Show:
Neurons
Nervous System & Endocrine System
Brain
Naming Differences
Evolutionary Psychology
100
What are neurons and what do they do?
Neuron- nerve cell. Transmit information to, from and within the central nervous system.
100
What is Peripheral Nervous System (PNS), Central Nervous System (CNS) and the Endocrine System?
1. PNS is all portions outside brain and spinal cord. It handles the CNS inputs and outputs and the brain collects information about the outside world through the PNS. 2. CNS receives, processes, interprets and stores incoming sensory information and then sends out messages for muscles, glands and internal organs. 3. The Endocrine System is the second communication system interconnected with nervous system. This system secretes chemical messengers.
100
What and when is a hemispherectomy applicable?
It is a removable of a hemisphere due to epileptic seizures and is commonly applied when the patients are children due to increased brain plasticity.
100
When there are low levels of serotonin/dopamine, what behaviour results?
Low serotonin/dopamine- depression and other mental disorders.
100
What is natural selection?
Natural selection states that the traits that enable a species to be more successful in a given environment will be the ones that continue to be passed on. Carriers of the successful traits will be more reproductively fit.
200
What are the 3 types of neurons and what do they do?
1. Sensory Neuron- carry messages from the body’s tissues and sensory organs to brain and spinal cord for processing. 2. Motor Neurons- carry instructions sent by the brain and spinal cord to the body’s tissues. 3. Interneurons- between the sensory input and motor output the information is processed by these interneurons.
200
What does the systematic Nervous System and Parasystematic Nervous System do?
1. Sympathetic nervous system- moves your body to action and heart palpitations, sweat glands, breathing deeply. Prepares body for action and energy output. 2. Parasympathetic nervous system- slows body down to conserve and store energy. Calms you down after the Sympathetic nervous system gets you active – rest & digest.
200
What does the brain stem consist of?
1. Pons: coordinates movements as well as plays a role in sleeping, waking, dreaming. 2. Medulla: body functions that do not have to be consciously willed. ex. breathing and heart rate. 3. Reticular Activating System: screens incoming information and arouses higher centers when something happens that demands attention. Alertness, consciousness.
200
Name some functions of the left and right side of our brain. Which side of our body does our left side of the brain control?
1. Functions of the Left- speaking, calculating, reading, writing, use of right side of body, literal recognition of words. 2. Functions of the Right- perceptual tasks, visual-spatial acuity, use of left side of body, making inferences with words, interpretations, our sense of self.
200
What do Endorphins do?
Reduce pain, promote pleasure, also works as a depressant (in that it makes you sleepy).
300
When there are low levels of GABA, what behaviour results?
Abnormal GAGA- sleep, eating, compulsive disorders.
300
What is Agonists and Antagonists?
Agonists- similar enough to a neurotransmitter to bind to the receptor and mimic its effects. (can have both good and bad effects) Antagonists- also bind to receptor but to block a neurotransmitter’s functioning.
300
Name and describe 4 ways from which scanning of the brain can be done.
1. CT (Computed tomography)- X-ray photos that can detect damage. 2. PET scan (positron emission tomography) - records biochemical changes in the brain as they are happening. Using glucose laced with harmless radiation can show biochemical activity on a display screen, different colors indicating activity levels. 3. MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) takes high contrast pictures of the brain without injecting chemicals. It uses a magnetic field. Used for research and assessment. 4. fMRI (Functional MRI)- shows the brains functioning by taking pictures only a second apart. Researchers can watch the brains blood flow activity move about as they perform mental functions.
300
The Brain and Consciousness: What does it mean by ‘dual processing’?
We have conscious perception, memory, thinking, language, etc. But we also have out-of-sight processing that allows us to have sudden insights, allows priming, implicit learning and memories.
300
List at least 3 innate human characteristics.
1. Infant reflexes- simple automatic responses to stimuli. 2. An interest in novelty- the unfamiliar is fascinating. Desire to explore and manipulate objects. Impulse to play and fool around-play allows one to practice necessary skills. 3. Basic cognitive skills- born with mental modules that enable us to perform specific tasks.
