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122 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Common sources of Bias in Research
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Subject bias Experimenter bias |
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Hawthorne effect
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The subjects are aware of the experiment and its purposes Solution: single blind research |
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Rosenthal effect
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Researchers interact in ways that evoke expected responses from participants
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Altered states of consciousness
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- Sleep and Dreaming - Hypnosis - Daydreams - Drugs & Consciousness - Meditation |
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William James
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Stream of consciousness Introspection |
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Sigmund Freud
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- Conscious - Pre-conscious (things you potentially can be aware of but you're not at the moment) - Unconscious - Psychodynamic paradigm |
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Measures of (1) Attention; (2) Sleep and Dreams; (3) Humanistic Psychology
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(1) performance measure (2) physiological measure (3) non-controlled methods |
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How can we observe consciousness?
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(1) Directly: introspection & self-report -> problems of subjectivity (2) Indirectly: performance (cognitive paradigm); physiology (biological paradigm) (problems of irrelevant measuring; problems of hidden subjectivity) |
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Normal Waking Consciousness
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- Guided by attention and expectancies - Interpretive aspects of awareness (in perception and memory) are constructed |
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Sleep
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EEG; RR; HR; self-report |
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Dreaming
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REM NREM |
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Sleep stages
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Alert wakefulness: beta waves Just before sleep: alpha waves Stage 1: theta waves Stage 2: sleep spindle + K complex Stage 3: delta waves Stage 4: delta waves |
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Research on Sleep and Dreaming
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Success: these measures are good for descriptive research Limitations: not good for causal questions |
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Lucid dreaming
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Dreaming in which one is aware that one is dreaming while in the dream, and sometimes able to control the dream Steve LaBerge's research: lucid dreamers able to signal that they're dreaming while asleep and in the dream |
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Hypnosis
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State of heightened suggestibility Can produce positive and negative hallucinations |
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Daydreaming
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Very frequent, every waking hour Triggers: situations of boredom, repetition, routine activity Relates to capacity and automaticity |
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Psychoactive Drugs
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Depressants Opiates Stimulants Hallucinogens Cannabis |
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Drugs
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3 essential factors: (1) drug: drug class; quantity; ingestion method (2) set variables: expectations; personality (3) setting variables: physical; social |
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EEG ERPS MRI fMRI |
Electroencephalography Event-related Potentials Magnetic Resonance Imaging Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging |
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Sympathetic Nervous System
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In autonomic nervous system Controlled by brainstem Emotional arousal, stress, fear "Fight or Flight" Increases HR, RR, perspiration, pupils dilate |
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Brain Lesions
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Explains normal brain function by examining what changes when part of the brain is damaged - Stroke or brain injury in humans - Induced lesions in animals Assumptions: whatever changes in behaviour/cognition must rely on that part of the brain that is damaged |
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Broca's Area
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Speech production Left frontal lobe |
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Wilder Penfield
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Brain stimulation - stimulates the brain with electrical probes while patients were conscious during surgery for epilepsy
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TMS - Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
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Very brief magnetic field (TMS pulse) induces electrical current in cortex Stimulates neuronal firing TMS over primary motor cortex can cause muscle twitch -> can map the body representation (homunculus) in motor cortex |
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Single Neuron Recording
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Place a thin electrode into an animal's brain Record action potentials "firing" from a single neuron Measure what that neuron encodes or detects Best localisation and timing of brain function Directly measuring action potentials from individual neurons Invasive |
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EEG
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Summed activity from action potentials of neurons in the cortex cause electrical activity change on the scalp Measure voltage changes from electrodes placed on the scalp Brain activity shows constant oscillations (waves) Frequencies of waves change with alertness and sleep Clinical use: detect stages of sleep; monitor epileptic seizures |
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ERPs
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Brain activity related to a specific event or stimulus Peaks represent different stages of processing of the stimulus Can show precise time of information processing in the brain (directly measure electrical activity in the brain) Difficult to accurately localise activity to specific brain areas |
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MRI vs fMRI
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Study of anatomy vs function
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Position Emission Tomography
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Use radioactive substances injected into bloodstream Used now to map neurotransmitters or receptors in the brain |
