PSY1202 - Physiological/Biological Psychology

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering key definitions, historical figures, research techniques, and neuroanatomical concepts from PSY1202 Biological Psychology.

Biopsychology

The study of the physiological, evolutionary, and developmental mechanisms of behavior and experience, aiming to relate biology to psychology.

Behavior

Anything an organism does involving action and response to stimulation.

Physiological Explanation

An explanation that relates a behavior to the activity of the brain and other organs, focusing on the body's machinery.

Ontogenetic Explanation

An explanation of how a structure or behavior develops under the influence of genes, nutrition, experiences, and their interactions.

Evolutionary Explanation

An explanation that reconstructs the evolutionary history of a structure or behavior by observing modifications of ancestral features.

Functional Explanation

An explanation of why a structure or behavior evolved by examining its purpose or adaptive advantage.

Genetic Drift

The process by which a gene spreads by chance within a small, isolated population.

Consciousness

Awareness of thoughts, reason, perceptions, memories, and feelings, including the ability to communicate thoughts and intentions.

Christof Koch

A neuroscientist widely regarded as one of the leading scientific investigators of consciousness.

Monism

The philosophical position that body and mind are inseparable and represent one underlying reality.

Dualism

The philosophical belief that body and mind exist as two distinct entities.

Galen

An ancient figure who proposed that mental activities originated in the ventricles of the brain.

Descartes

A dualist philosopher who proposed a hydraulic model of the nervous system controlled by the pineal gland.

Galvani

A scientist who disproved Descartes' hydraulic model by demonstrating that frog muscles twitch in response to electrical stimulation.

Reflex

An involuntary response to a stimulus formed through a direct connection between a sensory receptor and muscle.

Bell-Magendie Law

The principle stating that the dorsal root carries sensory information into the spinal cord and the ventral root carries motor information to muscles.

Doctrine of Specific Nerve Energies

Johannes Müller's theory that the nervous system's message depends on which nerve carries it rather than how the nerve is stimulated.

Localization of Function

The principle that specific functions are located in specific areas of the nervous system.

Phrenology

An early theory assuming mental functions are localized in specific brain areas and correlated with brain size and skull shape.

Charles Darwin

Author of 'The Origin of Species' (1859) who proposed that evolution occurs through natural selection.

Pierre Flourens

A researcher who performed experimental ablations on animals to prove that the mind is located in the brain rather than the heart.

George John Romanes

A scientist who helped establish comparative psychology by proposing that cognitive processes in animals and humans are similar.

Phineas Gage

A famous patient who survived a tamping rod passing through his prefrontal cortex, helping reveal the brain region's role in decision-making and emotion.

Karl Lashley

A neuroscientist who searched for the physical location of specific memory traces in the brain.

Engram

A memory trace representing the physical location of a memory through biophysical or chemical brain changes.

Mass Action

The principle stating that the greater the brain area destroyed, the more severe the impairment in learning.

Equipotentiality

The capacity of undamaged brain regions to take over functional memory and tasks from damaged areas.

Neuron

The structural cell unit of the brain and nervous system responsible for receiving and transmitting information.

Nerve Net Theory

The theory proposing that the nervous system consists of a continuous, fully connected network of nerves.

Neuronal Theory

The theory asserting that the nervous system is composed of individual, distinct nerve cells.

Synapse

The point of functional contact between a neuron and its target cell.

Sherrington

The scientist who studied reflexes and neural interactions and coined the term 'synapse'.

Loewi

The researcher who demonstrated that neurons release chemical neurotransmitters into the synapse to stimulate targets.

Ablation

Experimental destruction of neural tissue or surgical removal of a brain region to determine its function.

Stereotaxic Apparatus

A surgical instrument using precise spatial coordinates to hold a head in position and create lesions in specific brain regions.

CAT Scan

A neuroimaging technique that uses X-rays taken from multiple angles to form cross-sectional images of the brain.

MRI

A technique using strong magnetic fields and radio waves to generate detailed 3D structural images of the brain.

Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI)

An imaging method using radio frequencies and magnetic pulses to visualize bundles of myelinated axons in living brains.

Macroelectrode

An electrode designed to record the collective electrical activity of many neurons simultaneously.

Microelectrode

A tiny electrode used to record the electrical activity of single neurons or small groups of neurons.

EEG (Electroencephalogram)

A graphical recording of the electrical activity across the cerebral cortex.

