pysch 104 miderm 2

CNS

brain spinal cord

somatic

voluntary behaviour (PNS) sensory and motor neurones

automatic

involuntary behaviour (PNS) respiration digestion, motivation, emotion

parasympathetic

inhibit calms autonomic

sympathetic

excites activates autonomic

neuropsychological tests

measure verbal or non-verbal behaviours, clinical evaluation, inference abt brain, cognition

destruction + stimulation

examine areas of damage, stimulate with electricity/chemicals

EEG electroencephalogram

records electrical activity of neutrons

ERP

measure neural response to specific events

CT

multiple x rays are taken of the brain and put together to form a detailed picture

PET

injected with a radioactive tracer which is tracked to measure blood flow

MRI

measure biological structure by measuring response to magnetic impulse

fMRI

measure neural activity by detecting changes in the magnetic response of hemoglobin

medulla

Heart and respiration, thoroughfare for sensory/motor nerve tracts
autonomic

pons

Regulate sleep, dreaming, respiration

cerebellum

Muscular movement, reflexive/automatic/rapid , coordination, learning/memory

reticular formation

important for consciousness and attention

thalamus

Routes sensory information, acts like a ’sensory switchboard’

basal ganglia

Controls voluntary muscle movement + role in learning/reward

hypothalamus

Important for controlling biological drives ex eating drinking

forebrain

thalamus, basal ganglia, hypothalamus. affects hormones, Destruction/stimulation of various parts can modulate motivated behaviours

hippocampus

memorization
limbic sys

amygdala

Organizes emotional response patterns limbic sys

Nucleus accumbens

Important for behaviours associated with reward/motivation lymbic sys

dna

contains partial protein, and many genes

frontal lobe

Executive function (planning, attention, reasoning, judgment, problem solving, etc.), self-awareness, speech, skeletal motor function, emotional regulation

parietal

body sensation, sensory info (touch pain pressure temp)

temporal

auditory cortex (auditory processing), complex visual processing, memory, language

occipital

visual cortex (basic visual processing)

primary motor cortex

Controls voluntary movement of over 600 muscles
Located at rear of frontal lobe

somatic sensory cortex

receive sensory input from various regions of the body
Touch, heat, cold, balance
Located in parietal lobe

language prod

Broca’s area: formulation of speech (frontal lobe)
Motor cortex: muscles that coordinate speech

language comp

Wernicke’s area (temporal lobe)

neural plasticity

ability of neurons to change in structure/function over time (various effects eg; children exposed to toxins)

corpus callosum

two hemispheres communicat

lateralization

some cognitive functions to be (relatively) localized in one hemisphere

genotype

specific genetic makeup of an individual

phenotype

observable characteristics produced by the genetic commands
(can be altered by environment)

allele

alternative forms of a gene that produces different characteristics

polygenic transmission

given characteristic is controlled by two or more genes

recombinant gene

enzymes cut/combine DNA from different organisms

gene knockout procedure

particular genes are disabled

one size fits all

diff traits are adaptive in diff environments

heretability

how much variation in something can be attributed to genetic differences

heritability coeffecient

statistical estimate of the extent to which 
variation in a characteristic among a group of people can be 
attributed to genetic factors

concordance rates

rate of co-occurrence of a characteristic among individuals

keynote 15

read over the experiment

evolution

change over time in frequency with which genes, and characteristics they produce

mutations

continually introduce new genetic variation

adaptation

promote survival/reproduction

natural selection

adaptations) become more frequent in the population

domain specific adaptations

solve certain problems (mate section, finding safe food etc)

broad adapations

multi purpose versatile (logic language etc)

evolutionary psych

how behaviour & tendencies have evolved in response to environmental demands

cooperation

one individual helps another and each gains some advantage

kin selection theory

applies to helping one’s relatives

altruism

one individual helps another but there are costs involved

receprical altrusim theory

general helping, not based on genetic relatedness

aggression

might be selected attribute because it is benefical

dominance hierchies

can reduce conflict

genetic determinism

idea that genes have unavoidable effects

social Darwinism

idea that societies which are more prosperous are genetically superior

directionaly

idea that evolution acts in a purposeful way, progressing towards some ultimate goal/state/trait/ability, and that more recent adaptations/changes are ‘better’ than previous ones

colour-grapheme synaesthesia

automatically perceive particular numbers as being coloured in specific ways

psychophysics

refers to study of the relationship between the physical characteristics of stimuli and sensory experience

absolute threshold

Intensity at which stimulus can be detected 50% of the time

signal directional theory

addresses the question of what factors influence sensory judgments

direction theory

refers to the standard of how certain we must be before ‘deciding’ whether or not we believe a stimulus is present

webers law

difference threshold is directly proportional to the magnitude of the stimulus with which the comparison is being made, which can be expressed as a Weber fraction

sensory adaptation

refers to this diminishing sensitivity to an unchanging stimulus (sometimes also referred to as habituation)

lens

elastic structure that changes form to help focus

retina

multi-layered structure at the back of the eye that contains 
light-sensitive photoreceptors which transduce light energy 
into electrical impulses

cornea

transparent protective structure at front of eye

pupil

adjustable opening behind cornea that controls amount of light entering the eye (controlled by muscles in the iris)

myopia

nearsightedness (difficulty seeing far away objects)

hyperopia

farsightedness (difficulty seeing close up objects)

rods

are one of two types of light-sensitive cells found in the retina (photoreceptors)

fovea

centre of retina

cones

other type photoreceptors found in the retina
Contribute to perception of colour and detail

bipolar cells

Receive signals from the rods and cones (i.e. synapse with them)

ganglion cells

Synapse with the bipolar cells

transduction

Rods/Cones -> Bipolar cells -> Ganglion cells -> Optic Nerve

photopigments

critical for visual transduction, which undergo a chemical reaction (isomerization) to transduce light into neural code

dark adaptation

refers to the progressive improvement in brightness sensitivity in low lighting condition

trichromatic theory

emerged from observations that any colour can be created by mixing together varying quantities of blue, green, and red

add theory

mixing lights

sub theory

mixing paints

afterimages

an image in a different colour appears after a colour stimulus has been viewed for a prolonged period of time and then withdrawn

opponent process theory

we have three cone types, each of which responds to two different wavelengths

dual process theory

combines elements of trichromatic and opponent process theories (we have three cone types that are each maximally sensitive to three different wavelengths)

trichromat

have normal colour vision, with systems that are sensitive to: red-green, yellow-blue, and black-white

dichromats

have deficient in one cone system (most commonly red/green, but can also be blue/yellow)

monochromats

are sensitive to black-white only

feature detectors

‘tuned’ to respond most strongly to specific stimuli characteristics

retinatopy

Two points that are close together on an image formed in the retina will also be processed in areas of cortex that are close together

parallel processing

Different modules in the brain simultaneously process information related to properties like colour, movement, shape, distance

pressure waves

stimulus for hearing

waves created through

expansion and compression of molecules

frequency and amplitude

constitute two fundamental properties of sound waves

frequency

refers to the number of cycles per second (measured in Hz: 1 Hz = 1 cycle per second)