Bio Psychology PDF

NEURONS What are they? Cells in the nervous system that communicate w each other, everything we do or think starts w neurons, without neurons there is no psychology Dendrites- branchy part, they reach out into our nervous system and the collect info to bring it to neurons Cel...

NEURONS What are they? Cells in the nervous system that communicate w each other, everything we do or think starts w neurons, without neurons there is no psychology Dendrites- branchy part, they reach out into our nervous system and the collect info to bring it to neurons Cell Body/Soma- they decide to send that info on to other neurons, orange circle in middle Axon- long skinny part, gets info from cell body to end of neuron Myelin Sheath- grey rectangles that speed up transmission Terminal Buttons- fingery part where info comes out that releases info to next neuron Synapse- space between neurons GLIAL CELLS Support Neuronal Communication- glial cells Skeletal System- creates structure for the neurons Nourishment- brings fuel to neurons Myelin- help speed up transmission bc they create myelin for the sheath Repair Damage- easier to repair neurons in body instead of brain Remove Waste- from nourishment Blood Brain Barrier- they create this NEURONS Sensory- takes info from different sense organs and sends them to be processed -Afferent: take info to brain Motor- takes directions from -Efferent: take info from the brain to the body and help us move throughout our environment Mirror- allows us to mirror other people, if you see someones face/emotions it allows you to feel it yourself Inter- neurons connected to other neurons INFORMATION TRANSMISSION Electrical vs Chemical- info within neuron electrical, between neurons chemical Action Potential- (electrical) happens along axon of neuron, changes electrical charge of that area of axon from negative to positive -70mV to +40mV: (this change is what makes it electrical) -Location: ions seeing movement of -Ions: Refractory Period -Absolute: where no matter what the neuron will not fire again/send info along -Relative: takes a stronger impulse in order to fire again NEURO-TRANSMITTERS body's chemical messenger Agonist vs Antagonist- (AG) makes a neurotransmitter more effect, makes a neurotransmitter less effective (AN) Dopamine- pleasure/reward neurotransmitter, helps us control our voluntary movements, too much dopamine is related to schizophrenia, too little dopamine related to parkinson Serotonin- related to controlling negative emotions, important for regulating sleep & focus Epinephrine- used to become adrenaline, fight or flight response Norepinephrine- energizing physically and mentally, little of norepinephrine leads to depression & ptsd Endorphins- body's pain killer, runner's high comes from body releasing endorphins GABA- primary reason why a cell body may decide to stop sending info, Glutamate- primary excitatory neurotransmitter Acetylcholine- 1st neurotransmitter every discovered, only neurotransmitter that communicates w motor neurons, malfunction of this is associated with memory disorders like alzheimers and dementia INFORMATION TRANSMISSION Law of Forward Condition- info transmission along the neuron always goes from the dendrites to terminal buttons (never reverse order)  All or None Principle- if the soma decides to send the info along, it’s going to travel the entire length of neuron to terminal buttons, never stops half way either goes through whole axon or none of it Excitatory vs Inhibitory- excitatory (send info/ fire) inhibitory (not to send info) soma deciphers between whether to fire excitatory or inhibitoryClean-up- chemical communication -Enzymatic Degradation: enzymes in our nervous system that eat Leftover neurotransmitters in synapse & throughout nervous system -Reuptake: the presynaptic neuron reabsorbs its released neurotransmitter after the neurotransmitter has done its job by binding to the postsynaptic neuron. Synaptic Pruning- when you learn new info you create lots of synapses, when you get more efficient at processing this info, you erase/delete synapses that are no longer useful Synaptic transmission video THE BRAIN Center of the Nervous System- where info goes & comes from Intelligence Correlation- does not correlate with brain size, surface area of brain correlates with intelligence, different wrinkles in brain allows you to have more surface area New builds on old- newer parts of brain evolutionary towards top, older parts at bottom Contralateral Control- right side of brain concerned w left side of body, left side of brain concerned with right side of body Association Area- parts of the cortex not involved in motor movement or sensory info, associated with higher order thinking/processes BRAIN DIVISIONS Hindbrain (brainstem)- oldest part of brain, located on bottom Midbrain- smallest part of brain, located in middle Forebrain- top part of brain HINDBRAIN responsible