Physiological Psychology-EXAM 2

Neuroaxis

- An imaginary line that shows the direction in which the central nervous system lies

- Thought to bend by 90 degrees

Posterior

- Relatively speaking toward the back

Anterior

- Relatively speaking toward the front

Dorsal

- Relatively speaking of the upper side or back

Ventral

- Relatively speaking of the under side

Lateral

- Away from the mid line

Medial

- Toward the mid line

Coronal Plane

- An imaginary plane dividing body into dorsal and ventral parts (side to side)

Horizontal Plane

- An imaginary plane dividing body into top and bottom

Sagital Plane

- An imaginary plane which passes through anterior and posterior dividing body into right and left halves

Pre-Central Gyrus

- Frontal Lobe

- Primary Motor Cortex

- Topographical Organization (map) of Muscles

Controls voluntary movement

- Crossing: One hemisphere controls the opposite side of the body

Topographical Organization (map) of Muscles

- Map of the brain

- Two Types:

Somatosensory Cortex

Motor Cortex

Broca's Area

- Frontal Lobe

- Pre-motor region

- Controls Speech (articulation)

- Grammatical Structure

Broca's Area Aphasia

- Frontal Lobe

- When Broca's Area is lesioned you can think of the words but not produce the words

- Impaired word production

- Relatively unimpaired word comprehension

- Lateralized to the left hemisphere

- Lesioned only on the left side

Prefrontal Cortex

- Frontal Lobe

- Central executive of the hemispheres

- Responsible for higher level behavioral functions:

Planning

Decision Making

Impulse Control

Post Central Gyrus

- In Parietal Lobe

- Primary Somatosensory Cortex

- Body Sensory:

Warmth, Touch, and Pain

Processes skin senses and body position

- One hemisphere serves the side of the body

- Topographical Organization

Association Cortex

- In Parietal Lobe

- Further sensory information processing

- Integrates information form other senses

- Location of objects in space

Unilateral Neglect

- Ignoring objects on the side opposite to the damage

- EX. A man shaving will only shave left side if the right association cortex is damaged and he will believe he shaved his entire face

Primary Visual Cortex (V1)

- Occipital Lobe

- Proceses visual information

- Receives visual input from the retina

- Process simple features (ex. Orientation)

- Topographical Organization of Visual Space

- A map of what is seen on the retina

- Slightly Distorted

Auditory Cortex

- Temporal Lobe

- Receives auditory (hearing) information from the ears

Wernicke's Area

- Temporal Lobe

- Language Comprehension

- Lateralized to the left hemisphere

- Production part of speech

Wernicke's Aphasia

- Temporal Lobe

- When a lesion occurs in this area, they can produce words but not understand what the words are meaning

- Impaired word comprehension

- Unimpaired word production

Inferior Temporal Cortex

- Temporal Lobe

- Visual Identification of familiar objects

- EX. Becomes active when we are looking at faces

- A lesion here could cause a person to treat familiar people as unfamiliar people

Corpus Callosum

- Large band of myelinated axons

- Carries information between two hemispheres

Ventricles

- Cavities in the brain

- Contain Cerebrospinal fluid

- Carries nutrients from blood vessels to CNS

- Transports waste away

Cerebrospinal Fluid

- Carries nutrients from blood vessels to CNS

- Transports waste away

Thalamus

- Acts as sensory relay station

- Relays incoming sensory information to the cortex

- Different parts of thalamus are for different senses

- Chemical Senses Excluded

Smell

Taste

Hypothalamus

- Coordinates emotional and motivational functions

- EX. Sex, eating, emotion, and aggression

- Also controls the pituitary gland which controls the rest of the endocrine gland system (hormones)

Pituitary Gland

- Hypothalamus controls the pituitary gland which controls the rest of the endocrine gland system (hormones)

- Chemicals (hormones) are dumped into the blood stream and target other glands to produce more hormones

- Master gland of the body: It controls all the other glands

Midbrain

- Tectum

- Superior Colliculus

- Inferior Colliculus

- Tegmentum

- Substantia Nigra

Tectum

- Dorsal Side of Midbrain

Contains:

