Psy 209 Exam 1

What happens in the hypothalamus to a human when shown food?

stimulation reaction which causes behavior

If you stimulated a rat brain what part of the brain would cause a behavior?

hypothalamus

True or False: behavior can influence our brains

True

What types of behaviors can influence our brains?

Experiences we have, foods we eat, drinks, and drugs

What happens when there is a overload of drug intake?

begins to change the chemistry of the brain

How does cocaine affect the body?

blocks the dopamine production when ingested, causing arousal and pleasure, motivation feelings to do it again

What is Hebbian learning?

“cells that fire together, wire together”, when neurons are active at the same time repeatedly, they become more strongly connected, learning occurs.

Example of Hebbian Learning

Practice riding a bike over and over, the neurons involved in balance and coordination repeatedly fire together, over time their connections become stronger, making riding a bike easier

How is the study of behavioral neuroscience accomplished?

an independent variable, dependent variable, correlations, and causation

What happens to the independent variable?

manipulation

Example of independent variable

GLP 1, half is placebo half is real see how they react

What is the dependent variable?

variable that is measured

Example of dependent variable?

when studying whether hours of studying affects test scores, the dependent variable is the test scores

What is Somatic intervention?

manipulating some part of the body or brain that impacts behavior

Example of Somatic intervention

administer hormone like testosterone, increasing matting behavior

How does electrical stimulation and cutting connections work in somatic intervention?

electrical stimulation: activates a specific brain area to see what behavior it causes, cutting connections: disconnect two brain/nervous system areas to see what behavior or ability is affected

Changes in brain function is known as

nueroplasticity

Somatic effects examples

changes in hormone levels, changes in electrical activity of brain, anatomical changes in nerve cells

Behavioral interventions for somatic effect examples

put male in presence of female, present a visual stimulus, give training

What do somatic and behavioral manipulations allow us to examine?

how brain works through different experiences

What is the central nervous system made of:

brain and spinal cord, mandible, cranium

What is mandible?

facial nerves on the jaw

What is cranium?

protects the brain from the outside

What is CNS responsible for?

coordinating and influencing activity of all parts of the body

what is the largest component of the CNS?

Brain

What is the unit responsible for function of the CNS

brain

What is brain protected by?

Cranium, blood-brain-barrier (BBB)

What is blood-brain-barrier (BBB)?

mechanism that makes movement of substances from the blood into the brain more difficult (controls any harmful substances trying to leave the blood and enter the brain)

How many connections is one neuron able to have?

1000

What are the main cells controlling the brain?

MAINLY neurons and… glial cells

What direction does information travel in a neuron?

forward - dendrites, cell body, axon, axon terminals

How many neurons are there in the brain?

80 billion

What are neurotransmitters?

chemical messengers

examples of neurotransmitters

dopamine, serotonin, GABA

What happens at the integration zone?

the cell body combines incoming signals and determines whether the neuron will fire down to its axon

True or False: when neurons receive a neurotransmitter this changes their genetic makeup

False

What state are neurons at when they are awake?

they are at rest until they have enough information from chemicals to create fire potential and shoot down to the axon

How fast can neurons send messages to axons?

200 miles per hour

True or false: Axons have breaks in between to optimize speed and distance for action potential?

true

How do neurons travel in action potential?

jump from one gap to another, rather than straight down

What covers axons?

myelin sheath

What happens in MS disease?

myelin sheath is broken down which makes neurons unable to action potential efficienntly

What happens in Output zone?

the action potential reaches the axon terminals, causing the neuron to release neurotransmitters into the synapse.

How is the neurotransmitter picked to release?

neurotransmitter released depends on e.what the neuron can produce

What are Gilal cells main function?

support neurons function

How do glial cells communicate?

they communicate with other glial cells and neurons

Are glial cells distributed equally throughout the brain?

No - their number and types vary depending on the brain area

What is the main difference between neurons and glial cells?

neurons send information, glial cells support neurons

What are the four types of glial cells?

