Biopsychology -

only way we've gone up to and what all be in mocks

nervous system

nervous system

divided into two main components central nervous system, peripheral nervous system

central nervous system

consists of the brain and the spinal cord - it maintains life

peripheral nervous system

role is to relay messages from the CNS to the rest of the body. Consists if the somatic and the autonomic nervous system and in the autonomic nervous system there is sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system

Somatic nervous system

voluntary actions - facilitates communication between the CNS and the outside world. it is made up of sensory receptors that carry information to the spinal cord and the brain, and motor pathways that allow the brain to control movement.

autonomic nervous system

involuntary actions - plays an important role in homeostasis which maintains internal processes like body temperature it also consists of motor pathways and has the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous system.

sympathetic nervous system

involves the responses preparing the body for fight or flight. impulses travel from the sympathetic nervous system to organs in the body to prepare for action - increase of blood pressure and heart rate for example.

parasympathetic nervous system

this is to relax the body and return us to our normal resting state - it slows heart rate and decreases blood pressure.

brain and spinal chord similarities and difference

S - brain stem and the spinal cord both control involuntary processes. Brian stem - breathing, spinal chord - involuntary reflexes

D - the brain provided conscious awareness and allows for higher order thinking while the spiral cord allows reflex responses.

D - brain consists of multiple regions responsible for different function, whereas the spinal cord has one main function.

somatic, autonomic and sympathetic, parasympathetic similarities and difference

S- the sympathetic responds to external stimuli preparing the body for fight or flight. and the somatic nervous system responds to external stimuli

D - autonomic consists of two sub components whereas somatic only has one

D- somatic has sensory and motor pathways whereas the autonomic only has motor pathway

Sensory neuron

found in receptors in our eyes, ears and tongue. carry nerve impulses to the brain and spinal chord. when they reach the brain they get turned into sensations like vision or taste. some don’t reach the brain and stop at the spinal chord - as they are quick reflexes

relay neuron

found between the sensory input and Motor output, found in the brain and spinal chord and allow sensory and motor neurone to communicate

motor neurone

found in the CNS and control muscle movements. motor neurones are stimulated they release neurotransmitters that bind to the receptors on muscles to trigger as respond, which leads to movements

synaptic transmission

information is passed down the axon of the neurone as a electrical impulse known as action potential. one the action potential reaches the end of the axon it needs to transfer to another neurone or tissue. vesicles contains neurotransmitters at the axon terminal when the electrical impulse has reached the neurotransmitter get release and they bind to receptor sites on the post synaptic neurone it then becomes activated. They either produce excitatory or inhibatory effects. excitatory neurotransmitters make the post synaptic neurone more likely to fire resulting in excitatory post synaptic potential opposite of inhibitory.

endocrine system - glands

it is a network of glands across the body that secrete chemical messages called hormones. it uses blood vessels to transmit information. each gland produces different hormones

hormones

hypothalamus is connected to the pituitary gland and is responsible for stimulating or controlling the release of hormones from the pituitary gland

pituitary gland

known as the master gland - all the hormones it releases control and stimulates the release of hormones from other glands

oxytocin - uterus contraction

pineal gland

melatonin - biological rhythms - sleep-wake cycle

thyroid gland

thyroxine - regulating metabolism

adrenal gland

two parts - adrenal medulla ( adrenaline and noradrenaline) and adrenal cortex ( cortisol, release of glucose).

testes

testosterone

ovaries

oestrogen

fight or flight response

if someone is in a potentially stressful situation - the amygdala is activated -responds to sensory output and connects to sensory input with emotions associated with the fight or flight response

if its deemed stressful or dangerous the amygdala sends a distress signal to the hypothalamus which communicates with the body through the sympathetic systems - if it requires a short term response the Sympathomedullary pathway os activates triggering a fight or flight response

increase heart rate

increase energy

increased breathing rate

more oxygen intake

pupil dilation

increase light energy - enhance vision

sweat production

regulates temperature

reduction of non essential functions

increase energy for other essential functions

evaluation of fight or flight

when faced with a dangerous situation our reactions not limited to the fight or flight response some suggest humans can also have a freeze response - Gary suggests this, animals and humans are hyper vigilant. and usually know what is the best action for certain situations

fight or flight usually a male response - researches say that females are more likely to tend and befriend - more likely to protect their off spring and form alliances

early research with fight or flight was conducted with men - they generalised to females - highlight beta bias

while gift or flight may have been useful for ancestors as a survival mechanism - we rarely face these - more stress - suggests fight or flight response is a maladaptive response in mored day life.