for keeping you up  Oldest Conduction- conducts info from spinal cord to brain Vital Body Functions Medulla- important for heart rate, circulation, respiration, & reflexes; if medulla is damaged you die –Reticular Formation: helps control sleep, mood, & arousal/focus; important place for serotonin and norepinephrine Pons- manages same things as reticular formation, important for understanding others facial expressions & creating our own Cerebellum- sends info to pons & goes to other parts of our nervous system, cerebellum means little brain, more neural connections in cerebellum than any other part of brain, concerned w balance, fine motor movement, & brace loss MIDBRAIN Orientation- orienates & moves us through our environment Dopamine- associated with voluntary movement Tectum- back part of midbrain, process sense info & connects it to movements Tegmentum- focuses on movement & arousal FOREBRAIN Highest level- in terms of function & location Cerebral Cortex- wrinkled part -Corpus Callosum: band of fibers that connect 2 halves of brain, without this right side can’t talk to left -Lobes: each side of cerebral cortex has 4 lobes Subcortical Structures FRONTAL LOBE at front of brain Higher order processing- decision making, creativity, reasoning Prefrontal Cortex- front part, coordinates different aspects of our thinking, takes up large -28%: of frontal lobe Phineas Gage- railway worker had an accident where an iron rod went through the left side frontal lobe, after the accident he was very short tempered, rude etc. bc of frontal lobe damage Motor Cortex- concerned w movement  Homunculus- artistic visualization of what humans would look like if we were proportioned in same way as motor cortex (giant hands & mouth) PARIETAL LOBE Somatosensory Cortex- (diagram red motor cortex green somatosensory) focused on touch -Homunculus: slightly smaller hands & mouth Visual Integration- integrates touch & visual sensation Orientation- uses visual & touch info to allow you to get oriented w environment OCCIPITAL LOBE pink on diagram Vision- processes visual info Builds- things like color & shape to process it to more complex info like shading & texture TEMPORAL LOBE Hearing and Language- focused on this Recognition- in order to label something as it is you use temporal lobe Lateralization- brain mirrors each other except in temporal lobe, left-language….right- non language sounds -Broca’s Area: important for speech production, next to motor cortex Broca’s Aphasia: limited language, issue w speech production, knows they're not making sense Wernicke’s Area: affects speech comprehension, speech is effortless but meaning is impaired SUBCORTICAL STRUCTURES under forebrain Thalamus- all senses except smell go through thalamus before going to other parts Pituitary Gland- controls release of hormones throughout the body Limbic System- represents emotional brain LIMBIC SYSTEM  Hypothalamus- controls floor acts: fleeing, fighting, & mating; all of these things are necessary to survive, deals w hunger Amygdala- emotional memory: anger, fear, disgust Hippocampus- critical for memory Cingulate Gyrus- critical for focusing on info & directing attention, decrease in this for people w szcherpohina Basal Ganglia- primarily involved in motor control, dopamine is critical part of this area BRAIN IMAGING TECHNIQUES Structure- tells us what brain looks like NOT what its doing -MRI: uses magnets to get a look at structure of brain -DTI: type of MRI that focuses on the myelin, tells you where it is in the brain -NIRS: uses white pulses instead of magnets, sends light pulses into brain and the reflection of these light pulses gives image of what brain looks like Activity- tells us about activity in brain -EEG: electroid all over skull & measures where electric impulses are happening within the neuron -ERP: specific data from an electroid from EEG -fMRI: uses metal in our blood to measure where activity is Happening -PET: looks for where glucose is going, you need to drink special Liquid &plan advance for this -TMS: moves magnetic foil around the brain, it sends magnetic pulses through the brain to disrupt the brain's processing NERVOUS SYSTEM Central- brain & spinal cord -Spinal Cord: doesn’t always need direction from brain to respond to threats -block pain systems from getting to brain so that brain can process info without getting distracted, you don’t feel it unless you have secondary evidence (bleeding)  -Cerebrospinal Fluid: protects & nourishes central nervous system so that you can get glucose from it Systematic- voluntary Autonomic- things we have control over -Sympathetic: flight or fight responses -Parasympathetic: rest or digest responses, brings body back to homeostasis after sympathetic -Enteric: nerve cells embedded in the gastrointestinal system, referred to 2nd brain bc same neurocells as the spinal cord, tells us to eat or stop eating, responsible for gut feeling, 