biopsych

• nervous system


  peripheral

  central
• cns


  receives info from senses and controls bodys responses
• somatic nervous system


  controls voluntary movements

  carrying sensory and motor (connect to skin, skeletal muscles, sensory organs) info to and from CNS
• synaptic transmission


  nerve impulse passes synaptic gap from 1 neuron to another (from presynaptic to postsynaptic neuron)
• hormones


  bodys chemical messenger. they travel through bloodstream, influencing many diff processes eg mood, stress response
• fight or flight


  triggered when body prepares itself for defending/attacking or running to safety. involves changed in nervous system + secretion of hormones thats necessary to sustain arousal
• axons


  carry electrical impulses down length of neuron, covered in myelin sheath
• research into localisation of brain function

  broca carried out post mortem on brain of patient 'tan' (only able to say tan) found had parts of left frontal lobe missing, leading to language function being associated w this area of brain
• how can driving taxi help w functional recovery

  increases brain plasticity

  Maguire- found taxi drivers had significantly higher volume of grey matter in posterior hippocampus than control group.
• split brain research


  Sperry- studied patients whose corpus callosum was severed, patients watched as a word or image was projected to right visual field(processed in right hemisphere) or left visual field (processed in right hemisphere). when projected to RVF, were able to describe what was seen, but when projected to left, said nothing was seen. but was able to tactilely select matching object shown to LVF. led sperry to believe they were verbally unable to identify what they had seen bc left hemisphere, where language is believed to be lateralised is needed for speech production
• wrenickes area


  located in temporal lobe

  deals w language comprehension
• infradian rhythm


  last longer than 24hrs

  eg menstrual cycle and SAD(seasonal affective disorder)
• siffre


  long period in cave

  examine effects of free running biological rhythm without exogenous zeitgebers

  circadian rhythm settled at abt 25hrs
• endogenous pacemaker


  internal biological body clocks

  helps set our circadian rhythm by interacting w other parts of body

  eg suprachiasmatic nucleus
• circadian rhythm


  last longer than 24hrs

  eg sleep-wake cycle
• suprachiasmatic nucleus


  bundle of nerves acting like bodys intenal clock within hypothalamus

  helps regulate our sleep wake cycles
• post mortem examination


  pro- allow for anatomical studying of brain that cant be done on live subjects

  con-subject is dead, so now follow up studies or questions can be asked to patient based on finding from post mortem
• autonomic nervous system


  controls brains involuntary activities, self regulating

  further divided into sympathetic and parasympathetic NS
• parasympathetic nervous system


  rest and digest

  maintains or decreases bodily activites
• sympathetic nervous system 


  increases bodily activites
• neurons


  receives info and transmits to other cells
• endocrine system


  has series of glands which release chemicals throughout body via blood and other bodily fluids, this communicates messages to organs of the body
• pituitary gland


  secretes hormones into bloodstream
• adrenal gland


  fight or flight, facilitates release of adrenaline
• testes

  facilitate release of testosterone
• ovaries


  facilitate release of oestrogen and progesterone
• hypothalamus


  centre of brain

  control autonomic and endocrine system

  receives chemical messages from nerve cells in brain and body
• steps of fight and flight

  1. hypothalamus recognises theres threat and sends message to adrenal gland
  2. adrenal gland (medulla) triggers release of adrenaline
  3. adrenaline released to endocrine and noradrenaline in brain which prompts physical changes in body
• increased heart rate


  to speed up blood flow to vital organs + improve spread of adrenaline around the body
• faster breathing

  to increase oxygen intake
• muscle tension


  to increase reaction time and speed
• pupil dilation


  to improve vision
• production of sweat

  facilitate temp regulation
• reduced functioning of digestive and immune system

  to save energy to prioritised functions eg running
• sensory neuron


  tells rest of brain abt external and internal environment by processing info taken by senses
• relay neuron


  carry messages from 1 part of cns to another, they connect motor and sensory
• motor neuron


  carries signal from cns which helps both organs and muscles
• localisation


  part of brain in which a function is carried out
• hemispheric lateralisation


  when 1 hemisphere carries out a particular action
• functional recovery of brain after trauma


  due to anatomical compensation brought abt by intensive rehabilitation