AQA Psychology - Biopsychology

nervous system

What is the complex system of nerve cells that carry messages to and from the brain?

central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral nervous system (PNS)

What is the nervous system made up of? Include both full name and abbreviation.

somatic nervous system (SNS) and autonomic nervous system (ANS)

What two systems made up the PNS?

brain and spinal cord

What does the CNS consist of?

reflex actions

What is the spinal cord responsible for?

somatic nervous system / SNS

Which system controls voluntary movements and passes information from sensory and motor neurons to and from the CNS?

autonomic nervous system / ANS

Which system controls involuntary actions and transmits motor information to and from the CNS?

sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems

What are the two systems that made up the ANS?

sympathetic nervous system

Which system increases bodily activities and triggers the fight-or-flight reaction?

parasympathetic nervous system

Which system maintains or decreases bodily activities, returning the body to the rest state?

specialised cells that carry information throughout the body using chemical and electrical signals

What are neurons?

B

Which part is the control center of a neuron (soma)?

A

Which letter represents dendrites?

receive signals from other neurons or sensory receptors

What is the role of dendrites?

myelin sheath

Which part protects the axon?

carries impulses away from the cell body

What is the role of the axon?

nodes of Ranvier

What are the gaps between cells in the axon called?

axon terminal

Which part of the neuron allows for communication with the next neuron across the synapse?

sensory (neurons), relay (neurons), motor (neurons)

What are the three types of neurons?

sensory neuron

Which type of neuron carries messages from the PNS to the CNS?

relay neurons

Which type of neuron carries messages from one part of the CNS to another?

motor neurons

Which type of neuron carries messages from the CNS to effectors?

relay and motor neurons

What are two types of neurons that are multipolar?

synapse

What is the gap between the axon terminal of one neuron and the dendrites of the adjacent neuron called?

one-way transmission

Is synaptic transmission one-way or two-way transmission?

neurotransmitters

What is the chemical message that is packaged into synaptic vesicles and released into the synapse when triggered called?

serotonin

Which neurotransmitter can caused inhibitory effect?

acetylcholine / adrenaline / dopamine

Which neurotransmitter can caused an excitatory effect?

until reuptake

How long will effects of the neurotransmitter last?

summation

What is the process that determines whether the neuron will fire after totaling the excitatory and inhibitory input?

acetylcholine / ACh

What is the neurotransmitter that caused muscles to contract?

endocrine system

What is the name of a chemical system of communication that instructs glands to release hormones directly into the bloodstream?

target organs

Where are hormones carried towards?

glands

What are the organs that secrete hormones called?

pituitary gland

What is the 'master gland' called?

hormones

Do effects of hormones or effects of neurotransmitters last longer?

fight-or-flight response

Which response is activated by the sympathetic nervous system when we are in high-arousal or stressful situtations?

acute stressor

Which event triggers the hypothalamus?

adrenaline

Name the hormone that triggers the fight-or-flight response.

increased heart rate / increased blood pressure / pupils dilate

State an example of an emergency reaction caused by fight-or-flight.

suppressed digestion / dry mouth / contracted rectum

State an example of a non-emergency reaction caused by fight-or-flight.

localisation of function

What is the idea that specific functions have specific locations within the brain called?

hemispheric lateralisation

What is the idea that the two hemispheres of the brain are functionally different and are responsible for different behaviours?

cerebral cortex

What is the outer layer of both brain hemispheres called?

corpus callosum

What is the 'bridge' that connects the two brain hemispheres, allowing communication between the two halves called?

right hemisphere

Which hemisphere is dominant in recognising emotions?

left hemisphere

Which hemisphere is responsible for language processing?

motor cortex

Which part of the brain sends messages to the muscles and is responsible for generating voluntary motor movements?

frontal lobe

Where is the motor cortex located?

somatosensory cortex/area

Which is the area of the brain that processes sensory information?

parietal lobe

Where is the somatosensory cortex located?

visual area/cortex

Which part of the receives and processes visual information?

occipital lobe

Where is the visual area located in the brain?

auditory area/cortex

Which part of the brain is concerned with the analysis of speech-based information?

temporal lobe

Where is the auditory area located?

speech production

What is Broca's area responsible for?

left frontal lobe

Where is the Broca's area located in the brain?