95% serotonin found here and contributing factor why depressed people have increased or decreased of eating SENSATION & PERCEPTION (STUDY OF THIS IS PSYCHOPHYSICS) Sensation- interaction between your environment & sense organs, external and happens prior to perception Perception- your brain processing sensory information, internal and subjective Transduction: time from when info leaves our sense organs and moves to the brain PSYCHOPHYSICS Just Noticeable Difference- smallest change in stimulus for you to be able to notice that stimulus has changed -Not fixed: larger stimulus requires larger change Weber's Law- not fixed Absolute Threshold- How much of a stimulus is required for you to say that stimulus exists SIGNAL DETECTION THEORY Involves –Stimulus Intensity: how strong stimulus is –Noise: what is in the environment that could affect/distract you –Response Criteria: how confident do you have to be to say yes  Hits- stimulus exists and you say it exists False Alarms- no stimulus but you say there is, LIBERALS HAVE MORE OF THIS Correct Rejections- stimulus is absent and you say it's absent Misses- stimulus exists but you say there is no stimulus, CONSERVATIVES SAY THERE IS PROCESSING THEORIES Bottom-up- starts at sensory receptors and works up into your higher levels of processing, starts at data works up to the knowledge, HARDER TASK BUT MORE LIKELY TO BE RIGHT Top-down- start at expectations & knowledge, this influences how we process the data, EASIER TASK BUT HARDER TO BE RIGHT -Halberstadt et al,1995: played participants sad or happy music and then gave them homophones with both happy and sad meanings (morning/mourning) those who listened to sad music interpreted to homophones in a sad way, start expectation was sad end data was sad VISION strongest most dominant sense for humans Light vs Color- light is the stimulus of vision, color is what the brain processes Waves- physical stimulus -Wavelength: distance between one point on a wave to the next same Point, shorter wavelengths have cooler colors and longer have warmer colors -Amplitude: height of tallest point of a wave to the lowest point, effects intensity/brightness of stimulus (low amplitude is pastel colors) Biology- -Cornea: external layer of eye, protects -Pupil: hole in eye, dark space pupil is bigger -Iris: muscle designed to change shape of pupil VISION BIOLOGY  Lens- focuses light behind pupil - Accommodation: shape of lens changes depending on where you're trying to focus your vision, glasses or contacts help with accommodation Retina- back of eye, where sensory receptor neurons are for vision -Fovea: light projected onto this is where you see the clearest, all cones which allow for detailed perception -Rods: active in low light levels, work in shades of gray, 120 million in eye -Cones: detects color but need bright light in order for them to respond, responsible for fine detail, 6 million cones -Bipolar & Ganglion Cells: collects info from rods and cones, 1st step of transduction for vision, 1 cone to 1 bipolar cell, multiple rods to 1 bipolar cell -Blindspot: apart of retina that optic nerve is connected to Sclera- white part of eye, important for how social humans are Color- -Trichromatic: 3 types of cones in most humans eyes allows us to see 1 million colors -Tetrachromatic: 4 types of cones, these people can see up to 100 million colors -Mantis Shrimp: 12 types of cones, they process colors differently -Herring's Opponent Process: certain cones suppress colors -Colorblindness: depends on where the error with your cones are Adaption- most used sense, we adapt to sights easily Stratton, 1896: wore glasses that flipped vision, by 8th day his eyes were already adapted VISUAL PATHWAY sends info in this order Retina Optic Nerve- cells that take info from eye & transport it to brain, where the blindspot is located Optic Chiasm Optic Tract Thalamus Primary Visual Cortex  Cells- -Simple: responds to very specific oriental info -Complex: responds to both orientation & movement -Hypercomplex: responds to multiple forms of orientation, brings together a whole image Directions -Ventral Stream: goes from occipital to parietal lobe, known as the what pathway labels what you are seeing -Dorsal Stream: goes from occipital to parietal , known as where or how pathway telling us where the object is located in your environment and how its moving in relation to you Apparent Motion- when you show a succession of images quickly it looks like fluid motion Illusory Conjunction- you flash an image and don’t have time to bind features, so you end up making up characteristics with those features DEPTH CUES how close or far away something is Binocular Cues- uses both eyes to pick up differences in images picked up by each eye Monocular Cues- cues we get from one eye -Familiar Size: when were familiar w an object we use that familiarity to make judgment on how far away it is from us -Linear Perspective: looking