Biological Psychology and Behavioral Neuroscience Flashcards

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcard set covering foundational terms in biological psychology, neuroanatomy, genetics, brain imaging, action potential dynamics, and synaptic transmission based strictly on course lecture notes.

Biological psychology (biopsychology)

Field that merges relevant information from biology, neuroscience, and psychology to reveal how the brain produces behavior.

Behavioral Neuroscience

The scientific study of behavior in biology.

Pharmacology

Field focused on the manipulation of neural activity and behavior with drugs.

Cognitive neuroscience

Field studying the influence of brain activity in cognitive functions such as memory, using functional brain imaging techniques.

Psychophysiologists

Researchers who study the role of basic physiological functions such as heart rate in various psychological functions using non-invasive procedures.

Neuropsychologists

Researchers who focus on the role of specific brain areas (especially the cerebral cortex) in psychological dysfunction, primarily using case studies and quasi-experiments.

Psychopharmacologists

Researchers who study the effects of drugs on brain behavior.

Comparative psychology

Subfield that compares different species to understand evolution, genetics, and adaptiveness of behavior.

Natural neuroscience

Studying neural mechanisms of ecologically relevant natural behaviors in real-world contexts.

Context

The circumstances surrounding an event and the unique interactions that exist among behavior, the brain, and external environment.

Internal context

Internal physiological or psychological states, such as the digestive system or biological drives, that influence behavior.

External context

Components including social context, cultural context (beliefs, values, customs), and temporal context (timing of event, time of day, season).

Environmental context

Surrounding biological and physical factors that can influence behavior as well as mental functions.

Experiential context

The context provided by past or future experiences.

Adaptations

Biological modifications that enhanced survival in varying environments.

Darwin's finches

Finches studied in different island habitats whose varied beak shapes were adaptations enabling them to retrieve food and survive.

Theory of natural selection

Darwin's theory explaining evolutionary adaptations, such as black iguanas evolving to look like lava rocks to survive against predators.

Ultimate causes

Long-term evolutionary causes of physical and behavioral characteristics, focusing on function and evolution.

Proximal causes

Short-term causes of behavior, such as hormonal secretions or an unexpected loud noise, focusing on mechanisms and development.

Specialists

Animals that eat specific types of food and occupy a specialized ecological niche.

Generalists

Animals that eat any type of food, do not depend on a specific food source, and are adaptable to where they live.

Enriched environment studies

Experiments housing animals in social groups with stimulating objects, showing enhanced recovery and behavioral capability compared to standard isolation.

Rat Park

Study conducted by Bruce Alexander showing that rats in enriched social environments no longer preferred morphine water over regular water.

Bruce Alexander

Researcher who conducted the Rat Park experiment investigating addiction and environmental context.

Frederick Law Olmsted NY

Designer involved in incorporating green spaces such as Manhattan's Central Park, supporting the concept that growing up near green spaces lowers mental health risk.

Context Conundrum

The concept that human domestication and modern urban living outside natural habitats may be altering human behaviors, stress levels, and brain structure.

Anterior cingulate cortex (media multitasking study)

Brain area involved in cognitive and emotional processing found to be smaller in students who media multi-tasked.

Ontological problem

The philosophical question of whether the mind is strictly physical or made up of non-physical properties, addressing the mind-body connection.

Joseph Gall

Pioneer of phrenology who hypothesized that specific cortex structures bulged to reflect higher intellectual faculties.

Marie Jean Flourens

Attacked galls argument with imperial evidence. He removed the “bumps” categorized with emotion from a cat. If Galls theory held true then the cat would show no emotional intrest to male suitors, he argued that the “facilities” proposed by Gall could not be localized in the brain

Paul Broca

Physician who provided empirical evidence for language localization in the cortex through lesion analysis of an epileptic patient.

Neural networks

Modern view of localization representing multiple brain regions linked in critical ways to perform functions.

Gregor Mendel

Scientist who used pea plants to demonstrate that inherited traits follow predictable genetic patterns.

Allele

Different letters or variants assigned to represent specific forms of a gene.

Genes

Varying biological factors responsible for heritable traits.

Phenotype

Observable physical traits or characteristics expressed by an organism, such as shape or color.

Genotype

The underlying genetic composition responsible for the expression of a specific phenotype.

Homozygous

Having two identical copies or alleles of a gene.

Heterozygous

Having two different alleles for a gene (one dominant and one recessive).

Genetics

The study of heritable traits, genes, and phenotypes.

Dominant gene

An allele whose characteristics are expressed even when paired with a recessive allele.

Recessive gene

An allele whose phenotypic characteristic is masked unless paired with another recessive allele.

James Watson and Francis Crick

Scientists who built the physical structural model of DNA double helix with two anti-parallel strands.

Rosalind Franklin

Researcher who studied DNA structure and provided essential evidence for its double helix shape.

Nucleotide bases

The molecular building blocks of DNA: Adenine (A), Thymine (T), Cytosine (C), and Guanine (G).

Transcription

The process in the nucleus where DNA unwinds and mRNA assembles opposite one DNA strand as a mirror image.

Translation

The process outside the nucleus where ribosomes assemble amino acids into proteins guided by mRNA and tRNA.

Messenger RNA (mRNA)

RNA molecule assembled opposite DNA strand that carries genetic code out of the nucleus to the ribosome.

Transfer RNA (tRNA)

RNA molecule that carries amino acids to the ribosome and matches them to mRNA base sequences.

Ribosome

Organelle outside the nucleus that acts as the primary site of protein synthesis.

