AP Psych unit 2- Biological Bases

Key terms I struggle to remember/differentiate

Eugenics

Psychology used to discriminate (Nazis, Social Darwinism)

Peripheral Nervous System splits into…

Autonomic and Somatic

Autonomic splits into…

Sympathetic and Parasympathetic

Central Nervous System

Brain + Spinal Cord

Peripheral Nervous System

Sensory Neurons bring info from senses to CNS.

Motor Neurons bring messages from CNS to body.

Contains Autonomic and Somatic Nervous systems

Autonomic Nervous System

Involuntary (stomach + Bladder)

Includes para + sympathetic systems

Somatic Nervous System

Voluntary (outer muscles)

Sympathetic Nervous system

Fight or Flight. Riles u up in stressful times.

Parasympathetic nervous system

Rest + Digest. Calms u down after stress.

Neurons

think of the pipe cleaner model

transmits info within the nervous system

Glial Cells

Worker Bees

provide structure, communication + waste transport.

Reflex Arc

shows how neurons in CNS and PNS work together to respond to stimuli.

Interneurons

receive info from sensory neurons, processes the info in the CNS, and sends signals back through motor neurons.

Order of communication/neuron activity

• resting potential (wait)

• Threshold (get ready, but don’t fire)

• All or nothing (either fire or don’t)

• ACTION POTENTIAL (fire!!!)

• depolarization (electrical current down axon)

• refractory period (recharge)

• Direction of Impulse (only fires on direction)

Neurotransmitters

chemical messengers that travel the synapse and tell the neuron to fire or not.

Excitatory

FIRE

Inhibitory

DONT FIRE, CALM DOWN

Reuptake

vacuuming up neurotransmitters.

Multiple Sclerosis

• damaged Myelin sheath on the axon.

• Leads to motor issues

Myasthenia gravis

• body blocks its own acetylcholine

• affects face and neck, tired muscles

Acetylcholine

• Neurotransmitter

• Learning, memory, muscle action

  • Alzheimer's, myasthenia gravis.

Dopamine

• Neurotransmitter

• reward system + pleasure

  • Parkinson’s and schizophrenia

Serotonin

• Neurotransmitter

• Mood, hunger, sleep, arousal

  • Depression and anxiety

Norepinephrine

• Neurotransmitter

• energy in stress

  • depression

GABA

• Neurotransmitter

• INHIBITORY, reduces excitability

  • (Don’t fire, calm down)

  • Seizures, tremors, insomnia

Glutamate

• Neurotransmitter

• Learning and Memory

  • Headaches, migraines, seizures

Endorphins

• Neurotransmitter

• Morphine within (content)

• Controls pain, gives euphoria and pleasure

  • Opiates reduce natural production

Substance P

• Neurotransmitter

• Pain

  • Chronic Pain

Hormones

Chemical messengers in the bloodstream.

Pituitary gland!

Endocrine system

Adrenaline

• Hormone

• Energizes

  • panic attacks, chronic stress, insomnia, heart disease

Leptin

• Hormone

  • Tells you that ur full

Ghrelin

• Hormone

  • Tells you to eat!

  • (growling)

Melatonin

• Hormone

  • When dark, tells you to sleep

Oxytocin

• Hormone

• Love!

• Relaxation, trust, mate guarding, well-being.

Agonists

Increase a neurotransmitters action of firing or not firing.

Antagonists

• Blocks a neurotransmitter action.

• Can block reuptake

Stimulants

• Caffeine, Cocaine, and Nicotine

• speed up body functions

• More epinephrine, more alert, less appetite.

Depressants

• Alcohol

• Slow body functions

• decreases REM sleep where you process recent events into long term memory, makes less self conscious.

Hallucinogens

• Marijuana

• Makes you see things, distorts cognition, and amplifies sound sensitivity

Opioids

• Heroin, Morphine, cigarettes

• Depress neural activity

• occupy endorphin receptor sites

• lessens pain and anxiety

EEG

Measures Brain waves

fMRI

Measures brain damage/location

Brain Stem

• oldest part

• autonomic functions like breathing and heartbeat

Medulla

• part of brainstem

• Heartbeat and breathing

Reticular Activating System

• Part of brainstem

• Regulates energy, alertness, and sleep-wake cycles.

• “tickles”

Cerebellum

• little brain

• Coordination of muscles

• balance + muscle memory (procedural learning)

cerebral cortex

• 2 hemisphers

• limbic system

• Corpus callosum

• lobes

Limbic system

Emotions and drives the thalamus, hypothalamus, hippocampus, amygdala, and pituitary gland.

Thalamus

• routes sensory info (not smell) where it needs to go

• TRAIN

Hypothalamus

• Rewards

• 4 F’s

  • Food (eat or no)

  • Fluid (drink or no)

  • Fever (hot or cold)

  • F*** (sexual function)

Amygdala

Fear and Aggression

Hippocampus

• learning and memory

• Think Hutto school

Pituitary gland

growth, metabolism + stress response.

Corpus Callosum

bridge between both hemispheres

Occipital lobes

Processes vision

Temporal Lobes

Processes sound/auditory

Frontal Lobes

Planning and decision making

Parietal lobes

Think + Touch

Prefrontal cortex

Planning, problem solving, goal pursuit, and impulse control.

Somatosensory cortex

Processes touch

Motor Cortex

Processes movement

Left hemisphere

Language, logic, critical thinking.

• Broca and Wernickes areas

Broca’s area

• Speech production

• Speech is “broc ken”

• Aphasia if damaged

Wernicke’s area

• Speech comprehension

• Auditory processing

Contralateral hemispheric organization

LEFT Hemisphere

• Right side of body/hand

• Can speak what’s in right vision

RIGHT Hemisphere

• Left side of body/hand

• Can point to what’s in left vision