Psy 263 Physiological Psychology Exam 3

Describe Broca's aphasia

(frontal cortex) People with damage to Broca's area have poor speech quality, but good comprehension. Difficulties in pronouncing words, speech is slow, effort intensive, non-fluent (cadence seems off) Lack of function words (aggramatism) Difficulty finding words (anomia). Deficits when grammar DOES matter regardless of good comprehension

Describe Wernicke's Aphasia

(temporal cortex) People with damage to Wernicke's area AND surrounding posterior language area (angular gyrus) have poor recognition of words, word deafness (Wernicke's area ONLY), fluent, meaningless speech, poor comprehension of words, anomia, and inability to verbalize thoughts

What is usually given with l-dopa for parkinson's patients?

-A-methyldopa, or carbidopa. This binds with dopa decarboxylase and allows more l-dopa to reach the brain before becoming dopamine -Deprenyl, a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (prevents breakdown of dopamine)

What is the treatment for Myasthenia gravis?

-Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (block enzyme that breaks down ACh) -remove thymus gland (part of immune system)

What treatment is used when l-dopa no longer relieves symptoms of parkinson's disease?

-Direct dopamine agonists, -Palilidotemy or thallotomy surgery -Fetal dopamine cell transplants

How is the right hemisphere important to speech and language?

-expression and recognition of emotional content of speech -ability to speak about visual-spatial relations

What do the two pathways between Broca's area and Wernicke's area allow for?

1. Allows oral repetition, 2. Allows content to be expressed

What are the two streams of information from the primary visual cortex and what are they for?

1. Dorsal stream- striate cortex to posterior parietal lobe; perception of location and movement 2. Ventral stream- striate cortex to inferior temporal lobe; perception of objects

What are the two processes in reading?

1. Whole-word meaning 2. Phonetic reading (Letter recognition--> phonetic coding--> phonetic reading)

What does damage to the two pathways between Broca's and Wernicke's areas do?

1. poor repetition, few other deficits. 2. repetition WITHOUT comprehension or meaningful speech (Wernicke's aphasia without loss of repetition)

What does the adrenal cortex do in the HPA system?

Adrenal Corex: releases cortisol -elevated blood sugar and metabolic rate, prepares body to respond

What is multiple sclerosis?

An autoimmune disorder. Immune system attacks myelin of axons in the CNS. Areas affected variable.

What is Huntington's disease?

An inherited disease in which the basal ganglia (especially the cyadate-putamen) progressively degenerate.

What does the anterior pituitary gland do in the HPA system?

Anterior Pituitary Gland: releases Adrenocorticotropic Hormone (ACTH)

What is the main pathway for the auditory system?

Auditory nerve-->dorsal cochlear nucleus-->(crosses midline) inferior colliculus-->medial gonicular nucleus of thalamus-->primary auditory cortex in temporal lobe

What is Myasthenca Gravis?

Immune system attacks and destroys acetylcholine (ACh) receptors on muscle fibers

What is the treatment for multiple sclerosis?

B-interferon (alters immune activity)

What other kinds of cells are in the eye?

Bipolar cells, Ganglion cells (both of these cells have no visual pigment, they simply intake input from the rods and cones)(ganglion cells are output neurons and the axons form the optic nerve), and amacrine cells (the side to side connections between rods and cones, bipolar cells and ganglion cells)

Which color vision theory is correct?

Both theories are partially correct. The trichromatic theory explains how rods and cones function, and the opponent process explains how retinal ganglion cells and the brain function

What is locked-in syndrome?

Damage to the brain stem. No motor function.

What is a treatment for Parkinson's disease?

Dopamine precursor therapy: L-dopa, the immediate precursor to dopamine. Dopa decarboxylase converts l-dopa to dopamine which can improve nerve conduction and help with symptoms

What are the general parts of the middle ear?

Eardrum and the bones that transmit vibrations

Which theory does evidence support more?

Evidence favors the James-Lange theory. Evidence: Spinal cord injuries result in less emotional experience

What happens to rats when their amygdala is activated?

