BIOLOGICAL LEVEL OF ANALYSIS
KEY TERMS
Flashcards
ADAPTATION
(IN CONTEXT OF NATURAL SELECTION)
Adaptation is the evolutionary process whereby a population becomes better
suited to its habitat. This process takes place over many generations,and is one
of the basic phenomena of biology.
The term adaptation may also refer to a feature which is especially important
for an organism's survival.For example, the adaptation of horses' teeth to the
grinding of grass, or their ability to run fast and escape predators. Such
adaptations are produced in a variable population by the better suited forms
reproducing more successfully, that is, by natural selection.
ADOPTION STUDIES
(GENETICS)
Adoption studies focus on two sets of factors that may account for
differences in behavior, personality, and psychopathology: biological parents
and environmental parents. Biological parents are the parents that you inherit
your genes from, while environmental parents are the parents that raise you.
WERNICKE, CARL
Carl Wernicke was an influential member of the nineteenth-century German school of
neuropsychiatry,
which viewed all mental illnesses as resulting from defects in brain physiology. A practicing
clinical neuropsychiatrist, Wernicke also made major
discoveries in brain anatomy and pathology. He believed that abnormalities could be localized to
specific regions of the cerebral cortex and thus could
be used to determine the functions of these regions. Wernicke was one of the first to conceive of
brain function as dependent on neural pathways
that connected different regions of the brain, with each region contributing a relatively simple
sensory-motor activity.
Carl Wernicke did a study on stroke victims and how the stroke affected their Left Posterior
Superior Temporal Gyrus and found that it
has to do with language comprehension and when damaged, that is affected.
BEHAVIORAL GENETICS
The field of study that examines the role of genetics in animal and human
behavior... Studies the inheritance of behavioural traits by the use of twin
studies and adoption studies...
BRAIN PLASTICITY
Brain plasticity is the brain's ability to reorganize neural pathways in order to
retain new information. When new information is learned, there must be
constant functional changes in the brain in order for the information to be
successfully memorized.
BROCA
(PAUL BROCA; BROCA'S BRAIN)
Paul Broca did a study on stroke victims and how the stroke victims left
frontal lobe was affected. Broca found that the ability
form complex sentances was localized in this part of the brain.
MELATONIN
Melatonin is a hormone that is secreted by the pineal gland. It regulates the
circadian rhythm by influencing hypothalamus, a part of brain which affects
appetite and sleep. The amount of melatonin released is controlled by the
amount of sunlight; sunlight suppresses release of melatonin.
SEASONAL DEFECTIVE DISORDER
(SAD)
Seasonal Affective Disorder is a disorder that occurs from lack of sunlight and
is also called "winter blues". This disorder usually occurs in the northern
longitudes such as
Canada, Scandinavia, and Russia. A way to recover from SAD is a light that is
brighter than regular lights, and sitting in front of it for 30-60 minutes a day
to reduce symptoms.
NATURAL SELECTION
Natural Selection is the decrease or increase of a certain trait in a population
because of it's effects on the carriers. In psychology natural selection is seen
in different aspects such as memory, perception and language. For example, an
adaptation that has become more common through natural selection is the
ability for people to infer emotions or to collaborate effectively with others.
DIATHESIS-STRESS MODEL
The diathesis–stress model is a psychological theory that
explains behavior as both a result of biological and genetic factors ("nature"),
and life experiences ("nurture").
META ANALYSIS
Meta-analysis combines several different research studies which share research
hypotheses. Like as individual studies collect data from many patients and
summarize the data in order to answer the specific research question, metaanalysis summarize data from different research studies which related to
specific research studies.
MIRROR NEURONS
Mirror Neurons are neurons that fires when an animal (or a person) preforms
an action or when the animal observes somebody else perform the same
action. The mirror neuron is also called because it "mirrors" the behavior of
another.
NATURE
The nature versus nurture debate concerns the relative importance of an
individual's innate qualities versus personal experiences ( nurture such as
behaviorism) in determining or causing individual differences in physical and
behavioral traits.
NURTURE
The nature versus nurture debates concern the relative importance of an
individual's innate qualities ("nature", i.e. nativism, or innatism) versus
personal experiences ("nurture", i.e. empiricism or behaviorism) in
determining or causing individual differences in physical and behavioral traits.
