Biological Psychology: Exam Notes

Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology Exam Notes

• Paul Broca found that a specific region in the left frontal part of the brain is important for language.
• Humans use 100% of their brain during routine, day-to-day activities.
• The sagittal plane divides the left and right portions of the body.
• The central sulcus separates the frontal lobe from the parietal lobe.
• Stellate cells aren't a type of glial cell .
• The parasympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system helps the body relax when activated.
• Nodes of Ranvier interrupt the myelin sheath that encases some axons.
• At the peak of an action potential, the axonal membrane approaches the equilibrium potential for Na+.
• Most antidepressant medications primarily affect the serotonergic system.
• A drug that binds to serotonin receptors and activates them is an agonist.
• Oxytocin is released by the posterior pituitary, produced in the hypothalamus, and triggers milk release in mammary glands.
• Tropic hormones affect the secretion of other endocrine glands.
• The cortex grew to be a larger proportion of the total brain size as brain size developed throughout primate evolution.
• If an eye of a kitten is occluded during the sensitive period, visual cortex cells later show decreased responses to visual stimuli presented to that eye.
• Senile plaques in the brains of Alzheimer's patients are formed from a buildup of β-amyloid.
• A large proportion of the somatosensory cortex is dedicated to hands and lips.
• The canals of the cochlea are filled with fluid.
• The cornea is primarily responsible for refraction of light.
• The right occipital lobe processes the left visual field.
• The fundamental pathological change in Parkinson's disease is death of neurons of the substantia nigra.
• Species with large cerebellums tend to display accurate motor behavior.
• The jury is still out regarding the relative contributions of nature and nurture on sexual orientation and other human sexual patterns.
• Redundant mechanisms have evolved to maintain a stable internal environment because homeostasis is vital for survival.
• The allostatic load is the cost of responses to avoid homeostatic deviation.
• Nightmares are associated with REM sleep.
• Circadian rhythmicity is characterized by the regular, predictable onset of a particular behavior once a day.
• The amygdala is a key structure in the mediation of fear conditioning.
• The James-Lange theory of emotion posits each emotion is produced by perception of a unique bodily change provoked by a stimulus.
• Twin studies indicate a large genetic component to schizophrenia; another factor may be all of the above, including influenza infection of the mother during fetal development, incompatible blood types between the mother and the developing fetus, and city living.
• Suicide victims show high levels of circulating cortisol, along with changes in serotonin levels.