400
How fast do neural impulses travel (miles per hour) and how many times does the electrochemical process repeats per second?
1. The electrochemical process can repeat 100 to 1000 times per second. 2. Neural impulses travel between 2 and 200 miles per hour.
400
Imagine: In a class of twenty people, everyone is busy talking to each other. Then, suddenly Mrs. O’Connor slams a book on a table. Some of you twitched, moved your heads, blinked your eyes, put your hands up and screamed. Explain.
Ans. Reflexes are used to protect the body automatically. They get us away from objects that might hurt us, before they hurt us. For example, if you put your hand on a hot stove, you immediately remove your hand BEFORE the message, "Hey, my hand is on a hot, burning stove," gets to your brain.
400
What is the border between the older brain structures and the newer ones called?
Limbic System
400
Professor Larry performed an experiment on split-brain individuals asking them to write down what they saw? On their left visual field was the word his is written and on their right visual field was the word tory. What did the participants write?
They saw this through the left visual field, which then transferred information through the corpus callosum into the right hemisphere, which controls movement. Ans. ‘his’.
400
Explain the the nature vs. nurture controversy and which one is more important (all-powerful)?
Genes form us, as do our experiences. The two interact to affect each other. Roles and culture in society can cause us to accentuate or downplay genetic tendencies. We are a product of nature and nurture, but neither genes nor the environment is all-powerful.
500
What are the 5 parts of the neuron and what does each part do?
1. Dendrites- act as antennas receiving messages from other neurons and transmitting them to the cell body. 2. Cell body- contains the mechanisms to keep the neuron alive and plays a key role in determining whether or not the neuron should “fire” and transmit a message to other neurons, depending on its input from other neurons. 3. Axon- transmits messages away from cell body to other neurons. 4. Axon terminals- the branching out portion of an axon to connect with the dendrites of another neuron. 5. Myelin sheath- fatty insulation around the axon. Made up of glial cells in the CNS. Makes the axon look like a sausage link. It protects the signals of axons from interfering with the messages of other adjacent axons, and increases the speed of the messages by allowing the electrical impulse to hop from node to node.
500
Name and describe 6 neurotransmitters that affect mood, memory and well being.
1. Serotonin- affects sleep, appetite, sense perception, temperature regulation, pain suppression and mood. 2. Dopamine- voluntary movement, learning, memory, emotion, pleasure or reward and maybe response to new things. 3. Acetylcholine- muscle action, cognitive functioning, memory and emotion. 4. Norepinephrine- increased heart rate, slowing of intestinal activity during stress, learning, memory, dreaming, waking from sleep and emotion. 5. GABA- major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain. 6. Glutamate- major excitatory neurotransmitter in brain.
500
What do the frontal, parietal and temporal lobes do (functions)? And which lobe is in charge of the ‘memory, language, attention’?
1. Frontal lobe- judgment, planning, processing of new memories. 2. Parietal lobes- mathematical and spatial reasoning. 3. Temporal lobe- face recognition. No one brain area connected to one thing only. Memory, language and attention result from synchronised activity among distinct brain areas.
500
Are twins always identical? Explain (include terms monozygotic and dizygotic).
Twin studies 1. Identical (monozygotic) twins share all of the same genes woman’s egg split in two, exact same genes, but perhaps different numbers of copies of those genes. Also, one in three separate placentas, perhaps one more nourishing. 2. Fraternal (dizygotic) twins - two eggs share a womb fertilised by different sperm, as genetically similar as normal brothers and sisters.
500
‘Sexes have evolved to differ in aggressiveness, dominance, and sexual strategies.’ Can you explain this statement and give examples?
Sexes have evolved to differ in aggressiveness, dominance, and sexual strategies. 1. Males try to mate with as many females as possible, females shop for the best genetic deal as they have limited number of offspring. 2. Men are more violent, interested in youth and beauty of partners, sexually jealous, promiscuous. 3. Women believe men should be stable and can provide, emotion is more important than the physical.