Biopsychology

• What is the nervous system?

  • a complex function of nerve cells that sends signals to and from the brain and spinal chord and across the body
• What are the two functions of the nervous system?

  1 - To collect, process and respond to information from the environment

  2 - To co ordinate the working of different organs and cells in the body
• What is the nervous system broken up into?

  1 - Autonomic Nervous System - responsible for bodily changes such as heart rate, digestion and breathing

  2 - Somatic Nervous System - responsible for muscle movement and co-ordination
• What is the autonomic nervous system broken into?

  1 - Parasympathetic State - rest and digest

  2 - Sympathetic state - flight or fight
• Sympathetic Nervous System -

  • flight or fight
  • heart rate INCREASES
  • breathing rate INCREASES
  • digestion INHIBITED
  • saliva production INHIBITED
  • pupils DILATE
  • sweating ACTIVATED
• Parasympathetic Nervous System -

  • rest and digest
  • heart rate DECREASES
  • breathing rate DECREASES
  • digestion ACTIVATED
  • saliva production ACTIVATED
  • pupils CONSTRICT
  • sweating INHIBITED
• What is the endocrine system?

  • a network of glands that secrete hormones through the bloodstream which travel across the body
  • slower but more powerful than the nervous system
• What are the five glands?

  1 - Pituitary glands - master glands which send signals to other glands to secrete hormones. Oxytocin - influences bonding between mother and baby during breastfeeding

  2 - Pineal gland - located in the brain and produces melatonin which regulates our sleep cycle

  3 - Thyroid gland - located in the throat and produces thyroxine which controls how much energy you use

  4 - Adrenal gland - located by the kidney and produces adrenaline which is triggered during the flight/flight response

  5 - Testes - produces sperm and testosterone (assosciated with aggression)
• How does the nervous system and endocrine system work together during flight/fight?

  1. The ANS goes from a parasympathetic state to a sympathetic state.
  2. The SNS is triggered and prepares the body for fight/flight
  3. The SNS sends signals to the adrenal medulla which releases adrenaline into the bloodstream. This causes the body changes
  4. After the stress has passed, the PNS stops the stress by normalising bodily changes
• Neurons?

  • nerve cells that send messages all over your body
  • are around 100 billion neurons and 80% are located in the brain
  • WITHIN a neuron, signals are transmitted - ELECTRICALLY
  • BETWEEN a neuron - CHEMICALLY
• What is the structure of a neuron?

  .

  A) Dendrites

  B) Cell Body

  C) Axon

  D) Myelin Sheath

  E) Nodes of Ranvier

  F) Terminal Buttons

  
• What is the functions of each structure of a neuron?

  1. Dendrites - branch like structures that receive information from other neurons and send nerve impulses towards the cell body
  2. Cell body - has a nucleus which contains genetic material
  3. Axon - carries nerve impulses away from the cell body
  4. Myelin Sheath - insulates and protects the axon to help speed up transmission along axon
  5. Nodes of Ranvier - gaps in the myelin sheath that force impulses to jump across synapse to speed up transmission
• What is the function of the terminal buttons?

  6 - Terminal buttons - sends impulses through the next neuron across synapse through release of neurotransmitters
• What is a reflex action?

  • an automatic, involuntary response to a stimulus
• What is a receptor and effector?

  • RECEPTOR - cells in the body detect a change in the stimulus and in response produces electrical impulses
  • EFFECTOR - an organ or cell that acts in response to a stimulus; often muscles or glands
• What are the types of neurons?

  1. Sensory Neuron - carries messages from the PNS to the CNS
  2. Relay Neuron - located in the brain and spinal chord. They carry nerve impulses between neurons, connecting the sensory and motor neurons
  3. Motor Neuron - carry nerve impulses from the CNS to effectors (muscles/glands)
• Which neuron is which?

  .

  A) Motor Neuron

  B) Relay Neuron

  C) Sensory Neuron

  
• What is synaptic transmission?

  • process of communication between neurons
• What is the process of synaptic transmission?

  • Vesicles - When electrical impulses reach the end of an axon, it has reached the pre synaptic terminal. Terminal buttons have tiny air sacs called vesicles which contain the neurotransmitters
  • Release - the electrical impulses trigger the release of the neurotransmitters which diffuse across a synapse
  • Receptors - neurotransmitters go to the receptors on the dendrites of the next neuron. The chemicals are converted back into electrical impulses and travel down the axon
• What is the process of synaptic transmission?