Fear behavior, agitation, affective attack

Which neurons are destroyed in Huntington's disease?

GABAergic and Acetylcholinergic

What is the opponent process theory and who was the scientist behind it?

Hering. Colors in system act in opposition. Excitation of one=inhibition of other. (This explains the negative after affect when you stare at an image)

What is the place theory?

High-pitched sounds-->travel shorter distances on basilar membrane Low-pitched sounds-->travel longer distances on basilar membrane

What are the three parts of the HPA system?

Hypothalamus, anterior pituitary gland, and the adrenal cortex

What does the hypothalamus do in the HPA system?

Hypothalamus: releases corticotrophin releasing factor (CRF)

Describe color blindness in terms of cones

In most common color blindnesses, there are only two functioning cones

Explain the basic path of information from the eyes to the brain

Information from both eyes splits into left/right visual fields. Left brain=right visual field and vice versa. The two halves of the optic nerves meet at the optic chasm.

What is the role of the amygdala in emotion?

It plays a large role in fear and anxiety

How does dopamine loss create parkinson's disease?

Lack of dopamine disrupts activity in the basal ganglia, causing motor dysfunction

Which hemisphere hosts most speech and language functions?

Left hemisphere. 95% of right handers and 70% of left handers

Explain the technical path of visual information from the eyes to the brain

Left visual field: right side of retinas in BOTH eyes, travels via optic nerve through optic chasm to right thalamus and then to the right visual cortex (occipital lobe). Everything is opposite for the right.

What are the syptoms of multiple sclerosis?

Motor weakness, sensory disturbances like numbness or tingling

What are the symptoms of Myasthenca Gravis?

Muscle weakness, loss of movement

Frequency Theory

Number of action potentials is proportional to frequency (pitch)

What are the three main parts of the ear?

Outer ear (PINNA), middle ear, and the inner ear (cochlea)

What are the three main parts of the ear?

Outer ear, middle ear, and the inner ear

What is the treatment for damage to the orbitofrontal cortex? Who started this practice?

Prefrontal lobotomy, leucotomy. Monk, Freeman, and Watts started it

What is the visual pigment in the eye called, and what does it do?

Rhodopsin. This chemical breaks apart light into retinal andopsin. It can be resynthesized in the eye

Which parts of the brain are important for facial emotional recognition?

Right frontal cortex and amygdala

What are the four basic emotions?

Sadness, happiness, disgust, anger

What is the pathway for pain?

Spinothalamic tract: dorsal horn--> ventral posterior thalamus--> somatosensory cortex (parietal lobe)

Describe stimulus, sensation, and perception

Stimulus- form of energy (in the environment) Sensation- transformation of energy from a stimulus into neuronal energy (transduction-process of sensation in sensory neurons) Perception- interpretation and organization of sensation by the mind (or brain)

What is the James-Lange Theory?

Stimulus--> autonomic arousal, muscle tension-->emotion (perception leads to a particular level of the emotion)

What is the role of the autonomic nervous system in emotion?

Sympathetic nervous system arousal-->fight or flight, Our sympathetic nervous system responds to emotional stimuli via our autonomic nervous system

What are cones?

The color receptor cells in the eye. The sharpest images are from cones. There are red, green, and blue cones in the eye.

How does parkinson's disease occur?

The dopamine neurons of the substantia nigra progressively die

Which side of the face is more expressive and why?

The left half, because it is connected to the right hemisphere of the brain, where the emotional center is

What do we call the sense of balance, or position in space?

Vestibular sense. The sensory mechanism is in the inner ear, same nerve as hearing (CN8)

How do the semicircular canals work?

The utricle and saccule in fluid bend cilia or hair cells and then the action potentials in vestibular part of auditory nerve (CN8) go to areas of brainstem, cerebellum

What causes Huntington's disease?

There is a defective gene on chromosome 4, and codes for a protein called "huntington". The gene makes this protein longer than normal. The length of huntington is correlated with age of onset

What is the treatment for Huntington's disease?

