cole.studies
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Biological psychology
Scientific study of relationship between body+mind
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Neurons
Building block of nervous system
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Cell body (soma)
Maintains neuron health
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Dendrites
Receive messages
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Axon
Passes messages from cell body to other neurons
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Myelin sheath
Protects axon/speeds process
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Axon terminal
Sends info
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Refractory period
Pumps positive ions back outside to fire again
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Threshold
Stimulation needed to trigger action potential
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All-or-none response
Neuron either fires or doesn't, always at same speed+intensity
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Synapse
Gap between axon tip of one neuron/dendrite of a second neuron
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Acetylcholine
Muscle movement/memory, alzheimers
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Dopamine
Movement/reward systems, schizophrenia
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Serotonin
Mood/sleep, depression
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Norepinephrine
Arousal/mood/sympathetic nervous system activation, bipolar
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GABA
Inhibitory, anxiety
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Endorphins
Pleasure+mood/pain reduction, like opium-based drugs
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Agonist
Mimics neurotransmitter
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Antagonist
Inhibits neurotransmitter
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Nervous system
Fast communication system of body
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Central nervous system
Brain/spinal cord, makes decisions
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Peripheral nervous system
Gathers info, sends to CNS
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Nerves
Receive/send messages between body/brain
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Sensory neurons
Info from senses to CNS
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Motor neurons
Info from CNS to muscles/glands/organs
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Interneurons
Connect sensory/motor inputs, connection between brain/spinal cord
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Somatic nervous system
Controls voluntary movements
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Autonomic nervous system
Controls glands/organs, automatic
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Sympathetic nervous system
Arouses body, uses energy
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Parasympathetic nervous system
Calms body, conserves energy
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Reflexes
Automatic response to stimulus when brain has no time to process info
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Endocrine system
Slower body communication system
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Hormones
Chemical messengers
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Adrenal gland
Fight/flight
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Pituitary gland
Controls all other glands
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Lesion
Damaged part of brain
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EEG
Brain wave patterns, electrical activity
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CT scan
More detailed X-ray, horizontal slices
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PET scan
Brain activity by monitoring glucose
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MRI
More detailed CT scan
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fMRI
MRI with brain functioning via blood flow
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Medulla
Heartbeat/breathing
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Pons
Movement, sleep/waking up
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Thalamus
Takes in sensory info (not smell)
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Reticular formation
Connects spine to thalamus, filters stimuli
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Cerebellum
Muscle memory, voluntary movements, balance
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Amygdala
Emotion (aggression/fear)
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Hypothalamus
Homeostasis
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Hippocampus
Processes+stores conscious memories
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Cerebral cortex
Outer surface of brain where info is processed
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Frontal lobes
Thinking, judgement, decision-making
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Parietal lobes
Touch/sensory processing
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Occipital lobes
Vision
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Temporal lobes
Hearing
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Motor cortex
Voluntary movements
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Somatosensory cortex
Processes touch/movement stimuli
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Association areas
Not motor/sensory, higher mental functioning
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Broca's area
Speech production
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Wernicke's area
Processing speech
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Left hemisphere
Language, logic
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Right hemisphere
Interpretation, recognition
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Split brain procedure
Cut corpus callosum
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Corpus callosum
Group of axons that connect the hemispheres
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Dual processing
Info processes consciously and unconsciously
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Cognitive neuroscience
Study of brain activity/cognition
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Behavior genetics
Nature v. nurture
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Molecular genetics
Studies function of genes
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Heritability
How much of differences is explained by genetic info
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Epigenetics
Environment can switch genes on and off
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Evolutionary psychology
Link between behavior/mind to reproduction/survival
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Mutation
Random error in genes
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Sensation
Converting sensory input into neural impulses
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Perception
How we organize/interpret that info
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Bottom-up processing
No prior knowledge---parts -> whole
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Top-down processing
Prior knowledge---whole -> parts
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Selective attention
Focusing on a specific stimulus
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Inattention blindness
Not seeing visual stimuli when attention is elsewhere
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Change blindness
Not noticing changes in environment
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Transduction
Changing sensory input into neural impulses/sending it to brain
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Absolute threshold
Minimum stimulation to detect stimulus (50%+ of time)
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Signal detection theory
Depends not just on stimulus but also on psychological state
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Subliminal
Below absolute threshold
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Priming
Perceiving stimulus unconsciously
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Difference threshold
Detecting difference of stimulus 50%+ of time
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Weber's law
Difference threshold is proportional: +impulse -> +change needed
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Sensory adaptation
Constant exposure to stimulus lowers sensitivity to it
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Context effects
Context---top-down influences perception
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Perceptual set
Mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another
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Wavelength
Peak-peak/trough-trough
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Pupil
Adjustable eye opening, light enters
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Lens
Changes shape to focus, accommodates to near/far
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Retina
Back of eye, holds rods/cones
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Cornea
Transparent covering, protects eye
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Iris
Controls size of pupil, a muscle
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Accommodation
Adjusting to near/far
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Rods
Receptors, black/white/peripheral
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Cones
Near center, high sensitivity, color
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Optic nerve
Takes visual info to thalamus
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Fovea
Central focal point at back of eye
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Feature detectors
Neurons in visual cortex respond to specific features
