GCSE Psychology (AQA) 2024: Brain & Neuropsychology

-network of cells
-main communication system
-collects and responds to information
coordinates organs including the brain

• brain

- spinal cord

• autonomic nervous system

- somatic nervous system

• parasympathetic branch

- sympathetic branch

• right hemisphere controls left side of the body and vice versa

• brain: conscious awareness and decision making

• brain stem: autonomic functions, some reflex responses and consciousness

• spinal cord: carries incoming and outgoing messages between the brain and the rest of the body

• supports the actions of the PNS

- receives messages from the CNS and sends messages to it

• coordinates important functions that are important/vital for life (breathing, heart rate and digestion)

• involuntary

• involved in the body’s response to stress

• controls voluntary movement of our muscles

• voluntary/under our control

• reflex responses

• sends messages to muscles and takes in info from sensory organs

-maintains a balanced internal state by monitoring activity of the body organs (37* body temp)

• physiological arousal (breathing rate gets faster, heart beats rapidly, sweating)

• prepares the body for the fight or flight response to cope with stress

• opposite to sympathetic

• rest and digest response

• returns the body to it’s normal resting state after the threat or stress has passed

• hypothalamus identifies a threat (stressor)

- sympathetic division of the ANS is triggered, fight or flight

-ANS changes from parasympathetic (rest) state to (arousal) sympathetic state

• immediate and automatic

- physiological changes due to action of adrenaline (eg. increased heart rate, decreased digestion)

-these changes are designed to help us confront the threat (fight) or give us the energy to run away (flight)

• the parasympathetic division returns the body to a resting state

• “rest and digest”

• increased heart rate=decreased heart rate

• dilates pupils=constricts pupils

• inhibits digestion=stimulates digestion

EVENT-AROUSAL-INTERPRETATION-EMOTION
-event occurs
-hypothalamus arouses sympathetic division of ANS, adrenaline gets released (physiological arousal)
-brain interprets physiological activity and causes emotion
no physical change=no emotion

P- real life examples of when emotions follow after physiological arousal
E-emotional states come after physiological arousal in the case of phobias
L- supports the theory

P- challenged by the Cannon-Bard theory
E- some emotions occur at the same time (embarrassment) as physiological arousal (we blush simultaneously), some physiological changes don’t lead to emotion as the James-Lange theory would predict
L- the Cannon-Brad theory draws attention to emotional situations the James-Lange theory would struggle to explain

P- the Two-Factor theory suggests emotion may be more complex
E- we need social cues to correctly label the emotion we’re feeling (heart racing in dark alley and heart racing kissing crush), can explain how we can interpret the same physical state differently based on the situation
L-shows that the James-Lange theory doesn’t explain how a person “decides” what emotion they’re experiencing

• from PNS to CNS

• long dendrite

• short axon

• connect sensory to motor

• short dendrite

• short axon

• from CNS to muscles/glands

• short dendrite

• long axon

nucleus containing DNA

carry electrical signals from neighboring neurons to cell

carries signals away from the cell body and down the length of the neuron,

fatty layer that covers/protects the axon and speeds up the electrical signal

• gap

| - makes the signal go faster as it "jumps" across each gap

• end of axon

| - communicate with the neuron

• when a neuron is in a resting state the inside of the cell is negatively charged compared to the outside

• when firing, the charge inside the cell changes which creates an action potential

• this creates the electrical signal (impulse) that travels down the axon to the end of the neuron

area at the end of 2 neurons that allows a signal to pass from one neuron to the next

gap between 2 neurons

chemical released from synaptic vesicles

process by which neighboring neurons communicate with each other

neuron that transmits the message

neuron that is receiving the message

electrical signal causes vesicles (in presynaptic terminal button) to release

• neurotransmitter in synaptic cleft attaches to postsynaptic receptor sites

• chemical message turns into electrical impulse

• remaining neurotransmitters reabsorbed

some neurotransmitters (adrenaline) generally increase the positive charge of the next neuron-makes it more likely to fire

some neurotransmitters (serotonin) generally increase the negative charge of the next neuron- makes it less likely to fire

when there are more excitatory signals than inhibitory signals the neuron fires

• synaptic connections become stronger the more they're used

• brain isn't fixed in structure and can change and develop

• the brain can adopt, change structure and form new connections as we learn at any age

• learning leaves a trace called an engram-which can become permanent if learning is rehearsed

• during learning, cell assemblies fire together-the more this happens the stronger the synaptic connections become more efficient

• neuronal growth occurs to manage new learning more efficiently

P- has scientific basis
E- Hebb explained learning in terms of brain function (objective basis) for understanding behavior
L- shows that learning can be studied through brain processes (validity+credibility)

P- real world application to education
E- he found that rats that were raised in stimulating settings were better able to find their way through mazes as adults
L- could be applied to education by creating more stimulating environments to encourage learning (neuronal growth)

