Psych Exams 1 & 2

Narcolepsy

"sleep attacks" chronic sleep disorder that causes overwhelming daytime drowsiness Very sleepy; people have uncontrollable periods of sleep attacks Cataplexy- muscle paralysis of REM sleep while a person is awake During periods of strong emotion Autoimmune disorder Attacking a region of the hypothalamus involved in regulating sleep

Circadian Rhythm

(circa= about; dia= day) Internal biological clock Rhythms in the body that are about a day long Almost everything in the body follows a circadian rhythm Ex: rate at which cells divide, weight, height, alertness Alertness levels are high during the day and low at night Sleeping during the day is often less effective because your level of alertness is usually high Timing can vary from person to person At puberty, circadian rhythms shift 2-3 hours later and return around mid-20s Some may remain "night owls" for the rest of their lives Light exposure is the main que for regulating circadian rhythms, especially morning light exposure Night light exposure shifts your circadian rhythms later Blue light has greatest effect on circadian rhythms

Hindbrain

*note: image only on card to help w/ visualization which helps memory, Hannah's notes say no questions asked on test about labelling brain diagram Hindbrain- bottom of brain, primitive part, similar across organisms Medulla- responsible for vital life functions. Breathing, heart beat, etc. Pons- involved in regulating the level of arousal (level of activity) of the brain. Cerebellum- "little brain," motor (coordinated movement) function

Parietal lobe

- hand-eye (visual-spatial) coordination Left motor cortex controls right side of body Right motor cortex controls left side of body The amount of space responsible for different parts of the body is not proportional to that body part's size Associated with the complexity of the movement of that body part. Ex: hand movement is more complex than the back so there is a lot more motor cortex dedicated to the hand than to the back -Motor homunculus- represents the proportion of motor cortex that is associated with each body part.

Monocular Cues

- judging relative size of an object -Occlusion- near object blocks farther object -Texture gradient Ex- abbey road album the beatles (idk what this means, in Hannah's notes) As things get farther away, they tend to converge in the visual field Position relative to horizon- Objects below the horizon that appear higher in the visual field are perceived as being farther away. Objects above the horizon that appear lower in the visual field are perceived as being farther away.

Genotype vs. Phenotype

-Genotype : Collection of alleles -Phenotype : Physical expression of alleles Number of phenotypes does not necessarily = number of genotypes because of dominance

Sensory Adaptation

-Stimuli is reaching a sense organ over and over again -Sensory organ may lessen/stop its response to it over time

Bottom-up processing

-form of perception (think "bottom-up" means putting together details to form a collective image) analysis that begins with the sense receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information using elements of raw visual field to determine what it is that we are looking at slower than top-down processing

Top-down processing

-form of perception (think "top-down" means figure out the whole image first then work out finer details later) information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations Top-down processing- brain tries to speed up process by making inferences and assumptions Faster and more error-prone than bottom-down "The cat" visual example (idk what this means, was in Hannah's notes though) Brain is able to infer the proper meaning from context Our brain is constantly filling in missing information

Sleep apnea

-one of the most common sleep disorders; a breathing disorder during sleep characterized by breathing repeatedly stopping and starting (apnea = a-pnea; "a-" = absence of; "-pnea" = breathing) The tissue in the back of the airway relaxes when we sleep When we breathe in and out the tissue vibrates which creates the sound of snoring The tissue may relax too much and completely cover the airway Amount of oxygen being inhaled during sleep starts to drop Person gags or coughs to reopen the airway Happens over and over again throughout the night Worsens sleep quality Rates increase as people get older

2 general categories of cells in nervous system

1) Glia -9 times as many glia as neurons -make up structural support 2) Neurons -conduct electrical impulses Anatomy: Soma- "body," main part of neuron Dendrites- branch-like appendages (many) Axon- long arm (one per neuron) Terminal endings- branch-like appendages at end of axon.

