biological psychology

three main physical sections of brain

hindbrain, midbrain, forebrain

hindbrain location

base of brain, back of skull

hindbrain function

controls activities we have no conscious control over, breathing, reflex actions, coordinating voluntary muscle movements

hindbrain structures

cerebellum, medulla

cerebellum

info from sensory systems & spinal cord, alcohol consumption, motor learning involving practice, posture, balance, fine muscle movements

medulla

vital functions: breathing, heart rate, digestion, swallowing

damage to medulla

life support machines to regulate breathing and heart function

too severe damage to medulla

brain dead

midbrain location

top of hindbrain under cerebral hemispheres

midbrain function

all senses except smell, brain's sensory switchboard

midbrain structures

reticular formation

reticular formation

network of nerves abt finger thickness, brain's arousal system: suppresses consciousness during sleep, main function: screen incoming info (need/not)

reticular formation damage

lead to coma

forebrain

largest and most developed part of brain

forebrain functions

how we think, feel, behave

forebrain structures

cerebral cortex, thalamus, hypothalamus

thalamus

oval shape in both hemispheres, filers info from all senses except nose, important in regulating level of arousal

thalamus damage

reduces sense of touch, visual/hearing impairment, lethargy or even coma

hypothalamus

below thalamus, regulates hormone release (sex drive, body temp, biological clock, thirst and hunger needs)

cerebral cortex

outer layer on top of cerebrum

cerebrum

largest area of brain, divides brain into two hemispheres

cerebrum location

above and front of cerebellum, most of the forebrain, consists of cerebral cortex,and neural tissues

corpus callosum function

thick band of fibers that attaches the two hemispheres, lets messages be sent from one to the other

contralateral control

left hemisphere=right side of body, right hemisphere: left side of body

left hemisphere

language based tasks, analytical thinking, sequential process, logical reasoning

right hemisphere

visual-spatial tasks, arts appreciation, expression of emotion, face recognition

4 lobes

frontal, parietal, temporal, occipital

location of lobes

frontal lobe function

thinking, decision making, feeling, behavior, behavioral response, coordinating role as it is final place for sensory info, coordinates functions of other lobes

primary motor cortex function

strip of neural tissue controlling voluntary body movements through control of skeletal muscles (contralateral control for muscles on side of body)

Broca's area

production of speech, usually only left frontal lobe

frontal lobe structures

primary motor cortex, Broca's area, prefrontal cortex (cover)

how do we know broca's area controls speech

two patients who lost speech had damage in broca's area

prefrontal cortex location

covers the front part of the frontal lobe

prefrontal cortex function

executive function: planning complex cognitive behavior, personality expression, decision making, and moderating social behavior

executive function abilities

determine good/bad, work toward defined goal, prediction of outcomes, social "control"

parietal lobe function

bodily sensations (mainly touch), spatial awareness, speech

parietal lobe structures

primary somatosensory cortex

primary somatosensory cortex

processes somatic sensations (touch, pain, position of body in space)

when receptors detect sensations, the info is sent to thalamus, then psc

occipital lobe function

visual function of eyes

occipital lobe structures

primary visual cortex

temporal lobe function

hearing, language ad speech production, memory

receives and interprets info from ears

primary visual cortex function

essential to conscious processing of visual stimuli

visual info comes from lateral geniculate nucleus thalamus to primary visual cortex

temporal lobe structures

limbic system, amygdala, hippocampus, Wernicke' area, auditory cortex

auditory cortex

crucial in ability to perceive sound, such as pitch, where the sound orginates from, what is making the sound

Wernicke's area

speech is normal, but language comprehension is impaired

damage to temporal lobe

disrupt auditory perception, deficits in ability to detect changes in pitch, localize sounds in space, or understand speech

2 parts of the human nervous system

central nervous system and peripheral nervous system

CNS components

brain and spinal cord

CNS function

processes info from outside the world through various senses and activates necessary actions. central to the way we think, feel, act

PNS components

spinal and cranial nerves, somatic and autonomic nervous system

PNS function

takes messages from the CNS to the rest of the body and from the sense organs to the CNS, on the edge of CNS

brain composition

millions of nerve cells, largest part of CNS

parts of PNS

somatic nervous system and autonomic nervous system

parts of the autonomic nervous system

sympathetic nervous system and parasympathetic nervous system

sympathetic nervous system

fight or flight, arouses body, when stressed active or in danger

ex. increased heart rate, pupil dilation

parasympathetic nervous system

bodily functions in day to day living, rest and digest; calms the body down and conserves energy

ex. digestion

somatic nervous system

network of nerves that communicate information from the sense organs to the CNS and motor messages from the CNS

to the muscles to move voluntarily

monitors bodily functions

autonomic nervous system

system of nerves connected to the heart, glands and smooth muscles such as the digestive and reproductive organs, and

tells the brain what is going on in these largely involuntary systems.

