Unit 1 - Biological Basis - AP Psychology

Somatic Nervous System

Voluntary Movement

Autonomic Nervous System

Involuntary organs (heart, lungs)

Sympathetic Nervous System

Fight/flight response

Parasympathetic Nervous System

Rest after the fight/flight response, calms the body

Neuron Dendrites

Receive incoming neurotransmitters

Neuron Axon

Action potential travels down this

Neuron Synapse

Gap b/w neurons

Neuron Myelin Sheath

Speeds up the Action Potential down the axon; protects the axon

Sensory Neurons

Receive sense signals from environment - sends signals to brain

Motor Neurons

Signals to move - send signals from the brain

Interneurons

Cells in spinal cord/brain responsible for reflex arc

GLIA Cells

Support cells that give nutrients and clean up around neurons

Depolarization

Charge of neuron briefly swaps from negative to positive; triggers the action potential.

Refractory Period

Neuron must rest & reset before it can send another action potential

GABA (neurotransmitter)

Major inhibitory NT

Glutamate (neurotransmitter)

Major excitatory NT

Serotonin (neurotransmitter)

Moods, emotions, sleep - in amygdala

Acetylcholine (ACh)

Memory & movement - in hippocampus

Norepinephrine (neurotransmitter)

Sympathetic NS - too little association w/ depression

Endorphins (neurotransmitter)

Decreases pain

Substance P. (Neurotransmitter)

Pain regulation (abnormality increases pain & inflammation)

Leptin (hormone)

Makes you full

Ghrelin (Hormones)

Makes you hungry

Agonist

Drug that mimics neurotransmitters

Antagonist

Drug that blocks a neurotransmitter

Reuptake

Unused neurotransmitters are taken back up into the sending neuron

Depressants

Decrease Nervous System activity

Stimulants

Increase nervous system activity

Hallucinogens

Hallucinations & altered perceptions

Opioids

Relieves pain

Cerebellum

A brain structure that plays a key role in motor control, coordination, and balance.

Brainstem/Medulla

The part of the brain that controls vital life functions such as breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure.

Reticular Activating System

A network of neurons in the brainstem that regulates wakefulness, arousal, and attention.

Cerebral Cortex

The outer layer of the brain, involved in higher brain functions such as thought, perception, and decision-making.

Amygdala

A small, almond-shaped structure in the brain that plays a key role in processing emotions, particularly fear and pleasure.

Hippocampus

A critical brain structure involved in the formation of new memories and learning, as well as spatial navigation.

Hypothalamus

Reward and pleasure center, as well as homeostasis, eating behaviors, and links to the endocrine system

Thalamus

Relay center for all but smell

Pituitary Gland

Master gland that regulates hormones and controls other endocrine glands.

Occipital Lobe

Vision

Frontal Lobe

Decision making, planning, judgement, movement, personality, language, executive function

Prefrontal Cortex

Front of frontal lobe — executive function

Motor Cortex

Back of frontal lobe - map of our motor receptors — controls skeletal movement

Parietal Lobe

Sensations and touch — controls association areas

Somatosensory Cortex

Map of our touch receptors

Temporal Lobe

Hearing and face recognition, language

Association areas

receive input from multiple areas/lobes to integrate info

Broca’s Area (Left hemisphere)

Inability to produce speech

Wernicke’s Area (Left hemisphere)

Can’t comprehend speech

Corpus Callosum

Bundle of nerves that connects the 2 hemispheres — sometimes severed in patients with severe seizures/split-brain patients

Brain Plasticity

Brain changes via damage and through experience

Endocrine System

System of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream, regulating various bodily functions.

Pituitary gland

The master gland of the endocrine system, which regulates growth and controls other glands by releasing hormones.

Brain Scan — EEG

Shows broad brain activity through electrical output

Brain Scan - fMRI

Shows brain activity in specific regions; measures oxygen

Multiple sclerosis

Destruction of Myelin sheath, disrupts APs, causes impaired mobility/paralysis

Myasthenia gravis

Acetylcholine blocked, APs disrupted, causes poor motor control/paralysis

Prosopagnosia

Face blindness — damage to occipital and/or temporal lobe

Epilepsy/Seizures

Caused by too much or too little glutamate/GABA

Evolutionary Psychology

Study how natural selection influences behavior

Heredity (nature)

How genes influence your behavior

Environment (nurture)

How outside situations influence your behavior (school)

Genetics (twin/adoption studies)

Identical twin will have a higher % of also developing a disease

Environment (twin/adoption studies)

Identical twins raised in different environments show differences

Central Nervous System

Brain & Spinal cord

Peripheral Nervous System

Rest of the NS — relays to Central NS

Reflex Arc

Important stimuli skips the brain & routes through the spinal cord for immediate reactions (hand on a hot flame)

Neurons Fire w/ an Action Potential

Ions move across membrane, sends an electrical charge down the axon

Resting Potential

Neuron maintains a -70mv charge when not doing anything

Threshold of Depolarization

Stimulus strength must reach this point to start the AP

All or nothing principle

Stimulus must trigger the AP past its threshold, but does not increase the intensity or speed of the response

Neurotransmitters

Chemicals released in synaptic gap, received by neurons. Classified as excitatory or inhibitory

Dopamine

Reward (short term) & fine movement — in hypothalamus, associated with addictions

Oxytocin

Love, bonding, childbirth, lactation

Hormones

If not in the nervous system, it’s a hormone

Adrenaline

Fight or flight

Melatonin

Sleep & drowsiness

Tolerance

Needing more of a drug to achieve the same effects

Addiction

Must have it to avoid withdrawal symptoms

Withdrawal

Symptoms associated with sudden stoppage

Split-brain experiments

Image shown to right eye processed in left hemisphere — Patient can say what they saw

Imagine shown to left eye processed in right hemisphere — Patient cannot say what they saw

Lesion

Destruction of brain tissue

Blindsight

Caused by lesions to primary visual cortex, people can “see” (i.e. catch a ball, etc) despite being blind — evidence for association areas

Broca’s aphasia

Damage to Broca’s area — stuttered speech

Wernicke’s aphasia

Damage to Wernicke’s — jumbled speech

Phantom limb pain

Pain from a limb that is no longer there (amputated) — caused by brain plasticity

Alzheimers

Destruction of acetylcholine in hippocampus, memory loss