2 Color Theories

1) The Trichromatic Theory 2) Opponent Process Model

3 stages of memory processing

1) acquisition 2) storage 3) retrieval

Parasomnias

Abnormal behaviors that occur during sleep Parasomnias- the weird things we do in our sleep Sleep walking, sleep talking, sleep eating, etc. Misconception: we are acting out our dreams But this is false because most parasomnias happen during N3 sleep, but dreams happen in REM In REM sleep- paralyzed, out of REM sleep- still paralyzed but wide awake Most common in young adults- rate goes down during puberty Most likely to occur under stress or sleep deprivation

Neurotransmission

Agonist- increases neurotransmission Ex: alcohol is GABA agonist. Antagonist- decreases neurotransmission Ex: caffeine is an adenosine antagonist. Reuptake- neurotransmitter being "sucked back up" into the presynaptic neuron. Ex: prozac= SSRI selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. Serotonin agonist

Visual Fields

Although both eyes can see the entire visual field, each hemisphere of our brain processes the opposite half of the visual field Occipital nerve = 2 bundles Left visual field → right brain Right visual field → left brain

Informed consent

Before a subject participates in a research study, the researcher must give subjects a document including the details, procedures, risks, and purposes of the study. Must give all information. Most central pillar of the ethics of doing research. Internal validity perspective: tell all subjects that they are all getting the treatment to level expectations-- but lying. Sometimes allowed to use deception. Very, very strict requirements.

Twin adoption study

Best at mitigating assumptions MZ and DZ twins adopted into separate families. Shared 9 months in utero environment but raised in different environments Compare them to each other (MZ vs DZ), their birth mother, and their adoptive mothers "Magnificent study" Extraordinarily difficult to execute Famous study in US: Minnesota twin study

Language Functioning

Broca's area- production of language, speaking; frontal lobe (think of how your mouth is located on your face so front of your head) Left temporal lobe- Wernicke's area responsible for understanding language Overall: broca's = speech production, wernicke's = speech comprehension

CNS vs PNS

Central Nervous System (CNS) = spinal cord and brain -Does not have the ability to heal Peripheral Nervous System (PNS) = everything else (all outside nerve fibers, functions to send nerve impulses from our limbs to CNS for processing) -Somatic nervous system -autonomic nervous system → sympathetic nervous system and parasympathetic nervous system -Has the ability to heal

Lecture 1

Ch.1&2

Lecture 2

Ch.3

Lecture 3

Ch.3 & 4

Lecture 4

Ch.3,5

Lecture 5

Ch.7

Binocular Cues

Convergence = both of your eyes coming together to focus on the same point -occipital lobe to motor cortex to muscles that control the movement of the eyes to turn eyes inward to focus on a nearby object Somatosensory cortex receives input from muscles' movement and determines distance of object Amount of convergence communicates depth perception to our brain.

Basics of DNA

DNA Nucleotides: A, T, C, G Base pairs 3.3 billion base pairs in the human genome, packaged into 23 pairs of chromosomes Total genetic makeup= genome Most of our DNA is not in genes, majority of DNA is just noncoding DNA is a recipe book that gets transcripted to RNA which is then translated to proteins Proteins are the building blocks of life The proteins that are made influence our biological function When a gene is turned on, it is expressed and makes a protein. Neurotransmitters are proteins made by DNA (ex: serotonin) Brain can turn on or shut off genes that can regulate how much of it is produced. Genes impact the functions of the brain and are therefore relevant to the study of psychology. Any changes in base pairs may affect which proteins are made or how much of that protein is made.

