Biopsych (unfinished)

Draganski

Draganski

They used MRIs of medical students before and after their final exams and saw that there was a change in volume of the hippocampus - evidence of plasticity in humans.

Circadian rhythms

________ are governed by the suprachiasmatic nucleus which sits close to the hypothalamus.

Kemperman

________ put rats into an enriched environment with notable cognitive challenge (difficult maze etc) and saw that there were new neurons in the rats hippocampi.

Mass action

________ suggests that the degree of impairment after damage is directly proportional to the amount of brain damaged, not the location.

Nikbakhitian et al

________ (2021) used an accelerometer (objective measure) derived sleep onset time (SOT) for over 100, 000 participants.

Nerves

________ are cylindrical bundles of several thousand neuron axons (fibres)

Echolocation

________ is something that blind people can learn to do to "see "the surroundings.

EEG

________: Electroencephalograms measure electrical activity in the brain using electrodes on the scalp.

LH

Low IQ is not 100 % because of loss of ________, but it is likely that it could be.

McGuire et al

________ found that London taxi drivers had more grey matter in their brain, and a bigger posterior hippocampus than the control group when tested using MRI machines.

Chronotypes

________ are peoples natural inclinations for wake and sleep patterns, so the technicalities about the precise time of the circadian rhythm can be partly influenced by genes.

Functional recovery

________ is when the brain can restore skills or behaviours after damage has occurred.

Humans

________ dream when they are in REM sleep, this is also where emotional processing occurs.

Signals

________ are graphed over a period of time and abnormal patterns or arrhythmias (no particular rhythm) can be used to diagnose disorders e.g.

human NS

The ________ is a complex network of nerve cells and fibres that enables the brain to receive information about the environment and to command responses.

Neural activity

________ is characterised by theta waves.

visual cortices

There are somatosensory, auditory and ________ in both hemispheres, and the control of movement and reception is contralateral.

Szaflarski

________ et al (2006) found that language became more lateralised to the left hemisphere as age increased, but after 25 it became increasingly less lateralised.

Denervation super sensitivity

________: this is when intact cells become hyper- sensitive to stimulation so larger results are experienced from the same amount of neurotransmitters.

Recruitment

________: the homologous area on the opposite hemisphere begins to perform specific tasks previously undertaken by the damaged are.

Fight

________ or flight are not the only responses to stress in humans: the freeze response is a momentary parasympathetic brake on the motor system as a form of behavioural inhibition (Gray et al)

hypothalamus

The ________ releases CRH in the brain, which travels to the pituitary gland and instructs it to release ACTH.

Receptors

________ are specialised in both systems (cells or parts of post- synaptic neurons)

Jet lag

________ or shift work), can lead to things like low mood and motivation, poor cognitive functioning, or other more serious conditions such as heart health, diabetes or bipolar disorder.

OV

________ (ovulation- visual cortex is in the occipital lobe)

Biological rhythms

________ are patterns of physiological processes that occur and recur with a predictable regularity.

FM

________ (radio- the motor cortex is in the frontal lobe)

Plasticity

________ refers to the brains ability to adapt in response to experience.

ERP

________ (event- related potentials): this relies of EEG data to pinpoint /time- lock certain spikes or troughs of brain activity to specific stimuli.

PM

________: post- mortem examinations involve studying the actual, physical brain of a deceased individual to look for lesions or causes for any phenomenological afflictions or mental health disorders an individual may have struggled with e.g.

Data

________ is gathered and summated or superposed to create a graph where different types of waves (alpha, beta, delta and theta) can be identified by their frequency.

Lashley

________ experimented on rats with surgically induced brain lesions and created 2 significant theories.

NS

Neurons are specialised cells in the brain and ________ that transmit electrical impulses, enabling thought, speech, movement etc.

Luckow et al

________ (1998) found that "seeking and using social support "was massively significant in females (but not at all in males), (p <0.0000001)

FMRI

________: functional magnetic resonance imaging measures changes in brain activity by looking for changes of blood flow to certain areas.

Re routing

________: a neuron that has lost its target seeks a new connection to enable communication around the damaged area.

SCN

The ________ is entrained (synchronised to stimuli) by light signals from the brain: when the ________ receives signals of light in the morning, the "master clock "is reset in a time- dependent manner.

Visual information

________ is received as light energy in the photoreceptors in the retina, before being translated in the ganglion cells in the retina.

PNS

The ________ includes all the nerves external to the CNS.

Split brain research

________ refers to the studying of individuals who have had split- brain surgery, in order to understand more about the individual specialisms of each hemisphere.

CNS

The ________ is the major division of the NS that includes all nerves in the central system.

oxytocin release

The ________ is important because it is linked to the "tend and befriend "response to stress, due to its link to affiliative behaviours.

auditory information

The ________ from the clicking is received by the visual cortex (not the auditory), which demonstrates that the cortex is adapting to maximise functioning.

electric action potential

Neurons communicate through the process of synaptic transmission, where the ________ is briefly carried by chemical neurotransmitters.

whem brain

Acquired damage is ________ damage results from later trauma or insult.

pituitary gland

The ________ is seen as the main gland in the endocrine system, however this is controlled by the hypothalamus.

right FoV

When a stimulus was shown to the ________ (LH), participants could name the stimulus.