localisation of function

idea that certain functions have certain locations within the brain

hemispheric lateralisation

the fact that the two halves of the brain are functionally different and that each hemisphere has functional specialisations (left is dominant for language)

split-brain research

split -brain patients are individuals who have undergone a surgical procedure where the corpus callous which connects the two hemispheres is cut

plasticity

brain plasticity refers to the brains ability to change and adapt because of experience

functional recovery

is the transfer of functions from damaged area of the brain after trauma to other undamaged areas

case study - Phineas Gage

experienced a drastic accident in which a piece of iron went through his skull, although he survived his personality changed - inhibition and anger - 4 key areas - motor, somatosensory, visual and auditory areas

motor area

located in the frontal lobe and is responsible for voluntary movements by sending signals to the muscles in the body. Hitzig and Fritsch first discovered that different muscles are coordinated by different areas of the motor cortex. both hemispheres

somatosensory area

located in the parietal lobe and receives incoming sensory information from the skin to produce sensations related to pressure, pain and temperature. both hemispheres

fight or flight response

• stressful situation

• amygdala ( part of the limbic system) activated and sends signal to the hypothalamus

• hypothalamus activates sympathomedullary pathway - pathway running through the adrenal medulla and the sympathetic nervous system

• SNS stimulates the adrenal medulla - part of adrenal gland

• adrenal medulla secretes the hormone adrenaline and noradrenaline into the bloodstream

• adrenaline causes physiological changes to prepare body for fight or flight

visual area

in the occipital lobe is in the visual area, receives and processes visual information. both hemispheres

auditory area

located in the temporal lobe and is responsible for analysing and processing acoustic information. both hemispheres

language centres: Broca’s area

left frontal lobe involved in language production and in the left hemisphere

broca’s aphasia - slow and inarticulate speech - and produced the word but links to the questions

language centres: wernicke’s area

found in the left temporal lobe and it is thought to be involved in language processing/ comprehension. wernicke’s aphasia - speaks fluently but struggle to comprehend language often producing sentences that are fluent but meaningless. - left hemisphere

evaluation of localisation of function

• limitation - not all researchers agree with the view that cognitive functions are localised in the. brain

• some researchers suggest that what might be more important is how the brain areas communicate with each other

• Support - evidence for the different functions of brocas and wernickes area language production and understanding comes from the discovery that damage to these different areas results in different aphasias

• language may not be confined to brocas area alone - dronkers et al re-examined the preserved brain - more complex than once though

hemispheric lateralisation

refers to two halves aren’t exactly alike - each hemisphere has functional specialisations LEFT - language dominant and RIGHT -face recognition they connect through the corpus callous

split brain research

Sperry and Gazzangia were the first to study split brain parents - to test the capabilities of the separated hemispheres at a time in order to study what is known as hemispheric lateralisation

learnings from split brain patients - LEFT - speech and language RIGHT - visual - spatial processing and facial recognition

evaluation of lateralisation

• strength - related to increased neural capacity

• limitations - associated with hemispheric lateralisation

• limitations - lateralisation changes with age - appears not to stay exactly the same throughout an individuals lifetime but changes with normal ageing

evaluation of split brain research

• language may not be restricted to the left. hemisphere - gazzaniga suggests that some of the early discoveries from split brain research have been disconfirmed by more recent discoveries

• split brain procedure is rarely carried out nowadays - less participants to study on

plasticity

plasticity as a result of life experience - people gain new experiences so make new neural pathways

playing video games - makes a different complicit cognitive and motor demands - researchers have concluded that video game training has resulted in new synaptic connections

meditation - can change the inner workings of your brain - monks have more gamma wave activity than the control group they experimented on

evaluation of plasticity

• research support from animal studies - kempermann et all suggested that an enriched environment could alter the number of neutrons in the brain.

• research support from the human studies - taxi drivers, discovered that changes in the brain could be detected as a result of their extensive experience of spatial navigation

functional recovery after trauma

mechanism for recovery

• neuronal unmasking - synaptic connections that exist anatomically but their function is blocked. under normal conditions these synapses are ineffective — however after increasing the rate of input to these synapse they can open

• stem cell - unspecialised cell that have a potential to make different things- undertake different characteristics - like taking characteristics of nerve cells - or rescue injured cells which can help if the brain is damaged

evaluation of functional recovery

• research support from animal studies -using rate with traumatic brain injuries - one group used stem cells other method was without stem cells - the one with stem cells shoed the rat has clear development of neuron like cells in the area of injury

• age differences in functional recovery - childhood - develop compensatory behavioural strategies to work around the deficit however adults would have to require more intense retraining

• educational attainment and functional recovery - carried out a retrospective study - traumatic brain injuries - 769 patients 214 had achieved disability free recovery after one year — these researchers concluded that cognitive reserve was an important factor in neural adaption during recovery from traumatic brain injury.

post mortem

used to establish underlying neurobiology of a particular behaviour - it has also helped to identify some of the brains structures involved in memory these has also been a link between psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia and depression and underlying brain abnormalities

scanning techniques

fMRI- functional magnetic resonance imaging - measures changes in the brain activity while a person performs a task. does this by measuring the changes in blood flow in particular areas of the brain - shows increased neural activity - because if its more active more oxygen is needed so therefore more blood cells

EEG - electroencephalogram - measures electrical activties - electrodes are placed on the scalp to detect small electrical charges resulting from the activity of brain cells. 4 main types of EEG is alpha, beta, delta and theta waves.

