Psych 281 Quiz 2

Front 1

neuropsychology

Back 1

the branch of psych that deals with the relationship between brain function and behavior, usually by examining functions of patients with specific types of brain damage...by studying people with impaired functioning researches hope to develop understanding of normal brain function

Front 2

lesioning

Back 2

Lashley looking for location of "engram" trained rats to run through a maze and then lesioned different parts of their brains and reasoned that when their navigating was disrupted he would have found engram...

he found though that no cortical area seemed to be more important than another and brain operates as a whole to store memories

Front 3

functional neuroimaging

Back 3

allows researchers to look at activity or function of a living brain

Front 4

PET

Back 4

measures brain activity by detecting radiation from the emission of subatomic particles (positrons) and can see to which areas of the brain blood is flowing

Front 5

EEG

Back 5

technique for measuring electrical activity in brain by placing recording electrodes on a persons scalp...

electrical activity is always occurring in the brain, reflecting the activity of neurons, but the exact pattern of activation changes depending on what the brain is doing.

Front 6

dendrites

Back 6

input areas that receive signals from other neurons

Front 7

soma (cell body)

Back 7

integrates signals from the dendrites

Front 8

axons

Back 8

transmit info to other neurons

Front 9

describe the activity of neurotransmitters at synapses including what receptors and neuromodulators do

Back 9

synapse(narrow gap where neurons pass chemical messages)

synaptic transmissions begin with presynaptic neuron which contains neurotransmitters--> when presynaptic neuron sends a message, it allows vesicles to burst, spilling neurotransmitter molecules into the synapse--> once released the postsynaptic neuron has to pick it up--> molecules on the surface of postsynaptic neuron (receptors) are specialized to bind particular kinds of neurotransmitters (fit into receptors like keys in a lock, activating them)

neuromodulators affect activity in entire brain areas rather than just at a single synapse--> influence or modulate how neurons exchange messages

Front 10

describe the technique of single-cell recording

Back 10

*it is the main technique used to measure firing patterns in individual neurons

*electrode is inserted until tip is very close to or inside a single neuron...this allows researchers to determine what role a given neuron might play in an animals behavior

Front 11

describe how drugs change neuronal functioning

Back 11

1. drugs can increase or decrease that ability of the presynaptic neuron to produce or release neurotransmitters (i.e. amphetamines alter neurons that produce dopamine)

2. drugs can increase or decrease the ability of postsynaptic receptors to receive the chemical message (i.e. heroin resembling opioid peptides)

3. drugs can alter the mechanisms for clearing neurotransmitter molecules out of the synapse (i.e. selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors)

Front 12

explain the relationship between synaptic plasticity and learning

Back 12

synaptic plasticity(ability of synapses to change as a result of experience)

Cajal studied neurons in fine detail-->speculated that learning involves changes in synapses, strengthening or weakening the ability of messages to cross from one neuron to another

Hebb's idea- "neurons that fire together, wire together" (i.e. if neurons A & B fire at nearly the same time then the synapse between them should be strengthened, "wiring" the two neurons together

Front 13

describe the process of long term potentiation, long term depression and how they relate to learning

Back 13

LTP- synaptic transmissions become more effective as a result of recent activity--> a strong stimulus can potentiate a neuron, making it more likely to respond to any subsequent stimulus

relationship to learning: 1) drugs that block LTP can impair an animals ability to learn. 2) rats that have been genetically bred to have enhanced LTP often show better learning that normal rats.

LTD- occurs when synaptic transmission becomes less effective as a result of recent activity

Front 14

describe the relationship between repeated exposure and memory strength in the formation of episodic and semantic memories

Back 14

*episodic- repeated exposure may weaken memory (i.e. car in parking lot)

*semantic- repeated exposure strengthens

Front 15

describe the basic findings of research on episodic memory development in non-humans

Back 15

gorillas- seem to remember autobiographical events--> gorilla received piece of fruit from human and 24 hours later was asked via cards who gave him the fruit and he produced correct answer

scrub jays-- worms & nuts--> remembered where they buried them and also how long ago

Front 16

explain why memory is better for info that relations to prior knowledge

Back 16

it is easier to remember info you can interpret in the context of things you already know

Front 17

describe depth of processing and explain how it enhances memory

Back 17

depth of processing: the more deeply you analyze information the more likely you are to encode it and be able to remember it

associating an image

Front 18

common effects of ECT and explain their relationship to the concept of consolidation

Back 18

consolidation period: length of time during which new memories are vulnerable and easily lost

if a rat is shocked within 20 seconds of being trained its memory is severely disrupted...
older memories are more stable and difficult to disrupt, recent memories are more vulnerable