psych bitch U3

What is Alzheimer's disease, what neurotransmitter is involved, and what does it affect?

• Progressive brain disorder

• Linked to low acetylcholine

• Mainly affects memory, learning, and thinking

• Causes memory loss and confusion

What are the symptoms, causes, and treatments of Alzheimer's disease

Symptoms:

• Memory loss

• Confusion

• Difficulty thinking and speaking

• Trouble with everyday tasks

Cause:

• Brain cells become damaged and die

• Reduced acetylcholine levels

Treatment:

• No cure

• Medication may help manage symptoms

• Memory support and cognitive activities

What is Parkinson's disease, what neurotransmitter is involved, and what does it affect?

• Progressive neurological disorder

• Linked to low dopamine

• Mainly affects movement and coordination

• Causes difficulty controlling movement

What are the symptoms, causes, and treatments of Parkinson's disease?

Symptoms:

• Tremors (shaking)

• Muscle stiffness

• Slow movement

• Balance problems

Cause:

• Loss of dopamine-producing neurons

Treatment:

• Dopamine medications

• Exercise and physical therapy

• Sometimes brain stimulation surgery

Describe the structure of the CNS

Brain and spinal cord.

Describe the structure of the PNS

All nerves outside the CNS.

What are the two branches of the PNS

Somatic NS (voluntary) and Autonomic NS (involuntary).

What does the Somatic NS control

Voluntary skeletal muscle movement.

What does the Autonomic NS control

Involuntary functions of organs and glands.

What are the two branches of the Autonomic NS

Sympathetic (fight/flight) and Parasympathetic (rest/digest).

What is the role of the spinal cord

Transmits messages between brain and body; enables reflexes.

What is a monosynaptic reflex

Reflex with one synapse: sensory neuron → motor neuron.

What is a polysynaptic reflex

Reflex with interneurons: sensory → interneuron → motor.

Why are spinal reflexes important

Fast, automatic responses that increase survival.

What is localised brain function

Specific functions linked to specific cortical areas.

What is distributed brain function

Functions spread across multiple brain regions.

What does the frontal lobe do

Movement, planning, decision‑making, personality, language production.

What does the parietal lobe do

Somatosensory processing and spatial awareness.

What does the temporal lobe do

Auditory processing, language comprehension, memory.

What does the occipital lobe do

Vision and visual processing.

Where are explicit memories stored

Hippocampus (formation), neocortex (long‑term storage), amygdala (emotional tagging).

Where are implicit memories formed

Basal ganglia (motor sequences, habits) and cerebellum (coordination, procedural learning).

What is the role of Broca’s area

Speech production. In the frontal lobe

What is the role of Wernicke’s area

Language comprehension. in the temporal lobe

What is Geschwind’s territory

Connects Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas; integrates multimodal language information. in parietal Lobe

What does the primary motor cortex do

Initiates voluntary movement.

What does the cerebellum do in movement

Coordinates balance, timing, smooth movement; stores procedural motor memories.

What do the basal ganglia do in movement

Select, refine and sequence voluntary movements; inhibit unwanted movements.

How do these areas interact

Basal ganglia plan → cerebellum coordinates → motor cortex executes.

What does the limbic system do

Processes emotion, motivation and memory.

What does the amygdala do

Generates fear and emotional responses; emotional memory.

What does the hippocampus do

Forms explicit memories and links emotion to memory.

What does the prefrontal cortex do

Regulates emotions, decision‑making, impulse control.

What is an action potential

An electrical impulse that travels down a neuron.

What is synaptic transmission

Neurotransmitters cross the synapse and bind to receptors on the next neuron.

What is an excitatory neurotransmitter

Increases likelihood of neuron firing (e.g., glutamate).

What is an inhibitory neurotransmitter

Decreases likelihood of neuron firing (e.g., GABA).

What does acetylcholine do

Muscle contraction, REM sleep, learning and memory; low levels linked to Alzheimer’s.

What does epinephrine do

Fight/flight response; increases heart rate and arousal.

What does norepinephrine do

Arousal, alertness, mood and concentration; low levels linked to depression and ADHD.

What does dopamine do

Motor control (low = Parkinson’s), reward, motivation, pleasure.