Wernicke's area

Which area of the brain (B) is responsible for language comprehension?

temporal lobe in the left hemisphere (encircling the auditory cortex)

Where is the Wernicke's area located?

Broca's aphasia

Which condition is characterised by speech that is slow, laborious and lacking fluency?

Wernicke's aphasia

Which condition is characterised by neologisms (nonsense words)?

case studies of brain damaged patients / brain scan

Where does evidence to support localisation of functions come from?

Paterson et al (1988)

Who used brain scans to demonstrate how Wernicke's area was active during a listening task and Broca's area was active during a reading task?

too simplistic

What is the main point of criticisms for the localisation theories?

split-brain research

What is the research conducted by Sperry to help understand hemispheric lateralisation?

11 patients that had their corpus callosum removed

What was the sample in Sperry's study?

to remove severe epileptic seizures

Why do the patients had their corpus callosum removed?

If the image is shown to the right visual field, they can describe it; but if it is shown to the left visual field, they report that there is nothing there

What were the results when participants were asked to describe what they see in Sperry’s research?

the patient select the object that was most closely associated with the object presented to the left visual field

What is the results when the patients are asked to select an object using their left hand?

left hemisphere

Which hemisphere processes the right visual field (RVF)?

low population validity

What is a problem with the small sample size in Sperry's study?

lowers internal validity

What if the patients were taking drugs in the split-brain research?

JW

Name a case study that contradicts Sperry's research from Gazzaniga (1998). The case study can speak using their right hemisphere

well-controlled

What was a strength of the split-brain research?

Szflarski (2006)

Who suggests that lateralisation may be further complicated by age?

neural plasticity

What is the term used to describe the ability of the brain to change in response to experience?

spontaneous recovery

What is the term used to describe the idea that recovery occurred quickly after trauma and then slows down?

synaptic pruning

What is the process that can occur at any stage of life in which rarely used connections are eliminated and frequently used connections are strengthened?

secondary neural pathways

What is unmasked or activated to enable functioning of the brain to continue? This "pathway" would not normally be used to carry out certain functions

axonal sprouting

What is the growth of new nerve ending which connect with other undamaged nerve cells to form new neuronal pathways?

axonal sprouting / reformation of blood vessels / recruitment of similar areas on the opposite side of the brain

Name a structural change in the brain that supports the unmasking of secondary neural pathways

age / gender

Name a factor that affects the recovery of the brain after trauma

Maguire et al (2000)

Who used an MRI scanner to scan the brains of London taxi drivers and found that they had significantly more volume of grey matter in the posterior hippocampus?

Kempermann et al (1998)

Who found that rats placed in complex environments had an increased number of new neurons that rats housed in laboratory cages?

neurorehabiliation

What practical application has plasticity contributed to?

Ramachandran and Hirstein (1998)

Who found that 60-80% of amputees have been known to develop phantom limb syndrome, which caused an unpleasant feeling that the missing limb is still there?

functional magnetic resonance imaging

What does fMRI stand for?

electronencephalogram

What does EEG stand for?

event-related potentials

What does ERPs stand for?

Haemodynamic response

What happens when a brain area is more active, consumes more oxygen and to meet this increased demand, blood flow is directed to the active area?

3D images

Which type of image does fMRI produce?

5 seconds

What is the time-lagged between the image produced and brain activity in fMRI scans?

detect activity in deeper regions / records specific brain activity for localisation

Name a strength of fMRI

expensive / ignores communication between areas / low temporal resolution

Name a weakness of fMRI

EEG

Which method of studying the brain measures electrical activity within the brain via electrodes on a skull cap?

high temporal resolution / cheap / has practical application / takes into account communication between areas

What is a strength of using EEG?

cannot detect image from deeper brain regions (hypothalamus)

What is a weakness of using EEG scans

statistical analysis

What does ERPs use to filter out specific types of brainwaves that relate to a specific function?

lack of standardisation in which statistical test to use

What is a weakness of using ERPs that is not a weakness of EEG?

post-mortem examinations

What is the analysis of a person's brain following their death?