Declarative vs. Procedural Memory

Declarative memory needs hippocampus for retrieval (facts, figures) (remember by thinking of how you declare a fact to be true vs. Procedural memory (tasks, how to ride a bike) can be stored without a hippocampus (remember by thinking of how completing a task requires following a procedure) Example test question: X is involved in an accident resulting in damage to his hippocampus. X can remember how to sign their signature as shown on their hospital forms, but was unable to recall their date of birth for the hospital forms. Which memory did X damage? Answer = declarative

Formation of an Action Potential

Depolarization- loss of electrical charge; battery discharges Resting potential (-70mV) → +40mV Our neurons are "rechargeable batteries" Once neuron discharges, the receptors close. No longer a flow of ions inside and outside of the membrane. Pumps separate ions in order to recharge the neuron. recharging=repolarization Release neurotransmitter back into the synapse Temporarily exceeds -70mV (state of hyperpolarization) Cannot activate/fire again. =resting period Gradually over time reaches resting potential//ready for next firing of neuron. electrical→ chemical → electrical communication Chemical communication between neurons and electrical communication within neurons.

Goals of Research Studies

Description Explanation Prediction Control/Influence

Occipital Lobe

Different parts of occipital lobe are specialized for different types of images Ex: colors, vertical lines, straight lines, etc. Different pathways in occipital lobe Ventral stream- what you are seeing Dorsal stream- where in space is the object located

Neurons communicating w/ eachother

Electrical signal is passed from one neuron to another. Synapse- the gap between the end of one neuron and the beginning of the next. Presynaptic neuron- first neuron Sending signal Vesicles contain neurotransmitters Fuse with cell membrane of presynaptic neuron and released into synapse. Floats across synapse and binds to dendrite of postsynaptic neuron. Postsynaptic neuron- second neuron Receiving signal Receptors- different types to receive different neurotransmitters. "Lock and key" Electrical current cannot travel through the synapse. Switches from electrical to chemical communication.

CBT Insomnia Treatment

Follow a relatively regular bedtime and wake up time Wind down before bed 30-60 min. Deep breathing, muscle relaxation, light reading Don't lie tossing and turning when you wake up in middle of night/can't fall asleep Sleep effort- the harder you try, the harder it is The mind becomes more and more active and anxious Get out of bed a little, use wind down methods Writing down things/thoughts before bed

Forebrain

Forebrain- wrinkly part, cerebral cortex, largest differences across species Humans have the most developed forebrains Where complicated information processing takes place Brain folds into wrinkles to increase surface area Comprised of 4 lobes: frontal, parietal, temporal, occipital

Freud's Dream Theory

Freud believed that dreams are the single, best source of information about the unconscious; dreams are highly sufficient, carefully constructed, and always contain a concealed meaning; dreams are not random opposes the activation-synthesis theory Dreams have meaning to them, as an expression of what is happening in the unconscious Theory of unconsciousness things/ideas are in the unconscious for a reason... Therefore, our dreams do not directly represent what is in our unconscious but symbolize the unconscious Latent vs. manifest content manifest content is the actual literal subject matter of the dream while the latent content is the underlying meaning of these symbols (think of how first you lay out what happened in the dream (manifest), then you interpret what it means (latent))

Frontal Lobe

Frontal lobe- responsible for our executive functions (organization, planning, reasoning, logic); most sensitive to effects of alcohol and sleep deprivation Phineas Gage: rod through his frontal lobe; problems with planning, reasoning, impulsivity, erratic emotions Prefrontal cortex- region of the frontal lobe When limbic system is very active, then it can inhibit the logical part of the brain and vice-versa; depends which one is more dominant at any given time. Cognitive therapy can strengthen prefrontal cortex Broca's area- responsible for producing language -damage results in productive/expressive aphasia -reduced/absent ability to produce spoken language, patients left w/ frustrating sensation of words always at tip of tongue

Family study

People who are genetically more similar should be phenotypically more similar. Ex: recruit two groups of people: Insomniacs vs. Good sleepers What is the overall rate of sleep problems in the families of each group? If the same percentage for both groups, we would conclude that insomnia is not related to genetics. But families not only share genetics, they also share environments. =key alternative explanation for family studies.