There is no effective treatment

What do we know about emotional expression?

They are innate, unlearned set of facial movements. They are consistent in cross-cultural studies and studies with blind children.

What are semicircular canals? What do they include and what do they do?

They help maintain balance via otolith organs (ear stone organs) -utricle and saccule otoconia (calcium carbonate crystals)

What are cutaneous senses?

Touch and pressure

What are the symptoms of Parkinson's disease?

Tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia (slow movement), postural/gait disturbances. Eventually progresses to dementia

Explain how sound gets from outside of the body to the cochlea

Vibrations cause the bones in the ear to move. The stapes vibrates against the oval window of the cochlea, which then causes the fluid in the cochlea to move, interacting with hair cells and transmitting the movements into sound

What is the trichromatic theory? Who are the scientists behind it?

Young, Von Helmholtz. Activity in red, green, and blue systems combines to allow color vision

What can high levels of testosterone cause?

aggressiveness

What happens when serotonin levels are low or have decreased turnover?

aggressiveness occurs

What are amplitude, frequency, and complexity?

amplitude- loudness frequency- pitch (humans: 20-20000 cycles per second) complexity- timbre

What are the symptoms of Huntington's disease?

begin as motor dysfunctions and progress to dementia. Jerky movements occur involuntarily and grow worse

Name the structures of the eye

cornea, iris, pupil, lens, retina, photoreceptors, fovea, optic disk (blind spot)

Explain the cornea, iris, pupil, and lens

cornea- clear outside covering iris- colored part, muscle that opens and closes the pupil- the hole that allows light to enter the eye lens- focuses light (image is inverted and reversed)

What happens to rats when their amygdala is damaged?

decreased emotional behaviors, lower levels of stress hormones, decrease in Conditioned Emotional Response (CER), decrease in emotion-enhanced memory info

What is an aphasia?

deficit in production and/or comprehension of speech (from brain damage)

How do our eyes adjust to the light/darkness?

from dark to light, our eyes break down rhodopsin quickly, from light to dark, our eyes have to resynthesize rhodopsin to adjust, which takes more time

What are the bones in the ear?

hammer (mallus), anvil (incus), and stirrup (stapes)

What happens if the orbitofrontal cortex is damaged?

indifference, inappropriate social behavior, lack of restraint and inhibitions, decreased emotionality, decreased planning and forethought

How are the neurons in the amygdala activated?

neurons activated by threatening stimuli

What does a deficit in phonetic reading result in?

phonological dyslexia (can read whole words, loss of phonetic reading)

What is pure alexia

pure word blindness. Inability to read, all other language in tact, including writing Problem in perception: damage to visual cortex and/or no input from visual cortex to left hemisphere language areas

Explain the retina, photoreceptors, fovea, and optic disk

retina- sensory cells that transduce light into nervous system activity and other nerve cells photoreceptors- rods/cones fovea- highest acuity vision, directly behind pupil (all cones) optic disk- few rods and cones, because optic nerve leaves eye

What is the Cannon-Bard theory?

stimulus-->autonomic arousal, muscle tension (NOT specific) -also- stimulus-->emotion (both caused effect of stimulus on the brain, but not conscious)

What does a deficit in whole-word meaning result in?

surface dyslexia (can read phonetically)

What area of the brain is an important site of action for anti-anxiety drugs?

the amygdala

What is the pathway for sensory receptors?

the dorsal column pathway: dorsal horn --> ventral posterior thalamus --> somatosensory cortex (parietal lobe)

How does sound go from being a vibration to getting relayed to the brain?

the movement of the fluid in the cochlea makes contact with hair cells, which depolarizes neurons. These neurons then secrete neurotransmitters to the auditory nerve (CN 8) which leads to the brain

What is the orbitofrontal cortex?

the region of the brain located directly behind the eyes

How is the primary visual cortex organized?

topographic organization- visual field mapped out (fovea has higher than proportional space)

Explain wavelength, amplitude, and purity (light)

wavelength-->hue amplitude-->brightness purity-->saturation