AP Psychology - Biopsych and Brains

Biopsych and Brains

Neurons

Brain cells - The basic building blocks of the nervous system, responsible for transmitting information throughout the body via electrical and chemical signals.

Glial Cells

Send signals and support neurons

Dendrite

The “Antenna” of the neuron, receives signals from other neurons.

Axon

The long, slender projection of a neuron that generates electricity

Synapse

The space between neurons, where signals are transmitted via neurotransmitters.

Sensory Neurons

Take in information from the environment, “That’s hot, bright, loud, cold”. These neurons relay sensory information to the brain or spinal cord for processing.

Motor Neurons

These neurons make your muscles flex and relax.

Interneurons

Makes up most of your neurons, they collect and pass on information in the brain.

Neural Transmission

Recieving a signal, creating an electrical charge, then spraying out molecules to trigger the next neuron.

Action Potential

An electrical charge

Resting Potential

Resting, when a neuron is not transmitting a signal

Depolarization

Similar to mixing the chemicals in a battery, this is the process by which the inside of a neuron becomes more positively charged compared to the outside, allowing for the generation of an action potential.

Long-term potentiation

“Neurons that fire together, wire together”, Synapses get better at talking the more they fire. Also known as practice makes perfect!

Refractory Period

The time after an action potential during which a neuron cannot fire again.

Myelin Sheath

Insulation around the axon that makes action potential faster

Synapse

A gap between neurons, neurotransmitters get transmitted across to allow communication between them.

All-or-nothing principle

Either a neuron fires completely or does not fire at all

Reuptake

The process by which neurotransmitters are taken back into the synaptic vesicles

Multiple sclerosis

A disease where the immune system attacks the protective covering of the nerves.

Myasthenia Gravis

A disease causing weakness in motor neurons

Excitatory neurotransmitters

Turn cells on, promotes the firing of neurons

Inhibitory neurotransmitters

Turn cell off, prevents firing of neurons

Agonists

Substances that ehance the action of neurotransmitters

Antagonists

Substances that block the action of neurotransmitters

Seratonin

Neurotransmitter - Sleep, good mood, well-being

Norepinephrine

Neurotransmitter - Adrenaline, increased heart rate, response to stress

Acetylcholine

Neurotransmitter - memory, movement, learning

Glutamate

Neurotransmitter - Main excitatory, involved in learning and memory.

GABA

Neurotransmitter - Main inhibitory neurotransmitter, regulates anxiety and relaxation.

Endorphins

Neurotransmitter - Pain relief, pleasure, reward, mood regulation.

Dopamine

Neurotransmitter - Reward, motivation, motor control, too much of this causes schitzophrenia and other psychiatric disorders.

Evolutionary perspective of brains

the brain grows a certain way

Heredity

Transmittion of traits from parents to children

Nature

We are because of what we’re born with.

Nurture

We are because of how we were raised.

Natural selection

Traits that help us reproduce and survive

Central Nervous System

The brain and spinal cord that coordinate the body's responses to stimuli and processes information.

Peripheral nervous system

The body, sensory neurons, motor neurons. It sends and recieves signals back and forth, and carries out commands.

Autonomic nervous system

Involuntary functions like breathing, digestion, or your heartbeat.

Somatic nervous system

Voluntary muscle movements like moving your arm or blinking.

Sympathetic nervous system

“Fight or Flight”, S stands for Stress. It prepares the body to respond to perceived threats by increasing heart rate and redirecting blood flow to muscles.

Parasympathetic nervous system

Relax, rest or digest. It counteracts the sympathetic nervous system by slowing the heart rate and promoting digestion.

Brain Stem

Keeps you alive, contains the medulla, and rests at the top of the spinal cord

Medulla

Keeps you alive, the most important part of the brain. It controls involuntary functions such as breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure.

Reticular activating system

Connects the whole brain, it takes care of arousal and being alert.

Reward center

Pleasure, reinforcement, dopamine.

Cerebral cortex

Thin, wrinkled outer layer of the brain involved in higher level thinking and decision making. It is divided into lobes that control various functions such as sensory perception, language, and reasoning.

Thalamus

Router for sensory information, it processes and transmits data to the appropriate areas of the cerebral cortex.

Hypothalamus

Regulares basic drives and desires, the 4 F’s, Fighting, fleeing, feeding, and… mating.

Plasticity

The brain changes shape to match function, long-term potentiation/practice basically.

Pituitary Gland

Master gland, it controls all hormones.

Corpus Callosum

Connects the 2 brain hemispheres.

Left - language, logic

Right - Art, crativity

Wernicke’s Area

Understanding language

Broca’s Area

Making speach and being able to produce language

Aphasia

A language problem.

If in Broca’s area - Can’t make speech

If in Wernicke’s area - Can’t understand speech

Hippocampus

A brain structure involved in the formation of new memories. If you saw a hippo, on a campus, you would remember it.

Amygdala

Fear, anger, negative emotions, memory. She’s in control of emotional responses and processing.

Limbic System

A set of brain structures that regulate emotions, memory, and arousal, including the hippocampus and amygdala.

Occipital lobes

The part of the brain that regulates vision.

Parietal lobes

Information from your skin, touch.

Temporal lobes

Information from your ears, hearing.

Frontal lobe

Thinking and planning, reasoning and problem-solving. This part of the brain controls all of the above!

Motor Cortex

Frontal lobs, the map of the body’s muscles. This area is responsible for coordinating voluntary movements and controlling muscle actions.

Somatosensory Cortex

In the Parietal lobe, has a map of your skin. This area processes sensory information from touch, temperature, and pain.

Contra-lateral control

The right brain controls the left body

The left brain controls the right body

Asymmetry

The two brains look different and do different things

Executive functioning

Blocking out internal and external stimuli. This involves skills such as planning, attention, problem-solving, and decision-making. Saying “No” to yourself when you have an impulse.

Prefrontal Cortex

Right and wrong, who you are. It is involved in decision-making and social behavior, playing a critical role in personality expression.