  • Enzymes - are used to break down any neurotransmitters in the synapse
  • Reuptake - any excess neurotransmitters are reabsorbed back to the pre synaptic terminal
  • Replenished - vesicles are replenished with new and reused neurotransmitters ready for the next impulse
  • Summation - the excitatory and inhibitory influenced are summed or totalled
• What is excitation?

  • when a neurotransmitter increases the POSITIVE charge of a post synaptic neuron
  • this INCREASES the likelihood that the neuron will fire and pass on the electrical impulses
• What is inhibition?

  • when the neurotransmitter increases the NEGATIVE charge of the post synaptic neuron
  • this DECREASES the likelihood that the neuron will fire and pass on electrical impulses
• What is the holistic vs localisation theory?

  • Holisitic - the theory that all part of the brain are involved in thought processes and action
  • localisation - theory that different areas of the bran are responsible for different behaviours
• What is the structure of the brain?

  .

  A) FRONTAL LOBE

  B) MOTOR AREA

  C) BROCA'S AREA

  D) PARIETAL LOBE

  E) SOMATOSENSORY AREA

  F) OCCIPITAL LOBE

  G) VISUAL AREA

  H) TEMPORAL LOBE

  I) AUDITORY AREA

  J) WERNICKE'S AREA

  
• What is the role of the frontal lobe?

  • frontal lobe - responsible for movement, personality and problem solving
  • motor area - responsible for controlling movement
  • Broca's area - responsible for speech production
• What is the role of the parietal lobe?

  • parietal lobe - responsible for processing info from our senses
  • somatosensory area - primary senses area
• What is the role of the occipital lobe?

  • occipital lobe - responsible for sight
  • visual area - receives and processes visual info
• What is the role of the temporal lobe?

  • processes sounds
  • auditory area - analysis of speech info
  • wernicke's area - responsible for speech comprehension
• What are the different types of aphasia?

  1. Broca's Aphasia - unable to produce speech/language, caused by damage to broca's area
  2. Wernicke's Aphasia - unable to comprehend speech/language, caused by damage to wernicke's area
• What are the case studies used to support localisation?

  1. HM'S Study - involved in a car accident, experienced seizures. Hippocampus was removed - seizures stopped but lost inability to turn STM to LTM
  2. Phineas Gage - pole went through his left frontal lobe, survived the accident. Changes in personality - went from a calm person to an angry, irritable person
• Strengths of localisation -

  • damage of areas of the brain have been linked to mental disorders. Dougherty et al reported on 44 people who had undergone a cingulotomy for OCD. 32 weeks after - 30% had reduced symptoms and succesful response
  • Evidence from brain scans - petersen et al used brain scans to demonstrate how during a reading task, Broca's area was active and during a listening task, Wernicke's area was active
• Weaknesses of localisation -

  • Case studies - ungeneralisable to population since it is done on one person/normally rare studies
  • Lashley et al removed cortex of rats brains and found that they could not complete the maze as they required every part of the brain
• What is hemispheric lateralisation?

  • theory that certain functions are controlled by one side of the brain and not the other
• What is contralateral organisation?

  • the idea that hemispheres control the opposite sides of the body
• What are the language centres?

  • Broca's Area - left frontal lobe (patients had lesions in left frontal lobe)
  • Wernicke's - left hemisphere
• What is the corpus callosum?

  • a bundle of nerve fibres that connects the left and right hemispheres of the brain
  • disconnects communication between hemispheres
• Visual Fields -

  • information from your LEFT VISUAL FIELDS goes to the RIGHT hemisphere
  • information from your RIGHT VISUAL FIELDS goes to the LEFT hemisphere
• What is Sperry's research?

  • 11 split brain individuals stared at a cross on the screen and researcher would flash the visual info to one side of the visual field._resented for 1/10th of a second - visual field cannot transmit messages to both hemispheres as the corpus callosum is cut
• Sperry's Research -

  • DESCRIBE WHAT YOU SEE TASK - a picture was presented to left/right visual field and pps had to say what they see (if flashed to the left they could not)
  • TACTILE TEST - an object (they could not see) was placed in left/right hand. PPs had to describe what they felt or select a similar object from a series of alternate objects (could not describe if touched with the left hand)
  • DRAWING TASK - pps were presented with a picture in either their left/right visual field and had to draw what they see. (when drawed with left hand, could succesfully draw)
• Conclusions of Sperry's research -

  • LEFT HEMISPHERE - LANGUAGE
  • RIGHT HEMISPHERE - VISUAL-MOTOR SKILLS