Ions create electrical gradient

Potassium, sodium, chloride ions; protein molecules. Sodium and chloride ions typically outside of the cell. Potassium ions and protein molecules inside the cell. -results in net difference in electrical charge outside vs inside the cell Leads to net charge of -70 millivolt (resting electrical charge = resting membrane potential (RMP)) Creates a "battery" (more Na+ is leaked outside of the cell than K+ is leaked in --> RMP is negative) No flow of ions under resting conditions because the receptors remain closed. Until a neurotransmitter binds to the receptor. Causes channel/gate to open Allows for a flow of ions across cell membrane Battery gets discharged Chemical stimulus → electrical stimulus Difference in electrical charge--- electrical gradient =flow of electrical ions =electrical motivation

REM sleep

Rapid eye movement sleep, a recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur. Also known as paradoxical sleep, because the muscles are relaxed (except for minor twitches) but other body systems are active. Paralysis during sleep (intense muscle relaxation) prevents us from physically acting out our dreams and getting injured plays an important role in regulating our emotions; EEG patterns look somewhat awake (=paradox) Eye movements first start to roll down and to the left, then become still During REM, eyes move very rapidly Eye movements track with content of dreams Acetylcholine (ACh) is active during REM sleep -ACh usually functions to helps initiate muscle contractions. In REM sleep, ACh functions to make sure our muscles don't become TOO inactive so that when we wake up we are not actually paralyzed.

Disc over water lab

Rats Sleep deprivation in a specific severity is lethal Most commonly used form of torture in the world

Pons & RAS

Reticular activating system (RAS) Norepinephrine alertness Serotonin To thalamus, to cortex Acetylcholine The combination of activation of the neurotransmitter system will affect one's conscious state. When awake: all of these 3 neurotransmitter systems are active 3 types of consciousness: wakefulness, non-rem, and rem sleep Sleep is a state of reduced arousal During REM sleep: Norepinephrine and serotonin are at their lowest levels Acetylcholine is high During non-REM sleep: Norepinephrine and serotonin and acetylcholine are all low

Seizure

Seizure = abnormal electrical activity of brain so that neurons cannot function properly -In case of severe seizures, surgeons will perform brain surgery to understand where in brain seizures are starting → remove that part of brain or rather cut corpus callosum → split brain -Therefore if seizure starts on one side it is isolated to that hemisphere of brain and does not spread

Genetics of Anxiety

Short allele (s) and long allele (l) Each individual is either ss, sl, or ll Highest levels of anxiety in ss, medium levels of anxiety is sl, and lowest levels of anxiety in ll, on average. Neither short nor long is dominant The heterozygous is halfway between dominant and recessive.

Sleep's effect on memory

Sleep plays a critical role in memory. During sleep, in particular NREM, the new memories that are formed in your brain during your waking time are replayed in your hippocampus. New connections are very weak. Hippocampus sends this information to the rest of the brain for storage. Never pull an all-nighter before an exam because there is no chance to solidify the new information. Any sleep is better than none. More sleep = more Neuroplasticity The brain is constantly rewiring itself The brain changes as a result of new experiences Everything you know, remember, and think about is represented in your brain as some pattern of neural connections that are constantly changing.

Functions of Sleep

Strengthens immune system Learning leads to new connections of neurons; the nervous system changes while encoding new information. Initially very fragile During sleep, the new connections are strengthened Weight During sleep, the body produces hormones involved in appetite and metabolism Sleep deprivation triggers certain hormones that increase cravings for high-carbohydrate foods In the US, number of hours of sleep decreased with an almost equivalent increase in weight gain Cleaning out the brain/draining waste products Most of the major organs have lymph nodes which work to drain away waste products But there are no lymph nodes in the brain, though the brain is more mechanically active than any other organ in the body-- the waste products in the brain are cleared during sleep. Protein: beta-amyloid Implicated in Alzheimer's disease (build up in the brain) Impairs the function of the brain Sleep deprivation leads to build up of this protein, forming harmful plaques Thus increases risk for Dementia Blocks clearing of waste products from the brain

