brain & bio AND memory ap psych

Frontal Lobe

planning, making judgments, speaking, body movements, contains motor cortex and prefrontal cortex

Parietal Lobe

processes bodily sensations; visual and spatial reasoning

Occipital Lobe

processes vision

Temporal Lobe

processes hearing

Pons

influential in sleep and dreams

Medulla

controls heartbeat and breathing

Reticular Formation

controls awakeness and alertness

Cerebellum

controls balance, coordination, and nonverbal learning

Hippocampus

creates new memories

Amygdala

influential with emotions (specifically fear & aggression)

Hypothalamus

controls drives (hunger, thirst), regulates body temperature

Left Hemisphere

controls logic, mathematical reasoning, speech, and speech comprehension

Right Hemisphere

controls facial recognition, spatial reasoning, & creativity

nREM Stage 1 Sleep

lightest stage of sleep, hypnagogic sensations

nREM Stage 2 Sleep

stage of sleep where sleep talking occurs

nREM Stage 3 Sleep

deepest stage of sleep, sleep walking, bed wetting, night terrors

Somnambulism

sleep walking

REM (rapid eye movement)

increased brain activity, dreaming occurs, paradoxical sleep

dopamine

neurotransmitter responsible for movement, attention, alertness, and rewards (related to addiction) - too much causes Parkinson's disease (tremors and muscular rigidity) too little causes Schizophrenia

Seratonin

neurotransmitter responsible for mood regulation, hunger/appetite, and sleep, Deficit causes depression and some anxiety disorders (OCD)

Norepinephrine/Noradrenaline

neurotransmitter and hormone responsible for the "fight or flight" response, excess increases blood pressure deficit causes depression

Glutamate

neurotransmitter involved in memory, cognition, and mood regulation, excess causes brain cell damage or death deficit causes depression, ADHD, insomnia, OCD, and other anxiety disorders

GABA

neurotransmitter that inhibits excitation and anxiety, excess impairs learning, motivations, and movement, deficit causes anxiety disorders, seizures, and insomnia

Endorphins

neurotransmitter involved with pain relief and feelings of pleasure, "natural opiates" deficit may be involved in addiction

Substance P

neurotransmitter involved in nociception (pain) and inflammation, excess causes MDD and fibromyalgia (musculoskeletal pain and fatigue), deficit reduces pain sensitivity and mechanical stability of the bone

Acetycholine

neurotransmitter responsible for voluntary movement and muscle contraction, learning, memory, and sleep, excess linked to depression, deficit leads to dementia and alzheimer's

Agonists

a molecule that increases a neurotransmitter's action

Antagonists

a molecule that blocks or inhibits a neurotransmitter's actions

Reuptake Inhibitors

medications that block the reabsorption of neurotransmitters in the brain

Central Nervous System (CNS)

the body's decision maker is made up of the brain and spinal cord

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

the sensory and motor neurons that connect the CNS to the rest of the body

Somatic Nervous System

the part of the PNS that controls skeletal muscles, allows for voluntary movement

Autonomic Nervous System

part of the PNS that controls the glands and muscles of the internal organs

Glial Cells

cells in the nervous system that support, nourish, and protect neurons

All-or-nothing Principle

a neuron's response of either firing or no firing

Depressants

drugs that reduce neural activity and slow body functions (alcohol)

Tolerance

the diminishing effect with regular use of the same dose of a drug, requiring the user to take larger doses to reach the same effect

Addiction

compulsive substance use that continues despite harmful consequences

Withdrawal

the discomfort and distress that follow discontinuing an addictive drug or behavior

Opioids

depress neural activity, temporarily lessening symptoms of pain and anxiety (heroin)

Stimulants

drugs that excite neural activity and speed up body functions (caffeine and cocaine)

Hallucinogens

psychedelic drugs that distort perceptions and evoke sensory images in the absence of sensory input (marijuana)

Neuroplasticity

the brain's ability to change, especially during childhood, by reorganizing after damage or building new pathways based on experience

fMRI (functional MRI)

a technique for revealing blood flow and therefore brain activity by comparing successive MRI scans

Brainstem

responsible for automatic survival functions; a central core of the brain, beginning where the spinal cord swells as it enters the skull

Cerebral Cortex

the fabric of interconnected neurons covering the brain

Split Brain Surgery

a surgery performed on patients with a high-frequency of seizure resistant to treatment where the corpus callosum is cut and communication between the two hemispheres stops, research is being done to see the effects of this and isolate the distinct functions of the two hemispheres

