Fight or flight notes
A LEVEL ONLY ZONE
EVALUATION: FIGHT OR FLIGHT
Negative consequences of the fight-or-flight response:
Increased blood pressure due to activation can lead to physical damage such as:
Vessel aging and, eventually, heart complications.
Activation of this response may shut down bodily functions necessary for fighting.
The concept of 'fight or flight' is overly simplistic:
It is argued that the first phase of reacting to a threat involves a mental process of stopping and assessing before choosing to fight or flee.
The initial response, especially in animals, is hyper-vigilance and shock as a form of danger assessment.
Adaptive advantages of the initial response to threats for humans:
Primarily involves gathering new information to decide on the best response.
Engages in positive behaviors rather than just 'fight or flight'.
Gender differences in response to stress:
Research by Dan et al. (2012) indicates:
Men are more likely to respond with 'fight or flight'.
Women, on the other hand, are more likely to engage in 'tend and befriend' behaviors.
Dewars study confirms that acute stress may lead to greater cooperative behaviors in both genders, as seen during events like the 9/11 attacks.
Genetic basis for sex differences in the fight-or-flight response:
Land and Harley (2012) found evidence for genetic influences originating from the male Y chromosome that prime men's stress response.
Men release stress hormones rapidly, enhancing blood flow to critical organs for the fight-or-flight response.
Women, lacking the specific SHY gene, do not exhibit this physiological response, leaning instead towards 'tend and befriend'.
LOCALIZATION OF FUNCTION
MOTOR AND SOMATOSENSORY AREAS
The Motor Cortex:
Location: Frontal lobe of the brain, specifically along the precentral gyrus.
Responsible for voluntary motor movements.
Different regions correspond to different body parts. For example:
The part controlling the foot is adjacent to that controlling the leg and so on.
The Somatosensory Cortex:
Function: Processes sensory information from the body related to touch, pain, pressure, and temperature.
Location: Parietal lobe, along the postcentral gyrus, mirroring the layout of the motor cortex.
Both hemispheres process information from the opposite side of the body.
VISUAL AND AUDITORY CENTRES
Visual Processing:
The primary visual centre is located in the occipital lobe (visual cortex).
Initial processing occurs in the retina of the eyes, where light stimuli are converted into nerve impulses.
Nerve impulses transmitted via the optic nerve relay to the thalamus, which acts as a relay station, sending the data to various areas of the visual cortex.
Different areas of the visual cortex are specialized for processing aspects like color, shape, and motion.
Auditory Centres:
Located primarily within the temporal lobes.
Sound waves are transformed into nerve impulses in the cochlea of the inner ear, which travel via the auditory nerve.
The journey includes a processing stage in the brain stem, decoding aspects of sound such as duration and intensity before reaching the auditory cortex.
The auditory context recognizes and responds appropriately to these processed sounds.
LANGUAGE CENTRES
Broca's Area:
Named after Paul Broca; located in the left frontal lobe, responsible for speech production.
Observations from patients with lesions in Broca's area showed impairment in speech despite retaining the understanding of spoken language.
Recent research indicates Broca's area also activates during cognitive tasks unrelated to language production.
Wernicke's Area:
Discovered by Carl Wernicke; located in the left temporal lobe, essential for language comprehension.
Patients with lesions in this area are capable of speech but lack comprehension.
Proposed that language involves separate motor and sensory areas.
Connection between Broca's and Wernicke's area is facilitated by the arcuate fasciculus, which plays a role in language processing.
EXPLANATIONS OF ATTACHMENT: BOWLBY'S MATERNAL DEPRIVATION THEORY
Background: John Bowlby, a child psychiatrist, noticed that children he treated had often experienced early separations from their families.
Key Concepts:
Continuity Hypothesis: Emotionally secure infants will develop into trusting, socially competent adults.
Critical Period: A biologically specified timeframe during which attachment behaviors must develop. If not formed, long-term consequences occur.
Internal Working Model: A mental blueprint for future relationships shaped by the primary attachment figure.
Monotropy: The belief that an infant forms one primary attachment of higher significance.
Social Release Mechanisms: Behaviors (e.g., smiling, cooing) that elicit care from the primary caregiver.
Evolutionary Perspective: Attachment behaviors are adaptive for survival, as they foster conditions for caregiving.
Development of Attachments: Caregiver sensitivity and responsiveness influence attachment quality.
HORMONES AND THE ENDOCRINE SYSTEM
The Endocrine System: A network of glands that secrete hormones regulating different physiological processes across organs.
Feedback Mechanisms: The system operates through feedback loops that help maintain stable hormone levels, similar to a thermostat.
Functions of Hormones: Hormones travel through the blood to target sites and exert effects based on their receptor presence; excess or insufficient hormone levels can lead to dysfunction.
RESEARCH METHODS
Neural Research Techniques:
Post-mortem studies allow examination of brain structures post-mortem to link them to behaviors observed during life.
fMRI measures real-time brain activity changes due to blood flow variations.
EEG measures electrical activity and detects brain disorders using various wave patterns (alpha, beta, delta).
ERP identifies voltage changes in response to specific stimuli to understand cognitive processing.
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