Mendelian Genetics

Studied TRAITS/PHENOTYPES of plants Phenotype- any observable characteristic Trait vs. state Trait- a stable, enduring characteristic Ex: eye color State- more temporary; represents how you are right now Ex: level of hunger His experiment: Green vs. yellow (pea plant color) GxG→ G YxY→ Y GxY→ ? Mendel thought he would get a color that is a mix between green and yellow, but he observed the offspring plants all had green peas. He then bred two second generation plants and got 75% green peas and 25% yellow peas in the third generation. Discovered that we have two copies of each gene Each copy=allele Ex- GGxGG→ GG Homozygous green We have two copies of alleles, but only one gets passed onto the offspring (one from each parent) Ex- GGxYY→ GY Ex- GYxGY→ GG, GY, GY, YY =75% green, 25% yellow Discovered that certain alleles are dominant and certain alleles can be recessive. Only way to see a recessive phenotype is when it is homozygous recessive.

Studies to find out brain works

Study bizarre injuries to find out how the brain works/functions. Civil war -Improved medical technology -Improved weapons technology

Sensory Memory

Thalamus = Sensory relay station very quick, (2-3 sec) Cocktail party effect You aren't listening to all other conversations around you until you hear your name -- then you start to focus on that conversation because it is relevant to you. Your brain was listening to those other conversations but wasn't focusing on it until there was a SALIENT STIMULUS- relevant Certain stimuli are universally salient (everyone notices): Ex: Lights go out in lecture hall Other stimuli are not salient because you can't constantly pay attention to all of your senses.

Insomnia

The most common sleep disorders - involving insufficient sleep, the inability to fall asleep quickly, frequent arousals, or early awakenings. 10-15% of US population has insomnia on a chronic basis 25-30% of US population has intermittent insomnia (not chronic) 2 main treatment options 1)Medications 2) Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) Train your brain into having a healthy pattern A stressful event can cause insomnia initially but body can get stuck in the cycle of insomnia even after emotions are better CBT tries to break that unhealthy pattern

Adoption study

Track down birth mother and adoptive study for a large number of individuals. See if the individual is more like the birth mother or the adoptive mother. Individual shares genetics with birth mother but environment with adoptive mother. Assumption: individual and birth mother did not share environment. Truth: they share 9 months of environment together (during pregnancy) and shared the same bloodstream. Ex: fetal alcohol syndrome

Hippocampus and memory

Injuring part of the brain can help researchers understand more about the brain. Ex: Henry Molaison had most of his hippocampus removed to try and cure his epilepsy -Destroying hippocampus=can't store long term memory -Not all memories require the hippocampus -HM got better and better at a task in subsequent days even though he didn't think he remembered ever doing it. Tower of London test: participants with damage to hippocampus have no long-term memory of building the tower; but remember the task for next time as shown through improved performance (procedural memory and nondeclarative)

Genetics of Insomnia

Insomnia is 30-40% heritable What are those genes and what are the variants in those genes?

Gestalt principles of perceptual organization

Laws that explain the regularities in the way people come to the perceptual interpretations of stimuli. The emphasis is on the apprehension of whole structures rather on than the detection and assembly of parts of structures. Brain uses top-down processing to fill in the gaps and speed up processing 1) Continuance- the eye is compelled to move from one object through another 2) Proximity- when objects are placed together, the eye perceives them as a group 3) Similarity- when objects look similar to one another, the eye perceives them as a group or pattern 4) Closure- when an object is incomplete or not completely enclosed 5) Figure & ground- when the eye differentiates an object from it surrounding area. -Our brain looks for faces where faces don't necessarily exist//our predisposition to see faces Ex: jesus face on potato chip hehe searched for images bc you need images to visualize Gestalt and one of the first ones that came up is straight from my MCAT book >:)