- Superior Colliculus

- Inferior Colliculus

Superior Colliculus

- Deals with Vision Area of Midbrain

- Eye movement

- Has nothing to do with what you see. Does not effect the act of seeing things

Inferior Colliculus

- Deals with Hearing Area of Midbrain

- Location of sounds

Tegmentum

- Ventral Side of Midbrain

- Control of Movement

Substantia Nigra

- Dopamine-Producing Neurons

- Region affected by Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's Disease

- Dopamine-Producing Neurons die out and decay

- As a consequence there is an abnormally low level of Dopamine

- Symptoms deal with Motor Control (Shaking, Muscle Atrophy) and Cognitive problems

Ventral Tegmental Area

- Plays a role in the rewarding effects of food, sex, drugs

Hindbrain

Contains:

- Pons

- Medulla

- Cerebellum

Pons

- "Bridge"

- Sensory Neurons pass through on the way to thalamus, motor neurons pass through between cortex and cerebellum

- Part of the Reticular Formation

Reticular Formation

- Involved in regulating sleep and arousal

Cerebellum

- Motor coordination and balance, motor learning, cognitive functions (even language)

- A person who has damage to the Cerebellum has trouble making precise reaching movements and walks with difficulty because the automatic patterning of movement routines has been lost

Medulla

- Life-Sustaining Functions

- Heart Activity and Breathing

Spinal Cord

- Cable of Neurons that Carries signals from the brain to muscles and glands (periphery) and Carries sensory information from the periphery (sense organs) to the brain

- Hub for reflex arcs

Reflex Arcs

- Neural pathways that produces and control reflex acts

- The hardware

Reflex Acts

- The behavior thats the product of the Reflex Arc Stimulation

- Simple, automatic response to a sensory stimulus

Automatic Response

- Muscle contraction or gland secretion

Spinal Ganglion

- The bulge in the sensory neuron (cell body)

- A blob of gray matter

- Only found on sensory side

Effector

- Either a muscle or a gland

Meninges

- Protect the CNS from trauma

- Holds everything together

Vertebrae

- Collectively known as spinal column (skeletal system)

Blood-Brain Barrier

- Prevents harmful substances (toxins) from entering the brain

- Capillary membrane cells so tightly packed together that they form a barrier to most molecules

- Fat soluble substances pass feely through the barrier

- Psychiatric medications and other drugs

- Other substances use special transport protein to get through

- Amino Acids and Glucose

- Some areas of the brain are not protected by blood-brain barrier

- The area Postrema (in Medulla)

Postrema

- Induces vomiting and when certain toxins are in bloodstream

Peripheral Nervous System

Consists of:

Somatic

- Cranial Nerves (12 Pairs)

Autonomic

- Spinal Nerves (31 Pairs)

Somatic

- Cranial Nerves (12 Pairs)

- Motor Neurons

- Sensory Neurons

Motor Neurons

- Carry signals from CNS to skeletal muscles

Sensory Neurons

- Bring information from sensory organs into CNS

Autonomic

- Spinal Nerves (31 Pairs)

- Regulates body's general activity level

- Independent of our control

- Controls smooth muscles, hearts, glands, etc.

- Sympathetic Branch

- Parasympathetic Branch

Sympathetic Branch

- Speeds up bodily processes such as heart beat, respiration, blood pressure, sweat glands

- Originate form middle of spinal cord

- Passes through sympathetic ganglion cells

Sympathetic Ganglion Cells

- Simultaneous activation of organs

- Works as a unit

Parasympathetic Branch

- Slows bodily processes back down

- Originates from ends of spinal cord

BOTH Sympathetic and Parasympathetic

- Active to some degree all the time

- Body's activity reflects balance between the two

Proliferation

- Neurons divide and multiply at an extreme rate

- Happens around the center of the neural tube

Migration

- Neurons migrate to final location by climbing radial glial cells

Circuit Formation

- Neurons send developing axons to make synapses with their target cells

- Growth cone develops at tips of developing axons and move toward final targets using chemical/mechanical signals

Growth Cone

- Develops at tips of developing axons and moves toward final targets using chemical/molecular signals

Circuit Pruning

- Extra neurons that have developed die

- Eliminates large numbers of extra synapses refining the organization

Plasticity

- Ability of synapses to be modified by experience

- Learning, which is, the ability to adapt ones behavior in response to environmental stimulation

