AP Psychology Unit 1

Epigenetics

focus on how the environment and a person’s behavior affect a persons genes and how they work

Plasticity

The brain’s ability to change and adapt as a result of experiences

Central Nervous System (CNS)

Brain and spinal cord

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

—>System of different nerves that branch off the brain and spine

—>Connects the CNS to all the body’s organs and muscles

The nervous system uses 2 kinds of nerves to send signals. These nerves are _______ and the _________

—>Afferent(sensory) neurons

—>Efferent(Motor) neurons

Afferent neurons

send signals from the sensory receptors to the central Nervous system

Efferent neurons

send signals from the central Nervous system to peripheral Nervous system

Somatic nervous system (skeletal nervous system)

includes your 5 senses and skeletal muscle movements

these movements happen consciously and voluntarily

Autonomic nervous system

controls involuntary activities (digestion, heartbeat, breathing)

The autonomic nervous system has 2 parts: the ______ and the _________.

Sympathetic division and the parasympathetic division

The sympathetic system

mobilizes your body and gets it ready for action (heartbeat faster, eyes dilate)

the Parasympathetic system

relaxes your body (slows heart, increases digestion and helps focus on saving and storing energy)

Two types of neural cells:

1) Glial

2) Neurons

Glial cells

—provide structure, communication and waste transportation

—nonconducting cells that outnumber neurons in the brain

do not process information

Neurons

—communicate with each other by using electrical and chemical signals

3 types of neurons:

1) Sensory neurons

2)Motor neurons

3)Inter neurons

To trigger an action potential a neuron must _______, which happens when an outside stimulus is strong enough to reach the ____________ that causes depolarization to occur and then the neuron fires an _______ __________.

1)depolarize

2) threshold

3) action potential

Repolarization

brings the neuron back to resting potential

Synapse

the gap between the axon terminal of one neuron and the dendrite of another(where neurotransmitters are exchanged)

Presynaptic gap

axon terminal of one neuron which converts the electrical signal to a chemical one and sends the neurotransmitter into the synaptic gap

Postsynaptic gap

where neurotransmitters are accepted in the dendrite of the receiving neuron

Reuptake

The process of taking excess neurotransmitters left in the synaptic gap

Excitatory neurotransmitters

will excite the likelihood that a neuron will fire an action potential, through the depolarization process in the postsynaptic neuron

Inhibitory neurotransmitter

Decrease the likelihood that a neuron will fire an action potential

Inhibitory neurotransmitters decrease the likelihood that a neuron will fire an action potential this leads to ___________ to occur

hyperpolarization

Hyperpolarization

when the inside of the neuron becomes more negative moving the neuron farther away from its threshold or intensity level needed for an action potential

Acetylcholine (neurotransmitter)

enables muscle action, learning and helps with memory

Substance P (neurotransmitter)

helps with transmitting pain signals from the sensory nerves to the CNS

Dopamine (neurotransmitter)

Helps with movement, learning, attention and emotions

Serotonin (neurotransmitter)

Impacts an individual’s hunger, sleep, arousal and mood

Endorphins (neurotransmitter)

Help with pain control and impact an individual’s pain tolerance

Epinephrine/Adrenaline (neurotransmitter)

help with the body’s response to high emotional situations and helps form memories

Norepinephrine (neurotransmitter)

Increase blood pressure, heart rate, alertness

Glutamine (neurotransmitter)

Helps with long term memory and learning

GABA (neurotransmitter)

Helps with sleep, movement and slows down your nervous system

Endocrine system

Sends hormones through the blood to target larger areas of the body

Leptin (Hormone)

Helps regulate energy balance by inhibiting hunger

Ghrelin (Hormone)

Hunger hormone, also helps promote the release of the growth hormone

Melatonin (Hormone)

Produced by the pineal gland and helps regulate circadian rhythms.

Oxytocin (Hormone)

Love hormone

Produced in the hypothalamus and released by the pituitary gland

Agonist drugs

—increase the effectiveness of a neurotransmitter

—bind to the receptors that are in the synapse that are for neurotransmitters and increase the effectiveness of neurotransmitters by blocking the reuptake (makes them more available in the synapse)

Antagonist Drugs

—Decrease the effectiveness of a neurotransmitter

—block neurotransmitters from being released or block neurotransmitters from binding

Stimulants

Excite and promote neural activity.