The act of nourishing or nursing; tender care; education; training; That which
nourishes; food; diet; The environmental influences that contribute to the
development of an individual; see also nature; to nourish or nurse
OXYTOCIN
Oxytocin is a mammalian hormone and it also acts as a neurotransmitter in
the brain. It released from the posterior lobe of the pituitary gland, and
stimulates the contraction of smooth muscle of the uterus during labor and
facilitates ejection of milk from the breast during nursing.
GAMMA WAVES
Highest and most energetic beam of light in the Electromagnetic spectrum.
Because of its penetrating properties, gamma rays damage cells at the cellular
level, hence being very hazardous to all life.
It is used as a sterilization mean.
BIDIRECTIONAL
reactive or functioning or allowing movement in two usually opposite
directions
AXON
Axon is basically the long parts of the nerve cell. The electrical impulse goes
through the axon when the nerve cell receives a signal from other cell.
DENDRITE
Dendrites are the branches of the neuron that conduct electrochemical
stimulation from the other neuron cells in the brain.
ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHY
(EEG)
An EEG refers to a test which records the brains electrical activity over 20 to
40 minutes (usually), this information is recorded by multiple electrodes
placed on the scalp.
FAMILY STUDIES
Observational family studies in the study of traits and genes that are
hereditary among families behavior, and how it affects human development.
These studies focus on inheritance, and the family hierarchy in general.
FMRI (FUNCTIONAL MAGNETIC
RESONANCE IMAGING)
One of the most recently developed neuro-imaging techniques. Taking the
study of the brain into a new level and helping the unraveling of more
psychological mysteries....
More
in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_magnetic_resonance_imaging
FONTAL CORTEX
Also called, Frontal Lobe, it the anterior part of the brain, where memories,
reason and logic are processed.
HYPOTHALAMUS
A region of the brain that helps regulate hormone activity, directs autonomic
nervous system functions, and influences or manages many critical functions
including sleep.
INHERITANCE
INTERACTIONIST APPROACH
It is the study of individuals and how they act within society
LONGITUDINAL STUDY
This is a study that is usually carried out for a long period of time, so that the
researchers are able to observe short and long term effects. The study of brain
damaged patients is a longitudinal study.
NEURONS
The neuron is a cell that processes and transmits information by electrical and
chemical signaling.
NEUROTRANSMISSION
Neurotransmission is an electrical movement within the synapses caused by
nerve impulses.
NEUROTRANSMITTERS
Neurotransmitters, are released from one neuron at the nerve terminal.
Neurotransmitters then cross the synapse where they may be accepted by the
next neuron at the receptor.
PET
Positron emission tomography (PET) is a nuclear medicine imaging
technique which produces a three-dimensional image or picture of functional
processes in the body.
Position Emission Tomography (PET) Is a medical term for the
introduction of a radioactive component in one's body, which is later traced
by a machine which emits gamma rays. PET is used to track the motion of the
introduced element, thus helpful for producing a three dimensional image of
certain body function within the body.
POST-MORTEM STUDIES
Post-Mortem Studies
Studies conducted on test subjects that have previously deceased. These
studies in the invasive form are also called (Autopsies Plur.) (Autopsy sing.).
Post mortem is a medical procedure where a doctor does an examination of a corpse
(autopsy) to determine a cause of death, disease, injury, or to do study to understand the
human body
REDUCTIONIST APPROACH
All systems can be understood by the breakdown of their emergent
properties.
.
Example: A neuron can’t think on its own, but it can with many others.
A brain isn’t a brain without all its parts
RE-UPTAKE
Re-uptake
Re-uptake, is the re-absorption of a neurotransmitter by a neurotransmitter
transporter of a pre-synaptic neuron after it has performed its function of
transmitting a neural impulse.
SYNAPSE
Gap between neuron and neuron.
Electrical impulse releases from
terminal button to synapse.
Through the synapse, electrical
impulse transmits to another
neuron.
Is the tiny gap between dendrites
of a neuron and the terminal
button of another neuron. Here,
the neurotransmission takes place.
TERMINAL BUTTONS
Terminal Buttons are located at the end of the neuron, they are responsible
for sending signals to other neurons.