- The nervous system to physically change in response to the environment

- Decreases with age, cortical association areas are more likely to retain their plasticity

Cranial Nerve I (1)

- Olfactory

- Sensory Function: Smell

- Motor Function: NONE

Cranial Nerve II (2)

- Optic

- Sensory Function: Vision

- Motor Function: NONE

Cranial Nerve III (3)

- Oculomotor

- Sensory Function: NONE

- Motor Function: Eye Muscles

Cranial Nerve IV (4)

- Trochlear

- Sensory Function: NONE

- Motor Function: Eye Muscles

Cranial Nerve V (5)

- Trigeminal

- Sensory Function: Facial Sensations

- Motor Function: Jaw Muscles

Cranial Nerve VI (6)

- Abducens

- Sensory Function: NONE

- Motor Function: Eye Muscles

Cranial Nerve VII (7)

- Facial

- Sensory Function: Taste

- Motor Function: Facial Muscles

Cranial Nerve VIII (8)

- Auditory

- Sensory Function: Audition and Balance

- Motor Function: NONE

Cranial Nerve IX (9)

- Glossopharyngeal

- Sensory Function: Taste

- Motor Function: Tongue and Throat Muscles

Cranial Nerve X (10)

- Vagus

- Sensory Function: Sensation From Trunk

- Motor Function: Internal Organs

Cranial Nerve XI (11)

- Accessory

- Sensory Function: NONE

- Motor Function: Neck Muscles

Cranial Nerve XII (12)

- Hypoglossal

- Sensory Function: NONE

- Motor Function: Tongue

Drug

- Chemical substance that changes the body or its functioning

Psychoactive Drug

- Subcategory of a Drug

- Drugs that have psychological effects

- EX. Anxiety relief, Hallucinations, etc.

Agonist

- Drug that mimics or enhances the effect of a neurotransmitter (NT) by:

Having same effect on receptor as NT

Increasing effect of NT on receptor

Blocking re-uptake or degradation of NT

Speeding up exocytosis

- Working on Lock-and-Key match receptors

Antagonist

- Blocks or reduces the effect of a NT by:

Binding to receptor without activating it by preventing NT from binding to receptor and opening the related ion channel (Ca+ for exocytosis)

Reducing the availability of NT by reducing production or release of NT from presynaptic terminals

Addiction

All three criteria must be met:

- A preoccupation with obtaining drug

- Compulsive use of drug (no other choice but to do it)

- If someone does quit there is still a high tendency to relapse after quitting

Withdrawal

- Negative reaction when drug use is stopped

- Symptoms of withdrawal are often the opposite of the effects of the drug

- EX. Withdrawal from elation-producing drug would produce a depression

Tolerance

- Increasing amounts of the drug are required to produce same results

- Mostly due to reduction in number and/or sensitivity of receptors to the drug

Drug Types

- Opiates

- Depressants

- Stimulants

Opiates

- Derived from opium poppy

- Soluble in fat so they go immediately through blood-brain barrier

- Opium

- Morphine

- Heroine

- Codine

Opium

- Used since around 4000 B.C.

Morphine

- Used since around early 1800s

- Effective treatment for intense pain

Heroine

- Used since around late 1800s

- Initially sold as an over-the-counter analgesic

- Highly soluble in lipids so it crosses the blood brain barrier easily

- Major danger in overdose due to drug being to pure or high tolerance

Codine

- Cough Suppressant

Effects of Opiates

- Analgesic

- Hypnotic

- Euphoria

Analgesic

- Relieves pain

- EX. Morphine

Hypnotic

- Sleep inducing

- EX. Codine

Euphoria

- Intense sense of happiness

- EX. Heroine

Opiate Side Effects

- Addictive

How Opiates Work:

- Bind to opiate receptors

- Act as agonists of endogenous opiates like endorphins

Depressants

- Reduce activity of the Central Nervous System

- Ethanol

- Barbiturates

- Benzodiazepine

Ethanol

- A Depressant

- Produced from fermented fruit, grains, etc

- Waste product of bacteria

- EX. Alcohol, Booze