Give energy, reduce appetite and can cause them to become irritable

Ex: Caffeine, nicotine, cocaine

Depressants

Reduce neural activity

drowsiness, muscle relaxation, lowered breathing

Ex: Alcohol, sleeping pills

Hallucinogens

Cause someone to sense things that went actually there

Ex: marijuana, LSD

Opioids

Function as a depressant but have their own category due to their addictive nature

Can give pain relief

Ex: morphine, heroin, oxycodone

Hindbrain structures:

-pons

-medulla

-cerebellum

-spinal cord

Midbrain:

Forebrain structures:

-Cerebral cortex

-corpus callosum

-thalamus

-hypothalamus

-hippocampus

amygdala

brain stem include:

medulla, pons and midbrain

controls autonomic functions

Medulla

helps with heartbeat and breathing

pons

connects medulla with cerebellum and helps with movement

reticular activating system

network of nerves within the brain

cerebellum

coordinating voluntary movement, posture, balance

Corpus callosum

thick nerve fibers that connect the left and right hemispheres

Frontal lobe two areas:

1)Prefrontal cortex

2)motor cortex

Prefrontal cortex

foresight, judgement, speech and complex thought

Motor cortex

voluntary movement

Broca’s area

language production, and movement of muscles involved in speech

Parietal lobe

Main function: receive sensory information

Frontal lobe

Main function: higher level thinking

somatosensory cortex

processing touch, temperature, pressure and body position

temporal lobe

Main function: processing auditory and linguistic information

temporal lobe structures

-amygdala

-hippocampus

-auditory cortex

-Wernikes area

amygdala (temporal)

where you get emotion reaction from

hippocapmus (temporal)

help learn and form memory

not where memories are stored

auditory cortex (temporal)

processes different sounds

wernikes’s area (temporal)

left temporal lobe

responsible for creating meaningful speech

Occipital lobe

Main function: Processing visual information

occipital lobe structures

-primary visual cortex

Primary visual cortex

receives visual input from eyes

Thalamus (frontal)

receives sensory information for every sense except smell

relays information to appropriate areas of the cerebral cortex for processing

Limbic system

located on both sides of the thalamus

Main function: emotion, learning, memory and basic drives

hypothalamus (part of limbic system)

helps keep body balanced, allows homeostasis, and control drives

works with pituitary gland to regulate hormones

Pituiary gland

produces and releases hormones that regulate bodily functions and helps other endocrine glands throughout the body

Legion studies

doctors and researchers will destroyed specific parts of the brain to gain insight into different functions of the brain

Neuroplasticity

the brains ability to repair itself

EEG

uses electrodes that are placed on an individuals scalp.

Allows researchers to record electrical signals from neurons firing

helps with study sleep cycles by giving a visual to different brain waves

fMRI

similar to an MRI, but shows metabolic functions, this can better understand brain activity.

cognitive neuroscience

studies how brain activity is linked to cognition

Circadian Rhythm

biological clock, regulating hormones, changing blood pressure and internal temperature

brain waves:

NREM stage 1

light sleep

about 5-10 minutes

start to relax

Alpha waves

NREM stage 2

transitional stage

10-20 minutes

Theta waves

NREM stage 3

deepest state of sleep

around 30 minutes

growth hormones are produced

may experience sleep talking or walking

Delta waves

REM Rapid Eye Movement

last stage

external muscles are paralyzed

internal muscles are active

about 10 minutes

dreams

Beta waves -paradoxical because brain waves are similar to wakefulness

REM sleep deprivation

will enter REM rebound and enter REM stage faster and more frequently

Hypnagogic sensations

NREM 1

experience sensations that you imagine are real (falling)

activation synthesis theory

dreams are the brains way of making sense of random neural activity during sleep

consolidation theory

dreams help process and strengthen our memories and experiences

restoration theory

we need sleep because we are tired from daily activities and need to restore our energy and resources

rem sleep behavior disorder

person acts out their dreams during rem sleep

sensation

process of detecting information from the environment

in order to experience sensations you need to hit the ___________ ________

absolute threshold

Absolute threshold

smallest amount of sensation needed for you to notice a sensation of at least 50% of the time

sensory adaptation

happens when we have a stimulus that is consistent and doesn’t change (ex: lighting a candle in a room—smells at first, but throught the day cant smell it anymore)

Habituation

when you are repeatedly exposed to a stimulus and start to have a reduced response to the stimulus (ex; drug tolerance—need to take more and more of the drug to feel the same effect)

Difference threshold

minimum change between two stimuli that causes an individual to detect change

weber-fechner law

in order for us to notice a difference between two stimuli, the two stimuli must differ by a constant percept—not a constant amount

synesthesia

neurological condition where one sense is experienced through another