Eye Physiology

Lens focuses the light Can change shape based on how far away an object is; focuses on back of eye, then retina turns image upside down. Rods- white and gray, in periphery of the eye Cones- color vision, in center of the eye Different cones correspond to different colors of light Fovea is center of visual system; contains tons of cones so it has the most visual acuity out of any part of the eye Light hits the rods and cones --> then the bipolar cells --> then the ganglion cells

Sleep Homeostasis

Longer periods of sleep deprivation results in need for a greater sleep drive -Full night of sleep can return you to original state prior to sleep deprivation Main chemical: adenosine (acts like a neurotransmitter in the brain) Builds up in the brain when we are awake and repackages when we sleep Is a marker of sleep drive Caffeine binds to adenosine receptors better than adenosine does -Leads to adenosine build up -Brain doesn't feel effect of adenosine -Thus, caffeine blocks the sleep drive

Twin study

Look at the correlation (r) in the MZ and DZ data Though MZ are more similar genetically compared to DZ, they are not more similar phenotypically (effects of environment largely cancel out) Ex: r(MZ)=0.8 and r(DZ)=0.4 Individuals who are more similar genotypically (MZ) are also more similar phenotypically [(rMZ)-(rDZ)] *2= heritability Issues with twin study: Assumption: MZ and DZ twins share their respective environment to the same extent. Truth: Parents treat MZ twins more similarly than DZ twins. Not a fatal flaw to this study design, but it is a problem.

Memory Network

Memories are stored in your brain as this interconnected conceptual map, where nodes are all linked together like connect the dots Nodes- conceptually connected for related information Ex: types of birds During NREM sleep, new synaptic connections are strengthened In REM sleep, that information is integrated in your memory network and connected with other nodes.

Midbrain

Midbrain = middle of the brain known collectively as the limbic system Limbic system- midbrain structures involved in regulating emotion. Main part: amygdala "almond," plays significant part in emotion regulation. Hippocampus- "seahorse," fairly big structure, most critical function is for forming memories, also helps with emotion. Hypothalamus- master gland of the body, regulates the pituitary gland. Pituitary gland- controls the release of hormones into the body. Thalamus- sensory relay station Most sensory information goes to thalamus first, then converted to electrical information Then sent to other parts of the brain to process it *smell does not pass through the thalamus; goes straight to the brain. Basal ganglia- also involved in movement, main site of degeneration in Parkinson's disease -Symptoms include problems in motor coordination

Consciousness

Moment by moment awareness of ourselves, our thoughts, and our environment. Involves awareness Introspection Problems: people lie, etc But very commonly used method = Study people with known brain injuries/diseases/problems and observe the effects Can relate this to one's conscious experience Consciousness is not a uniform experience Level of arousal (x-axis) vs. clarity (y-axis) to measure consciousness Deep sleep= low arousal, low clarity Dreaming= low arousal, high clarity Coma and brain dead= very low levels of arousal and clarity Sleepwalking= high arousal, low clarity Anastesia= mid-low arousal, mid clarity (depends on degree) Drowsiness= mid arousal, mid clarity Automatic processing= high arousal, high clarity Controlled process= very high arousal, very high clarity (requires a lot of mental energy; can later become an automatic process)

Types of Twins

Monozygotic (MZ) 1 fertilized egg that divides into 2 Both eggs are genetically identical because they came from the same zygote Share 100% of genetic composition =identical twins Dizygotic (DZ) Two separate eggs get fertilized Same as siblings- share on average 50% of genetic material =fraternal twins

Information flowing through neuron

Most information processing happens in the neurons. Flow of information; unidirectional (from dendrites → soma → axon→ terminal endings → to the next neuron) Electrical current flowing- how information is conveyed. Myelin sheath- specialized kind of glial cell that wraps itself around the axon, acting as an insulator, keeping the electrical current inside. Demyelinating disorder- multiple sclerosis (MS) Neurons lose electrical current//become "leaky." Nodes of Ranvier- spaces in between myelin sheath along axon. Neuron would not function without them.

