Unit 1 AP Psych

Nature (Heredity)

refers to idea that our characteristics are passed down from parents through genes

Nurture (Environment)

our surroundings, upbringing, and life experiences influence who we become

Twin study

- identical = 100% of genes are shared = more similar in traits and behaviors

- fraternal = 50% of genes

- greater similarity in identical traits = strong genetic component to these traits and behaviors

- similarities are the same even with different environments

Adoption study

- examines whether adopted children = bio parents or adopted parents

- resembles more of their bio parents because genes (nature) > environment (nature)

Family study

- research method used to understand the genetic and environmental influences on a particular trait/disorder

- proband = trait

- examine family members of who has proband to see how prevalent it is

- trait is influenced by genetics = more common

Brain

- part of central nervous system

- command center responsible for processing info, making decisions, and controlling bodily functions

Spinal cord

- part of central nervous system

- long, thin, tubular bundle of nervous tissue that extends from brainstem -> vertebral column

- transmits nerve signals between the brain and rest of the body

Peripheral nervous system

- network of nerves that connects the CNS to the rest of the body

- responsible for transmitting sensory info to the brain and carrying out motor commands to muscles and organs

Somatic nervous system

enables voluntary control of our skeletal muscles

Autonomic nervous system

- controls our glands and the muscles of our internal organs, influencing functions such as heartbeat, digestion, and more

- operates on its own without conscious efforts

Sympathetic nervous system

- "Fight or Flight"

- arouses the body and expends energy

Parasympathetic nervous system

- produces the opposite effects, calming the body as it decreases your heart rate, blood pressure, increases digestion, decreases blood sugar

- rest + digest

Neuron

- a nerve cell

- basic building block of nervous system

- 100 billion neurons in a mature human brain

- plays key role in sending signals

Glial cell

- surround neurons and provide physical support for neurons to grow on

- provide structure, insulation, communication, and waste support

- 90% of brain

Dendrites

receive signals from other neurons and transmit them to cell body

Nucleus

controls cell's activities and has genetic material

Cell body

provides energy

Axon

gets electrical messages away from cell body and goes to other cells

Axon terminal

transmits messages through neurotransmitters

Myelin sheath

electrical impulses and transmits quickly and efficiently (speeding and transmission)

Sensory neuron

carries signals from sensory receptors to central nervous system

Motor neuron

carries signals from the brain to the muscle and glands

inter neuron

acts as relay stations between sensory input and coordinating motor system (translators)

Reflex arc

- includes sensory nerves that carry signals to spinal cord

- connects interneurons - transmit signals down the motor neurons to the muscles that triggered the reflex

- more involuntary

Reflex arc process (step 1)

detection by sensory neurons

- specialized nerve endings in your skin, the sensory receptors, detect the stimulus

Reflex arc process (step 2)

signal transmission to the CNS

- receptors trigger an electrical signal in a sensory (afferent neuron)

- acts like a one-way street, carrying the message from your hand to spinal cord

Reflex arc process (step 3)

processing in the CNS

- crucial shortcut

- sensory neuron delivers to interneuron with the spinal cord

- interneuron acts as a simple processing center

Reflex arc process (step 4)

activation of motor neurons

- interneuron passes the signal directly to a motor neuron (efferent neuron)

Reflex arc process (step 5)

response execution

- motor neuron carries command away from spinal cord to effector, part of body that responds

Action potential

neuron will fire, sending electrical signal down the axon

Stimulus threshold

minimum level of stimulation required to trigger a particular response

All-or-nothing principle

neuron will either fire all the way or nothing at all

Depolarization

occurs when neuron's membrane potential becomes less negative due to the influx of sodium (Na+) ions, bringing it closer to the threshold for firing an action potential

Refractory period

- period where action potential isn't possible

- potassium channels reopen and sodium channels close gradually returning neuron to its resting potential

Resting potential

- electrical charge of a neuron that is ready to fire

- negative charge

Reuptake

chemical messengers are taken back up into the sending neuron to be used again

Multiple sclerosis (MS)

