Biopsychology flashcards

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  • Created by: kilovi
  • Created on: 30-10-18 10:12
What are the two components of the Nervous System?
The Central Nervous System and the Peripheral Nervous System
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What is the Central Nervous System comprised of?
The spinal cord and the brain
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What is the Peripheral Nervous System comprised of?
The Somatic Nervous System and the Autonomic Nervous system
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What is the Autonomic Nervous System Comprised of?
The Sympathetic Nervous System and the Parasympathetic Nervous System
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What is the main function of the spinal cord?
To relay information between the brain and the rest of the body
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How is the spinal cord connected to different parts of the body?
By pairs of spinal nerves, which connect with specific muscles and glands
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What are the four main areas that the brain can be divided into?
The cerebrum, cerebellum, diencephalon, and the brain stem
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What is the cerebrum?
The cerebrum is the largest part of the brain, and is further divided into four different lobes. The cerebrum is split down the middle into two halves called cerebral hemispheres.
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Name the four lobes?
The frontal lobe, the occipital lobe, the temporal lobe, the parietal lobe
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What does the cerebellum do?
It is involved in controlling a person's motor skills and balance, coordinating the muscles to allow precise movements
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What are the two components of the diencephalon?
The thalamus and the hypothalamus
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What does the thalamus do?
Acts as a relay station for nerve impulses coming from the sense, routing them to the appropriate part of the brain where they can be processed
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What does the hypothalamus do?
Regulates body temperature, hunger and thirst. It also acts as a link between the endocrine system and the nervous system, controlling the release of hormones from the pituitary gland
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What does the brain stem do?
It's responsible for regulating the automatic functions that are essential for life, such as breathing, heartbeat and swallowing.
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What does the Somatic Nervous System do?
It's responsible for carrying sensory and motor information to and from the Central Nervous System
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What does the Autonomic Nervous System do?
Govern's the brain's involuntary activities (e.g. stress, heartbeat) and is self-regulating
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What response are the Sympathetic and the Parasympathetic Nervous Systems involved in?
The fight or flight response
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What does the Sympathetic Nervous System do?
increases pupil size, increases heart rate, bronchial tubes dilate, produces more sweat, adrenal medulla releases adrenaline, glycogen in the liver is converted to glucose
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What does the Parasympathetic Nervous System do?
Causes the body to relax again once the emergency has passed and reverses everything the Sympathetic Nervous System changed
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Name the three types of neurons?
sensory, relay, and motor neurons
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What is the structure of a neuron?
dendrites, cell body, myelin sheath, axon
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What do sensory neurons do?
carry nerve impulses from sensory receptors to the spinal cord and the brain
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What do relay neurons do?
Allow sensory and motor neurons to communicate with eachother
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What do motor neurons do?
They form synapses with muscles and control their contractions.
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What is a synapse?
The conjunction of the end of the axon of one neuron and the dendrite or cell body of another
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What is synaptic transmission?
Refers to the process by which a nerve impulse passes across the synaptic cleft from one neuron to another
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What are neurotransmitters?
Chemical messengers that carry signals across the synaptic gap to the receptor site on the postsynaptic cell
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What do excitatory neurotransmitters do?
Make the postsynaptic cell more likely to fire (acetylcholine or noradrenaline)
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What do inhibitory neurotransmitters do?
They decrease the likelihood of the neuron firing (serotonin or GABA)
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Name the glands in the endocrine system?
Hypothalamus, pituitary gland, adrenal glands, testis, ovaries
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What are the purpose of the endocrine glands?
Special group of cells whose function is to produce and secrete hormones
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What are hormones?
The body's chemical messengers. They travel through the bloodstream, influencing many different processes including mood, the stress response and bonding between mother and newborn baby
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What does the pituitary gland do?
It produces hormones whose primary function is to influence the release of hormones from other glands
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What do the adrenal glands do?
The adrenal gland releases cortisol, which regulates or supports cardiovascular and anti-inflammatory functions. This gland also releases adrenaline and noradrenaline.
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What do the ovaries do?
They are part of the female reproductive system and are responsible for the production of eggs and for the hormones oestrogen and progesterone
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What do the testes do?
They are male reproductive glands that produce the hormone testosterone
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What is the fight or flight response?
A sequence of activity within the body that is triggered when the body prepares itself for defending or attacking (fight) or running away to safety (flight)
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What is the response to acute stressors?
The sympathetic nervous system is triggered, then adrenaline circulates through the body, once the threat has passed the parasympathetic nervous system kicks in
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What is the response to chronic stressors?
The hypothalamus, then the pituitary gland, then the adrenal glands (HPA)
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What is localisation of function?
The principle that specific functions have specific location so in the brain
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Name the six areas of the brain
Motor cortex, somatosensory cortex, Wernicke’s area, Broca’s area, auditory cortex, visual cortex
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What does the motor cortex do and where is it located?
It’s responsible for the generation of voluntary motor movements and is located in the frontal lobe of the brain
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What does the somatosensory cortex do and where is it located?
It detects sensory events arising from different regions of the body and produces sensations from it. It is located in the parietal lobe.
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What does the visual cortex do and where is it located?
It processes visual information and is located in the occipital lobe
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What does the auditory cortex do and where is it located?
It processes acoustic information and is located in the temporal lobe
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What does Broca’s area do and where is it located?
This is the area responsible for speech production and is located in the left frontal lobe
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What does Wernicke’s area do and where is it located?
This area is responsible for comprehending language and is located in the left temporal lobe
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What is hemispheric lateralisation?
Refers to the fact that some mental processes in the brain are mainly specialised to either the left or right hemisphere
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What is the corpus callosum?
A bundle of nerves that allow the two hemipheres to communicate with each other
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What is split brain research?
Research that studies individual 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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What is the left hemisphere mostly responsible for?
Speech and language
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What is the right hemisphere mostly responsible for?
Visual-spatial processing and facial recognition
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What does term brain plasticity mean?
Refers to the brains ability to modify its own structure and function as a result of experience
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What does functional recovery mean?
Refers to the recovery of abilities and mental processes that have been compromised as a result of brain injury or disease
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

What is the Central Nervous System comprised of?

Back

The spinal cord and the brain

Card 3

Front

What is the Peripheral Nervous System comprised of?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

What is the Autonomic Nervous System Comprised of?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

What is the main function of the spinal cord?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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