Astrocyte, Microglia, Oligodendrocyte, Schwann cell

What do astrocytes do?

star-shaped cells that regulate blood flow and help control how neurons communicate.

What type of glial cell can be vulnerable to brain diseases?

astrocytes

What do microglia do?

brains “cleaning crew”, help remove waste and reduce inflammation

What do oligodendrocytes do?

create the myelin sheath around axons in the brain and spinal cord, which helps signals travel faster

What do Schwann cells do?

create the myelin sheath around axons in the peripheral nerves, helping signals travel faster

What are the cerebral hemispheres?

two halves of the brain: left and right hemispheres

What are gyri and sulci?

ridges/ furrows of tissue in the brain that provide more surface area for the brain to store information

What is the corpus callosum?

A bundle of about 200 million axons that connects the left and right hemispheres.

Where does most information in the brain stay?

Most information stays within one hemisphere, although the corpus callosum allows the two sides to communicate.

True or False: The cell body of a neuron contains the genetic information of the cell and is essential for synthesizing proteins and providing energy to the cell.

True

What does the peripheral nervous system include?

All parts of the nervous system outside the brain and spinal cord.

PNS function:

communicates with the central nervous system (CNS) and carries information to and from the brain and spinal cord.

Parietal lobe:

sensory input and spatial

Occipital lobe:

visual processing

temporal lobe:

learning, memory, emotion

Frontal lobe:

personality, language

Midbrain:

reward and regulatory processes

brainstem:

regulating cardiovascular systems

Forebrain includes:

cortex, basal ganglia, limbic system

The executive system is responsible for pursuing attentional regulation, the pursuit of goals and decision-making. Based on the discussed location, which of the four lobes of the human brain contains this region of the cortex?

Frontal

What is unique about humans brains to other species?

we have layer 4

What do pyramid neurons do?

transmit information from the cortex to other brain regions, helping the cortex communicate with the rest of the brain

What do VENS stand for?

Von Economo Neurons

What are VENS?

special type of bipolar neurons in the cortex

What is the amount of VENS human have in comparison to other species?

200,000 in humans, in 20 billion neurons tightly packed, compared to 20,000 in elephants in 10 billion neurons loosely packed

What do VENS help with?

social cognition, decision making, cognitive abilities (more densely packed helps with this)

Which of these regions is NOT located within the basal ganglia?

Amygdala

What is the basal ganglia and what does it do?

group of brain structures important for motor control and habit formation (both good and bad habits).

What are the 4 main nuclei of the basal ganglia?

1. Caudate nucleus

2. Putamen

3. Globus pallidus

4. Substantia nigra (midbrain)

Where is the substantia nigra located?

midbrain

What is the Limbic system?

group of brain structures involved in emotions, motivation, learning and memory

What is the amygdala?

emotional center of the brain that plays major role in fear and emotional responses.

What is Urbach-Wiethe disease?

rare genetic disorder that can cause calcium deposits (calcification) in the amygdala

Hippocampus:

learning and memory

What disease affects hippocampus:

Alztiemers disease

True or False: Taxi drivers have a larger hippocampus due to driving with no navigation systems

true

Thalamus:

“ relay station”, Complex cluster of nuclei that act as a relay box directing sensory information to appropriate higher-order regions like the cortex 

Hypothalamus:

hub for vital regulatory functions including thirst, temperature, and sexual desires

hypothalamus also known as:

homeostatis

What is the midbrain involved in?

motivation, reward, and associative learning

What is associative learning?

learning that one stimulus or action is connected to a reward

What is the Ventral Tegmental Area responsible for?

motivating us towards goals (whether they are good or bad)

What is the cerebellum mainly responsible for?

Motor control, coordination, and balance

What is horizontal plane?

upper and lower

What is saggital plane?

left and right

What is coronal plane?

front and back hatw

What does anterior mean?

front

what does superior mean?

top

what does posterior mean?

back

what does dorsal mean?

back

what does ventral mean?

bottom front