Neurotransmitters and Hormones Quiz

Biological Bases of Behavior

• AP Psychology Unit One
• Images of brain scans (FLAIR, T1 nativ, T2, T1 KM) are shown.
• Learning targets include:
  • Relationship between heredity and environment in shaping behavior and mental processes
  • Differentiation of subsystems in the human nervous system and their functions
  • Explanation of how neural structures and functions in the CNS impact behavior and mental processes
  • Explanation of neural transmission's role in behavior and mental processes
  • Explanation of the impact of psychoactive drugs on behavior and mental processes
  • Explanation of how brain structures relate to behavior and mental processes
  • Explanation of how the sleep/wake cycle impacts behavior and mental processes throughout the day and night
  • Explanation of how sensation is related to behavior and mental processes
  • Explanation of how the visual sensory system impacts behavior and mental processes
  • Explanation of how the auditory sensory system impacts behavior and mental processes
  • Explanation of how the chemical sensory systems impact behavior and mental processes
  • Explanation of how the touch sensory system impacts behavior and mental processes
  • Explanation of how the pain sensory system impacts behavior and mental processes
  • Explanation of how the vestibular and kinesthetic systems impact behavior and mental processes

Interaction of Heredity & Environment

• Nature vs. Nurture debate in psychology is highlighted
• Example cited: the topic of serial killers and whether evil is innate or learned.

Survival of the Fittest

• Behavior geneticists study the genetic and environmental roots of human differences.
• Evolutionary psychologists focus on shared human characteristics using Darwinian principles.
• Natural selection: the principle of inherited traits that enhance survival & reproduction are more likely to be passed down
• "Survival of the fittest" applies to trait variations in succeeding generations.
• Adaptation: the process of species becoming better suited to their environments through natural selection
• Mutation: a random gene replication error, leading to a change.

Twin & Adoption Studies

• Evolutionary psychologists presume behaviors reflect physical and psychological traits passed down through generations to aid survival and reproduction.
• Identical (monozygotic) twins develop from a single fertilized egg that splits, sharing the same genes.
• Fraternal (dizygotic) twins develop from separate fertilized eggs, sharing some but not all genes.
• Twin studies help researchers examine the nature versus nurture debate. Identical twins raised in different environments can still show similar traits, suggesting an important role for environment. This highlights the concept of epigenetics.

The Nervous System

• The nervous system is the body's communication network, comprising nerve cells (neurons) functioning through electrochemical signals.
• It's divided into:
  • Central nervous system (CNS): brain and spinal cord
  • Peripheral nervous system (PNS): nerves connecting CNS to muscles, glands, and sense organs.
  • Autonomic nervous system: regulates involuntary functions (heartbeat, digestion, etc.) divided into:
    • Sympathetic: arousal (fight-or-flight response)
    • Parasympathetic: calming (rest-and-digest response)
  • Somatic nervous system: controls voluntary muscle movements

Other Parts of the Nervous System

• Afferent nerves: sensory neurons, carrying information from the senses to the CNS.
• Efferent nerves: motor neurons, transmitting information from the CNS to muscles and glands.
• Interneurons: relay information within the CNS, connecting sensory and motor neurons.
• Reflexes (reflex arcs): automatic responses to stimuli. Sensory -> interneuron -> motor neuron -> action.

The Neuron & Neural Firing

• Components of a neuron include:
  • Soma (cell body): houses nucleus and DNA.
  • Dendrites: receive signals from other neurons.
  • Axon (with myelin sheath): transmits signals.
  • Axon terminals: transmit signals to the next neuron

Neural Communication

• When not firing (at rest), a neuron has a slightly negative charge (resting potential) maintained by ion concentration differences across the neuronal membrane.
• When stimulated past a threshold, the sodium and potassium ions are exchanged leading to an impulse (action potential) - a brief shift in charge.
• After firing, the neuron returns to its resting state (re-polarization), followed by a "refractory period," before it can fire again.

Exchanging Energy

• Communication between neurons is chemical.
• Neurotransmitters are released into the synapse (synaptic gap) after an action potential.
• Neurotransmitter receptors on the receiving neuron bind to the neurotransmitter, triggering a response.
• Neurotransmitter molecules are reabsorbed by the sending neuron via reuptake.

Nervous System Disorders

• Multiple sclerosis (MS): chronic autoimmune disease attacking the myelin sheath.
• Myasthenia gravis (MG): chronic autoimmune disorder affecting nerve-muscle communication leading to muscle weakness.

