MCAT-behavioral sciences

parasympathetic nervous system

Rest and digest: The branch of the autonomic nervous system that promotes relaxation, conserves energy, and enhances digestion

physiological responses attributed to PNS

slows heart rate, constricts pupils, stimulates salivation, increases digestion, and promotes bladder contraction.

sympathetic nervous system

The branch of the autonomic nervous system that activates the body's fight-or-flight response

physiological responses attributed to SNS

increases heart rate, dilates airways, and releases stress hormones like adrenaline.

Hindbrain

Part of the brain located at the back, responsible for basic functions like breathing, heart rate, and coordination of movement.

Hindbrain is composed of

cerebellum, medulla oblongata, reticular formation

midbrain

Part of the brainstem between the forebrain and hindbrain. It plays a crucial role in sensory and motor functions, as well as sleep and wakefulness.

midbrain is composed of

inferior and superior colliculi

forebrain

The largest and most complex region of the brain, responsible for higher cognitive functions such as thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making. It consists of the cerebral cortex, thalamus, and hypothalamus, and plays a crucial role in sensory perception, motor control, and emotional regulation.

forebrain is composed of

thalamus, hypothalamus, basal ganglia, limbic system, cerebral cortex

thalamus

Relay station of the brain. Processes and filters sensory information before sending it to the cerebral cortex. Plays a key role in regulating consciousness, sleep, and alertness.

hypothalamus

Regulates body temperature, hunger, thirst, and hormone release. Controls sleep-wake cycles and circadian rhythms. Plays a role in emotions and stress response.

basal ganglia

smoothens movements and helps maintain postural stability

limbic system

controls emotion and memory

septal nuclei

Region of the brain located in the limbic system. Involved in regulating emotions and motivation. Plays a role in reward and reinforcement processes.

amygdala

Part of the limbic system in the brain. Involved in processing emotions, especially fear and aggression. Plays a role in memory formation and decision-making.

hippocampus

Part of the brain responsible for memory formation and retrieval. Located in the medial temporal lobe. Plays a crucial role in learning and spatial navigation.

how many lobes make up the cerebral cortex

4

frontal lobe

executive function, impulse control, long-term planning, motor function, speech production

parietal lobe

sensation of touch, pressure, temp, and pain; spatial processing, orientation, and manipulation

occipital lobe

visual processing

temporal lobe

sound processing, speech perception, memory, emotion

acetylcholine

voluntary muscle control, PNS, attention, alertness

epinephrine and norepinephrine

fight or flight, wakefulness, alertness

dopamine

Neurotransmitter associated with pleasure, reward, and motivation. It plays a role in mood regulation, motor control, and cognitive function.

serotonin

Neurotransmitter that regulates mood, appetite, and sleep. Involved in feelings of happiness and well-being. Imbalances linked to depression and anxiety.

GABA

Neurotransmitter that inhibits brain activity, promoting relaxation and reducing anxiety. It helps regulate sleep, mood, and muscle tone.

glutamate

Neurotransmitter responsible for excitatory signals in the brain. Involved in learning, memory, and neural communication. Overactivation can lead to neurotoxicity.

endorphines

Chemical compounds produced by the body that act as natural painkillers and mood enhancers. They are released during exercise, laughter, and other pleasurable activities, promoting feelings of happiness and reducing pain perception.

nature vs nurture

the influence of genetics and environment on human development and behavior.

