Psychology Final Exam

Physiological Psychology

Neural mechanisms of behavior subjects are usually animals

Psychopharmacology

Manipulation of neural activity with drugs

Who is the father of neuroscience

Santiago Ramon y Cajal

Psychophysiology

Relation between physiological activity and psychological processes; subjects are human primates; activity is recorded from surface of body

cognitive neuroscience

Youngest division; study the neural basis of cognition ( functional brain imaging--fMRI)

Comparative psychology

Study the biology of behavior not neural mechanisms and calcium gated channels: compare behaviors of different species evolution, genetics, adaptation-- ethological research

Neurons

communicate by electrochemical signals

Microelectrodes

Pierce neural membrane to record conduction; 1000th of a millimeter in diameter

Ions

Positive and negatively charged particles on both sides of membrane mainly sodium and potassium

Resting potential

Steady membrane potential of -70mV across membrane

Resting potential (resting voltage)

The potential difference between the two sides of the membrane of a nerve cell when the cell is not conducting an impulse; it is "resting"

Ion channels maintain this balance

more Na ions outside the cell than inside; more K ions inside than outside. K dominates inside; Na dominates outside

Passive transport

Diffusion

what are the two types of Na ions to enter a cell?

Electrostatic pressure and Pressure from random motion

The sodium potassium pump

Pumps out 3 sodium ions for each 2 potassium ions pumped into the neuron.

Polarized

Unequal pumping results in more positive charge on the outside compared to the inside

The war of the Soups and the Sparks

whether neurotransmission is electrical or chemical

Synapse

Junction or space between the terminal button of a neuron and the membrane of another neuron.

Where can synapses occur?

dendrites, soma, and other axons

Pre-synaptic membrane

At the end of the terminal button. This sends the message

Post-synaptic membrane

On the neuron that receives the message. This is opposite the terminal button

Synaptic cleft

This is the space between the pre and post membrane. This usually the site where neuroleptics act

Synaptic vesical

A small, hallow structure found in terminal buttons; contains molecules of neurotransmitter. They look like little bubbles

Release zone

A region of the interior of the pre- synaptic membrane to which synaptic vesicle attach and release their neurotransmitter into the synaptic cleft. Without these, neurotransmitter molecules could not enter the cleft. Neuroleptics act here as well.

kiss and run

vesicle contents released, pore closes, vesicle breaks away and is refilled

Membrane transport

refers to the collection of mechanisms that regulate the passage of solutes such as ions and small molecules through biological membranes, which are lipid bilayers that contain proteins embedded in them.

Pharmacokinetics

What your body does to the drug the process by which drugs are absorbed, distributed, metabolized and excreted

Pharmacodynamics

what the drug does to the body

Graded responses to transmission

Proportional to intensity of signals ( a response that varies directly with the strength of the stimulus

Postsynaptic depolarization

excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs)—increase the likelihood that neuron will "fire" (excite)

Postsynaptic hyperpolarization

inhibitory postsynaptic potential (IPSPs)—decrease the likelihood that neuron will "fire"

What are the two postsynaptic potentials

Rapid and decremental

neurotransmitters

Are endogenous chemicals that transmit signals across a synapse from one neuron (brain cell) to another target neuron.

Amino acids

Glutamate, aspartate, D-serine, aminobutyric acid (GABA)

Autoreceptor

A receptor located in presynaptic nerve cell membranes which serves as part of a negative feedback loop in signal transduction

Heteroreceptor

One that is sensitive to neurotransmitters and hormones that are not related by the cell in whose membrane it is embedded

Autoreceptors

May be located in any part of the cell membrane: in the dendrites, the cell body, the axon or the axon terminals

Bipolar neuron

One axon, one dendrite

Unipolar

One axon

Multipolar

One axon, many dendrites

Pryamidal neurons

Cells of Betz in layer V; not found in layer I, A long apical dendrite leaves the top of each pyramidal cell and ascends vertically to the cortical surface

Fusiform or Spindle Neurons

Found in Layer VI, the deepest layer

Stellate (granule) cells

Remain within cortex, and serve as interneurons

horizontal cells

Specialized retinal cells that contact both the receptor cells and the bipolar cells

Cells of Martinotti

small neurons with long, horizontal axons

glial cells

cells in the nervous system that support, nourish, and protect neurons

Dura mater

Two layers, (non-vascular) Dural sinus above Nose Bridge Painful if infected

Arachnoid mater

Non vascular membrane that joins Pia mater and dura mater; acts like a spring subdural space lies between the dura mater and the arachnoid mater