ERPs - event related potentials - small voltage changes in the brain that are triggered by specific events or stimuli - to establish specific response to a target stimulus requires many presentation of the stimulus and these responses are then averaged together

evaluation of studying the brain

fMRI - + noninvasive and it doesn’t expose the brain to harmful radiation. + offers more objective and reliable measures of psychology processes than is possible with verbal reports. NEGATIVE - changes in blood flow in the brain is not a direct measure of neural activity. critics agree that fMRI overlooks the networked nature of brain activity

EEG - + provides recurring of the brain in real time + useful in clinical diagnosis. NEGATIVE - can only detect the activity in superficial regions. electrodes can be implanted in non humans to achieve this but it is not ethically permissible. it can pick up several neighbouring electrons therefore it can’t pin point the exact source of an activity

ERP- + provides a continuous measure, makes to possible to determine how processing is affected by a specific experimental manipulation. + ERP measure the processing of stimuli even in the absence of a behavioural response. NEGATIVES - they are so small it is difficult to pick out the electrical activity in the brain - requires large number of trials. limitation is that it only strong voltage changes across the scalp are recordable.

Postmortem examination - + allows for detailed examination of anatomical neurochemical aspects of the brain which isn’t possible with non invasive techniques. + Harrison claimed that mortem studies have played a central part in our understanding of the origins in schizophrenia

the nature of circadian rhythms

the sleep - wake cycle - not only dictates when we should sleep but also when we should be awake - it dips during the day and why you have intense hours of sleep ( 2-4).

OTHER CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS - CORE BODY TEMPERATURE - when sleeping your body temperature drops and when your waking up it rises to make you feel more awake and alert

HORMONE PRODUCTION - the production and release of melatonin — encourages feelings of sleep - melatonin productions drop again when the person wakes up

evaluation of circadian rhythms

• research support for the importance of light - Hughes tested the circadian hormone on four participants stationed at the British antarctic station - their cortisol pattern changed due to lack of light

• individual differences - some prefer to ride early - difference cycle onset

• research methodology - in most studies participants were isolated from variables that might affect their circadian rhythms - if they were not isolated from artificial light as it contrasts daylight

• chronotherapeutics - real world application - how thing affects drug treatments

ultradian rhythms

sleep states

stage one - light sleep, muscle activity slows down, occasional muscle twitching

stage two - breathing and heart rate slows - slight decrease in body temperature

stage three - deep sleep begins, brain begins to generate slow delta waves

stage four - very deep sleep - rhythmic breathing, limited muscle activity, brain produces delta waves

stage 5 - rapid eye movement, brain waves speed up and dreaming occurs, muscle relaxes and heart rate increases , breathing is rapid and shallow

infradian rhythms

weekly rhythms - group of 7 days - week most common - weekly cycle like testosterone levels - more sexual activity due to that

months rhythms - reproductive rhythms over a month

annual rhythms are related to seasons like migration as a result of lower temperatures and decrease food sources

evaluation of rhythms

individual differences - differences in sleep patterns

research support for the BRAC in a study of elite performers

the menstrual cycle - normally governed by the endogenous system - relate of hormones by the pituitary glands

endogenous pacemakers

the suprachiasmatic nucleus - main endogenous pacemakers is a tiny cluster of nerve cells called the suprachiasmatic nucleus - it acts as the master clock links to other brain regions that control our sleep and arousal

the pineal gland - the SCN sends signals to the pineal gland directing it to increase production and secretion of the hormone melatonin at night and to decrease it as light levels increase in the morning

exogenous zeitgerbers

Light - receptors in the SCN are sensitive to changes in light changes throughout the day and use this information to synchronise the activity of the body organs and glands

social cues - social stimuli such as mealtimes and social activities - shoes that individuals are able to compensate for the absence of zeitgbers such as natural light. circadian rhythms of blind people were thought to be no different to sighted people as both were exposed to the same social cues - we know now it is still influence by light

evaluation of endogenous pacemakers

the role of the SCN - importance is shown with hamsters - Morgan bred a strain of hamsters so they had an abnormal ciradican rhythm of 20 hours rather than 24 hours when their brains where transplanted to normal hamsters they showed the same rhythms - shows them importance of the SCN in setting the circadian rhythms

dangers of disrupting rhythms - shows rota teenagers spend increasing amounts of time on media at night - it lead to a suppression of melatonin and circadian disruption - so it makes it sleep irregular and shortened

evaluation of exogenous zeitgerbers

support for the role of melanoposin - the important role played in setting the circadian rhythm is demonstrated by blind people.

using light exposure to avoid jet lag - study shoed bright light pair to an east to west flight decreased the time needed to readjust to local time on arrival

role of artificial light as a zeitgeber - demonstrated the importance of light in regulation of the sleep was and activity rest patterns of two groups of volunteer participants over a five week study period - confirms that light is the dominant zeitgeber for the SCN and that its effectiveness depends on its spectral composition.