Biological Psychology Final Exam

Waking (Beta)

EEG is desynchronized

Mix of high frequency and low amplitude known as beta activity

Stage 1 NREM

Alpha rhythms present during relaxation

Sharp waves called vertex spikes

Stage 2 NREM

Brief periods of sleep spindles

K complexes

Stage 3 NREM

Slow-wave sleep

Recognized by large, slow delta waves

REM Sleep

Deep muscle relaxation

EEG activity similar to waking brain

Sleep enuresis

Bedwetting

NREM-3 sleep

Somnambulism

Sleep walking

NREM-3 sleep

Night terrors

Intense episodes of terror without waking or remembering, often occur in children

NREM-3 Sleep

REM behavioral disorder

Acting out a dream

REM sleep

Sleep onset insomnia

Not being able to fall asleep

Any stage

Sleep maintenance insomnia

Not being able to stay asleep

Any stage

Sleep apnea

Pauses or disruptions in breathing

Any stage

Narcolepsy

Excessive daytime sleepiness

Sudden sleep attacks

REM sleep

Sleep paralysis

Not being able to move, talk or react when waking up from sleep

REM sleep

Region of brain containing suprachiasmatic nucleus

Subregion of hypothalamus

Function of suprachiasmatic nucleus

Regulates sleep-wake cycle + circadian rhythms

Suppresses pineal gland to secrete melatonin

Melanopsin responsible for relationship between pineal gland and SCN

Melanopsin

A photopigment involved in regulating circadian rhythms and influencing the production of melatonin in response to light.

Relationship between REM sleep, dreaming, and acting out dreams

Dreams most intense during REM sleep

Paralysis occurs in REM to prevent us from acting out dreams

Lack of paralysis + acting out dreams is known as REM sleep disorder

Brain regions active during dreams

Parietal lobe

Occipital lobe

Temporal lobe

Superficial facial muscles

Attach to facial skin

Changes shape of mouth, eyes and nose

Raises eyebrows and wrinkles forehead

Deep facial muscles

Fueled by trigeminal cranial nerve

Attaches to bone

Enables chewing and large movements of face

Bell’s Palsy

Facial muscle paralysis

Occurs when facial nerves are not firing

Relationship between testosterone and aggressive behavior

More testosterone = higher levels of aggressive behavior

Happiness brain region activity

Increase

• Right posterior cingulate cortex

• Left insula

Decrease

• Left anterior cingulate cortex (decrease)

Sadness brain region activity

Increase

• Anterior cingulate cortex

• Insula

• Dorsal pons

Decrease

• Posterior cingulate cortex

Fear brain region activity

Increase

• Midbrain

Decrease

• Orbitofrontal region of prefrontal cortex

Adrenal cortex

Outer part of adrenal gland

Secretes stress steroids like cortisol

Triggered by hypothalamus

Adrenal medulla

Inner part of adrenal gland

Secretes epinephrine and norepinephrine

Triggered by hypothalamus

Sympathetic nervous system

Fight, flight or freeze in stressful situations

Parasympathetic nervous system

Rest and digest

Calms system after stress response from sympathetic nervous system

Monozygotic twins

Identical

One egg

Dizygotic twins

Fraternal

Two eggs

Positive symptoms of schizophrenia

Hallucinations and delusions

Negative symptoms of schizophrenia

Emotional withdrawal

Neurological correlates of schizophrenia

Enlarged ventricles

Small hippocampus + amygdala

Loss of grey matter in:

• Temporal lobes

• Surrounding areas of corpus collosum

Decrease frontal lobe activation

First generation antipsychotics

Relieve positive symptoms

Thorazine, Haldol, Loxitane

Second generation antipsychotics

Relieve negative symptoms

Include some nondopaminergic action

Zyprexa, Latuda, Risperdal

Neurological basis of major depressive disorder

Decreased blood flow to:

• Parietal lobes

• Posterior temporal cortex

• Anterior cingulate cortex

Increased blood flow to:

• Prefrontal cortex

• Amygdala

Reduced hippocampal volume

Obsessions (OCD)

Repetitive thoughts that become obsessive

Compulsions (OCD)

Actions to calm obsessions

MAO inhibitors

Use monoamine oxidase to break down + inactivate monoamine neurotransmitters

Allows neurotransmitters to accumulate at synapses

Tricyclics

Increase serotonin and norepinephrine

SSRIs, Prozac, Celexa (serotonin)

Effexor (norepinephrine)

Effect of manic episodes on brain anatomy (BPD)

More manic episodes = larger ventricles

Anterograde amnesia

Trouble remembering new events

Damage to hippocampus

Retrograde amnesia

Trouble remembering past events

Damage to medial temporal lobes, amygdala, and hippocampus

Short-term memory

Usually lasts only seconds, unless rehearsal continues

7 +- 2

Prefrontal cortex

Long-term memory

Large capacity, lasts months and years

Declarative long-term memory

Things you know that you can tell others, like facts or trivia

Medial temporal lobe

Episodic declarative memory

Memory of particular incidents, time, and place of events in life

Semantic declarative memory

Generalized memory

Such as knowing city capitals, other trivia

Nondeclarative long-term memory

Things you know by doing - performance versus recollection

Skill learning (nondeclarative memory)

The process of acquiring new skills through practice and experience, often resulting in improved performance over time

ex: riding a bike

Priming (nondeclarative memory)

The increased ability to recognize or recall information due to prior exposure, often occurring unconsciously

Ex: learned word association

Classical conditioning (nondeclarative memory)

A learning process whereby a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a meaningful stimulus, leading to a learned response, often demonstrated through behavior modifications.

Spatial memory (nondeclarative memory)

The memory system responsible for the ability to remember the physical locations of objects or places in the environment, often used in navigation and understanding spatial relationships.

Ex: knowing how to get around your home

Reflex (nondeclarative memory)

An automatic, involuntary response to a specific stimulus, often mediated by neural pathways known as reflex arcs, which do not require conscious thought.

Ex: knee-jerk reaction

Skill learning brain regions

Striatum

Motor cortex

Cerebellum

Priming brain region

Neocortex

Classical and operant conditioning brain region

Amygdala

Cerebellum

Spatial memory brain region

Hippocampus

Reflexes brain region

Reflex pathways

Unconditioned stimulus

A stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a response without prior learning.

Ex: An example is food, which naturally elicits a salivation response in dogs, as demonstrated by Pavlov's experiments.

Neutral stimulus

A stimulus that initially produces no specific response but can, through conditioning, become associated with an unconditioned stimulus, leading to a conditioned response.

Ex: A bell sound in Pavlov's experiments, which initially caused no response but eventually elicited salivation after conditioning.

Conditioned stimulus

A previously neutral stimulus that, after becoming associated with an unconditioned stimulus, eventually triggers a conditioned response.

Ex: he bell in Pavlov's experiments became a conditioned stimulus after being paired with food.

Unconditioned response

A natural reaction to an unconditioned stimulus that occurs without prior learning.

Ex: Salivation in response to food.

Conditioned response

The learned reaction to a conditioned stimulus, which occurs after the association with an unconditioned stimulus has been established.

Ex: Salivation in response to the bell after conditioning.

Anterograde amnesia brain region

Damage to hippocampus

Retrograde amnesia brain region

Medial temporal lobe, amygdala, and hippocampus

Short term memory brain region

Prefrontal cortex

Declarative long term memory brain region

Medial temporal lobe