Biopsychology

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Nervous System

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Consists of the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system.

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Central Nervous System

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Consists of the brain and the spinal cord and is the origin of all complex commands and decisions.

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Peripheral Nervous System

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Sends information to the central nervous system from the outside world, and transmits messages from the CNS to muscles and glands in the body.

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Somatic Nervous System

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Transmits information from receptor cells in the sense organs to the central nervous system. It also receives information from the CNS that directs muscles to act.

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Autonomic Nervous System

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Transmits information to and from internal bodily organs. It is automatic as the system operates involuntarily. It has two main divisions: the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system.

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Neuron

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The basic building blocks of the nervous system, neurons are nerve cells that process and transmit messages through eletrical and chemical signals.

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Sensory Neuron

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These carry messages from the PNS to the CNS. They have long dendrites and short axons.

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Relay Neurons

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These connect the sensory neurons to the motor or other relay neurons. They have short dendrites and short axons.

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Motor Neurons

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These connect the CNS to effectors such as muscles and glands. They have short dendrites and long axons.

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Localisation of Function

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The theory that different areas of the brain are responsible for different behaviours, processes or activities.

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Motor Area

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A region of the frontal lobe involved incregulating movement.

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Somasensory Area

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An area of the parietal lobe that processes sensory information such as touch.

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Visual Area

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A part of the occipital lobe that receives and processes visual information.

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Auditory Area

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Located in the temporal and concerned with the analysis of speech-based information.

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Broca's area

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An area of the frontal lobe of the brain in the left hemisphere responsible for speech production.

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Wernicke's area

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An area of the temporal lobe in the left hemisphere responsible for language comprehension.

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Plasticity

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This describes the brain's tendency to change and adapt as a result of experience and new learning.

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Functional Recovery

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A form of plasticity. Following damage through trauma, the brain's ability to redistribute or transfer functions usually performed by a damaged area(s) to other, undamaged area(s).

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Hemispheric Lateralisation

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The idea that the two halves of the brain are functionally different and that certain mental processes and behaviours are mainly controlled by one hemisphere rather than the other.

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Split-Brain Research

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A series of studies which began in the 1960s involving epileptic payients who had experienced a surgical separation of the hemispheres of the brain. This allowed researchers to investigate the extent to which brain function is lateralised.

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Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

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A method of used to measure brain activity while a person is performing a task uses MRI technology. This enables researchers to detect which regions of the brain are rich in oxygen and thus are active.

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Electroencephalogram (EEG)

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A record of the tiny eletrical impulses produced by the brain's activity. By measuring characteristic wave patterns, the EEG can help diagnose certain conditions of the brain.

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Event-Related Potentials (ERPs)

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The brain's eletrophysiological response to a specific sensory, cognitive or motor event can be isolated through statisitical analysis of EEG data.

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Post-Mortem Examinations

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The brain is analysed after death to determine whether certain observed behaviours during the patient's lifetime can be linked to abnormalities.

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Biological Rhythms

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Distinct patterns of changes in body activity that conform to cyclical time periods. Biological rhythms are influenced by internal body clocks as well as external chnages to the environment.

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Circadian Rhythm

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A type of biological rhythm, subject to a 24-hour cycle, which regulates a number of body processes. Sleep/Wake cycle.

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Infradian Rhythm

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A type of biological rhythm with a frequency of less than one cycle in 24 hours. Menstrual cycle.

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Ultradian Rhythm

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A type of biological rhythm with a frequency of more than one cycle in 24 hours. Stages of sleep.

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Endogenous Pacemakers

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Internal body clocks that regulate many of our biological rhythm.

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Exogenous Zeitgebers

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External cues that may affect or entrain our biological rhythms.

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Sleep/Wake Cycle

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A daily cycle of biological activity based on a 24-hour period that is influenced by regular variations in the environment.

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