Psychology - brain functions

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What is Behaviour neuroscience?: Are that studies how our behavior relates to functioning and anatomy of the nervous system.
What is the basic unit of the nervous system?: Neurons.
What are neurons?: They are chemically sensitive cells that are responsible for the transmission of information in the nervous system.
Are there more then one type of Neuron?: Yes, there are many different types of neurons that are designed for different tasks, and different locations.
What are sensory neurons used for?: They detect information from the environment --light, sound, vibrations, etc-- and send messages to the CNS
How are sensory neurons activated?: They have specialized refeptive ends that when stimulated activate the neuron (eyes stimulated by light, if sound would to hit it, neuron would not activate)
what are Motor Neurons?: Sends messages from CNS to muscles both skeletal and smooth (arteries, intestinces, intern organs)
What is Amyotropic Lateral Sclerosis?: ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease. Causes motor neurons to be destroyed. Causes complete paralysis, but cognitive functions are still in tact. Attack smooth muscles so may need to be tube fed, put on a respirator etc.
What do Inter neurons do?: They transmit signals between sensory and motor neurons.
What are Glial cells?: They are a support system for the neurons
What do glial cells do for the neutrons?: They supply neurons with nutrients to promote functioning. THey removel the neuronal metabolic waste. Help to regenerate damaged neurons in the Peripharal nervous system (not CNS)
THe axon is made up of how many parts? And what are they?: 4. Axon terminals, schwan cells, myelin, node of Ranvier
What is the neuron made up of: Celly body, dendrites, axons (along with the normal nucleus, plasm, mitochondria)
What is the function on a dendrite?: The dendrite branch off of the cell body receiving information from adjacent neurons.
what is an axon?: The part of the neuron that carries nerve impulses away from the cell body so the info can be transmitted to another nearby neuron
What is myelin?: fatty substance that protects some of the nerve fibers (axon)
What are Schwann Cells?: THey are cells inside of the myelin that are responisble for repairing and building myelin
what are Nodes of Ranvier: Myelin is not solid, the nodes are the gap between the myelin, and the only place action potentials occur.
What are axon terminals: the hairlike fibers at the end of the axon that synapse with the dendrite of another nearby neuron
What is a synapse?: It is the place where teh axon of one neuron transmits signal to the dendrite of another neuron.
What is the mV needed for an action potential to occur??: -70 mV
how fast wil action potential travel?: Depending on the neuron, it travels abt 1-100 meters per second.
Which are faster, axones with ot without myelin sheath?: Axons with myelin sheath have much faster neural impulses than axons with no myelin.
Can the diameter of the nerve fiber also effect the speed?: Yes. THe smaller the slower, the larger the faster.
Multiple sclerosis is the breakdown of what?: Myelin.
What are the symptoms of Multiple sclerosis?: Depends on which neurons are attacked. Often causes muscle weakness, sensory disturbences, coordination problems, and cognitive impairments (memory loss etc)
Nervous system is made up of what 2 main divisions?: 2. Central nervous system, and Peripheral nervous system.
The CNS is made up of what parts?: Brain and Spinal Cord
how many neurons are in the brain and spinal cord?: Brain 80 billion, Spinal cord about 1 billion
What does the Peripheral Nervous System link?: Contains neurons that link the CNS with sensory organs, skeletal muscles and iternal body organs.
The Peripheral Nervous system is made up of what 2 systems?: Autonomic Nervous system and Somatic Nervous System
Autonomic Nervous systems works with the body's organs, and is made up of what 2 systems?: Parasympathetic Nervous System, Sympathetic Nervous System
What does the Parasympathetic Nervous System do: keeps organs functioning when nothing else is going on (breathing, digestion, heart rates, and other functions)
What does the Sympathetic Nervous system do?: It kicks in, in case of an emergency, it prepares body for action (increases breathing, increases heart rate, sweating, and stop digestion)
The Somatic Nervous System causes what?: It causes muscles to move, provides sense of touch, temp, and pain from the skin.
