Domain 1: Biological Aspects Of Behavior

Front 1

What are the lobes of the cerebral cortex?

Back 1

-Frontal Lobe
-Parietal Lobe
-Temporal Lobe
-Occipital Lobe

Front 2

What are the different areas of the frontal lobe and their functions?

Back 2

-Pre-frontal cortex (executive functioning = reasoning, judgment, planning, problem solving)
-Broca's Area (language, production of speech sounds, syntax, morphology)
-Primary motor area (voluntary movement)

Front 3

What are the functions of the parietal lobe?

Back 3

-Sensation, touch, perception of cold and warmth, connects Broca's Area to Wernicke's Area.
-Damage to this area may cause anomia (problems with naming/word recall), alexia, left-right disorientation, acalcula

Front 4

What are the functions of the temporal lobe?

Back 4

Auditory processing, olfaction, semantics, Wernicke's Area (understand speech)

Front 5

White Matter vs. Gray Matter

Back 5

-Spinal Cord: White matter is surface, gray matter is inside
-Brain: Gray matter is surface, white matter is inside
-White Matter: Bundles of axons, coated with myelin sheath
Gray Matter: Cell bodies and dendrites, covered with synapses

Front 6

What parts of the brain serve to protect it?

Back 6

-Meninges: Connected membranes that encapsulate entire brain and spinal cord
-Cerebrospinal Fluid: Fills meninges, acts as cushion
-Cerebral ventricles: Chambers inside brain, filled with cerebrospinal fluid

Front 7

What parts of the brain are involved in language and how are they involved?

Back 7

-Broca's Area: Left frontal lobe, damage causes difficulty speaking but ability to understand language remains
-Wernicke's Area: Temporal lobe, lesions here cause disruptions in comprehension but fluent speech remains
-Left Hemisphere: Typically language dominant, creates spoken language
-Right Hemisphere: Used for comprehension and spatial skills, can read short words and comprehend numbers
-Corpus Callosum: Permits communication between hemispheres

Front 8

What parts of the brain are involved in memory and how are they involved?

Back 8

-Diencephalon: Interior nuclei in thalamus, dorsomedial nuclei in thalamus, mamillary bodies in hypothalamus--damage results in amnesia
-Striatum: Caudate nucleus and putamen, responsible for initiating and controlled movements and procedural memory (behavioral habits and routines)

Front 9

What parts of the brain are involved in reading and how are they involved?

Back 9

-Inferior frontal gyrus (Broca's Area): Articulation and word analysis
-Left temporoparietal region (Wernicke's Area): Word analysis (decoding)
-Left Occipitotemporal Region: Word form (fluent, automatic reading)

Front 10

What are the differences in brain activities between skilled and struggling readers?

Back 10

-Skilled Readers: More activation in left hemisphere, occitotemporal region (related to visual processing) more active--responds very actively to seeing a word--instead of slowly analyzing it, it is thought to recognize the whole word as a pattern and to identify it on sight
-Struggling Readers: May compensate by using less efficient systems in right hemisphere, parieto-temporal lobe is highly active (function is slow as it analyzes words, pulls it apart, and links the letters to corresponding sounds).

Front 11

What are 3 theories of the physical basis of emotion?

Back 11

-James-Lange Theory
-Cannon-Bard Theory
-Papez Circuit

Front 12

Explain the James-Lange theory of emotions.

Back 12

Emotion results from physical change we experience; stimulus-response neural loop.

Front 13

Explain the Cannon-Bard theory of emotion.

Back 13

-Cognition of emotion and physical responses happen simultaneously
-Emotion is the result of activation within thalmus)

Front 14

Explain the Papez Circuit in regards to emotion.

Back 14

Emotion is regulated not only by the thalamus, but also by an emotional circuit (limbic system: thalamus, amygdala, hypothalamus, hippocampus, cingulated gyrux, fornix, etc.

Front 15

What are the parts of a neuron and how do they act in regards to human behavior?

Back 15

-Axon (sends messages from one neuron to another, conduction pathway)
-Dendrite (antennae of neurons, synapse receptors, dendritic trees allow many types of messages to be received)

Front 16

Explain the neurophysiology of of the brain and how it affects human behavior.

Back 16

-Resting Potential: Neuron is waiting and ready to act, made possible by balanced amounts of positive and negative ions, has potential to transmit if electrochemical balance is charged
-Action Potential: Release of excitatory chemicals creates transition from resting to action, polarization shifts and positively charged ions may enter, repeated opening and closing of membranes occurs until electrochemical balance is restored
-Synapse: Action potential results in activation of neurotransmitters at end of axon near synaptic cleft, release signals either excitatory or inhibitory impulse
-Synaptic Transmission: Neurotransmitter synthesis, load neurotransmitter into synaptic vesicles, neurotransmitter spills into cleft, bind to postsynaptic receptors, electrical response elicited in postsynaptic cell, decay or reuptake occurs as neurotransmitter is removed from cleft
-Neurotransmitters: Specialized chemicals that activate synaptic activity (amino acid, monoamine, peptides)

Front 17

What are the 2 parts of the Nervous System?

