Unit 1: Biological Basis of Behavior Study Guide

I. Brain Functions and Structures

1. Temporal Lobe

   • Function: Primarily responsible for processing auditory information.

   • Key Point: Involved in language comprehension and memory.

2. Hippocampus

   • Function: Critical for the formation of new explicit memories and spatial navigation.

   • Key Point: Damage leads to anterograde amnesia (inability to form new memories).

3. Dopamine and Reward Response

   • Function: Neurotransmitter associated with pleasure, reward, and motor control.

   • Potential Side Effects of Dopamine Enhancers: Increased pleasure and risk of addiction.

4. Broca's Area vs. Wernicke's Area

   • Broca's Area: Responsible for speech production; damage results in difficulty speaking but comprehension remains.

   • Wernicke's Area: Responsible for understanding language; damage leads to fluent but nonsensical speech.

5. Hypothalamus

   • Hunger Regulation: Plays a key role in homeostasis, including hunger and thirst regulation.

   • Key Point: Stimulating this area can increase eating behavior.

6. Cerebellum

   • Function: Involved in coordination of voluntary movements and balance.

   • Damage Effects: Difficulty with fine motor skills and balance.

7. Acetylcholine Blockage Effects

   • Effect: Muscle paralysis due to inhibition of neurotransmitter release at neuromuscular junctions.

8. Amygdala

   • Fear Response: Critical for emotion regulation, particularly fear and aggression.

   • Damage Effects: Impaired fear response and difficulty recognizing emotional cues.

9. Hypothalamus

   • Sleep Regulation: Regulates circadian rhythms and sleep-wake cycles.

   • Key Point: Damage can lead to insomnia or other sleep disorders.

10. Frontal Lobes

    • Memory Retrieval: Involved in executive functions including attention, memory retrieval, and decision-making.

11. Parkinson’s Disease and Dopamine

    • Key Point: Associated with loss of dopamine-producing neurons in the substantia nigra leading to motor control issues.

12. Occipital Lobe: Visual Processing

    • Function: Responsible for processing visual information; damage can lead to visual deficits.

13. Right Hemisphere Damage: Face Recognition

    • Function: The right hemisphere is involved in recognizing faces and interpreting nonverbal cues.

14. fMRI and Hippocampus Regulation

    • Function: fMRI is used to observe blood flow and neural activity; increased activity in the hippocampus indicates engagement in the memory tasks.

15. Amygdala: Emotion Regulation

    • Function: Involved in emotional processing; damage can lead to inappropriate emotional responses.

16. Serotonin and Mood Regulation

    • Function: A neurotransmitter associated with mood, sleep, and appetite; commonly targeted by antidepressants.

17. Parietal Lobe: Sensory Processing

    • Function: Processes sensory information, including temperature and pain.

18. GABA and Anxiety Reduction

    • Function: An inhibitory neurotransmitter that reduces neural excitability often targeted for anxiety relief.

19. Hippocampus Damage and Skill Learning

    • Key point: Impaired explicit memory formation while implicit memory skills remain intact.

20. Cortisol Release and Memory

    • Function: Released by the adrenal glands during stress: high levels can impair memory function.

II. Sleep and Consciousness

21. Alcohol's Effect on Memory

    • Key Point: Alcohol disrupts the encoding of new memories, impacting short-term recall.

22. Dichotic Listening and Hemispheric Dominance

    • Findings: Suggests the left hemisphere's dominance in language processing since verbal information presented to the right ear (processed by the left hemisphere) is recalled faster.

23. Eye Movements: Sensory Adaptation

    • Function: Constant quivering of the eyes helps to minimize sensory adaptation, allowing continued visual stimulation.

24. REM Sleep: Dreaming and Memory:

    • Key Point: REM rebound indicates the body's need for REM sleep, which is critical for memory consolidation.

III. Research Methods and Experimental Design

25. Independent Variable in Studies

    • Definition: The factor that researchers manipulate; in the alcohol study, it's whether participants believed they consumed alcohol.

26. Dependent Variable

    • Definition: The outcome measured in the experiment; in this context, it's the level of sexual fantasies reported.

27. Placebo Effect

    • Definition: A phenomenon where participants experience changes due to their expectations rather than the treatment itself.

IV. Pain and Sensory Processing

28. Phantom Limb Sensations

    • Key Point: After losing a limb, individuals may still feel sensations or pain in the area where the limb used to be due to brain representation.

29. Nociceptors and Pain Transmission

    • Function: Specialized sensory receptors that detect harmful stimuli and send pain signals to the central nervous system.

30. Opponent-Process Theory of Color Vision

    • Function: Explains color perception based on opposing pairs; exposure to one color inhibits the perception of its opponent.

V. Neurotransmitters and Hormones

31. Neurotransmitter Functions

    • Endorphins: Natural painkillers released during stress or pain; individuals with higher levels may experience reduced pain sensitivity.

32. Melatonin and Sleep Regulation

    • Function: A hormone that regulates sleep-wake cycles; production increases in darkness, promoting sleepiness.