Non-REM (nREM) Sleep

N1- very light sleep; when you first fall asleep N2- average sleep N3- deepest sleep; most restoring; makes you feel most rested the next day Mostly happens in the early part of the night Repeat cycle (N1, N2, N3, REM) 4-6 times in the span of a night Each sleep cycle lasts approximately 90 minutes but can vary considerably. Most of REM sleep happens later in the night Easiest to wake someone up out of REM sleep, hardest to wake someone up out of N3 (this is why people say there is a perfect time to set your alarm. REM is really short, often just 10 minutes. but if you wake up during REM you wake up easily from your alarm and feel refreshed) Ideal nap time is 15-20 minutes. -you don't hit slow wave deep sleep yet, you're probably just in N2. you wake up very alert. waking up during N3 makes you feel groggy and probably worse than when you started to nap

Spreading Activation

Occurs when one item brought into working memory triggers an activation of related memory Use it when you can't think of a specific piece of information, such as a name. Start activating neighboring, connected nodes to try to remember it. Everytime you retrieve information and put it into short term memory, you RESTORE it in long term memory. Problem: not necessarily a pure representation of the original memory. How memory errors begin. The degree to which we feel confident about a memory does not make that memory more likely to be true. (spreading activation is a key issue in psych experiments. sometimes participants will claim they're remembering something relevant to the experiment, but they're actually remembering something separate but related)

Behavioral Genetics

Variant = difference in genetics; has small effect on biology Behavioral genetics- looking for gene variants that influence thoughts, feelings, and behavior.

Split brain patients

Visual information on right field is processed by left hemisphere, while information on left field is processed by right hemisphere Due to split brain, two halves of occipital lobe (vision) cannot communicate with one another Because the speech/language center is in the left hemisphere, they are only able to verbalize the word on the right side; though they see and process the word on the left side they cannot read it However if asked to grab object that matches the word on the left side, they would be able to do so (due to somatosensory cortex in right hemisphere)

Genetic Mutation

a change of the sequence of a DNA molecule Example: Down syndrome: trisomy 21= 3 copies of the 21st chromosome All of the genes on chromosome 21 makes 50% more protein than an individual with typical 2 copies of the chromosome.

Transporter

a protein involved in re-uptake of neurotransmitters to presynaptic neuron Ex: dopamine transporter is responsible for the re-uptake of dopamine

Perception

how our brain makes sense of the sensory information it received through sensation; your brain's interpretation of your surroundings Color is a production of your brain Only thing that goes to occipital lobe is chemical and electrical activity Color is just a particular pattern of this activity Our senses cannot be trusted as being 100% accurate Our brain makes things with sharper edges/boundaries

chunking/clustering

memory trick that involves taking individual elements of a large list and grouping them together into groups of elements with related meaning Identifying patterns into more meaningful pieces A way to get around the limited capacity of working memory Example of a mnemonic- a memory trick or strategy. Changing the way that memory is being stored

Genes vs. Environment

nature vs nurture Ex: schizophrenia is about 80% related to genetics (heritability) Not everything is related to genetics Try to find degree of heritability Due to genetic factors; can range from 0%-100% Ex- Down Syndrome has 100% heritability Need to separate what is going on with individual and population Personality is about 50% heritable, on average Amount for each individual can vary Describes overall population, not individual

Priming

nodes that are more easily remembered than others Ex: Bad moods tend to be self-perpetuating We tend to think of bad things --> be in bad mood

Occipital lobe

primary function is vision

Motion Perception

process of inferring the speed and direction of objects that move in a visual scene given some visual input -Brain learns short cuts very early in development trying to make sense of raw visual information coming in -Different motions that brain learns early on in development -Brain is always trying to make sense of raw visual images and uses different techniques to do so -Brain's interpretation of physical stimuli, not totally reality.