Pia mater

Thin translucent membrane that adheres to Brain itself vascular subarachnoid space between arachnoid mater and the Pia mater

Meningitis

Infection of the meninges

What are the three types of meningitis?

viral, bacterial, fungal

The blood-brain barrier

At capillary wall and brain substance, composed of endothelial cells with tight junctions and glial process

Frontal lobe

Motor function, higher functions, WILL

Parietal lobes

Somatosensory area: touch, pressure and pain sensors; awareness of body placement

Occipital lobes

vision

Temporal Lobes

Audition and memory

longitudinal fissure

separates left and right hemispheres

fissure of Rolando (central sulcus)

a major fissure that runs laterally, downward and forward and arbitrarily divides the anterior from the posterior half of the brain

Sylvian fissure

Also called lateral sulcus. A deep fissure that demarcates the temporal lobe.

Occipito-Parietal Fissure

separates occipital and parietal lobes

Transverse Fissure

separates cerebrum from cerebellum

Association fibers

Along the longitudinal fissure; back to front and front to back

Projection fibers

from corona radiate from thalamus of surface

Commissural fibers

One side to the other through the corpus callous

The primary motor cortex

Involved in the initiation of voluntary movements, particularly in the execution of distinct, well defined movements

The premotor area

Which plays a key role in the planning of motor activity and the initiation of voluntary movements by controlling the orientation of the body and its limbs

The prefrontal cortex

Which is implicated in social behavior and personality

Brocas area

Is part of the prefrontal cortex and is important in the production of written and spoken language

what are the 3 functions of parietal lobe?

somatosensory cortex (touch/pressure/pain) spacial manipulation (orient in 3D) Proprioception

What are the temporal lobe four key regions?

The primary auditory cortex, wernickes area, medial temporal lobe, and anterior temporal cortex

Wilder Penfiend (1935)

We can locate a mental process as complex and mysterious as memory to specific regions in the physical brain

motor homunculus

Larger parts of the brain control larger parts of the body such as the hand and mouth, which require a lot of "motor" or motion "signals

sensory homunculus

Similar to motor homunculus but it tells the brain how much power is needed for sensory perception of different body parts.

Dementia

General loss of cognitive abilities, including impairment of memory as well as one or more of the following

Behavioral Genetics

The study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior

Evolutionary psychology

Understanding human nature using the principles of natural selection

Radical idea

That our mental processes evolved from animal ancestors in much the same way that our morphological features did

Molecular genetics

Which genes influence which behavior?

Gene

"heredity deals the cards; environment plays the hand"

Intersexual selection

Which refers to the traits that one sex generally prefers in the other sex

intrasexual competition

Which refers to the competition among members of the same sex for mating access to the opposite sex

Alpha males

You are confident and your own man. You do your own thing and have complete confidence in everything you do

Beta Males

You are constantly plagues by insecurities and self- doubts and you can never commit to anything in fear that you will fail in it

Omega Males

do not care for leadership by others as they are perfectly capable of leading themselves

Gamma Males

you are sort of the "invisible" guy. There is nothing really spectacular about you

Sigma Males

You possess a cunning, intuitive mind and can sway people to your will.

Gender

The biologically and socially influenced characteristics by which people define male and female

Culture

the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next

Who is Hermann von Helmholtz?

Natural scientist who studied sensation. Work with hearing and color vision is foundation of modern perception research.

Role

a set of expectations about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave

Gender role

a set of expected behaviors for males or for females

Social Learning theory

we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished

gender identity

our sense of being male or female

What are the big four?

Prenatal, Infancy and Childhood, Adollescence and, Adulthood

Afferent

Projection fibers terminate in layer IV

Efferent

Projections fibers originate from cell bodies in layers V and VI

The sensorimotor stage

During this stage, infants and toddlers acquire knowledge through sensory experiences and manipulating objects

The pre operational stage

At this stage, kids learn through pretend play but still struggle with logic and taking the point of view of other people

concrete operational stage

Kids at this point of development begin to think more logically, but their thinking can also be very rigid. they tend to struggle with abstract and hypothetical concepts

The formal operational stage

The final stage of Piagets theory involves and increase in logic, the ability to use deductive reasoning and an understanding of abstract ideas