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Biopsychology
All of biopsych - terms and studies
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Central nervous system | Sub-system of the nervous system that consists of the brain and spinal cord |
| Peripheral nervous system | All parts of the nervous system that are outside the brain and spinal chord |
| Autonomic NS | Sub-division of the peripheral nervous system that controls involuntary responses like breathing and heart rate |
| Somatic NS | The part of the peripheral nervous system responsible for carrying sensory and motor information to and from the CNS |
| Sympathetic NS | A subdivision of the autonomic nervous system that activates nerves, glands and visceral muscles in times of stress or threat (fight or flight response) |
| Parasympathetic NS | A subdivision of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body after action and also retains the body functioning at is normal state (homeostasis) |
| Reflex | Action that is performed without conscious thought as a response to a stimulus (e.g. knee-jerk) |
| Sensory neuron | Carries nerve impulses from sensory receptors to the spinal-cord and the brain. Long dendrites, short axons |
| Relay neuron | Neurons that allow sensory and motor neurons to communicate with each other. Short dendrites and short axons. Also known as 'interneuron' |
| Motor neuron | Carries impulses from the central nervous system to muscle/gland effectors. Short dendrites, long axons |
| Axon | A single long slender fibre that carries the nerve impulse away from the cell body |
| Axon terminal | Part of a neuron which releases the neurotransmitter into the synapse |
| Dendrite | Part of a neuron which transmits an electrical impulse TOWARDS the cell body |
| Cell body | Part of a neuron which contains the nucleus |
| Synapse | The small gap between two neurons across which neurotransmitters diffuse |
| Neurotransmitter | Chemical substances, e.g. dopamine, that play an important part in the workings of the nervous system by transmitting nerve impulses across a synapse |
| Excitatory neurotransmitter | Neurotransmitters that increase the likelihood that a nerve cell will produce an action potential, e.g. dopamine |
| Inhibitory neurotransmitter | Neurotransmitters that decrease the likelihood that a nerve cell will produce an action potential, e.g. serotonin |
| Summation | Combination of effects from the activity of two or more synapses onto a single neuron - the combination of excitation and inhibition to determine whether there is enough of a positive charge to reach an action potential |
| Receptor | A cell able to respond to external stimuli and transmit a signal to a sensory nerve. Also refers to the part of a neuron which receives the neurotransmitter |
| Endocrine system | A collection of organs that secrete hormones into the blood stream |
| Gland | A group of cells in the body that synthesizes substances (e.g. hormones) for release into the bloodstream |
| Hormone | The body's chemical messengers, e.g. melatonin. They travel through the bloodstream, influencing many different processes (e.g. sleep) |
| Hypothalamus | Part of the brain that has a vital role in controlling many bodily functions including the release of hormones from the pituitary gland. |
| Fight or flight response | The way an animal (including humans) responds to stress as it becomes physiologically aroused to combat an aggressor or to run away |
| Adrenaline | Hormone/neurotransmitter that helps the body respond to a stressful situation by increasing heart rate and blood flow |
| Cortisol | “Stress hormone” - Hormone responsible for blood glucose regulation, immune functions, and anti-stress responses – production is increased by chronic stress |
| Adrenal Cortex | Part of a specific gland that produces cortisol as a response to stress |
| Adrenal Medulla | Part of a specific gland that releases adrenaline and noradrenaline in preparation for fight or flight response |
| Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) | A technique for studying the brain. It works by detecting changes in blood oxygenation and flow that indicates increased neural activity |
| Electroencephalogram (EEG) | A method of studying the brain by recording changes in the electrical activity of the brain using electrodes attached to the scalp |
| Event-related potential (ERP) | A technique that takes EEG data and uses it to investigate cognitive processing of a specific event. It achieves this by taking multiple readings and averaging them in order to filter out brain activity that is not related to the stimulus appearance |
| Post-mortem examination | Way of studying 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 |
| Temporal resolution | The extent to which a way of studying the brain is able to pinpoint the exact timing of the brain activity |
| Spatial resolution | The extent to which a way of studying the brain can identify the specific location of brain activity |
| Localisation | Refers to the belief that specific areas of the brain are associated with specific cognitive processes |
| Broca's area | An area in the frontal lobe of the brain, usually in the left hemisphere, related to speech production |
| Wernicke's area | An area in the temporal lobe of the brain important in the comprehension of language |
| Visual cortex | The part of the cerebral cortex that receives and processes sensory nerve impulses from the eyes |
| Auditory cortex | The part of the cerebral cortex (temporal lobe) processes information received through hearing - it receives signals from the ears regarding pitch and volume of sound |
| Motor cortex | A region of the brain responsible for the generation of voluntary motor movements |
| Somatosensory cortex | A region of the brain that processes input from sensory receptors in the body that are sensitive to touch |
| Equipotentiality | The ability for one part of the brain to do a different function, especially if the other area is damaged. Seems to disprove localisation theory |
| Hemispheric lateralisation | Refers to the belief that some mental processes in the brain are mainly specialised to either the left or the right hemisphere (studied by Sperry) |
| Corpus callosum | Nerve fibers that divides the cerebral cortex lobes into left and right hemispheres - it is cut in split-brain patients |
| Hemispherectomy | A procedure to remove one entire half of the brain - patients who receive this often recover all functions, disproving hemispheric lateralisation |
| Brain plasticity | Refers to the brain's ability to modify its own structure and function as a result of experience |
| Functional recovery of the brain | Refers to the recovery of abilities and mental processes that have been compromised as a result of brain injury or disease |
| Bridging | The naturally-occurring brain process where new connections are formed between neurons as a result of experience or practice |
| Pruning | The destruction of synapses that are not being used - in order to improve the brain's efficiency |
| Neurogenesis | Production of neurons through the division of non-neuronal cells. |
| Neuronal unmasking | Where ‘dormant’ synapses open connections to compensate for a damaged area of the brain - e.g. Patient JW |
| Stem cell therapy | The use of unspecialised cells which can become any other type of cell, to treat or prevent a disease or condition (e.g. bone marrow disease) |
| Circadian rhythms | A pattern of behaviour that occurs or recurs approximately every 24 hours and which is set and reset by environmental light levels (e.g. sleep-wake cycle) |
| Infradian rhythms | Rhythms that have a duration of over 24 hours and may be weekly, monthly or even annually (e.g. menstrual cycle) |
| Ultradian rhythms | Cycles that last less than 24 hours, such as the cycle of sleep stages that occur throughout the night |
| Endogenous pacemakers | Mechanisms within the body that govern the internal, biological bodily rhythms - our main example is the SCN |
| Exogenous zeitgebers | An environmental cue that helps to regulate the biological clock in an organism (e.g. light) |
| Suprachiasmatic nucleus | Tiny region of the brain (in the hypothalamus) - it is responsible for controlling circadian rhythms |
| Melatonin | A hormone secreted by the pineal gland in proportion to the amount of light received by the retina |
| Social cues | An exogenous zeitgeber that helps to regulate bodily rhythms - the presence and actions of others |
| Chronotherapeutics | Treating a patient according to time and their body clock - for instance, heart attack medications that activate during 'dangerous' periods such as early in the morning |
| Phototherapy | The use of sunlight, lamps, or lasers to treat Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) |
| McClintock Effect | The observation that women who are exposed to the pheromones of other women tend to synchronise menstrual cycles |
| Temporal isolation study | Studies which remove the participant from any external time cues, for example by spending time in a cave without any clocks |
| Broca | Discovered the part of the brain responsible for the production of speech |
| Wernicke | Discovered the part of the brain responsible for the understanding of speech |
| Sperry | Tested hemispheric lateralisation by presenting stimuli to only one hemisphere of split brain patients |
| Turk (Patient JW) | Found a split-brain patient who was able to learn to produce speech from his right hemisphere |
| Maguire | Found that experience as a taxi driver in London was directly correlated with the size of a person's anterior hippocampus, suggesting that the brain is plastic and can adapt due to training |
| Kuhn | Participants who were made to play Super Mario for 30 mins per day showed higher density of grey matter in key brain areas involved in spatial navigation, strategic planning, working memory and motor performance |
| Tajiri | Rats given stem cell therapy showed significantly more functional recovery after a brain lesion, compared to a control group |
| Siffre | Spent months living in caves and found that his body clock was roughly consistent, usually to approximately 25 hours |
| Morgan | Implanted the SCN of hamsters with a 20-hour circadian rhythm into newborn hamsters. The newborns had a 20-hour daily cycle |
| Dement & Kleitman | Found that participants woken during REM sleep had an 89% chance of remembering their dream, compared to only 7% who were woken during Non-REM sleep |
| McClintock | Women who received the sweat of a donor started to synchronise their menstrual cycle with the donor |
Created by:
SBlakeley
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