Evoked Potential

A specific neural electrical response produced by experimenter-introduced sensory stimulation.

PET Scan

An imaging modality that measures metabolic activity within specific nervous-system structures to evaluate neural function.

Functional MRI (fMRI)

A technique utilizing rapidly oscillating magnetic fields to measure cerebral blood flow and infer active brain areas.

Autoradiography

A method in which radioactive chemicals are injected into the bloodstream and tissue is analyzed to locate specific chemical targets.

Microdialysis

A procedure that samples neural tissue fluid to identify specific neurotransmitters present in a brain region.

Physiological Psychology

A branch of biological psychology that directly manipulates nervous-system structures in animals to observe behavioral effects.

Psychophysiology

A field studying the relation between physiological responses and psychological processes in human subjects.

Psychopharmacology

The study of how drugs, particularly psychoactive substances, affect mind and behavior.

Comparative Psychology

A discipline that compares behaviors across different animal species to investigate genetics and evolution.

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

The division of the nervous system that detects internal and external stimuli, transfers information to the CNS, and executes motor responses.

Central Nervous System (CNS)

The division comprising the brain and spinal cord that integrates incoming information and transmits decisions to effectors.

Glial Cells

Non-neuronal cells in the nervous system that support, protect, and insulate neurons.

Soma

The cell body of a neuron containing the nucleus, mitochondria, and ribosomes, responsible for integrating incoming signals.

Dendrites

Branching, selectively permeable neuronal structures designed to receive input signals and conduct them toward the soma.

Axon

A single long extension from the soma that conducts neural impulses away toward other cells.

Ganglion

A cluster of neuron cell bodies located within the Peripheral Nervous System (PNS).

Tract

A bundle of neuron axons located within the Central Nervous System (CNS).

Multipolar Neurons

Neurons featuring a single axon and symmetrical dendrites; the most common structural type in the CNS.

Unipolar Neurons

Neurons possessing a single extension acting as an axon; in the provided notes, noted as found only in invertebrates.

Bipolar Neurons

Neurons possessing two distinct processes (one axon, one dendrite), commonly found in the retina and special sense organs.

Pyramidal Neurons

The largest neuron cells, featuring a pyramid-like cell body with one axon and multiple dendrites, situated mainly in the cortex.

Purkinje Neurons

Inhibitory neurons featuring wide fan-like dendritic branches that release neurotransmitters to suppress postsynaptic firing.

Structural Types of Neurons

Morphological classifications of neurons including unipolar, pyramidal, multipolar, bipolar, and Purkinje neurons.

Nodes of Ranvier

Uninsulated gaps along a myelinated axon where saltatory conduction occurs.

Saltatory Conduction

The propagation mechanism where an electrical impulse jumps rapidly between Nodes of Ranvier along an axon.

Sensory Neurons

Afferent neurons that transmit incoming sensory information from body receptors toward the brain.

Motor Neurons

Efferent neurons that carry instructions away from the brain to effectors such as muscles, organs, and glands.

Interneurons

Relay neurons that process signals between sensory neurons, motor neurons, and other interneurons.

Resting Potential

The inactive, slightly negative baseline electrical state maintained across an unexcited axon membrane.

Action Potential

A rapid electrical nerve impulse generated along an axon when cell depolarization reaches threshold.

Absolute Threshold

The minimal stimulus intensity required for sensory receptors to initiate an action potential.

Refractory Period

A brief recovery period following an action potential during which the neuron cannot fire another impulse.

All-or-None Principle

The principle stating that an action potential occurs at full strength or not at all, with no partial firing.

Depolarization

The influx of positive ions into an axon that reverses its internal charge and propagates a neural impulse.

Polarization

The state of an axon at rest, characterized by positive ions outside and negative ions inside.

Graded Potential

A localized, variable shift in membrane voltage that travels across the cell body and may decay before reaching threshold.

Summation

The additive combination of multiple subthreshold depolarizations that together can trigger an action potential.

Synaptic Vesicles

Membrane-bound sacs located inside axon terminal buttons that store and release neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft.

Reuptake

The reabsorption process by which excess neurotransmitters in the synaptic gap are taken back into the presynaptic terminal.

Neurotransmitters Summary

Chemical messengers including Adrenaline, Noradrenaline, Dopamine, Serotonin, GABA, Acetylcholine, Glutamate, and Endorphins that mediate synaptic communication.