How many nerves are in the Somatic Nervous System?: 2. Efference nerves and Afferant nerves.
What are Efference nerves responsible for?: the nerves run from the brain to the spinal cord to the limbs, to activate muscles.
Afferent Nerves do what?: The nerves run from the limbs to the spinal cord and brain, to provide info on touch and pain.
The Brain stem is made up of what parts?: Medula, Pons, Cerebellum, and Reticular Formation.
Medula does what?: connects brain to spinal cord. Regulates breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure.
What happens if the medula has no activity?: Then you would be "braindead" and would need life support to function.
WHat stimulates swallowing, coughing, and vomitting?: The medula
Pons is responsible for what?: sleep/wake cycle. General Anestetic stops Pons from working causing unconsciousness.
WHat would happen if Pons is damamged?: Will cause unconsciousnes.
The Pons connects what to the rest of the brain?: The cerebellum
The cerebellum controls what?: timing of well learned sequences of movements that are too fast to eb controlled consciously (singing, running, playing piano quickly)
If Cerebellum is damaged what would happen?: It would disrupt the ability for basic motor skills.
What is the reticular formation important for?: Attention and brain arousal
Reticular Formation allows you to do what?: Allows you to talk to one person, and filter out other nearby conversations.
The Forebrain and Midbrain is made up of what parts?: Thalmus, The Limbic System, Amygdala, and the Hypocampus
What does the Thalmus do?: Sends touch, taste, visual, and auditory signals to other areas of the breain for further processing.
The limbic system regulates what?: Regulates sexual behavior, body temp, hormones, eating, drinking, emotion. Also part of the pleasure center, when stimlated it results in feelings of pleasure.
Anygdala helps evaluate what?: It helps evaluate information from the environment like facial expressions, tone of voice, helps person to respond appropriately.
What happened in animals where the Amygdala was destroyed?: Causes fearlessness for dangerous animal, animals try to mate with other species, the monkeys would put everything in mouth, since they were unable to evaluate it any other way.
Hypocampus damage was the center of what movies?: Memento, and 50 first dates
The Hyppocampus is important for what?: It is important for the forming new memories. A relay station to take new info and turn them into memories.
What would hapen if hyppocampus is destroyed?: You would remember everything pre-injury, but nothing after. Memories usually last about 10 seconds, as new ones come in the others leave. Can still make motor memories (likie learning to play piano) but would not be able to learn new words.
The cerebral cortex is where, and does what?: Its the outer layer of the brain, and its responsible for higher processing. Contains many folds to increase surface area for more processing.
The Cerebral Cortex is made up of what parts?: THe Cerebral Hemispheres, and the COrpus Callosura.
Cerebral hemispheres are responsible for what?: There are 2 hemispheres, sch one does some of the same processing, and also each one also has some unique functions to it.
Which sides of the brain are in charge of what?: Right, artistic. Left, analytical.
The corpus Callosura is what?: its the band of connectivity fibers that allow left and right to communicate with one another.
What happens if the Corpus Callosura is damaged?: no communication between the left and right hemisphere. No major impairment, but some odd inconsitancies arise.
THe Parietal lobe is where and is responsible for what?: It is at the top back of your head. Responsible for anny of your body senses, awareness, and knowing the location of your body.
Somatosensory cortex is where and does what?: It is in the Parietal lobe, and it is the sensory area for skin. Temp, touch, pain sensory, is all processed through this cortical area.
What would happen if the parietal lobe was damamged?: If Parietal Lobe is damaged you dont pay attention to feeling on that side thats affected. Attention deficit, neglect 1/2 of the environment.
What would happen if the Somatosensory cortex is damaged?: You will have no sensory feelings.
Where is the temporal lobe?: Right over the ear
THe temporal lobe is the main processing area for what?: For hearing (and some higher complex visual processing such as facial recognition)
The Primary Auditory Complex responsible for? (Right and Left): Left is language processing (speech and meaning) and the Right side processes normal sounds.