Broca's Area

in the left frontal lobe, controls language expression and muscle movements responsible for speech, speech expression

Wernicke's Area

in the left temporal lobe, responsible for language comprehension and expression, speech understanding

Aphasia

impairment of language usually due to damage in Broca's or Wernicke's Areas

Lesion

tissue destruction

Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

A disease in which the immune system eats away at the protective covering of nerves, disrupts communication between the brain and the body, causes vision loss, pain, fatigue, and impaired coordination

Myasthenia Gravis (MG)

an autoimmune disorder where the body's immune system produces antibodies that block acetylcholine receptors at the neuromuscular junction, preventing muscle contraction

Heredity

the genetic transfer of characteristics from parents to offspring

Nature-Nuture Debate

debate of the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors, modern science sees traits as arising from the interaction of nurture and nature

EEG (Electroencephalography)

test that measures the electrical activity of the brain

REM Rebound

the increase in frequency, depth, and intensity of REM from deprivation or stress

Circadian Rhythm

biological changes occuring on a 24 hour cycle: energy level, mood, learning, alertness

Limbic System

contains the thalamus, hypothalamus, pituitary gland, hippocampus, and amygdala

Corpus Collosum

nerve fibers connecting right and left hemispheres and allowing communication between them

Hypnagogic Sensations

false perceptions that occur between wakefulness and sleep

Activation Synthesis

theory that dreams come from the brain trying to make sense of random neuron firing

Consolidation Theory

theory that dreaming occurs as the brain is organizing memories and restoring resources used throughout the day

Insomnia

sleep disorder that makes falling asleep, staying asleep, or getting good quality sleep difficult

Narcolepsy

sleep disorder that makes regulating sleep/wake cycles difficult and can result in random sleep attacks where someone enters REM suddenly and without warning

REM Sleep Behavior Disorder

sleep disorder that occurs when someones body is not paralyzed during REM sleep causing them to physically + vocally act out, often unpleasant, dreams

Sleep Apnea

Breathing repeatedly becomes shallow or stops during sleep

Adrenaline/Epinephrine

hormone that triggers the "fight or flight" response; increases heart rate, blood flow, and energy

Melatonin

hormone that regulates sleep-wake cycles (circadian rhythm); makes you feel sleepy

Oxytocin

hormone that promotes bonding, trust, and emotional connection; also involved in childbirth and breastfeeding

memory

the persistence of learning overtime through the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information

recall

a measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier, like a fill-in-the-blank question

recognition

a measure of memory in which identifies items previously learned, like an MCQ

relearning

a measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material again

encoding

The process of getting information Into the memory system

storage

The process of retaining encoded information over time

retrieval

The process of getting information out of memory storage

parallel processing

Processing multiple aspects of a stimulus or problem at the same time

Sensory memory

The immediate very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system

Short term memory

Briefly activated memory of a few items, Such as digits of the phone numbers when calling, That is stored later or forgotten

Long-term memories

The relatively permanent and limitless archives of the memory system; Includes knowledge, experiences, skills, etc.

Working memory

A newer understanding of short term memory; Conscious, active processing of both 1. income sensory information and 2. information retrieved from long-term memory

Central executive

A memory component that coordinates the activities of a phonological loop and visual spatial sketchpad

Phonological loop

A memory component that briefly hold auditory information

Visual spatial sketchpad

A memory component that briefly holds information about objects’ appearance and location in space

Neurogenesis

The formation of new neurons Long-term memory potentiation- An increase in a nerve cells firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation: a neural basis for learning and memory

Explicit memory

Retention of facts and experiences that we can consciously know and declare, declarative memory

Effortful processing

Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort

Automatic processing

Unconscious encoding incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and familiar information, such as sounds, smells, and definitions

Implicit memory

Retention of learned skills or classically conditioned associations independent of conscious recollection, non-declarative memory

Iconic memory

A momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli, photographic memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second

Echoic Memory

a momentary sensory memory of auditory stimulus; If attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3 to 4 seconds

Chunking

Organizing items into familiar, manageable units;Often occurs automatically

Mnemonics

Memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices

Spacing effect

The tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through mass study or practice

Testing effect

Enhance to memory after retrieving, rather than simply re-reading, information, retrieval practice affect or test enhanced still learning

Shallow processing

encoding on a basic level, based on the structure or appearance of words

Deep processing

Encoding semantically, based on the meaning of words, tends to yield best attention

Semantic memory

Explicit memory of facts and general knowledge, one of our two conscious memory systems

Episodic memory

Explicit memory of personally experienced events, one of our two conscious memory systems