Psyc 111 Midterm 2

Front 1

Apx how many neurons does the body contain

Back 1

100 billion

Front 2

What are the types of neurons

Back 2

Anaxon, bipolar, multipolar, unipolar

Front 3

What is the name for a neuron cell body

Back 3

Soma

Front 4

Where is the action potential generated

Back 4

In the soma

Front 5

Where are signals received

Back 5

Dendrites

Front 6

What is the insulating layer around the neurons

Back 6

Myelin

Front 7

name the 3 main types of neurons

Back 7

interneurons, motor neurons and sensory neurons

Front 8

what are the key features of Neurons

Back 8

Specialized membrane covering the entire surface, Ability to communicate with other cells using signals

Front 9

the "resting potential" of a neurons is?

Back 9

Negative. -70 millivolts

Front 10

The polarization of the cell is due to what?

Back 10

A higher concentration of negative Ions inside the cell than outside

Front 11

Neurons stay at a negative polarization due to?

Back 11

Selective permeability, electrostatic pressure, sodium/potassium pump - which exchanges Na+ molecules within the cell for K- molecules outside the cell

Front 12

What is the threshold of excitation

Back 12

the figurative level at which the excitatory post synaptic potential causes the neuron to fire

Front 13

Describe inhibitory post-synaptic potentials

Back 13

Potential that acts against EPSP to prevent the neuron firing

Front 14

describe what occurs once the threshold of excitation is met and exceeded

Back 14

Once enough excitatory PSP enter the cell and the threshold is met, the polarity inside the cell is reversed (swapped from negative to positive), this is due to Na+ channels being forced open. This happens in sequence down the axon of the neuron (this is the neuron firing). Once the Na+ reaches the Axon heads, calcium gates open and calcium beings to enter the buttons, which pushes neurotransmitters out of the button, ready to enter the dendrites of another neuron.

Front 15

in what way does myelin speed up neuron firing/action potential

Back 15

Ion exchange must only occur at the gaps of ranvier; not along the whole length of axon

Front 16

what is the main excitatory neuron

Back 16

Glutamate

Front 17

What is the main inhibitory neuron

Back 17

GABA

Front 18

what type of neuron is Seratonin, what does it affect

Back 18

inhibitory, mood and impulse control, sleep and pain perception

Front 19

the sympathetic NS deals with? and is a part of which portion of PNS

Back 19

Fight or flight, autonomous

Front 20

describe localisation of the brain

Back 20

Simplified association of specific regions of the brain with specific process

Front 21

what are the 3 components of the Hindbrain, describe them

Back 21

- The medula, which controls automatic things like breathing,

- The pons, which bridges the medula with the rest of the brain, as well as controls dreaming, breathing, etc

- The cerebellum, which controls movement/balance and motor control

Front 22

what are the 3 dopamine pathways in the midbrain and their functions

Back 22

Nagrostriatal - voluntary movement - disorder would be parkinsons

Mesolimbic - attaches to Ventral tagmental area and ends at nucleus accumbens - reward pathway, affected by drug use

Meso-cortical - attaches at VTA and ends at pre frontal cortex - information processing, schizophrenics have damage here

Front 23

What is the thalamus responsible for?

Back 23

Sensory information processing and communication - sends information to appropriate portions of the cortex

Front 24

What does the hypothalamus do?

Back 24

provides motivation for survival; hunger, arousal, fear etc

Front 25

The limbic system contains what? What do they do?

Back 25

The amygdella; the emotional center of the brain, processes primarily negative emotions or instant sensations (Danger!!!)

Hypocampus; Memories are created here, though not stored here!

Front 26

The most recently developed portion of the brain is what?

Back 26

The cortex, the external covering of the brain, separated into a number of sections

Front 27

what divides the cortex into it's 4 segments? Name the segments

Back 27

The central sulcus and lateral fissure, seperate brain into parietal, occipital, frontal and temporal

Front 28

About 1/3 of the cortex makes up the..? It is the most recent part of the brain to develope

Back 28

Prefrontal Cortex

Front 29

Prefrontal Cortex is responsible for?

Back 29

Higher level thinking and cognitive ability

Front 30

What purpose does the corpus callosum serve

Back 30

Connecting the left and right hemmispheres of the brain

Front 31

Which hemisphere controls Language

Back 31

The left

Front 32

The left side of the brain controls which side of the body

Back 32

The right

Front 33

in a split brain patient, when an object is presented to the left field of view, does the brain posses the ability to describe the object?

Back 33

No, Language is processed in the left brain, where as something perceived in the left field of view is processed in the right brain

Front 34

which hemisphere is considered for natural and holistic, and which is the analytical

Back 34

the right is holistic, the left is analytic

Front 35

What is Evolutionary Psychology

Back 35

Evolutionary psychology is our attempt to understand how evolution and natural selection has shaped who we are and how we act - Specifically we relate this to "Sexual Selection"

Front 36

Provide a description of sexual selection

Back 36

Sexual selection is the study of how our sexual preferences have developed of time as well as how those preferences benefit us

Front 37

What is the core goal of sexual evolutions

Back 37

Having plentiful, healthy/fit babies

Front 38

What are female and males respective mating strategies

Back 38

Males are promiscuous and competitive

Females are choosy

Front 39

What are female/males respective responses to sexual infidelity? What do they respond to most

Back 39

~Males worry about women sleeping with other males - and the fear that the children those women bear may not be theirs

~Females worry that males will develop emotions for another and no longer provide for them/their children

Front 40

What are female/males respective mating preferences

Back 40

Males prefer woman who are young and attractive - woman seek men who are older and thus well off

Front 41

How does scent factor into attraction?