at parallel lines, they converge the farther they are away -Texture Gradient: the closer things are to us, the clearer their texture is -Interposition: things that are closer to us are in front of objects that are further away from us -Relative Height: things closer to us are at the bottom of our visual field, meanwhile things furthest away are at the top GESTALT GROUPING Simplicity (Pragnanz)- we process info in the simplest way possible Closure- we create closure when its not there Continuity- we tend to see things as continuous even when there's no continuity Similarity- we group similar things together Proximity- we group things close to each other  Common Fate- objects that move together are grouped together SENSING SOUND Waves- physical stimulus for hearing (soundwaves) -Frequency: how many waves that occur in a given period, low frequency= low pitch & high frequency= high pitch -Amplitude: high amplitude= high sound & low amplitude= low sound -Complexity: we don’t hear one sound wave, we get multiple sound waves at the same time OUTER EAR Pinnea- fleshy part of ear, shape helps catch & funnel sound waves Auditory Canal- hallway that sound waves bounce off, where earwax is located Eardrum/Tympanic Membrane- last part of outer ear, starts to vibrate based on how soundwaves from auditory canal are hitting against the membrane MIDDLE EAR Air- Ossicles- smallest bones on body that sit against eardrums -Hammar (Malleus): -Anvil (Incus): -Stirrup (Stapes): last part of ossicles where middle ear vibrations Hit INNER EAR Cochlea- vibrations coming from stapes Fluid- vibrates as well Basilar Membrane- retina of the ear Hair Cells- rods & cones for hearing, sensory receptors Auditory Nerve- hair cells sense hearing info to auditory nerve Semicircular Canals- important for balance, depends how fluid is sitting in the canal, it tells the body what’s going on SOUND PERCEPTION  Place Theory- depending on where the basilar membrane you see more movement it affects your perception of pitch, base of basilar membrane=high pitch sounds Temporal/Frequency Theory- we process sounds based on when the hair cells are going to fire, if they fire quickly= high frequency wave Localization- we can determine where a sounds located based off which side of the head gets info first (ex if left side gets it 1st it’s coming from left side) Gestalt Grouping -location: if 2 sounds coming from same lo, we group them Together -temporal: if 2 sounds start or stop at same time, we group them together Music: when people compose music they group instruments & notes in a way that people will interpret what the composers intending to do Hearing Loss -Sensorineural: hearing loss in inner ear, most common with age; hearing aids don’t help that much - Conduction: most common in middle ear, problem w conducting vibrations in Perfect Pitch - where you can name a musical tone you hear SKIN SENSES Touch -Plastic: ex if you're born without a hand; somatosensory cortex will fill in that large portion of cortex with other parts of body -Phantom Limb Pair: losing a limb you gave, report feeling pain from that limb Pain -A-Delta Fibers: sharp stabbing pain, has myelin sheath; fast shooting pain bc speed of transmission -C Fibers: dull throbbing pain  -Referred Pain: outer & inner parts of body go to the same place in the somatosensory cortex -Haptic Perception: understanding our world through touch, common in babies -Kinesthesia: understanding of how your body is positioned and moving CHEMICAL SENSES Smell- we use molecules to smell -Unique: only sense that doesn’t go through the thalamus, goes directly to the forebrain -Olfactory Receptors: molecules will bind to receptors (about 350 olfactory receptors) different receptors activated determine how we sense smell Taste -Papillae: house hundred of taste receptor neurons, -Receptor replacement:quickest to be replenished, we lose half our taste buds at 20; hypersensitive when your young -5 Primary Sensation: salty, sweet, sour, umami (meat), bitter (veggies) STRESS process by which we perceive & respond to events/stimuli that we see as challenging or threatening Tend-and-Befriend Rather than trying to physically deal w the stimulus we deal w it through emotional & social support, men more likely to do flight or fight- women more likely to do tend and befriend Catharsis- You let out the negative emotional response to stress, lashing out thinking it will get rid of the negative emotions (research has shown that instead it perpetuates these emotions) Adaptation-level phenomenon- Tendency to judge current experience in relation to a past experience, this leads to 2 people experiencing the same stressful events but different reactions Relative Deprivation-Tendency to feel worse about ourselves even if the same thing happened to others  Crisis Debriefing-Theory that best way to prevent negative stress responses following a big traumatic event is to go