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fMRI
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Measures change in blood O2 level (BOLD signal) Increase brain activity -> increase blood flow -> changes deoxyhemoglobin level -> increase fMRI BOLD signal Good localisation of brain activity (!) indirect measure of brain activity; expensive |
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BOLD response
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Slow and delayed compared with neural activity Peaks 4 to 5s after brain activity Lasts 10-12 seconds after brain activity |
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Habituation
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The process by which we respond less strongly over time to repeated stimuli
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Sensitisation
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Responding more strongly to repeated stimuli over time
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Psychic reflex (Ivan Pavlov)
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The phenomenon of an indirect stimulus eliciting the autonomic (involuntary) salivary reflex rather than a stimulus that operates directly on the stomach
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Classical Conditioning
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A form of learning in which animals come to respond to a previously neutral stimulus that had been paired with another stimulus that elicits an automatic response
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Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
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Does not instinctually or automatically produce a response Should be easy to perceive and novel |
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Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)
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Instinctually elicits an automatic, reflexive response
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Unconditioned Response (UCR)
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An automatic response to a UCS Should be observable |
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Classical Conditioning Model
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Perform repeated forward pairings of CS and UCS Trial: each paring of CS and UCS Inter-trial Interval (ITI): time between trials Inter-stimulus Interval (ISI): time between start of CS and start of UCS |
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Conditioned Response (CR)
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A response that was previously associated with a non-neutral stimulus (UCR) that is now elicited by a neutral stimulus (CS) Is not identical to the UCR |
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Acquisition
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The phase of learning in which a CR is established by pairing the CS and UCS together
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Temporal Contiguity
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How close in time the CS and UCS are paired together. The closer in time, the faster learning occurs
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Extinction
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The reduction and eventual elimination of a CR when the CS is presented multiple times without the UCS. Not decay
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Spontaneous Recovery
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When an apparently extinct CR re-emerges (in a weaker form) after a decay if the CS is presented again
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Stimulus Generalisation
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When stimuli that are similar (but not identical to) the CS elicits the CR The more similar to the original CS a stimulus is, the stronger the CR -> generalisation gradient |
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Stimulus Discrimination
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Showing a weaker CR to CSs that differ from the original CS
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Higher-order Conditioning
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Developing a CR to a new CS after the new CS has been paired with a previously learned CS
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Latent inhibition
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Difficultly classically conditioning to a CS we have repeatedly experienced without the UCS
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Operant Conditioning (Instrumental Conditioning) |
Learning controlled by the consequences of the organism's behaviour
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Operants
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The behaviours produced in order to receive a reward
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The Law of Effect
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If a stimulus followed by a behaviour results in a reward, the stimulus is more likely to elicit the behaviour in the future
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Skinner Box (operant chamber)
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Chamber used in conditioning experiments that allowed both desirable and undesirable stimuli to be presented and animal responses recorded electronically without extraneous stimulus interference
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Reinforcement
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Stimuli presented or removed in order to increase/encourage a target behaviour
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Punishment
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Stimuli presented or removed in order to decrease/discourage a target behaviour
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Positive reinforcement
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Presenting a pleasant stimulus to encourage a target behaviour
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Punishment disadvantages
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- Provides no info about what behaviour should be replacing the undesired behaviour - Can result in anxiety, subversive behaviour, and agression |
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Discriminant Stimulus (Sd)
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A stimulus that signals the consequence of an operant response
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Extinction Burst
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A brief increase in the intensity of a response during extinction
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Partial Reinforcement
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Reinforcing a target behaviour intermittently rather continuously
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Schedule of Reinforcement
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The schedule or pattern used to reinforce a target behaviour
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Fixed Ratio (FR) SR
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Reinforcement is provided after a fixed number of response