- chronic disease that affects CNS, brain, spinal cord, optic nerves

- autoimmune disorder where body attacks itself, damaging protective coating of neurons (myelin sheath)

Myasthenia gravis

- chronic autoimmune disorder where antibodies destroy antibodies block or destroy many of muscles receptors sites for neurotransmitters to acetylcholine receptors

- muscle weakness

Excitatory message

- cause neurotransmitters to fire off the message -> passed along to the next cell

- to release

Inhibitory message

- block the chemical message from being passed along any further

- to block

Dopamine

- excitatory

- pleasure + rewards -> feel motivated, satisfied, excited

- responsible for many addiction

TOO MUCH - addiction to feel pleasurable

TOO LITTLE - parkinson's disease and depression

Seratonin

- inhibitory

- happiness + feeling good

- regulate mood + feel calm + focused + emotionally stable

TOO MUCH - hallucinations

TOO LITTLE - depression + mood disorders + OCD

Norepinephrine

- excitatory

- "Fight or Flight"

- increases bodily arousal

TOO MUCH - anxiety

TOO LITTLE - depression + mood disorders

Glutamate

- excitatory

- several receptors -> memory, cognition, mood-recognition

- most abundant

TOO MUCH - overstimulation (migraines + epileptic seizures)

TOO LITTLE - insomnia, concentration problems + mental exhaustion

GABA

- inhibitory

- calms + relaxes people

- increases sleepiness + decreases anxiety

- reduces heart rate, blood pressure, breathing

TOO MUCH - overly sleepy + normal functioning impaired

TOO LITTLE - anxious + insomnia

Endorphins

- inhibitory

- alleviate pain, lower stress, improve mood + well being

- pleasurable activities (exercise)

TOO MUCH - ignoring all pain + risk injury

TOO LITTLE - significant pain

Substance P

- excitatory

- pain signals to the brain

- reacting to pain when we get hurt (inflammation + regulate mood)

TOO MUCH - chronic pain

TOO LITTLE - reduced sensitivity to pain

Acetylcholine

- excitatory

motivation, arousal, attention, learning, memory

- important for REM sleep

- regulating cardiac contraction, activating muscle action

TOO MUCH - severe muscle spasms

TOO LITTLE - alzheimers + dementia

Psychoactive drugs

- chemical substances that alter mood, behavior, perceptions

- affect brain chemistry by altering affects of neurotransmitters

Agonist

occupy receptors and activate them

Antagonist

occupy receptors and block neurotransmitters from activating them

Reuptake inhibitor

block the reuptake of neurotransmitters

Stimulant

- speed up body's functions

- sense of increased energy, mental alertness, and forced wakefulness

EX - caffeine, nicotine, cocaine, amphetamines, methamphetamine

Depressant

- lower neural activity + slow body functioning

- affects hippocampus -> memory under the influence

- affects GABA -> slow reactions

- affects dopamine -> happy

EX - alcohol, benzodiazepines -> slow CNS, barbituates -> reduce anxiety

Hallucinogens

- psychedelic

- drugs that cause hallucinations + distort people's perception of reality

EX - LSD -> lights are "fluffy", marijuana, mushrooms, opioids

Opioids

- produced from opium reduce neuro-transmission + temporarily lesson pain + anxiety

EX - morphine, codeine, oxycontin

Tolerance

- brain will readjust its chemistry to counteract effects of drugs

- user finds effects of same dose of drug diminish over extended use or they need more of a drug to have same effect

Addiction

compulsive, uncontrollable, craving for drug

Withdrawal

- symptoms associated with discontinuing a drug

- include cravings, pain, tremors, anxiety, depression

Medulla

- responsible autonomic functions

- don't consciously control

INJURED - death b/c controls vital life functions

Cerebellum

- muscle control, balance + movement

INJURED - walking, imbalance, uncoordinated movements, susceptible to alcohol, vertigo (dizziness)

Reticular activating system (RAS)

- voluntary movement, eye, learning, cognition, emotion

INJURED - loss of consciousness, irreversible coma, sleep issues

Brain stem

lower part of the brain, connecting the cerebrum with the spinal cord and regulating vital functions such as breathing, heart rate, and consciousness