sensation

conversion of physical stimuli into neurological signals

perception

processing of sensory information to make sense of its significance

threshold

minimum stimulus that causes a change in signal transduction

just-noticeable difference

minimum amount of change required for a difference to be perceived

Weber’s law

just-noticeable difference is proportional to the magnitude of the stimulus and this proportion is constant over the range of possible stimuli

signal transduction theory

effects of nonsensory factors (experiences, motives, expectations) on perception of stimuli

cochlea

part of the inner ear that detects sound

utricle

part of the inner ear that detects linear acceleration and head tilts in horizontal plane

saccule

part of the inner ear that detects linear acceleration and head tilts in the vertical plane

bottom-up processing

data-driven, recognition of objects by parallel processing and feature detection

cons of bottom up processing

slow

pros of bottom up processing

less prone to mistakes

top down processing

conceptually-driven, recognition of an object by memories and expectations with little attention to details

cons of top down processing

more prone to mistakes

pros of top down processing

fast

gestalt principles

ways that the brain can infer missing parts of an image when it is incomplete

habituation

process of becoming used to a stimulus

dishabituation

occurs when a second stimulus intervenes, causing a resensitization to the original stimulus

observational learning

acquisition of behavior by watching others

associative learning

pairing together stimuli and responses, or behaviors and consequences

classical conditioing

form of associative learning in which a neutral stimulus becomes associated with and unconditioned stimulus such that the neutral stimulus alone produces the same response as the unconditioned stimulus

operant conditioning

form of associative learning in which the frequency of a behavior is modified using reinforcement or punishment

EEG waves during awake stage

alpha and beta

features of awake stage

able to perceive, process, access, and express information

EEG waves of stage 1 sleep

theta

features of stage 1 of sleep

light sleep

EEG waves of stage 2 of sleep

theta

features of stage 2 of sleep

sleep spindles and K complexes

sleep spindles

bursts of neural oscillatory activity

k complexes

large spike in electrical activity

EEG waves of stages 3/4 of sleep

delta

features of stages 3/4 of sleep

slow-wave sleep, dreams, declarative memory consolidation, some sleep disorders

EEG waves of REM

beta

features of REM

appears awake physiologically, dreams, paralyzed, procedural memory consolidation

dyssomnias

sleep disorders that affect amount of timing of sleep

example of dyssomnia

insomnia, narcolepsy

parasomnias

sleep disorders that involve odd behaviors during sleep

example of parasomnias

sleepwalking

what pathway mediates drug addiction

mesolimbic

what NT is involved in drug addiction

dopamine

Piagets 1st stage

sensorimotor stage

features of piagets 1st stage

focuses on manipulation the environment to meet physical needs through circular reactions, stage ends at object permanence

circular reactions

repetitive acts that allows infants to learn about their bodies

piagets 2nd stage

preoperational stage

features of piagets 2nd stage

focuses on symbolic thinking, egocentrism, centration

egocentrism

inability to imagine what another person thinks or feels

centration

focusing on only one aspect of a phenomenon

piagets 3rd stage

concrete operational stage

features of piagets 3rd stage

focuses on understanding the feelings of others and manipulating physical objects

piagets 4th stage

formal operational stage

features of piagets 4th stage

focuses on abstract thought and problem soliving

deductive reasoning

deriving conclusions from general rules

inductive reasoning

deriving generalizations from evidence

heuristics

simplified principles used to make decisions

selective attention

allows one to pay attention to a particular stimulus while determining if additional stimuli require attention in the background

divided attention

uses automatic processing to pay attention to multiple activities at once

wernickes area

area of the brain responsible for language comprehension

wernickes aphasia

ability to speak fluently but have difficulties understanging language

brocas area

area of the brain responsible for motor function of speach

brocas aphasia

only able to speak comprehensibly in short sentences with great effort

arcuate fasciculus

connects wernickes area and brocas area

damage in arcuate fasciculus results in

conduction aphasia

conduction aphasia

inability to repeat words despite intact speech generation and comprehension

extrinsic motivation

based on external circumstances

intrinsic motivation

based on internal drive or perception

instinct theory of motivation

innate, fixed patterns of behavior in response to stimuli

arousal theory of motivation

the state of being awake and reactive to stimuli

yerkes-dodson law

aim for optimal level of arousal for a given task

drive reduction theory

individual act to relieve internal states of tension

maslows hierarchy of needs

prioritizes needs into categories; physiological needs are higher priority than emotional needs