MCAT Sociology Chapter 1

"Be strong, trust yourself, love yourself. Conquer your fears. Just go after what you want and act fast, because life just isn’t that long.”—The Office

Franz Gall

Developed the theory of phrenology, which posited that the bumps on the skull could be used to determine personality traits and intellectual capacities.

Pierre Flourens

extirpation/ablation; remove parts of the brain and watch behavioral consequences

William James

founder of American psychology; functionalism (focused on how mental processes help individuals adapt to their environments.)

John Dewey

psychology should focus on the study of an individual as a whole

Paul Broca

specific functional impairments could be linked with specific brain lesions

Hermann von Helmholtz

measure the speed of a nerve impulse, reaction time; behavior and nervous system activity

Charles Sherrington

existence of synapses; synaptic transmission are not an electric process

Kinds of Nerve Cells in the Nervous System

sensory, motor, and interneurons

Sensory Neurons

afferent; sensory information to the spinal cord and brain

Motor Neurons

efferent; motor information from brain and spinal cord to muscles and glands

Interneurons

found between; most numerous; reflexive behavior; work with reflex arcs

Central Nervous System

Brain and spinal cord

Peripheral Nervous System

Nerve tissue and fibers outside of the brain and spinal cord

Peripheral nervous system contains

31 spinal nerves and 12 cranial nerves; olfactory and optic nerves

Somatic nervous system

Sensory and motor neurons in the skin joints and muscle

Autonomic nervous system

Regulates heartbeat, respiration, digestion, and glanular secretions

The autonomic nervous system is made up of

The sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system

The sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system systems work

In opposition to each other

The parasympathetic nervous system

Resting and sleeping states, reduces heart rate, constriction of the bronchi, saliva, flow, bile release, peristalsis secretions

The sympathetic nervous system

Relaxes bronchi decreases digestion in peristalsis; activated by stress

Meninges

thick three later sheath of connective tissue that covers the brain

Dura Mater

outer layer of meninges connected to skull

Arachnoid Mater

middle layer of meninges

Pia Mater

inner layer of meninges connected to the brain

Cerebrospinal fluid is produced by___ and reabsorbed by ___

ventricle cells, meninges

Brain is divided into

hind, mid, fore

Brainstem (primitive) made of

hind and mid

Forebrain contains

limbic system

Cerebral Cortex (FB)

cognitive and behavioral

Basal Ganglia (FB)

movement

Limbic System (FB)

emotion and memory

Thalamus (FB)

sensory relay

Hypothalamus (FB)

huger, thirst, emotion

Inferior (Auditory) and Superior (Visual) Colliculi (MB)

sensorimotor reflexes

Cerebellum (HB)

refined motor movement, posture, coordination

Medulla Oblongata (HB)

heart, breathing, digestion, vomit/cough

Reticular Formation (HB)

arousal and alertness

Pons (HB)

brain communication, breathing

Rhombencephalon divides to form

myelencephalon (medulla) and metencephalon (pons and cerebellum)

Prosencephalon divides to form

telencephalon (cerebral cortex, basal ganglia, and limbic system) and diencephalon (thalamus, hypothalamus, posterior pituitary gland, and pineal gland)

Regional Cerebral Blood Flow (rCBF)

detects patterns of neural activity based on increased blood flow

CT or CAT

multiple X-rays to get cross sectional images

PET

radioactive sugars injected and absorbed into the body

MRI

magnetic field that interacts with hydrogen atoms is used to map out hydrogen dense regions

fMRI

measures changes associated with blood flow

Hypothalamus Four Fs

feeding, fighting, flighting, sexual functioning

Lateral Hypothalamus

hunger center

Ventromedial Hypothalamus

signals to stop eating

Anterior Hypothalamus

sexual behavior

Posterior Pituitary

release for ADH and oxytocin

Pineal Gland

secretes melatonin which regulates circadian rhythm

Extrapyramidal System

does not function directly through motor neurons

Septal Nuclei

primary pleasure center in the brain

Amygdala

defensive and aggressive behavior

Hippocampus

long term memories

Fornix

used to help the hippocampus communicate with the limbic system

Anterior Cingulate Cortex

higher order cognitive processes

Association Area

integrates input from diverse regions of the brain

Projection Areas

perform more rudimentary perceptual motor tasks

Broca’s Area

speech production

Occipital Lobe

visual cortex

Temporal Lobe

auditory and speech areas

Wernicke’s Area

language and comprehension

Contralaterally

communicates with the opposite side of the brain

Ipsilaterally

communicates with the same side of the brain

Dominant Hemisphere

language, logic, and math

Nondominant Hemisphere

artsy stuff

Neurotransmitter

chemical used by neurons to send signals to other neurons

Agonists

mimics the actions of a neurotransmitter

Antagonists

block the action of neurotransmitter

Acetylcholine in the peripheral nervous system

used to transmit nerve impulses to the muscles

Acetylcholine in the central nervous system

used for attention and arousal

Catecholamines (Monoamines, Biogenetic amines)

epinephrine, norepinephrine, dopamine

Epinephrine

primary transmitter of the sympathetic nervous system; from adrenal medulla

Dopamine Hypothesis of Schizophrenia

delusions/agitation due to too much or oversensitivity to dopamine

Parkinson’s Disease

loss of dopaminergic neurons in the basal ganglia

GABA and Glycine

stabilize neural activity

Glutamate

excitatory transmitter

Hypophyseal Portal

connects hypothalamus and pituitary gland

Anterior Pituitary

releases hormones that control endocrine glands in the body

Adrenal Medulla

releases epinephrine and norepinephrine

Adrenal Cortex

releases corticosteroids

Family Studies

compare given rates of a trait in a family; cannot distinguish environmental factors

Concordance Rates

likelihood that twins exhibit the dame trait

Critical Periods

children are particularly susceptible to environmental factors

Neurulation

ectoderm forms the neural groove

Moro Reflex

react to abrupt head movements by flinging arms; protects against death by falling from tree

Babinski Reflex

spread toes when sole is touched

Primitive reflexes should

disappear with age