Back 41

People find the scent of those whose genes differ from theirs more attractive. Helps encourage genetic diversity

Front 42

What is Gangestad's "Sexy son" theory

Back 42

Gangestad theorized that woman will seek out attractive, dominant males for the sole purpose of sex, specifically when they are in a fertile part of their cycle - with the intention of having a child who in turn is attractive and will have a greater chance of carrying on her genes

Front 43

Define "sensation"

Back 43

Using a sensory receptor to detect stimulus and send that information to the brain

Front 44

Define "Perception"

Back 44

The translation and application of sensory information

Front 45

What do you call the transferal of physical information into electrical signals in the brain

Back 45

Transduction

Front 46

What composes the Midbrain

Back 46

The Basal ganglia, substantia nigra, Ventral tegmental area

Front 47

What are the 3 main dopamine pathways of the midbrain?

Back 47

Nagrostriatal - includes basal ganglia and substantia Nigra; primarily controls smooth movement

Mesolimbic - Starts in Ventral tegmental area and expends to the nucleus accumbens in the limbic system. The brains primary "reward" network

Meso Cortical Pathway - Starts in VTA as well, expents to prefrontal cortex

Front 48

What is included in the "forebrain"

Back 48

Thalamus, hypothallamus, limbic system (amygdella and hypocampus), Cortex

Front 49

What are the 4 regions of the cortex associated associated with

Back 49

Frontal: Voluntary movement, contains the motor strip for this. Broccas area is also in the frontal lobe, and this controls

Parietal Lobe: Somatosensory strip is here, it receives information from the body parts

Occipital lobe: Responsible for vision/visual information

Temporal: Auditory region of cortex, contains "wernickes area" - which controls language/is in the left hemisphere.

Front 50

Define Sensation and perception

Back 50

Sensation: the use of sensory receptors to send info to the brain via electrical current

Perception: th

Front 51

What does Each sensory system always contains

Back 51

Sensory receptors, Neural pathways and a brain area dedicated to processing the information

Front 52

What is sensory adaptiation

Back 52

Sensory adaption is when the receptors stop firing if the stimulus remains constant, and begins again if it changes (increases)

Front 53

Describe the sensory threshholds

Back 53

Absolute threshold; minimum level for detections

Difference threshold; level of differentiation we can detect between stimuli

Front 54

The study of sensation and perception, and the relationship between stimulus and perception is what

Back 54

Psychophysics

Front 55

What factors influence sensory detection theory

Back 55

Sensory sensitivity and response bias

Front 56

Describe top down processing

Back 56

Perceptual assumptions based on pre-determined/preexisting information

Front 57

What is subliminal perception

Back 57

The idea that information that we aren't consciously aware of can influence us, it works but has only been seen to work in situations where an individual is pre-disposed to the desired action

Front 58

What are the three characteristics of light

Back 58

Hue, intensity and saturation

Front 59

what part of the eye helps focus our vision

Back 59

the lense

Front 60

What are the layers of the retina

Back 60

Cones and rods

Front 61

Which component of the retina allows for low-light vision, why is this

Back 61

Rods; they are more sensitive to light however cannot perceive colour

Front 62

What part of the retina can see colour and how

Back 62

Cones, these are sensitive to light. There are 3 types of rods, short, medium and long, which refers to the wavelength it can perceive, not the actual size of the photoreceptor

Front 63

Where are most of the cones located in the eye

Back 63

Fovea

Front 64

Describe the order of operations for vision

Back 64

Light enters the eye, passing the iris, cornea and lense. It is seen by the cones and rods of the eye, which convert the waves into electrical impulses. Gangion cells take this impulse and transport it to the optic nerve axon, which passes along the base of the retina and into the optic disk, then down the optic nerve and into the thalamus, where it's relayed to the visual cortex (occipital lobe)

Front 65

After light has passed the visual cortex it is sent along 2 pathways, what are they and where do they go. Also, what is this pathway group called

Back 65

The Dorsal pathway; move to the parietal lobe

The Ventral pathway; to the temporal lobe

Cortico pathway

Front 66

Explain the theory of perpetual constancy

Back 66

Despite visual changes to objects, we still perceive them as having the same shape (Ex; a chair that has been moved still has the same shape, even if we see it differently). The same applies to colours

Front 67

What are each of the 3 cones associated with

Back 67

Short - purplish light

Medium - greenish

Long - Red/orangish

Front 68

What is the opponent processing theory

Back 68

The idea that retinal ganglia exist in opposing pairs;

black - white

red - green

blue - yellow

Front 69

what causes sound

Back 69

Sound is the result of waves, which in turn result from changes in pressure within an elastic medium (air/water)

molecules coming together is condensation, the opposite of rarefaction

Front 70

What are the perceivable physical characteristics of sound waves

Back 70

pitch and loudness

Front 71

Where does the outer ear end

Back 71

the tympanic membrane

Front 72

What are the auditory ossicles

Back 72

Maleus, incas and stapes

Front 73

Sound is transduced through the auditory ossicles, which beat on what

Back 73

The oval window

Front 74

what is contained in the inner ear, how is sound processed here

Back 74

The basilar membrane, which is covered in cilia that respond to the sound waves being transduced by the ossicles. Information is taken via auditory nerves to the thalamus (to the medial geniculate nucleus)

Front 75

What is frequency theory

Back 75

Different sound frequencies cause neurons to fire more quickly or more slowly