Emergent Properties

What are emergent properties in the nervous system?

Functions and behaviours that arise from neurons linking together, forming circuits.

What is plasticity?

The brains ability to adapt and evolve according to input

What are affective behaviours?

Feelings/Emotions

What are cognitive behaviours?

Thinking

What is the centre of emotion in the brain?

Amygdala in the limbic system

Describe the emotion pathway steps

1. Sensory stimuli to receptors in cerebral cortex

2. Integration is association areas

3. Information flows to limbic system

4. Feedback to cerebral cortex creates emotion awareness

5. Signals travel from limbic system to hypothalamus and brain system

What are the three properties of motivational drives?

1. Create increased state of arousal/alertness in CNS

2. Create goal-oriented behaviour

3. Coordinate behaviours to achieve the goal

How do moods differ from emotions?

Moods last longer and relate to a sense of well-being

What are the 2 broad types of learning?

1. Associative learning (2 stimuli associated with each other)

2. Non-associative learning (repeated exposure to single stimulus - habituation and sensitisation)

What is the difference between short-term and long-term memory?

Short-term memory holds 7-12 pieces of information temporarily and will disappear unless effort is made to convert to long-term memory through consolidation

Compare reflexive and declarative memory

Reflexive (implicit) memory is automatic, acquired slowly through repetition, doesn’t require conscious attention.

Declarative (explicit) memory requires conscious attention, higher-level thinking skills, and can be reported verbally.

What are the key language areas in the brain and their functions?

• Wernicke’s area (understanding language)

• Broca’s area (language production)

Both typically in the left hemisphere

What happens in receptive aphasia?

Wernicke’s area damage - cannot understand spoken/written communication

What happens in expressive aphasia?

Broca’s area damage - can understand but cannot respond appropriately

What determines personality?

Combination of experience and inheritance, including exposure to hormones in the womb during embryonic development

What are the genetic risk factors for schizophrenia?

General population - 1%

One parent has schizophrenia - 10%

Identical twin has schizophrenia - 50%

How does memory processing work?

New information enters short-term memory, must be processed and consolidated to move into long-term memory. Both can send information to locate and recall, leading to output

What is working memory?

A form of short-term memory where cerebral cortex keep track of information long enough to perform a task

Describe the process of speaking a written word

Words enter through eye → visual cortex → Wernicke’s area → Broca’s area → motor cortex in frontal lobe

What is the language pathway for spoken words?

Ear → auditory cortex → Wernicke’s area → Broca’s area → motor cortex

What is the language pathway for written words?

Eye → visual cortex → Wernicke’s area → Broca’s area → motor cortex

What are the characteristics of motivation?

Can work in two directions (to or away), shapes voluntary behaviours, links to emotions, often stops at satiety. Works with autonomic and endocrine responses.

How can emotions affect physiology?

Through complex pathways that can trigger somatic motor responses, autonomic responses, endocrine responses and immune responses

What is the role of the amygdala?

Located in the limbic system, centre of emotion in the human brain and can trigger physical responses like increased heart rate

What is anterograde amnesia?

The inability to remember newly acquired information, affecting the formation of new memories while keeping old ones intact

How do motivational states affect behaviour?

They create increased arousal, promote goal-oriented behaviour and coordinate actions to achieve specific goals, often working with autonomic and endocrine systems

What role does dopamine play in behaviour?

Linked to pleasure and addictive behaviours. Anti-psychotic medications for schizophrenia often work by blocking dopamine action

What are the key characteristics of long-term memory?

Formed through consolidation, stored throughout cerebral cortex as memory traces and can involve multiple parallel circuits

How does sensitisation differ from habituation?

Both are forms of non-associative learning, but sensitisation can lead to PTSD while habituation involves decreased response to repeated stimuli

What is the relationship between emotions and motivation?

Emotions can drive motivation, and both systems work together to influence behaviour through autonomic and endocrine responses.

How does the brain process language comprehension?

Through integration of sensory information, processing in the cerebral cortex (Wernicke’s and Broca’s), and motor output for vocalisation or writing

What factors influence personality development?

Combination of genetic inheritance, environmental experiences and prenatal factors such as hormone exposure in the womb.

What is an EEG?

Electroencephalogram is a recording of electrical activity in brain

What does an EEG measure?

It measures electrical activity of the brain through electrodes on the scalp. It measures voltage fluctuations resulting from ionic current within neurons, providing information about brain wave patterns and neural activity.

How is EEG used in sleep studies?

Used to identify different sleep stages

What is the earliest embryonic region which the entire nervous system eventually develops from?

Neural plate (which later folds and becomes the neural tube)

What side of the brain do language and verbal skills tend to be concentrated?

Left

What is the integumentary system?

Barrier that protects against pathogens and helps regulate body temperature. Includes skin, hair, nails, glands etc

Substances that have been isolated from the blood and have been shown to induce sleep have also been linked to the _____ system.

Immune

What important structure is the centre of learning and memory?

hippocampus

What is long-term potentiation?

A process that strengthens synapses based on recent patterns of activity, playing a critical role in learning and memory.

Most sleep walking happens in what phase of sleep?

Slow-wave sleep (non-REM sleep phase)

What is REM sleep?

A phase of sleep with rapid eye movement, increased brain activity, and vivid dreaming; playing a crucial role in emotional regulation and memory consolidation.

In mammals the primary “clock” is located in _____.

the suprachiasmatic nucleus.

What is the suprachiasmatic nucleus?

A small region of the brain located in the hypothalamus, responsible for regulating circadian rhythms and controlling sleep-wake cycles.

What is the locus coeruleus?

A small nucleus in the brainstem involved in physiological responses to stress and panic, and it plays a crucial role in arousal and regulation of sleep-wake cycles.

What is the Cingulate nucleus?

A part of the brain involved in emotion formation, processing, learning, and memory. It also plays a role in autonomic functions and regulating emotional responses.

Pavlov’s dogs experiment is an example of ______.

Associative learning

In the limbic system the amygdala is associated with _____.

Emotion and memory

One characteristic of emotions is ______.

They are difficult to voluntarily turn off