regulates involuntary functions

somatic nervous system examples

birds singing, light switched on = communicated to CNS through sense organs and spinal cord

typing = messages sent from CNS to spinal cord to muscles to do those things voluntarily

long term or extreme and heighted arousal in sympathetic nervous system

leads to impaired performace/mental problems such as anxiety

MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)

magnetic field of radio frequency pulses to measure sginal emitted from body tissues

detection of tumors and abnormalities

fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging)

MRI with color

measure activity in brain

oxygen blood levels in active parts show color on fMRI

look at brain structure and function (different types of behavior and place in brain used can be seen)

CAT vs MRI

CAT: quick, cheap, worse quality, 2D images, people with pacemakers can use

MRI: slow, expensive, high resolution images, 3D images, can't do pacemakers

EEG (electroencephalography)

detects and amplifies brain waves

electrodes fastened to scalp

different brain patterns can show problems with brain (epilepsy, tumors)

EEG limitation

cannot provide information from deep within the brain or detail about the parts of the brain activated

CAT scan (computerized axial tomography)

x-ray that sends narrow beams through head

scans slices of brain at each degree

detects tumors, strokes, injuries

shows atrophies (shrunken areas)

only show brain structure (2D)

phineas gage damage

Shooting the rod through his left cheek and out the top of his skull, causing major damage to his frontal lobes.

Recovered - able to talk sensibly and

regained full strength.

phineas gage changes

personality changed from polite, pleasant, and hardworking to loud, impulsive, dishonest

less capable of organizing himself

suffered strokes

phineas gage changes why

fronal lobe is responsible for planning, personality, and self-control

why do people have split brains

underwent surgery to reduce severe epileptic seizures

the corpus callosum is cut to stop brain activity associated with seizures from spreading from one hemisphere to the other

Who conducted split brain research?

Sperry and Gazzaniga

sperry split brain experiment results

if the picture was projected in the right visual field so the info went to the left hemisphere (the language hemisphere), she answered confidently and correctly

picture projected in left visual field=right hemisphere (non-verbal hemisphere) she could not say what she had seen, but could pick it up from under the screen with her left hand

Sperry split brain research procedure

split brain client at a table and hands fit under the screen so she could not see them

objects flashed to right or left visual field

asked what she saw

sperry conclusion

with a cut corpus callosum,

visual information could not be sent from the right to

the left hemisphere or vice versa.

lobotomy physician

walter jackson freeman II

what is the lobotomy based on

monkey received frontal lobe ablation (removal of tissue) and experienced reduced agitation when it got an answer wrong in a memory task (even though other monkeys experienced increased agitation)

why was freeman controversial/not trusted in the medical field

high fatality rate, attitude, and no interest to describe a scientific basis for the procedure

what did freeman develop

a lobotomy, a modified version of cutting sections of tissue in the prefrontal cortex, severing its' connections

used as a treatment for mental health issue

what kind of person did freeman conduct his first lobotomy on

63-year-old housewife who was suffering

from insomnia and agitated depression (mixed bipolar

disorder, in which manic and depressive symptoms

occur together).

spinal cord function

major thoroughfare for messages between the

brain and the rest of the body.

neurons in spinal cord that transmit info via impulses away from the brain

efferent or motor neurons

neurons in spinal cord that transmit info via impulses towards the brain

affarent or sensory neurons

spinal cord how many segments

31

where do sensory nerves lead to on the spinal cord

dorsal (back side) of each segment

where do motor nerves exit from on the spinal cord

ventral (abdominal) sides

what is between the dorsal and ventral sides of the spinal cord

grey matter

grey matter is composed of

nerve cells

concentration of them on the outer edges of the cerebral cortex

white matter

inside brain, composed of largely neural connections and called white matter because of a fatty coating

PNS cranial and spinal nerve functions

combine both sensory and motor functions, leading both to and from the brain, but there are functional differences in spinal nerves when they meet the cord.

what happens to the cranial and spinal nerves when they meet the spinal cord

they split into a dorsal root that has

sensory functions and a ventral root that has only

motor functions.

cranial nerves function

carry sensory input from the skin or motor output to the muscles of the head or face.

They also carry sensory information for vision,

hearing, smell and balance.

spinal cord injuries (paraplegia, quadriplegia)

paraplegia: lower part of the cord is

damaged, resulting in the lower limbs being

paralyzed

quadriplegia: upper part of the

spinal cord is damaged, resulting in the arms and

legs being paralyzed.