Biopsychology Flashcards

Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)

Governs brains involuntary actions (stress, heartbeat) and is self-regulating. It's divided into sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) and parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest)

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Brain

Part of CNS responsible for coordinating sensation, intellectual and nervous activity.

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Central Nervous System (CNS)

Comprises of brain and spinal cord. It receives information from the senses and controls body's responses.

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Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

Part of the nervous system that is outside of the brain and spinal cord

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Somatic Nervous System (SNS)

Part of the PNS responsible for gathering and carrying sensory and motor information to/from the CNS

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Spinal Cord

A bundle of nerve fibres enclosed within the spinal column and which connects nearly all parts of the body with the brain

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Motor Neurons

Form synapses with muscles and control their contractions

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Neurotransmitter

Chemical substances that play an important part in the workings of the nervous system by transmitting nerve impulses across a synapse

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Relay Neurons

Most common type of neuron in the CNS. They allow sensory and motor neurons to communicate with each other

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Sensory Neurons

Carry nerve impulses from sensory receptors to the spinal cord and the brain

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Synapse

The conjunction of the end of the axon of one neuron and the dendrite or cell body of another

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Synaptic Transmission

Process by which a nerve impulses passes across the synaptic cleft from one neuron (the presynaptic neuron) to another (the postsyanptic neuron)

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Endocrine Glands

Special group of cells within the endocrine system, whose function is to produce and secrete hormones

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Endocrine System

A network of glands throughout or body that manufacture and secrete chemical messengers known as hormones

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Hormones

Chemical messengers. Travel through the bloodstream, influencing many different processes including mood, the stress response and bonding between mother and baby

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Pituitary Gland

The "master gland" whose primary function is to influence the release of hormones from other glands

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Fight-or-Flight Response

A sequence of activity within the body that is triggered when the body prepares itself for defending or attacking, or running away to safety. This involves changes in the nervous system and the secretion of hormones that necessary to sustain arousal

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HPA Axis

Describes the sequence of bodily activity in response to stress that involves the hypothalamus, pituitary and adrenal cortex

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Broca's Area

Area in the frontal lobe of the brain, usually in the left hemisphere, related to speech production

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Wernicke's Area

Area in the temporal lob of the brain important in the comprehension of language

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Localisation of Function

Refers to the belief that specific areas of the brain are associated with specific cognitive processes

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Motor Cortex

Region of the brain responsible for the generation of voluntary motor movements

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Somatosensory Cortex

Region of the brain that processes input from sensory receptors in the body that are sensitive to touch

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Hemispheric Lateralisation

Some mental processes in the brain are mainly specialised to either the left or right hemisphere

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Split-Brain Research

Research that studies individuals who have been subjected to the surgical separation of the two hemispheres of the brain as a result of severing the corpus callosum

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Brain Plasticity

Brain's ability to modify its own structure and function as a result of experience

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Functional Recovery

Recovery of abilities and mental processes that have been compromised as a result of brain injury or disease

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Electroencephalogram (EEG)

A method of recording changes in the electrical activity of the brain using electrodes attached to the scalp

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Event-Related Potential (ERP)

A technique that takes raw EEG data and uses it to investigate cognitive processing of a specific event. It does this by taking multiple readings and averaging them, to filter out all brain activity not related to appearance of stimulus

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Function Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

Technique for measuring brain activity, which works by detecting changes in blood oxygenation and flow that indicate increased neural activity

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Post-Mortem Examinations

Ways of examining the brains of people who have shown particular psychological abnormalities, prior to their death, in an attempt to establish the possible neurobiological cause for this behaviour

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Circadian Rythmn

A pattern of behaviour that occurs or recurs approximately every 24 hours and which is set and reset by environmental light levels

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Sleep-Wake Cycle

Refers to the alternating states of sleep and waking that are dependent on the 24-hour circadian cycle

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Infradian Rythmns

Rhythms that have a duration >24 hours and may be weekly, monthly or even annually.

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Ultradian Rythmns

Cycles that last less than 24 hours, such as the cycle of sleep stages that occur throughout the night

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Endogenous Pacemakers

Mechanisms within the body that govern the internal, biological bodily rhythms

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Exogenous Zeitgeber

An environmental cue, such as light, that helps to regulate the biological clock in an organism

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Biopsychology Flashcards

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