Biopsychology
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### Introduction
1. Brain-as-identity: The idea that your brain determines who you are as a person.
2. Phrenology: An old idea that bumps on your skull show personality traits (not true but led to studying brain areas).
3. Biopsychology: Study of how your brain and body affect behavior.
4. Cognitive neuroscience: Study of how brain activity connects to thinking and memory.
5. Lesioning: Studying brain damage to learn what each part does.
6. Electrical stimulation of the brain (ESB): Using electricity to activate brain areas and see their effects.
7. “Broken brain” patients: Learning about brain function by studying people with injuries.
8. Aphasia: Trouble speaking or understanding language because of brain damage.
9. Brain imaging techniques: Ways to see inside the brain:
- EEG: Measures brain waves.
- CT (CAT): Uses X-rays to show the brain’s structure.
- PET: Tracks brain activity using a special dye.
- MRI: Clear pictures of the brain using magnets.
- fMRI: Shows brain activity by tracking blood flow.
- TMS: Uses magnets to temporarily activate or shut down brain areas.
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### Peripheral Nervous System
1. Somatic nervous system: Controls muscles you move on purpose and brings in sensory info.
2. Autonomic nervous system: Handles things like heartbeat and digestion:
- Sympathetic: Speeds up your body (fight or flight).
- Parasympathetic: Slows you down (rest and digest).
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### Stress
1. Eustress: Good stress that helps you focus or perform better.
2. Distress: Bad stress that harms your health.
3. ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences): Difficult experiences as a child that affect health as an adult.
4. General Adaptation Syndrome: How your body reacts to stress:
- Alarm: First reaction (e.g., panic, adrenaline).
- Resistance: Coping stage (body works hard to deal with stress).
- Exhaustion: When your body gets worn out.
5. Perceived control: Feeling like you’re in charge of a situation lowers stress.
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### Central Nervous System
1. Spinal cord: Sends messages between your brain and body.
2. Reflex arc: Quick automatic reaction (like pulling your hand off something hot).
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### Parts of the Brain
1. Hindbrain: Keeps you alive by controlling basic functions:
- Medulla: Controls breathing and heartbeat.
- Pons: Helps with sleep and movement.
- Cerebellum: Controls balance and coordination.
2. Midbrain: Processes hearing and sight.
3. Forebrain: Does advanced thinking and emotions:
- Thalamus: Sends sensory info (like sight and sound) to the right brain areas.
- Hypothalamus: Controls hunger, thirst, and hormones.
- Amygdala: Handles emotions like fear and anger.
- Hippocampus: Makes new memories.
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### Cerebral Cortex
1. Corpus callosum: Connects the left and right sides of the brain.
2. Occipital lobe: Processes vision.
3. Temporal lobe: Processes hearing and language.
4. Parietal lobe: Processes touch and spatial awareness.
5. Frontal lobe: Responsible for decision-making, planning, and movement.
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### Themes in Brain Research
1. Brain plasticity: The brain can change and adapt after injury or learning something new.
2. Dual processing: Your brain works on both conscious and unconscious levels at the same time.
3. Neural networks: Groups of neurons that work together to perform tasks.
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### Neurons
1. Sensory neurons: Carry info from your senses to your brain.
2. Motor neurons: Send signals from your brain to muscles.
3. Interneurons: Connect sensory and motor neurons.
4. Dendrites: Branches on neurons that receive signals.
5. Axon: Sends signals from one neuron to the next.
6. Myelin sheath: A coating that speeds up signals along the axon.
7. Synapse: The gap where neurons pass messages.
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### Electrical Communication
1. Action potential: An electrical signal that travels down the neuron.
2. Resting potential: When a neuron is not active.
3. Sodium-potassium pump: Moves charged particles to create a signal.
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### Chemical Communication
1. Neurotransmitters: Chemicals that send signals between neurons:
- Dopamine: Controls pleasure and movement.
- Serotonin: Regulates mood and sleep.
- Endorphins: Relieve pain and boost mood.
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### Psychoactive Drugs
1. Agonists: Drugs that increase a neurotransmitter’s effect.
2. Antagonists: Drugs that block a neurotransmitter’s effect.
3. Tolerance: When you need more of a drug to get the same effect.
4. Withdrawal: Symptoms when you stop taking a drug.
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