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Fixed Interval (FI) SR
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Reinforcement is provided after a fixed time has elapsed provided a response has been made
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Variable Interval (VR) SR
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Reinforcement is provided after an average number of response
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Variable Interval (VI) SR
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Reinforcement is provided after an average time has elapsed provided a response has been made
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Animal Training
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- Shaping (progressively reinforcing behaviours) - Luring - Modeling - Capturing - Targeting Often combined with chaining to link simple behaviours together to learn complex behaviours |
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Brain Plasticity
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The capability of the brain to alter its functional organisation as a result of experience
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Neurogenesis & Synaptogenesis
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Generation of new neurons and synapses
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Ramon y Cajal
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Neuron theory Studied growth of neurons and exons during brain development Neurons do not generate |
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Neural Stem Cells
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New neurons constantly born throughout adulthood from neural stem cells 2 areas in adult brain: (1) hippocampus; (2) subventricular zone for olfactory bulb |
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Stem cells
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Undifferentiated cells, can grow into new neurons or glial cells
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Neuroplascticity
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Brain-reorganisation with experience After damage, motor cortex can re-organise with use to recover fuction Brain areas lacking their normal input can take on other functions with use |
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Maladaptive plasticity
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With no rehabilitation, motor cortex area for had got smaller
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Memory
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Short-time memory: lasts several s Long-time memory: (1) declarative: conscious recollection - episodic & semantic; (2) procedural |
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Amygdala
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Limbic system Medial temporal lobe Fear and arousal - Responds to threat/dangeer - Fear conditioning; phonias |
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Hippocampus
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Limbic system Medial temporal lobe Memory: forming new episodic memories Spatial navigation: mental map of familiar environment Encoding: laying down new memories for long-term storage |
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Long-term Potentiation
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Change in the structure of synapses to give stronger signal from pre-synaptic to post-synaptic neuron -> more neurotransmitter released, more post-synaptic receptors
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Graded Potentials
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Excitatory and inhibitory inputs (via dendrites) sum together -> change membrane potential at axon hillock Depends on strength of synapse connection (on dendrite) |
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Hebb's Law
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Neurons that fire together wire together -> explain FEAR learning
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Hebbian Learning
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One type of Long-term Potentiation Repeated firing of pre-synaptic and post-synaptic neuron at the same time strengthens synaptic connection Brain learn associations through repeated pairings -> strengthens connections between paired stimuli or evens |
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Grandmother cells
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Neurons can represent (encode or fire to) a specific concept Memory is represented by individual neurons each encoding specific concepts or objects Single concepts are represented by firing of neurons |
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Spreading Activation Model
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Neurons represent a specific concept Share connections with neurons that represent related concepts Activation (firing) of one neuron leads to spreading activation to related or connected neurons (concepts) |
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Case study
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Biographical information pertaining to a single individual Mostly biological, psychodynamic and humanistic programmes |
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Temporal Lobe
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Inferior to the lateral sulcus Primary auditory cortex Language comprehension (Wernicke's area) Medial temporal lobe (limbic system -> memory, emotion, motivation) |
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Corpus Callosum
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Connects left and right hemispheres Allows brain communication between hemispheres |
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Occipital Love
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Posterior Primary visual cortex (V1) Process shape, colour, orientation, motion |
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Prosopagnosia
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Damage to fusiform gyrus Deficit in recognition of faces Not due to general visual deficits Cannot recognises familiar people from their faces |
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Frontal Lobe
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Executive functions (reasoning, problem-solving, planning, inhibitory control, working memory) Emotion (insula cortex) Motor functions (premotor cortex; primary motor cortex) Speech (Broca's area) |
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Parietal Lobe
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Primary somatosensory cortex (perception of touch, pain) Spatial attention Linking vision to action |
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Autonomic Nervous System
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Central nervous system (brain + spinal cord)
Peripheral nervous system: - Somatic nervous system (voluntary; motor and sensory) - Autonomic nervous system (involuntary; HR, RR, sweating; stress, arousal, fight-or-flight) |
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Autonomic Nervous System 2 divisions |
(1) Sympathetic Nervous System - Emotional arousal, stress, fear - Fight of flight - Increase HR, RR, perspiration, pupils dilate (2) Parasympathetic Nervous System - Rest and digest - Lowers HR, RR - Increase digestion activities |