What would happen if the Temporal Lobe is damaged?: Major can cause a type of deafness (can hear, but cant process) and can also causse trouble naming objects.
The Language Association area is located in what lobe(s): The temporal and frontal lobes
The language association area is made up of what parts?: Broca's area and Wernicke's area
Broca's area is where and does what?: It is in the frontal lobe and is responsible for production of speech.
What would happen if Broca's area is damaged?: Can cause you to not speak coherantly, bad pronunciation but you culd still comprehend other's speech.
Where is the Wernicke's area and what does it do?: It is in the temporal lobe responsible for meaningfulness of speech.
What happens if Wernicke's area is damamged?: The speech sounds fluid, but context makes no sense. Can't comprehend other's speech.
What is processed in the Occipital lobe?: Visual information is processed here.
The primary visual cortex is where and does what?: It is in the Occipital Lobe. It processes form (shape), color, movement, etc.
What can damage to Occipital lobe cause?: It causes total or partial blindness, no color (black and white) no motion, no shapes. Temporary damamge can result in hallucinations.
What is the Frontal Lobe responsible for?: Responsible for all high level thinking all lobes send info to frontal lobe for surther processing. Respnsible for memories, reasoning, emotions, motor planning, and all decision making.
THe Motor Cortex is where, and does what?: It is in the frontal lobe. It controls movement. Amount of area in the cortex that is devoted to a body part depends on the complexity of movement. (area devoted to hand is large, area devoted to chest is minimal)
Damage to frontal lobe will do what?: Will cause a change a person's personality charecteristics. (ie can be less shy, inhabited, more abrupt, etc)
What are sensations: immediate basic experiences when sensory receptors are stimulated (eg light hitting back of the eye, soundwaves impact inner ear)
Perception is what?: process that organizes sensations to meaningful patterns.

(eg detecting where and how an object is moving determining the form of an objects)
What are the types of senses?: Vision, Audition (hearing), Olfaction, Gustation (taste), Tactile, Kinesthetic (awareness of limbs), vestibular (how you are moving)
Where are vision receptors: Receptors are located in the back of the eye in a layer called retina.
What happens if we lose sense of vision: blindness, is considered our primary #1 sense, but its one of the easiest to overcome many aids to help daily functioning.
What is audition and hoe does it work?: The sense of hearing, uses outer, middle, and inner ear. Inner ear contains receptors, outer and middle ear work to amplify sounds.
What would happen if you were to lose sense of audition?: You would be deaf. There are fewer devices developed for hearing loss then for blind people.
Where are the Olfaction receptors and what do they do?: They are located really high in the nasal cavity, next to frontal cortex.
What can be some problems associated with loss of olfaction?: It can cause some dangers (with inability to smell poinsons) other then that it can cause diminished taste.
Wher are the Receptprs used for Gustation: (taste) they are on the tongue, cheeks, soft palate, and throat. On tongue they are found in valleys of the bumps on your tongue. If lose, lose desire to eat.
Where are tactile receptors located, and what do they help with?: Receptors are located in the skin (about 5 kinds of them), and they are for touch, temp, and pain.
What happens when people lose tactile abilities?: People who dont have pain receptors generally dont live very long, almost impossible to overcome.
Kinesthetic is the awareness of what?: Awareness of where your limbs are and what they are doing.
Where are the kinestetic receptors?: in the joints, muscles, tendons, etc
What happens if you lose Kinesthetic: can not form any sctions with body (walking, sitting, reading etc). Limbs are uncontrolable.
What does the Vestibular sense tell you?: It tells you how you are moving in space, and your orientation. (turning upright, going straight, etc)
What is adaptation?: Becoming less sensitive to a constant unchanging stimulus that you are continually exposed to. Also results in increased sensitivity to an opposite stimulus.
If you become adapted to color what happens?: You lose sensitivity ton oe color when exposed for a period of seconds. At the same time we become more sensitive to its opposite red-green, yellow-green, black-white.

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