What does serotonin do

Mood regulation, sleep, appetite; low levels linked to depression.

What causes Parkinson’s disease

Loss of dopamine‑producing neurons in the basal ganglia.

What are symptoms of Parkinson’s disease

Tremors, rigidity, slow movement, balance issues.

What are treatments for Parkinson’s disease

L‑DOPA, dopamine agonists, deep brain stimulation.

What causes Alzheimer’s disease

Amyloid plaques, neurofibrillary tangles, reduced acetylcholine.

What are symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease

Memory loss, confusion, personality changes.

What are treatments for Alzheimer’s disease

ACh‑boosting medications, cognitive therapy (no cure).

How does vision begin (reception)

Cornea bends light → pupil regulates light → lens focuses → retina receives image.

What is visual transduction

Rods and cones convert light into electrical signals.

How is visual information transmitted

Optic nerve → optic chiasm → thalamus (LGN).

Where is visual information processed

Primary visual cortex (occipital lobe).

How is visual information interpreted

Temporal lobe identifies objects; parietal lobe judges location.

How does hearing begin (reception)

Pinna funnels sound → ossicles amplify → cochlea vibrates.

What is auditory transduction

Hair cells in the organ of Corti convert vibrations into electrical signals.

How is sound transmitted

Auditory nerve → thalamus (MGB).

Where is sound processed

Primary auditory cortex (temporal lobe).

Where is sound interpreted

Wernicke’s area for language; other areas for pitch, loudness, timbre.

What is perceptual set

A predisposition to perceive stimuli based on past experience, context, motivation, emotion.

How does past experience affect perception

Previous experiences shape interpretation of stimuli.

How does context affect perception

Environment influences how stimuli are interpreted.

How does motivation affect perception

We see/hear what we want or expect.

How does emotion affect perception

Emotional state biases interpretation.

What are visual constancies

Stable perception despite changes in retinal image.

What is size constancy

Perceiving size as constant despite distance changes.

What is shape constancy

Perceiving shape as constant despite angle changes.

What are Gestalt principles

Ways the brain organises visual information into wholes.

What is figure‑ground

Distinguishing an object from its background.

What is closure

Filling in gaps to perceive a whole image.

What is similarity

Grouping similar elements.

What is proximity

Grouping elements that are close together.

What are binocular depth cues

Depth cues requiring both eyes (retinal disparity, convergence).

What are monocular depth cues

Depth cues using one eye (linear perspective, interposition, texture gradient, relative size, height in visual field).

What is loudness

Perception of amplitude (dB).

What is pitch

Perception of frequency (Hz).

What is timbre

Quality of sound due to waveform complexity.

What did de Bruine et al. (2018) find

Cultural background influences eyewitness visual memory accuracy.

What did Patel & Demorest (2013) find

Musical perception varies across cultures depending on exposure.

What is the multi‑store model

Memory has sensory, short‑term and long‑term stores.

What is sensory memory

Brief storage of sensory information; iconic (0.3s), echoic (3–4s).

What is STM

12–30 seconds, capacity 5–9 items.

What is LTM

Unlimited capacity and duration.

What is the working memory model

STM is active with four components: central executive, phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, episodic buffer.

What does the central executive do

Controls attention and coordinates memory systems.

What does the phonological loop do

Stores auditory information.

What does the visuospatial sketchpad do

Stores visual/spatial information.

What does the episodic buffer do

Integrates information and links to LTM.

What is the levels of processing model

Deeper encoding → better memory; structural, phonemic, semantic processing.

What is implicit memory

Unconscious memory (procedural, priming, classical conditioning).

What is explicit memory

Conscious memory (episodic and semantic).

What is the role of the hippocampus in memory

Forms and consolidates explicit memories.

What is the role of the neocortex in memory

Long‑term storage of explicit memories.

What is the role of the amygdala in memory

Emotional tagging of memories.

What is the role of the cerebellum in memory

Forms implicit procedural memories.

What is recall

Retrieving information without cues.

What is recognition

Identifying correct information among options.

What is relearning

Learning information again faster due to savings.

What is encoding failure

Information not stored due to lack of attention or shallow processing.

What is retrieval failure

Stored information cannot be accessed due to missing cues.

What is interference

When other information blocks retrieval.