Back 17

Central NS
Peripheral NS

Front 18

What are the parts of the CNS?

Back 18

-Brain (Forebrain, Midbrain, Hindbrain)
-Spinal Cord

Front 19

What are the parts of the Peripheral NS?

Back 19

-Autonomic NS (Parasympathetic)
-Somatic NS

Front 20

What are the functions of the spinal cord?

Back 20

1) Conducts sensory information from peripheral NS to the brain
2) conducts motor information from the brain to skeletal muscles, cardiac muscle, smooth muscle, glands
3) Serves as a minor reflex center for simple reflexes (withdrawal reflex)

Front 21

What is the spinal cord made up of?

Back 21

31 pairs of spinal nerves ("mixed" nerves, many have both sensory and motor axons)

Front 22

What are the main functions of the brain?

Back 22

1) Receives sensory input from spinal cord and its own nerves
2) Processes various sensory inputs and initiates coordinated motor output

Front 23

What are the 3 subdivisions of the brain?

Back 23

-Forebrain
-Midbrain
-Hindbrain

Front 24

What are the sections and functions of the forebrain?

Back 24

-Thalamus: All sensory input passes through on the way up to the somatic-sensory region of the cerebral cortex
-Lateral Geniculate Nucleus (LGN): All signals entering brain from optic nerve
-Hypothalamus: Control center of autonomic NS, source of 8 hormones
-Posterior lobe of the pituitary: Receives vasopressin and oxytocin from hypothalamus

Front 25

What are the sections and functions of the midbrain?

Back 25

-Reticular Formation: Collects information from higher brain centers and passes it on to motor neurons
-Substantia Nigra: Smooths out body movements
-Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA): Dopamine-releasing neurons, involved with pleasure--nicotine, amphetamines, cocaine bind and activate

Front 26

What are the sections and functions of the hindbrain?

Back 26

-Medulla Oblongata: Regulate heartbeat, adjust blood flow, stimulate diaphragm
-Pons: Relay station carrying signals from cerebral cortex to cerebellum
-Cerebellum: Contains many neurons, coordinates body movements

Front 27

Explain the Somatic NS

Back 27

-Consists of 12 pairs of cranial nerves and 31 pairs of spinal nerves
-All conscious awareness of external environment and all motor activity operates through somatic NS
-Voluntary actions

Front 28

Explain the Autonomic NS.

Back 28

-Consists of sensory and motor neurons (preganglionic and postganglionic) that run between CNS and organs, involuntary actions, 2 subdivisions

Front 29

Explain the Sympathetic NS

Back 29

-Responds to signals of danger
-Receives messages from thoracic and lumbar areas of spinal cord
-Releases acetylcholine (Ach) and norepinephrine
-Increase heartbeat, raise BP, dilate pupils, blood flows towards brin and heart, inhibits GI tract, glucose reserved.

Front 30

Explain the Parasympathetic NS

Back 30

-Acts to restore homeostasis
-Receives signals from brainstem and sacral region of spinal cord
-Slows heartbeat, lowers blood pressure, constricts pupils, increases blood flow towards skin, increases digestion, sweating decreased

Front 31

List the 3 different types of neurotransmitters.

Back 31

1) Amino Acid Transmitters
2) Monoamine Transmitters
3) Peptides

Front 32

How do Amino Acid Transmitters influence behavior?

Back 32

-Simplest type of neurotransmitter, building blocks of proteins, excitatory and inhibitory
-Excitatory (glutamate, aspartate)
-Inhibitory (glycine, GABA) reduces arousal and moderate emotional responses like anger, hostility and aggression--anxiety disorders

Front 33

How to Monoamine Transmitters influence behavior?

Back 33

-Acetylcholine: Regulates muscles, motor neurons--Alzheimer's, catecholamines
-Dopamine: Regulates emotional responses, involved in pleasure activities, acts as a switch that allows other neurotransmitters to inhibit or facilitate behavior--schizophrenia, mood disorders, ADHD
-Norepinephrine: Relays emotional arousal, plays role in emotional regulation--GAD, ADHD, mood disorders
-Epinephrine: Regulates life-functions
-Serotonin: Regulates eating and sleeping rhythms, aggression levels in primates may be increased and decreased by altering serotonin synthesis (higher aggression = lower seroronin--OCD, regulatory problems, mood disorders, GAD, schizophrenia)

Front 34

How to Peptides influence behaviors?

Back 34

-Similar to hormones
-5 major groups (oxytocin and vasopressin, tachykinens, glugagen-related, pancreatic polypeptides, opiod peptides [endorphins])