through 3-4 hr debriefing session w others who experienced the same event, shortly after the event occurs, more likely to cause PTSD bc you don't have time to think about how the event affects you and may be forced to disclose info that you're not comfortable with THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES ON STRESS Stress as Stimuli- identifying different events that lead to stressful responses, what causes the stress Stress as a Response-Focuses on people's reaction to stressful events Stress as a Transaction- The interaction between a person and their environment, how we cope w stress Appraisal- 2 steps that lead to stress: primary appraisal (relevancy of event to you, if it's not relevant no 2nd step) secondary appraisal (determine what resources you have to deal with the event) OVERALL CATEGORIES OF STRESS Looking at stress on a stimuli perspective Frustration- Your pursuit of a goal is blocked, want something but can't get it Conflict- Your trying to decide between 2 motivations -Approach-Approach: Decision between 2 attractive choices -Avoidance-Avoidance: Decision between 2 unattractive choices -Approach-Avoidance: Decision between something that has pros and cons Pressure- Expectations & demands (socially) that you behave in a way you might not want to Catastrophe-Some sort of large distribution to your typical life (ex: getting sick) Life Changes- long term transition in your life (ex: tornado that requires moving or getting married) Daily Hassles- Small annoyances that strain your ability to cope PERSONALITY AND STRESS Type A vs B- A Very ambitious, driven, competitive but high levels of hostility & stress B Easy going, relaxed, chill  Explanatory Style- pessimist (assume the worst) more likely to develop heart disease instead of optimist (looks for the best in life) Locus of Control- How much control do you feel you have in your life (internal: you are the one driving/controlling your life) (external: you feel you don't have control instead the world has control over your life) external has more stress Diathesis-Stress Model- Stress can kick off a genetic predisposition for disease or disorder, the higher the predisposition the more likely for disorder IMMUNE RESPONSE Kiecolt-Glaser et al., 1998- Gave dental students an imprint in skin either 3 days before or exam or summer vacation, the wounds given around summer vacay healed 40% faster than the more stressful time period in persons life Cancer- Stress does not cause cancer cells, but can kick off genetic predisposition for cancer Inflammation- Experience of stress Leads to greater inflammation responses throughout your body, can be associated with heart disease REDUCING STRESS Fallacy of Uniform Fallacy- stress is often a personal response, so you're not going to find answers that fit everyone Exercise- can help with negative effects of stress but not going to work for everyone Meditation- stress comes from hyperactivity of your body and meditation is to relax your body -Friedman & Ulmer, 1982: men who already experienced a heart attack, 1st group got diet/exercise advice, 2nd group got the same advice but also how to introduce relaxation into daily life. Long Term the relaxation group had less heart attack rates Religiosity- rules associated w religions like no alcohol or social connection you gain helps reduce stress Increase Control- leads to lower stress levels -decisional control: perception of increasing level of control you feel you have over levels of decision -informational control: gaining more information about a stressful event  -Idea that if you can control negative emotions you can decrease level of response COPING Problem-Focused- coping w stressful event by attempting to solve stimuli causing stressful reaction Emotion-Focused- Dealing w mental and emotional response w stress Social Support Reaching out to closely affiliated others seeking help/support -direct effect hypothesis: social support has a positive impact to mental & physical help even if not under stress POSITIVE PSYCH Positive Well Being- Increasing Satisfaction w past, happiness w present, & optimism w future Positive Traits- Increasing & enhancing positive traits like creativity and leadership Positive Institutions- Seeking to create positive social environment for growth and development LONGEVITY Money- People who have money tend to live longer, if you make enough money to cover your basic needs than money won't be a stress influence Locus of control- patients that had more control in nursing home tend to be happier and live longer Self-Control- people who have more self control are going to engage more consistently in healthy behaviors Explanatory Style -Danner et al., 2001: followed 180 nuns who written their biography prior to becoming nun, those who had positive emotionality in their bio lived longer than those who had more negative Social Support- relates to happiness & mental health