Psychology 210: Biological Psychology Exam Four
Terms
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- Anterograde Amnesia
- Global amnesia, an inability to form new declarative memories
- Retrograde Amnesia
- A loss of declarative memory from some point in time backwards, retro= in the past. Have greater difficulty with episodic memory than semantic memory.
- Declarative Memory
- Explicit memory, or the conscious retention of facts and events, as when you remember the name of your kindergarten teacher. This memory is formed quickly, can be saccessed by any of the processing channels of working memory, and is subject to error or forgetting. This type of memory requires an intact hippocampus, damage is amnesia. This memory has two forms, episodic and semantic memory.
- Procedural Memory
- Implicit memory, or nonconscious memory for learned behaviors. this memory develops slowly over time, can be accessed only by the brain system in which the learning originally occurred, and is reliable. These memories are accessed without concious awareness of the person.
- Wernicke-Korsakoff's Syndrome
- A cognative disorder observed in longterm alcoholics, characterized by memory and cognitive disturbance, confusion, loss of orientation for time and place, ataxia, and apathy. results from a thiamine deficiency (vitamin B1), needed to metabolize glucose, without it there is massive cell death in the brain.
- Scotophobin
- A peptide isolated from the brain tissue of rats conditioned to fear darkness, alleged to induce a similar fear in untrained rats, thereby implying that a memory or a conditioned response can be chemically transferred.
- Consolidation
- Information in temporary storage in working memory is transferred to long-term memory through this process, which takes place in the hippocampus. Damage to the hippocampus seem to disrupt this process, interfering with the formation and retrieval of declarative memory. Proposed by Hebb to describe the shift of information from short-term memory to long term memory. according to Hebb, long term memory is the result of structural changes within neural memory circuits.
- Neuropsychology
- The study of higher functions and theiry disorders following brain injury or disease. Neuropsychologist are specialists who assess such conditions by evaluating the skills and abilities of a patient and to relate these to brain function usuing a group of different tests, called a test battery.
- Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery
- A neuropsychological series of tests that are ready-made, and commercially available. They consists of eight tests that measure problem solving, judgement, memory, abstract reasoning, concept formation, mental efficiency, verbal and nonverbal auditory discrimination, attention, and motor coordination.
- Wisconsin Card Sorting Test
- Neuropsychological test that identifies dysfunction of the frontal lobes. It detects impairment of executive functions, such as abstract thinking and concept formation, which are necessary for effective problem solving at work and in social interactions. Schizophrenic individuals show marked impairment on this test, due to their inability to identify new concepts and adjusting their behavior to select the correct match. They typically continue to make the same mistakes, showing preservation.
- Ventromedial Nucleous of the Hypothalamus
- A nucleus of the hypothalamus that transmits information about the state of the body to the paraventricular nucleus, inhibiting eating. Research by Hetherington and Ranson demonstrated that bilateral lesions of the VMH produced hyperphagia and bosity. In contrast, electrical stimulation of the VMH caused hungry animals to stop eating.
- Hyperphagia
- The systematic overeating of an animal. Many studies correlate this to bilateral damage located in the ventromedial nucleous of the hypothalamus, which causes the animal to not ever reach satiety while eating.
- Satiety
- An unconscious physiological process that stops eating.
- Stress Pathways (hypothalamus)
- Because the hypothalamus organizes the body's response to homeostatic disruptions, it is the ultimate recipient of information about stress. Many axons that relay information about stressors terminate in a particular region of the hypothalamus known as the paraventricular nucleus.
- Paraventricular Nucleus
- A nucleus of neurons in the hypothalamus that organizes behavior, including eating, to respond to changes in internal body states. The location in the hypothalamus that axons often terminate when relaying information about stress.
- Stress (Pathways)
- Stress can be produced by environmental (external) or psychical (internal) events, thus a number of pathways carrying information about stressors have been identified in the central nervous system, some that carry information from the periphery to the brain and others that originate in the brain.
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Nucleus of the Solitary Tract
(Stress Pathway) - Information about stressors coming from the gut of other internal receptors is relayed via the vagus and other cranial nerves to this object in the medulla. Axons from the nucleus of the solitary tract excite neurons in the paraventricular nucleus by releasing norepinephrine and other catecholamines.
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Tegmentum and Reticular Formation
(Stress Pathways) - Somatosensory information from the skin and stretch receptors in muscels is sent to relay stations in the pons and midbrain. The Tegmentum is involved in attentional processes and appears to relay visual and auditory information to the paraventricular nucleus. The reticular formation is responsible for arousing the nervous system in response to novel or important stimuli.
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Periaqueductal Gray Area and Central Gray Area
(Stress Pathways) - Function primarily as pain receptors, and pain functions as a stressor and sets in motion a response by nervous system to deal with the pain. Axons in the pathways between these two areas and the paraventricular nucleus release acetylcholine and substance P, both of which have excitatory effects on the paraventricular nucleus.
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Locus Coeruleus
(Stress Pathways) - Produces nearly all the the norepinephrine found in the brain, located in the pons, considered to be a part of the reticular formation. Plays a role in homeostatic regulation, has direct pathway to the paraventricular nucleus.
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The Raphe System
(Stress Pathways) - The sole source for serotonin in the brain. Researchers have sidcovered a pathway carrying axons from the raphe system to the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalmus, there fore stressors impacting the raphe system are believe to stimulate stress responses in the paraventricular nucleus. Relays information about mainly emotional stressors that activate the cerebral cortex and limbic system.
- Neurovascular Responder
- A stress response that causes the body to breathe more heavily, in preparation to become more able to deal with stress
- Dexamethasone Suppression Test
- A test that assesses that ability of the HPA axis to regulate glucocorticoid release. Cortisol release in healthy people is suppressed following the administration of dexamethasone. However, individuals with impaired regulation of the HPA axis will fail to respond appropriately to a dexamethasone challange by decreasing cortisol release. Depressed people have impaired function of the HPA, used to diagnose it.
- Stress Response
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Used for two purposes, in reaction to exposure to stress and are concentrated primarily in the Locus Coeruleus and the Paraventricular Nucleus.
1)to prepare the individual to respond to the stressor and the disequilibrium produced by the stressor
2)To inhibit behaviors that would not be adaptive in dealing with the stressor. - General Adaptation Syndrome
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Originally described by Hans De Solye in the 1920s, the general adaptation syndrome describes a three stage reaction to stress.
1)Alarm Reaction
2)Stress Adaptation Response
3)Stress Exhaustion Phase - Alarm Reaction (General Adaptation Syndrom)
- The first stage of the general adaptation stage, the alarm reaction, is the immediate reaction to a stressor. In the initial phase of stress, humans exhibit a "fight or flight" response, which causes one to be ready for physical activity. However, this initial response can also decrease the effectiveness of the immune system, making persons more susceptible to illness during this phase.
- Stress Adaptation Response (General Adaptation Syndrome)
- Second stage of General Adaptation Syndrome. During this phase, if the stress continues, the body adapts to the stressors it is exposed to. Changes at many levels take place in order to reduce the effect of the stressor. For example, if the stressor is starvation (possibly due to anorexia), the person might experienced a reduced desire for physical activity to conserve energy, and the absorption of nutrients from food might be maximized.
- Stress Exhustion Phase (General Adaptation Syndrome)
- At this stage, the stress has continued for some time. The body's resistance to the stress may gradually be reduced, or may collapse quickly. Generally, this means the immune system, and the body's ability to resist disease, may be almost totally eliminated. Patients who experience long-term stress may succumb to heart attacks or severe infection due to their reduced immunity. For example, a person with a stressful job may experience long-term stress that might lead to high blood pressure and an eventual heart attack.
- Progressive Muscle Relaxation
- The technique of progressive muscle relaxation was described by Edmund Jacobson in the 1930s based upon his premise that mental relaxation should naturally result from physical relaxation. A systematic stretching of individual muscle groups slowly and mythodically while focusing mental imaging on the muscles, and riding them of stress. Helps individual "feel" stress leave their body. Also helps people to diagnose themselves with stress problems.