GCSE psychology- brain and neuropsychology

Homeostasis

The body’s ability to maintain a stable internal environment ( eg body temp/ CO2 levels in the blood)

What is the order of events in the James - Lange theory of emotion

Event - a stressor in the environment

Arousal - physiological changes

Interpretation - brain interprets body’s reaction

Emotion - response to interpretation

Name 7 parts of a neuron

Soma

Nucleas

Dendrite

Myelin sheath

Node of Ranvier

Axon

Terminal button

Soma

Contains nucleus and controls the neuron’s activities. It processes incoming signals

Nucleus

Controls the cell and contains genetic material (DNA)

Dendrite

Receives electrical impulses from other neurons and passes them to the cell body (soma)

Myelin sheath

A fatty layer of cells that insulates the axon and speeds up transmission of electrical impulses

Node of Ranvier

Gaps in myelin sheath that allow the impulse to “ jump” along the axon, making transmission faster.

Axon

Carries electrical impulses away from the cell body to other neurons or to muscles

Terminal buttons

End of axon where neurotransmitters are released to pass the message to next neuron across a synapse.

Neuron

a cell that communicates messages through electrical and chemical signals to provide nervous system its main way of communication

Sensory neuron

Carries messages from peripheral nervous system to central nervous system. They have long dendrites and short axons.

Relay neuron

Connect sensory neurons to motor neurons as they do not have contact directly. They have short dendrites and short axons

Motor neurons

Carry messages from central nervous system to effectors in the body (muscles and glands). They have short dendrites and short axons

When does electrical transmission take place?

Electrical transmission takes place within neurons. It occurs when a neuron’s charge briefly reverses, creating an action potential that travels down the axon.

Localisation

The idea that particular areas of the brain have specific roles

What did Penfields study establish

Penfields study in called the penfields study of the interpretive cortex. It supports the idea of localisation and says that there are specific areas of the brain do to with memories ans memory storage.

How did penfield conduct his study

He was a brain surgeon treating patients with epilepsy. He used the Montreal procedure, removing pieces of the skull in order to expose the brain. While patients were awake, he experimented by stimulating different parts of the brain with electrical current, inducing different responses.

What are some strengths of Penfields study of the interpretive cortex?

Real life medical setting (high ecological validity in medical context)

Objective procedure (direct brain stimulation)

Useful application for understanding epilepsy and memory

Supports the idea of localisation and suggests memories are biological

What are some weaknesses of Penfields study of the interpretive cortex?

It was with a small, unusual sample (epilepsy patients) - this means results can’t be generalised

Artificial electrical stimulation may not reflect normal memory recall

Memories triggered were sometimes incomplete or distorted

What were the results of Penfields study of the interpretive cortex

Some patients reported reliving vivid memories

Experiences felt real and detailed

Patients were aware they were in surgery and could not control their memories

What triggers the stress response?

The hypothalamus

What are the four sections of the cerebral cortex?

Front lobe

Parietal lobe

Occipital lobe

Temporal lobe

What is the function of the frontal lobe?

Holds motor area - voluntary movement on the opposite side of body

Broca’s area - forms words and speech production

Involves thinking and planning

What is the function of the parietal lobe?

Contains somatosensory area - processing sensory information from the skin (eg heat or pressure)

What is the function of the temporal lobe?

Contains auditory area - analyses speech based sound

Wernicke’s area - language comprehension (forming coherent sentences)

What is the function of the temporal lobe?

Contains occipital lobe - processing visual information, with right hemisphere handling left visual field and vice versa.

What is Hebb’s theory of learning?

It states that repeated activation of neurons during together strengthens the connections between them, making it easier for that pathway to be achieved next time

“Neurons that fire together, wire together”

Name a few things that hebb’s learning theory suggest

The brain is plastic - it can adapt and mould

Learning produces and engram, which is a permanent memory trace of the synaptic pathways used by neurons.

Cell assemblies - the more a synaptic pathway is used, the stronger it gets

Explain the phrase “neurons that fire together, wire together”

This is to do with Hebb’s theory of learning

It suggests that the more the same neurons fire together, or the more a synaptic pathway is used, the stronger that engram gets. This is because neurons make new connections (more terminal buttons connecting to the next neuron) in order to make the process of that same thing that triggered the synaptic pathway more efficient, therefore faster.

What is the nervous system

A specialised network of cells and the body’s primary internal communication system

What is the peripheral nervous system split into

Somatic nervous system

Autonomic nervous system → sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems