Approaches to understanding the brain
Brain anatomy and function
Plasticity & brain development
Brain Injury
Key science skills
100

Involves the question of whether our mind and body are distinct, separate entities or whether they are one and the same thing.

The mind-body problem

100

What is the associate cortex area in the parietal lobe and what is it responsible for?

Somatosensory cortex (sensory information)

100

What is neuroplasticity?

The ability of the brain and nervous system to change in response to experience

100

How is a brain injury defined in Psychology

An injury that impairs the normal functioning of the brain

100
Provide an operational hypothesis for the following research statement: This class will perform beter on their sac if they study more. 

E.g. Year 11 Psychology students at LC, Pakenham willl perform better on their U1 AOS 2 SAC if they study for 30 mins 3 times per week.

200

What is Phrenology and who is the Physician responsible?  

An extreme position that the brain was composed of distinctive, separate parts and that each part had a different function.


Franz Gall 

200

List two functions of the temporal lobe

Memory, language comprehension, taste perception

200

List two structures of a neuron and their function

  • Dendrites: The tree-like branches that receive incoming chemical messages from other neurons.
  • Soma: The cell body that contains the nucleus and maintains the health of the neuron.
  • Axon: A long, fiber-like extension that transmits the electrical impulse (action potential) away from the soma toward other neurons.
  • Myelin Sheath: A fatty layer of tissue that insulates the axon to increase the speed of neural transmission.
  • Axon Terminals: The ends of the axon that release neurotransmitters into the synapse to communicate with the next neuron.
200

What are the two types of stroke.

Ischaemic stroke: blockage

Haemorrhagic stroke: brain bleed

200

Explain the difference between the IV and DV and what group in an experiment is exposed to which.

IV- what you manipulate (experimental group)

DV- what you are trying to measure (control group)


300

List three first brain experiments.

Brain ablation

Brain lesioning

Electrical stimulation

Split brain 

300

What three strucures make up the hindbrain

Medulla, pons and cerebellum

300

List three key features of adaptive plasticity

Sprouting, re-routing and pruning.

300

What is an aquired brain injury and what are the two types

An acquired brain injury (ABI) refers to any type of brain damage or disorder that impairs or interferes with the normal functioning of the brain, either temporarily or permanently, and occurs after birth.

Sudden onset-at one time and Insidious onset: Gradually develops over a period of time. 

300

List and explain three ethical concepts

Teacher to score

400

List four neuroimaging techniques used to study the brain and its functioning. 

MRI

fMRI

PET

CT

400

Explain the function of the following: reticular formation, primary motor cortex, Broca's area, primary visual cortex

Filtering Sensory Information or Regulating Alertness and Arousal, initiate and control voluntary bodily movements by sending messages to the skeletal muscles, soeech production, processes visual information from the eye

400

Explain experience-expectant versus experience-dependent plasticity

Experience-Dependent Plasticity: refers to brain changes that occur as a result of exposure to environmental experiences that are unique to each individual. 

Experience-Expectant Plasticity: involves brain changes that occur in response to environmental experiences that are ordinarily expected for a member of a species

400

Using an example of an ABI, explain three possible side effects referencing the BPS model

Teacher to decide.

400

List four types of data and what each one is

 

  • Qualitative Data: words, descriptions
  • Quantitative Data: Numerical information 
  • Objective Data: Data that is observable, measurable free from personal bias
  • Subjective Data: Data based on personal opinion, interpretation- can vary from person to person.
  • Secondary Data: Information that was collected by someone other than the original user 
  • Primary data: information collected first hand
500

What is a split brain procudure? What it is used to treat? Why is it effective? Who was the scientist awrded a nobel prize for their research on this?

Severe the two hemispheres BUT keep the corpus callosum in tact at the hindbrain. 

Used to treat sezuires when all other treatment options have failed.

Effective because it effects the interaction between the two cerebral hemispheres.  

Roger Sperry. 

500

Explain the term hemispheric specilisation and list three specialist functions of the left and right hemisphere

Connected by the corpus callosum, the lobesmay have specialised functions based on structures in each hemisphere. E.g. left= Verbal Tasks, Analytical Thinking & Logical Reasoning.  Right= Spatial and Visual Thinking, Recognition, Creativity and Fantasy  

500

Explain the difference between Broca and Wernicke's aphasia, with a cause, and site of damage. 

Broca aphasia (B area- left frontal lobe) impairs speech production or fluent speech. Wernicke's aphasia (W area left temporal lobe), both caused by stroke.

500

What is CTE? List two symptoms, how it is diagnosed and a possible sport responsible.

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive and fatal brain disease characterized by brain degeneration caused by ongong concussion.

Memory loss, headaches, mood disturbances

Diagnosed at autopsy

Football

500

Brain research question

  • 1 Mark (Part a): Identify the case study as the most appropriate methodology for an in-depth investigation of an individual or small group.
  • 1 Mark (Part b): Identify the independent variable as the cognitive training program and the dependent variable as the attention span of the participants.
  • 1 Mark (Part c): Identify a relevant participant variable, such as the severity of the original brain injury, the age of the participant, or their baseline motivation level.
  • 1 Mark (Part d): Identify and describe informed consent procedures, which involve ensuring participants understand the purpose, risks, and procedures of the research before providing written agreement.
  • 1 Mark (Part e): Identify the term as reproducibility, which refers to obtaining the same results when an investigation is conducted again under very similar conditions by different researchers


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