P- learning is reduced to a neuronal level
E- learning itself is complicated and involves different levels of understanding but other factors aren't considered eg-as a social activity (learning alone, being directly instructed)
L- reduces learning to the activity of brain cells and doesn't look at the wider factors that create learning

• 2 hemispheres

| - 4 lobes

• front of brain

• controls thinking and planning

• motor area controls movement

• behind frontal lobe

| - somatosensory area is where sensations are processed

• back of brain

| - controls vision

• behind frontal lobe and below parietal lobe

| - auditory area, related to speech and learning

• receives information from spinal cord and the brain

• coordinates movement, balance, attention and language

• "little brain"

damage to the left hemisphere affects the right side of the body and vice versa

• most sensitive body parts take up most "space"

| - damage means less ability to feel pain

-damage to left hemisphere affects right visual field of each eye and vice versa

-may cause potential or total hearing loss

| more serious the damage=more serious the loss

• usually only in the left hemisphere

• Broca's area (controls speech): leads to difficulty remembering and forming words

• Wernicke's area (left temporal lobe): leads to difficulty understanding and producing meaningful speech

A: to investigate the function of the temporal lobe using the Montreal procedure
M: operated on patients with severe epilepsy, he could stimulate areas of the brain in a conscious patient who reported their experiences
R:-when stimulation was applied to the different areas the patients reported different things:
-visual cortex=colors, shadows and crude outlines of objects
-somatosensory cortex=tingling sensation or a false sense of movement
-temporal lobe (in either hemisphere)=experiences and feelings (hallucinations) associated with those experiences, including deja vu
C: area stimulated in the temporal lobe has a role in storing memories of previous events
stored in 2 different ways:
facts of the experience and facts for the individual
the interpretive cortex stores info on feelings

P- used a precise method of studying the brain
E- could stimulate the exact same part of the brain and have verbal reports from awake patients
L- useful in enabling a "map of our brain functions" and would benefit neuroscience immensely

P- unusual sample
E- all participants had severe epilepsy
L- may not reflect people that have "normal" brains

P- mixed results in later research
E- findings weren't consistent as in later research only 40/520 people recalled past experiences when the temporal lobe was stimulated
L- interpretive cortex doesn't always respond in the same way (lacks validity)

• different structures within the brain control different behaviors

• temporal lobe and amygdala=emotion and aggression

-evidence that different types of memory are in different areas of the brain

• helps to explain mental health problems

| - low serotonin levels affects thinking (eg. suicidal thoughts) and behavior (low mood, depression)

• damage to specific areas of brain effect certain areas/behaviors

• extent and seriousness determines severity

-brain is deprived of oxygen (lack of blood supply) areas of the brain die leading to effects on behavior (unless other areas take over localised functions

• damage to motor areas can lead to problems with fine (picking up pen) and complex (walking) movements

• damage to left hemisphere affects right side of body and vice versa

• aphasia=inability to understand and use language

• Broca's aphasia=problems producing speech (speak slowly + difficulty finding the right words)

• Wernicke's aphasia=problems understanding speech (use of nonsense words and reading+writing are severely affected)

• large doughnut shaped scanner that rotates

| - take lots of pictures which are combined to give a detailed picture

• measures metabolic activity

• patient is injected with radioactive substance (radiotracer)

• when the substance is taken up by the brain the most active areas will absorb more of it

• brain activity is show on computer screen in different colors (red and yellow=more active than blue)

• measures blood oxygen levels in the brain

• active brain area=more oxygen so more blood is directed to it

• picked up through radio signals and produce 3D images on a computer scree

strengths:
-shows important info about which areas are being used at what time
-safe (no radiation used)
-superior (extremely clear images)
weaknesses:
-very expensive
-must stay very still
-time lag causes problems when interpreting info

strengths:
-shows brain in action
-shows localisation of function
weaknesses:
-extremely expensive
-sometimes difficult to interpret
-unethical (radioactive injection)

strengths:
-useful for revealing abnormal structures (tumors+structural damage)
-quality is higher than x-rays
weaknesses:
-high levels of radiation (cant be used often)
-only produce still images (structural info) theres no info on activity of the "live brain"

A: to investigate if episodic memories produce different blood flow patterns to semantic ones
M: -6 participants injected with radioactive gold they monitored blood flow using PET scans, repeated measures
-8 memory trials:
-4 episodic (holidays they had been on as a child
-4 semantic (recalling history facts)
R:-different blood flow in 3/6 participants
-semantic memories=greater concentration of blood towards posterior cortex
-episodic memories=greater concentration of blood towards frontal lobe
C:-suggests that episodic and semantic memories are separate forms of LTM and that they're located in different areas of the brain (localised)
-supports the idea that memory has a biological bases

P- produced objective (scientific) evidence
E- evidence from brain scans are difficult to fake
L- unbiased evidence

P- restricted sample
E- only 6 participants including Tulving and his wife
conclusion was only based on 3 of the participants
L- data is inconclusive, difficult to generalise results to all people

P- episodic and semantic memories are often very similar
E- episodic and semantic memories are difficult to separate
L- which may explain inconclusive evidence