ap psych prep 3 - biological psychology (part ii)

8/13/2019 AP Psych Prep 3 - Biological Psychology (Part II)

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AP Psych Prep 3

Biological Psychology

Part II: Brain Structureand Function


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Three Main

Sections of the

Brain

The brain can bedivided into three basic

sections.

The Forebrain,

Midbrain,

and Hindbrain.

We will start from the

hindbrain, and work

our way up from there.


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Hindbrain

The top part of the spinal cord, plus thecerebellum.

Includes life-support

systems, controls

important functions

that keep us alive.

Medulla, Pons, and

Cerebellum


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Hindbrain

Medulla / Medulla Oblongata - helps controlblood pressure, heart rate, breathing

Ponsconnects hindbrain and midbrain; helps

control facial expressions, eye movements,posture, etc.

Cerebellumlittle brain helps with musclemovements, (precision, coordination, timing),motor learning (e.g. learning how to ride a bike),and balance. Alcohol effects


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Midbrain

Between the hindbrain and forebrain.

Involved in coordinating sensory info. and musclemovements.

Reticular Formationcontrols our arousaland ability to payattention. Is a big

problem if it doesntfunction properly(coma or death possible)

Also sensory habituation


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Forebrain

Includes limbic system and cerebral cortex. Verylarge in comparison to hindbrain and midbrain.

Important and

interesting.

Connected to

emotion, thinking,

reason, memory,sensation, movement,

and many other

functions.


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Limbic System

Limbic system is

found deep inside

our brains. It is

strongly connected

to emotion and memory.

Important pieces: Thalamus, Hypothalamus,

Amygdala, and Hippocampus.


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Thalamus

Found at the top of the brain stem (= mid +hindbrain).

Receives sensorysignals and sends

them to the right

area.

(Lateral Geniculate

Nucleus)


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Hypothalamus

Small but very important structure.

Important in regulation

of body temperature,hunger, thirst, biological

rhythms (wake and sleep

cycles), sexual arousal,

and the endocrine

system.


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Hippocampus

Two arm-like structure Very important for storage of new memories.

Memories are STORED elsewhere, but need to

pass through and be processed here to be

stored properly. H.M. example


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Cerebral Cortex

Another part of the forebrain, along with thelimbic system.

Top surface layer of the brain. Very wrinkledand folded to make more surface area. More

area = more connections possible.

Our cells are not well connected when we are

very young, and as we learn and develop,

more and more connections are made.


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Cerebral Hemispheres

Cerebral cortex has 2 hemispheres , left andright.

These twoare mostly

separate,connected

by a bundleof nervescalled the

corpuscallosum

h l /


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Hemisphere Specialization /

Lateralization Some different functions between the two

sides of our cerebral cortex.

E.g. Contralateral Controleach hemisphere

gets sensory information and controls motorfunction of oppositeside of the body(generally)

Speechstrong evidence for hemispherespecialization (well see details soon)

Other specializ. possible, but less strongevidence.


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Lateralization Example: Split Brain

Roger Sperry and Michael Gazzinga developedsurgery to stop seizure from spreading from

one side of the brain to the other. Involves

cutting the corpus callosum.

People who have had this surgery are called

split brain patients. Their left and right

hemispheres can no longer communicate witheach other.


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Areas of the Cerebral Cortex

Four different lobesFrontal, Parietal,Occipital, Temporal lobes. (FPOT)


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Frontal Lobe

Some interesting Frontal Lobe pieces: Prefrontal areathe farthest front area. Is

important in foreseeing, predicting,

consequences, pursuing goals, controlling

emotions, abstract thought,

Remember Phineas Gage


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Frontal Lobe

Left frontal lobeBrocasarea (Paul Broca)controls muscles for producing speech

Also includes motorcortex (at the back

of the Frontal Cortex)

controls our

voluntary muscle

movements.


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Parietal Lobe

Includes sensory (or somato-

sensory) cortex.

Right behind the

motor cortex.

Receives incoming

sensory informationfrom the body


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Motor and Sensory Cortex Organiz.


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Occipital Lobe

Found at the back of the brain. Includes visual

cortex.

Left occipital lobe receives signals from right

half of both eyes retinas.

Visual cortex interprets

visual signals and thensends processed info to

other brain areas.


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Temporal Lobe

Includes auditory cortexprocesses soundinformation from our ears.

A language area

here too, forunderstanding /interpreting language.

Wernickesareadamage = problemsunderstanding orproducing speech

M t t l d


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Motor control and

speech motor

control areas are

close to eachother

Listening area and

speech

understandingareas are close to

each other


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Association Areas

Various areas all around the cerebral cortex.

These are involved in things other than

sensory processing or muscle control.

Often complex actions like judgment, humour,


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Brain Plasticity (flexibility)

The descriptions above are generalizations.

E.g. some left handed people have language

processing in right hemisphere

Sometimes the brain will grow connections

and adapt to make up for damage. Especiallypossible with younger people.

E.g. Phineas Gagesocial ability improved

over time.


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Other Biological Influences: Endocrine System

System of glands that secrete hormonesslow chemical messengers of our body; travelin our blood.

Can influence body

functions anddevelopment connectedto psychologicalbehaviour.

Controlled byhypothalamusmaster gland


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Endocrine System

Adrenal Glandson

top of kindneys; produceadrenaline, a hormonethat prepares us foremergency situations(fight or flight)

Ovaries and Testesproduce sex hormones,(testosterone and estrogen)

which are connected todifferences between menand women, sexualdevelopment, etc.


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Other Biological Influences: Genetics

Genes can be related to our psychological

functioning too. Including things like

personality (bothgenes and our life

experience affect our personality)

Human cells have 46 strands of DNA

(chromosomes); 23 pairs.

23 come from your mother, 23 from your

father.

Genes are distinct pieces of our DNA strands


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Psychologists sometimes try to find out how

much of our behaviour comes from genes,

and how much comes from our environment.

Twin Studiescompare monozygotic twins

(identical twins, identical DNA, come from one

egg), and dizygotic twins (fraternal twins,

same shared DNA as normal siblings, come

from different eggs)

Also compare same environment vs. diff env.


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Twin Studies


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Genetics: Twin Studies

Results show genes and environment are both

important.

E.g. Intelligence (measured with IQ score):

Found Identical Twins raised apart intelligencescores correlated at .69

Identical Twins raised together correlate at .88

Correlations show intelligence is very similar ifonly genes are the same, and even more similar ifenvironment is the same.


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Genetics: Twin Studies

Possible confounding variable:

Maybe identical twins look similar, and maybe

people treat them in similar ways because

they look similar (even though they grow up

separately in different environments).

This could mean the twins environments are

actually more similar than we think. And we

need to be careful about our genetics

conclusions.


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Genetics: Chromosome Problems

Our 23 pairs of chromosomes are important.

If someone gets the wrong number ofchromosomes due to an accident it can causeproblems for health and psychology.

Turner Syndromeonly one X Chromosome

KlinefeltersSyndromeextra X Chr. (XXY)

Down Syndromeextra 21stChr. (Trisomy 21)

All of these include some degree of mentaldevelopment problems.

ap psych prep 3 - biological psychology (part ii)

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