Excitatory vs. Inhibitory

• Excitatory neurotransmitters: increase the likelihood of the postsynaptic neuron firing.
• Inhibitory neurotransmitters: decrease the likelihood of the postsynaptic neuron firing.

Neurotransmitters

• Different neurotransmitters have different roles and actions on behavior/mental processes.

The Endocrine System

• The chemical communication system of the body, composed of glands that secrete hormones.
• Hormones are slow, lasting chemical messages that regulate various bodily functions.
• The endocrine system works alongside the nervous system, but hormones affect longer lasting effects.

Hormones

• Table with hormones, release points, and functions.

The Brain

• Brain Stem: The oldest part of the brain at the base of the skull above the spinal cord, responsible for sustaining life functions - Reticular Formation: A nerve network through the brainstem. It plays a crucial role in controlling arousal. - Medulla: controls breathing and heartbeat. - Pons: connects hindbrain, midbrain, and forebrain, responsible for coordination, respiration, and REM sleep.

• Cerebellum: The "little brain" located at the rear of the brainstem responsible for coordinating voluntary movements and balance.

• Thalamus: sensory "switchboard," located at the top of the brainstem, directs messages to the sensory receiving areas of the cortex and cerebellum, and receives sensory info from all senses except smell.

• Limbic System: Neural system associated with emotions and drives - Amygdala: involved in fear and aggression. - Hippocampus: essential for processing and storing explicit memories. - Hypothalamus: plays a large role in maintaining various bodily functions, helps govern the endocrine system through the release of hormones, and is associated with emotions and reward.

• Pituitary & Pineal Glands: Regulating hormones throughout the body.

  • The Pituitary gland (master gland) is controlled by the hypothalamus.
  • The Pineal gland produces melatonin, regulating the sleep cycle.

• Corpus Callosum: Connects the two cerebral hemispheres allowing for communication and control between them.

• Cerebral Cortex: Outermost layer of the brain. Divided into four lobes by function:

  • Frontal lobe: Involved in making judgments, planning, controlling behavior, abstract thought, and personality. Contains Broca's area (speech).
  • Parietal lobe: Receives sensory input for touch, taste, temperature and body position. Contains somatosensory cortex.
  • Temporal lobe: Includes auditory areas, involved in memory, contains Wernicke's area responsible for language comprehension.
  • Occipital lobe: Processes visual information in the visual cortex.

Neuroplasticity & Neurogenesis

• Neuroplasticity: The brain's ability to change and reorganize, building or reorganizing after damage or experience.
• Neurogenesis: The brain's ability to generate new neurons.

Viewing the Brain

• Methods of visualizing the brain (non-invasive), including EEG, MEG, CT, PET, MRI, and fMRI.

Altered States

• Drugs' effects on brain function and the possible changes in consciousness and behavior they induce.

Sleep

• Sleep is a periodic, natural loss of consciousness, a distinct state from unconsciousness.
• Biological reasons for sleep include protection, recuperation, memory consolidation, creative thinking, and growth.
• Circadian rhythm: Biological processes that occur on a 24-hour cycle, including sleep-wake cycles, and body temperature patterns.
• Sleep stages (NREM-1, NREM-2, NREM-3, and REM) and their characteristics are part of a 90-minute cycle, with REM becoming more prominent throughout the night. Stages and brain waves are displayed.
• Sleep disorders and experiences will be covered, such as insomnia and narcolepsy.

Sensation & Perception

• Our sensory system (eyes, ears, skin, tongue, nose) processes information from the environment.
• Sensation: Sensory receptors' detection of energy from the physical world.
• Perception: Organization and interpretation of sensory info by our brain.
• Thresholds of sensation (absolute and difference)
• Sensory adaptation: diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation or exposure.
• Sensory interaction: one sense influencing another (smell and taste for example).
• Synesthesia: a condition where stimulating one sense elicits experiences in a second sense.

The Eye

• Light passes through protective outer layer (cornea) and opening (pupil).
• Images are focused on the light-sensitive inner layer (retina) by the lens.
• Rods and cones in the retina convert light into neural impulses.

Information Processing in the Eye

• Rods: detect black, white, and gray, used for peripheral vision
• Cones: sense color and detailed vision (high acuity) concentrated in the fovea.
• Blind spot: point where optic nerve exits the eye without receptor cells.
• Bipolar cells and ganglion cells transmit information from rods and cones to the brain.