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Brainstem |
Relay between cortex and spinal cord; cortex and cerebellum Pons: relay signals from cerebral cortex to cerebellum. Cranial nerves: hearing, balance, facial expressions, biting and chewing, some eye-movements Medulla: HR, RR, BP, temperature regulation; reflex center for coughing, sneezing, swallowing, vomitting |
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Persistent Vegetative State |
Severe damage to upper brain If brain stem not damaged, ANS still functions No conscious awareness |
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Locked-in Syndrome |
ALS or Motor Neuron disease Loss of motor neurons to spinal cord Or brain injury Intact cerebrum or brain stem, disconnected from spinal cord Normal cognitive function, vision & hearing, cannot move Fully conscious but totally unresponsive |
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Cerebellum |
Hind brain Sense of balance + coordination of complex movement Motor learning - fine adjustment of movement based on feedback Feedback control of movement |
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Homunculus |
Different parts of motor and sensory cortex map different parts of the body |
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Principles of neuron communication |
(1) neuron signals (action potentials) are all or nothing (2) strength of neuron signal depends on rate of action potentials (speed of firing) (3) neuron integrate inputs from many other neurons to determine whether they fire |
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Neuron |
10% of cells in the brain Dendrites -> cell body -> axon -> axon terminals or synapses |
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Neuron: Cell Body (Soma) |
Contains nucleus |
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Neuron: Dendrites |
Unique to neurons Receives signals (input zone) Many per neuron |
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Neuron: Axon |
Sends signals (starts at axon hillock) One per neuron |
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Axon terminal |
Forms synapses with another neuron Secretes neurotransmitters when an action potential reaches them |
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Neuron: Myelin |
Fatty substance around axons Essential for transmission of neural signals along the axon |
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Glial Cells |
In the brain. 3 types: (1) astrocytes: supply nutrients from blood to the neuron, maintain "blood-brain" barrier (2) microglia: brain's immune system, clean up foreign or toxic substances (3) oligodendrocytes: produce myelin sheath |
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Synapses |
Axon terminals (neuron 1) to dendrites (neuron 2) Transmit signals Neural signals go one-way: pre-synaptic (axon -> axon terminal) to post-synaptic (dendrites to cell body) |
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Membrane Potential |
Difference in the electrical charge (voltage) between inside and outside cell, across cell membrane wall More positive ions outside -> negative potential inside cell |
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Resting Potential |
Difference in the electrical charge across cell membrane wall when the neuron is at rest |
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Ion Channels |
Open and close to pass or block movement of ions across cell membrane |
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Sodium Potassium Pump |
Actively pumps Na+ and K+ Overall pumps positive charge out of cell (3 Na+ out for every 2 K+ in) Maintain negative resting membrane potential (-70 mV) |
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Action Potential |
Input from other neurons increases membrane potential -> exceeds threshold -> action potential Depolarisation: membrane potential to 0 Repolarisation: membrane potential back to -70mV |
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Voltage-dependent ion channels |
Sodium channels, closed at resting potential, open when threshold voltage's reached Allow Na+ to flow into cell Cause depolarisation of cell K+ channels, open after depolarisation K+ flows out of cell Cause repolarisation |
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Depolarisation overshoots: changes polarity - more positive ions inside cells than outside |
Repolarisation undershoots: refractory period - more difficult for another action potential to occur -> prevents action potential going backwards |
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Fixed size: if threshold level is reached, action potential of a fixed size will occur -> always the same for that neuron |
All-or-none: either a full action potential is fired or there is no action potential |
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AP conduction along axon: axon hillocks have the lowest threshold membrane to trigger action potential |
Myelination: myelin sheath wraps around the axon and acts as an insulator, preventing leakage of the depolarisation wave. Depolarisation jumps between Nodes of Ranvier (gap in myelin sheath) -> boost conduction speed 100X |
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Neuron Signals |
Electrical signals: within neuron Chemical signals: between neurons (neurotransmitter across synapse) |
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Neurotransmitter |
Chemical messenger Released from pre-synaptic terminal Acts on post-synaptic receptors |
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Synaptic Vesicle |
- Stores neurotransmitter in pre-synaptic terminal - Joins cell membrane wall to release neurotransmitter into synaptic cleft - Recycled: neurotransmitter taken into pre-synaptic terminal is re-packaged into vesicles |
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Neurotransmitter Receptors |
- Gates of post-synaptic side - Joined by neurotransmitter in synaptic cleft - Activates receptors to open ion channels on post-synaptic neuron: transmits signal by opening ion channels and changing membrane potential on post-synaptic neuron |
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Lock and key |
Each receptor only binds to a specific type of neurotransmitter and vice versa Important for drug effects |
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Re-uptake pump |
Clears neurotransmitter from synaptic cleft back into pre-synaptic terminal Enzymes: break down neurotransmitter in synaptic cleft Both stop neurotransmitter signalling to post-synaptic neuron (close ion channels and turn off signals) |
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Neurotransmitter release |
Depolarisation of axon terminal (action potential) triggers release of neurotransmitter Neurotransmitter acts on receptor on post-synaptic neuron to open ion channels and pass signals |
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Ligand-Gated ion Channels |
Neurotransmitter receptors open ion channels when neurotransmitter binds Different neurotransmitters bind to and open different ion channels to change membrane potential in different ways |
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Receptor binding |
Can cause depolarisation (less negative) (Na+ flows in) Can cause hyperpolarisation (more negative) |