Darwin's gemmules

Hypothetical particles proposed by Darwin released by body cells, traveling to reproductive organs to pass inherited traits.

Human genome

The complete set of human genes, decoded to contain approximately $3\text{ billion}$ base pairs.

Human Genome Project

Project that decoded the human genome, revealing $20,000\text{--}30,000$ genes and that protein-coding DNA comprises less than $1.5\%$ of the genome.

Personal Genome Project

Project collecting genetic sequencing and lifestyle data to observe how genes interact with the environment.

Epigenetics

Study of how environmental context and life experiences alter protein expression without altering the underlying DNA sequence.

Tay-Sachs disease

If two recessive Tay-Sachs genes are inherited a vital enzyme in the brain will not be produced (for breaking down fatty lipids)

Genetic counseling

Medical guidance informing prospective parents of genetic risks, such as carrying the recessive Tay-Sachs gene.

Evidence-Based Research

Research relying on direct empirical evidence and rigorous scientific testing rather than unverified hypotheses.

Case studies

In-depth investigations of an individual patient suffering from a specific condition or brain injury affecting behavior.

Electroencephalogram (EEG)

Non-invasive recording technique using scalp electrodes to detect electrical activity of large populations of brain cells.

Single-Cell Recording

Records the activity of an individual neuron. Microelectrodes are positioned in proximity to the neuron so its activity can be recorded 

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

Neuroimaging technique measuring brain activity by detecting changes in local blood flow and oxygenation.

Positron emission tomography (PET)

Functional imaging technique using injected radioactive glucose to track regional metabolic activity in the brain.

Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI)

Imaging method tracking water molecule movement to visualize white matter fiber tracts in neural networks.

Computed tomography (CT)

Structural technique using X-rays and computer processing to create horizontal cross-sectional images of the brain.

Functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS)

Technique using infrared light to measure oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin(red blood cells) changes in the cerebral cortex.

Independent variable (IV)

The experimental factor manipulated by the researcher.

Dependent variable (DV)

The variable measured to detect changes caused by manipulating the independent variable.

Electrolytic lesions

Targeted brain damage created by passing current through an electrode inserted via stereotaxic surgery.

Stereotaxic apparatus

Surgical instrument used to precisely locate and target specific brain structures like the hippocampus or amygdala.

Social preference test

Behavioral test measuring whether a rodent prefers to socialize with another rodent or remain isolated, used in autism research.

Electrical brain stimulation

Implanting electrodes in specific brain regions to deliver electrical currents that elicit pleasure or reinforce behaviors.

Field research

Observational research conducted on animals in their natural habitats to assess ecologically relevant behavior.

Laboratory research

Controlled experimental research conducted in standardized artificial settings.

David Blaine

Endurance artist who learned to exert voluntary control over autonomic functions, holding his breath for $17\text{ minutes } 4\text{ seconds}$.

Neal Miller

Neuroscientist who challenged the idea that autonomic functions were beyond human control. Conducted series of experiments showing that rats could control their heart rates demonstrated that rats could learn voluntary operational control over autonomic functions like heart rate.

Insular cortex (insula)

brain area located in the cerebral cortex; represents “the state of the body” to other brain areas by integrating input both from within the body and from the external environment 

Interoception

The physiological capacity to sense and monitor internal bodily processes.

Camillo Golgi

developed the first technique that enabled scientists to see the structure of neurons. The “histological technique”and advocated the Nerve Net Theory.

Histological technique

used to study the microscopic structure of tissue, to see neurons

Nerve net theory *OLD

Outdated hypothesis proposing that the nervous system consists of a continuous interconnected net of tissue.

Santiago Ramón y Cajal

Neuroanatomists who used Golgi stains establish the Neuron Doctrine: notion that neurons are discrete units, not part of a continuous network

Neuron doctrine theory

Principle stating that the nervous system is composed of individual, contiguous cells rather than a continuous network.

Golgi stain

Histological stain that labels approximately $1\%$ of neurons completely in a dark black silhouette, their sparse

Brainbow technique

Neuroimaging staining technique using genetic fluorescent proteins to label adjacent neurons with distinct colors.

Soma

The cell body of a neuron, ranging from $5\text{--}100\,\mu m$ in diameter, containing cellular organelles.

Dendrites

Branching extensions of the neuronal soma that receive synaptic signals from other neurons.

Axon

Single tubular process extending from the soma that conducts action potentials to target cells.

Dendritic spine

Small membranous protrusions along dendrites that increase receptive surface area for synaptic connections.

Nodes of Ranvier

Gaps between the myelin sheath 

Uninsulated gaps in the myelin sheath where high densities of voltage-gated sodium channels generate action potentials.

Axon hillock

Cone-shaped region joining the soma to the axon where action potentials are initiated.

Myelin sheath

Insulating fatty layer surrounding axons that speeds electrical signal propagation.

Unipolar neurons

Neurons possessing a single neurite process extending from the cell body.

Bipolar neurons

Neurons having two processes extending from opposite ends of the cell body.

Multipolar neurons

Neurons possessing multiple dendrites and a single axon extending from the soma.

Cell membrane

Lipid bilayer separating intracellular components from the extracellular environment.

Rough endoplasmic reticulum

Organelle studded with ribosomes involved in protein synthesis and processing.

Smooth endoplasmic reticulum

Organelle responsible for synthesizing lipids, steroids, and packaging macromolecules.

Cytoskeleton

aids intracellular biochemical transport.

Lysosome

 Contains enzymes that break down molecules such as proteins and lipids