdala sends a distressful signal to the hypothalamus, which communicates with the body through the sympathetic nervous system

  2. the sympathetic nervous system is triggered by the hypothalamus

  3.the SNS sends a signal to the adrenal medulla to release the hormone adrenaline into the bloodstream

  4. adrenaline circulates all over the body causing number of changes. E.g. heart rate increase

  5.when the threat is passed The parasympathetic part of the atomic nervous system is activated to dampen down the SNS e.g. slow heartbeat down
• What bodily changes does the sympathetic pathway activate

  -increased heart rate to increase blood flow to organs and increase the movement of adrenaline around the body

  -increased breathing rate to increase oxygen intake

  -Sweat production to regulate temperatures
• Why is the parasympathetic pathway activated?

  when the threat is passed, the parasympathetic pathway is activated to return the body to its pre threat status
• What is localisation of function?

  the idea that certain functions have certain locations in the brain
• What is the motor area?


  A region of the frontal lobe involved in regulating voluntary movements by sending signals to muscles in the body. both hemispheres.
• What is the somatosensory area?


  located in the Parietal lobe and receives incoming sensory information from the skin to produce sensations related to pressure, pain and temperature. different parts of the somatosensory area receive messages from different locations of the body.

  both hemispheres
• What is the visual area?


  located in the occipital lobe receiving and processing visual information. Contain different parts that process different types of information, including colour shape of movement. Both hemispheres.
• what is the auditory area?


  located in the temporal lobe and responsible of analysing and processing acoustic information.

  The auditory area contains different parts and the primary auditory area is involved in processing, simple features of sound, including loudness, tempo, and pitch. bothhemispheres.
• what is Brocas area?

  by Paul broca responsible for speech production. Patient Tan had a lesion on left frontal lobe and could only say tan. left hemisphere
• What is the Wernicke's area?

  named after carl Wernicke, responsible for language comprehension patient could not talk but understand language. lesion to the left temporal lobe. Left hemisphere
• Evaluate the localisation of function theory

  gender bias as herasty found women have larger brocas & wernickes-can't generalise- indiv differences

  
  

  equipotentiality theory-idea functions are localised is criticised. says basic motor and sensory functions are localised but higher mental functions and not therefore biologically reductionist suggest more thorough understanding required to truly understand complex cognitive processes like language.

  
  

  Case studies idiographic approach - wealth of studies with patience with damage brocas and wernickes - provides evidence to support that certain elements of language, production and comprehension are localised in the brain.

  
  

  research evidence such a MRI scans from Maguire et al- London, taxi drivers, larger, posterior regions of the hippocampus involved in mental maps, and spatial information in order to navigate effectively. Supports the idea that certain abilities are linked to specific areas of the brain.
• What is hemispheric lateralisation?

  The idea that the two halves of the brain are functionally different and that certain mental processes and behaviours are mainly controlled by one hemisphere rather than the other.
• how are the Two hemispheres connected?

  Nerve fibres called corpus callosum, which facilitate the interhemispheric to communication, allowing the left and right to talk to another.
• what did Sperry and gazzanega do?


  first to investigate hemispheric lateralisation with the use of a split brain patients (individuals who have undergone a Commisurotomy)
• what was Sperry and gazzanegas aim?

  to examine the extent to which the two hemispheres are specialised for certain functions
• What were the three experiments that they conducted?

  describe what you see, touch and drawing task on 11 epileptic patients