Limbic system

bordering the brain stem, responsible for behaviors related to emotions, motivation, encoding of memories, and olfaction (our sense of smell)

Brain's reward center

- group of interconnected brain structures that are involved in motivation, pleasure, addiction

INJURED - loss of interest in activities, lack of motivation, addiction

Thalamus

- sensory info from eyes -> occipatal lubes/skin -> parietal lobes

- emotions processed

- senses NOT SMELL

INJURED - tingling, numbness, motor impairments, hypersensitivity, chronic pain, vision loss, light sensitivity

Hypothalamus

- survival drives + homeostasis + reproduction

- alerts body

INJURED - can't tell when hungry, over-eating, gaining weight + sleepyness

Pituitary Gland

- master

- endocrines system's most influential gland

- works with hypothalamus -> regulate growth, controls other glands

INJURED - not producing enough hormones (fatigue, memory, mood changes, sexual dysfunction

Hippocampus

- turning info short term -> long term

- recalling events

INJURED - won't be able to retain info and convert short -> long term

Amygdala

- emotions + survival responses, afraid, "fight or flight"

- large + scary

INJURED - very little emotion + flat affect

Corpus callosum

- connects + communication between hemispheres

INJURED - impossible for left and right to communicate with each other

Occipital iobe

- processing distance, depth, perception, color, object, face, cognition, memory formation

INJURED - blindness, blind spots, visual distortions

Temporal lobe

- processing info related to hearing + auditory memory

INJURED - difficult to understand language + process what's heard, deafness

Parietal lobe

- touch, pressure, temperature, pain

INJURED - recognize difficulty by touch, pain, pressure, vibration

Frontal lobe

- decision making, judgement, problem-solving, personality, planning, language, reasoning

INJURED - personality changing, judgement, inability to solve problems

Cerebral cortex

- outer layer of the brain cerebrum, involved in complex functions such as thought, memory, awareness, language, and consciousness

- divided by left and right hemispheres

Specialized areas of the brain

- located on the cerebral surface, responsible for complex processing that goes on between the arrival of input in the primary sensory cortices and the generation of behavior

Prefrontal cortex

- most forward part of the frontal lube, complex cognitive behavior like planning, decision making, personality expression, social

INJURED - lack of impulse, impaired judgement, change in personality + bx

Motor cortex

- control voluntary movements

INJURED - paralyzed, lose control over movements

Somatosensory cortex

- detects sensory info -> temp, texture, pain

INJURED - numbness + difficulty feeling pain

Broca's area

- speech production, command center, muscle movements

INJURED - difficulty with speech while comprehension is fine

NOT SPEECH IMPEDIMENT

Wernicke's area

- comprehension of speech, can say words easily but make no sense

INJURED - sounds normal and grammatically correct, but makes little sense

Aphasia

difficulty saying words

Split-brain procedure

severs callosum, structure that connects the 2 hemispheres of the brain

Split-brain purpose

reduce severe epilepsy symptoms

Split-brain cortex specialization

2 halves of brain - hemispheres have different function + abilities

work together to help think + feel

Contralateral hemispheric organization

brain is cross-wired:

- left body = right side of brain

- right body = left side of brain

Functional plasticity

move functions from a damaged area of the brain to other undamaged areas

Structural plasticity

actually change its physical structure as a result of learning

MRI

- detailed pic of soft tissues + brain

- frequent imaging test of brain + spinal cord

- high definition of one moment

fMRI

- blood flow + different parts of brain

- blood flow shows areas of brain that are working hardest (appear brighter)

- control actions + abilities

- movie + still photographs that show activity

EEG

- measures electrical activity

- find changes in brain activity that aid in diagnosing brain conditions (seizure, epilepsy, brain tumors, brain damage etc.)

Lesion

- destroys tiny clusters of normal/defective brain-cells

- brain areas are relevant for certain tasks by recognizing deficiencies in performance caused by lesion in a specific region

Case study (involving brain research)

in-depth study into 1 person who has a unique brain injury to look out the relationship between the behavior and the brain