Perfect and Imperfect Vision

• Perfect vision: images fall perfectly on the retina
• Myopia (nearsightedness): the eyeball is too long
• Hyperopia (farsightedness): the eyeball is too short.
• Astigmatism: cornea or lens is not perfectly spherical.

Color Processing

• Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic Theory: the retina contains three types of color receptors (cones) for red, green, and blue.
• Opponent-Process Theory: the retina contains three sets of opposing retinal processes (red-green, blue-yellow, and white-black).

Feature Detection

• Feature detectors: nerve cells in the visual cortex that respond to specific features, such as lines, edges, and angles.
• Damage to face-recognition area can lead to prosopagnosia (face blindness).

Blindsight

• Blindsight: A condition where a person can respond to visual stimuli without consciously experiencing it.

Sound Waves

• Audition: sense of hearing.
• Sound travels in waves that result from compression and expansion of air molecules. Frequency and amplitude are key concepts to describe properties of sound waves.

The Ear

• Parts of the ear: outer ear, middle ear, and inner ear.
• Sound waves vibrate the eardrum, and then the ossicles in the middle ear that vibrate the cochlea of the inner ear.
• Hair cells in the cochlea convert the sound waves into neural impulses that transmit to the brain's auditory cortex.
• Semicircular canals handle balance, but aren't directly involved in auditory processing.

Hearing Loss

• Sensorineural hearing loss: damage to the cochlea's receptor cells or the auditory nerves. Often due to prolonged exposure to loud sounds.
• Conduction hearing loss: damage to the mechanical parts of the ear involved in sound transmission.

Losing Audition

• High frequency sounds can cause damage to the hair cells in the cochlea, leading to hearing loss.
• Presbycusis is hearing loss due to aging.

Sound Localization

• Our two ears enable us to localize the source of a sound based on differences in the timing and intensity of the sound waves arriving at each ear.

Theories of Hearing

• Place theory: The specific location where the sound wave impacts the cochlea's basilar membrane determines the pitch.
• Frequency theory: The entire basilar membrane vibrates at the auditory frequency of sound leading to the sensation of its pitch.
• Volley principle: Groups of neurons fire action potentials slightly out of sync enabling the nervous system to encode greater frequencies of sound.

Smell (Olfaction)

• Odorants stimulate receptor cells in the olfactory epithelium of the nasal cavity.
• Signals are transmitted directly to the temporal lobe, bypassing the thalamus.
• Smell has strong connections to memory.

Taste (Gustation)

• Taste is chemical.
• Six basic taste sensations: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami, and oleogustus (fat).
• Taste buds on the tongue detect chemicals and send signals to the brain.

Sensory Interaction

• Different senses can affect each other's perceptions in order to form or create a certain sensation or experience(s). Taste and smell are one example of sensory interaction.

Touch

• Touch: A mix of pressure, temperature, and pain sensations from receptors in the skin.
• Nerve fibers transmit pain signals from the skin to the brain.

Phantom Limbs and Endorphins

• The brain can create pain sensations even if the physical stimuli aren't present, as in phantom limb sensations.
• Endorphins work as natural painkillers that prevent pain signals from reaching the brain.

Gate-Control Theory of Pain

• The spinal cord acts as a gate that either blocks or allows pain signals to reach the brain.
• Whether a signal is transmitted or not is based on the balance of information traveling along large vs small nerve fibers into the spinal cord.

Vestibular vs. Kinesthetic Senses

• Vestibular sense: monitors the head and body position, sense of balance, located in semicircular canals and vestibular sacs in the inner ear.
• Kinesthetic sense: monitors position and movement of body parts, located in muscle tissues and joints.

Sensory System Overview

• Summary table of sensory systems, their sources, receptors, and key brain areas.

Sensory Interaction

• Sensory interaction refers to the interplay between different sensory systems; one sense influences another. Example: How taste, smell, and texture influence the perception of flavor.

Additional Notes

• Include figures, charts, and diagrams as visual aids.
• Include specifics like locations, functions of parts, and examples as necessary.

Test your knowledge on the functions of neurotransmitters and hormones in the human body. This quiz covers topics such as the effects of various neurotransmitters, their role in mental health, and how psychoactive drugs influence our system. Challenge yourself on these essential concepts in neuroscience and psychology!