Wernickes area

________ is responsible for the understanding and comprehension of language.

Autonomic NS

The ________ works with smooth (organ) muscle to affect action and control involuntary bodily processes.

endocrine system

The ________ uses a negative feedback loop (this means the system responds when the conditions are no longer ideal) to maintain homeostasis (the regulation of internal bodily functions in an optimal state)

Cortisol release is generally used as a second fight or flight wave

it is referred to as chronic stress (plan C) or the HPA axis

more susceptible to diseases

lower immunity

Chronic (plan C

there is no plan B) is explained with the release of cortisol, and is not 100% necessary

Fight or flight are not the only responses to stress in humans

the freeze response is a momentary parasympathetic brake on the motor system as a form of behavioural inhibition (Gray et al)

This means that the fight or flight theory does not fully describe the stress response in all humans

it does not recognise the protective element of the freeze response

Furthermore, in humans oxytocin has been seen to inhibit glucocorticoids (stress hormones), suggesting it could protect against the effects of chronic stress

this is important real world application

There may also be different stress responses for different stressors

participants who experienced acute social stress were more likely to engage in prosocial behaviours (Von Dawans et al), thus a tend-and-befriend response may be present in some situations for non-females

FM (radio

the motor cortex is in the frontal lobe)

PS (play station

the somatosensory cortex is in the parietal lobe)

wTAf (teaching assistant/ wtf

Wernickes area in the auditory cortex in the temporal lobe can cause fluency aphasia)

OV (ovulation

visual cortex is in the occipital lobe)

Note

the somatosensory has some features that the motor doesnt because you cannot move them e.g

There are two main language centres in the brain

Brocas area and Wernickes area

There are two regions of Brocas area

language and demanding cognitive tasks (Fedorenko et al, 2012)

It seems like the hippocampus is an area of the brain that doesnt perform as expected, this may be because it is the only area of the brain that can form new neurons

only some areas of the brain are very localised

The Principle of Equipotentiality suggests that every aspect of the cortex has equal potential to perform a function (this is how there can be a recovery of function without neural

cortex recovery)

LEFT

detail-oriented (supported by lots of research); language functioning is localised to the left (in 95% of right handed individuals); planning; analytical thought etc

RIGHT

bigger picture concepts; facial recognition; non-verbal cues; emotions; impulsivity and creativeness

Similarly when an object was "shown" to each hand then placed in a grab bag, each hand would often pick up and reject the object the other hand was looking for

they worked completely separately

There was significant variation in the SB sample

there was non-standardised CC severing (e.g

Any experience or change in the environment can lead to plasticity, but a key one is learning

neural challenge

Re-routing

a neuron that has lost its target seeks a new connection to enable communication around the damaged area

Sprouting

nerve fibres grow and become bushier to make new connections and enable connection

Recruitment

the homologous area on the opposite hemisphere begins to perform specific tasks previously undertaken by the damaged are

Note

this tends to be a last resort because it is a difficult (metabolically) and drastic change

Denervation super-sensitivity

this is when intact cells become hyper-sensitive to stimulation so larger results are experienced from the same amount of neurotransmitters

Unmasking

dormant synapses which were functionally blocked (e.g

This links to the crowding hypothesis

this suggests that a brain which is damaged congenitally, can often initially compensate with maximal rewiring, however this individual would struggle significantly more if there was more damage

PM

post-mortem examinations involve studying the actual, physical brain of a deceased individual to look for lesions or causes for any phenomenological afflictions or mental health disorders an individual may have struggled with e.g

fMRI

functional magnetic resonance imaging measures changes in brain activity by looking for changes of blood flow to certain areas

EEG

Electroencephalograms measure electrical activity in the brain using electrodes on the scalp

ERP (event-related potentials)

this relies of EEG data to pinpoint/ time-lock certain spikes or troughs of brain activity to specific stimuli

These responses can be divided into 2 categories

sensory responses (signals are generated before the first 100ms) or cognitive responses (signals are generated after the first 100ms)

Note

the strengths and limitations of each of these methods can often offset each other

Spatial resolution

region/ locality

Temporal resolution

time

Note

you could have an essay on 1 or more bio rhythms, or even circadian

Circadian (circa dian

approx 24 hours)

The SCN is entrained (synchronised to stimuli) by light signals from the brain

when the SCN receives signals of light in the morning, the "master clock" is reset in a time-dependent manner

Note

sleep and wakefulness are not governed by circadian rhythms alone, homeostatic sleep pressure is what makes us want to sleep more and more the longer we have been awake

NREM sleep

non-REM sleep

REM sleep

Rapid Eye Movement sleep

Stage 2

slightly deeper sleep, breathing and heart rate slows

Stage 3

deep sleep where theta waves begin to turn into delta waves

Stage 4

very deep sleep where healing and repair occur