Somatosensory Cortex

receives touch sensation Same principles apply from motor cortex (right somatosensory cortex receives input from left side, left somatosensory cortex receives input from right) Amount of somatosensory cortex dedicated to part of body is proportional to how sensitive to touch that part of body is

Temporal lobe

split into right and left temporal lobes because they're on the sides of the brain -main function = sound (think this lobe is near the ears) and comprehending language (think about how you have to process and make sense of what you hear) Primarily the left temporal lobe houses language capabilities Wernicke's area: understanding language -damage results in receptive aphasia -patient can produce speech, but are saying a string of words that actually doesn't make any sense even thought to them it sounds comprehensible

Subliminal advertising

supposedly hidden messages in marketers' communications -advertisers take advantage of our absolute threshold to very subtly include messages that we may not even realize were in the ad, but it stays in our subconscious

Brain Anatomy & Consciousness

thalamus, hippocampus, amygdala in midbrain help shape conscious experience hippocampus -Critical for formation of memories -Your existence at every moment is a reflection of what has happened to you in the past. -Your experience at any one moment is shaped by what happened in the past moments -Thus memory plays a very important role -Our memories of the past are the filter in which we see the present. Amygdala -Emotions are a critical aspect of our moment-by-moment experience -Shapes our conscious experience. Hindbrain also shapes our conscious experience

Depth perception

the ability to see objects in three dimensions although the images that strike the retina are two-dimensional; and the ability to judge distance -comprised of both binocular cues (rely on information from both eyes) & monocular cues (only needs one eye)

Thalamus

the brain's sensory switchboard, located on top of the brainstem; it directs messages to the sensory receiving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla (except smell is not filtered through the thalamus) -helps the brain to only think about sensations that require thought Ex: we don't actively think about the sensation of clothes on our body unless the clothes feel uncomfortable

Depth of Processing

the idea that information that is thought about at a deeper level is better remembered Our brain is much more able to remember stories and examples than facts. Try to teach/explain information to other people. Helpful to write information down. Remember info through songs Ex: schoolhouse rock METHOD OF LOCI memory enhancement which uses visualizations with the use of spatial memory, familiar information about one's environment, to quickly and efficiently recall information. Ex: say you have a grocery list. if you attribute each item on your list to a room in your house, so that the shopping trip is like visualizing taking a walk through your home, you'll remember your shopping list better (idk what this is sorry :/ )Take the first letter of each word and make a word out of it Ex: HOMES for great lakes Emotions Information or events that are associated with stronger emotions are more easily remembered (positive and negative emotions) Direct connection from amygdala to hippocampus "Emotional tags" on memories Information from working to long term memory= the process of encoding Individuals encode information differently

Corpus Callosum

the large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages between them

Absolute threshold

the minimum intensity of stimulation that must occur before you experience a sensation Ex: need at least 1 tsp of sugar in 2 gallons of water to taste any amount of sweetness -Less than this: too small of a difference for the conscious mind to recognize a difference.

Blind Spot

the point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a "blind" spot because no receptor cells are located there -specifically located in optic disk, the head of the optic nerve -images get reprocessed

Sensation

the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment -involves sensory external organs from raw stimuli in environment; eye, ear, skin, nose taking in information from the outside world and transducing it to the brain -transduction: Converting a physical stimulus into electrical and chemical activity. Eyes transduce light waves into electrical activity Ears transduce sound waves into electrical activity [(Hannah in her notes wrote "Know some basics about the other senses from textbook (general details of how they work") idk if you have more detail in your lecture notes jic]

Long term memory

the relatively permanent storage of information -If information only ever makes it to working memory, once it is out of your working memory, it is gone. -But, if you are able to store the information in long term memory it is available for retrieval/memory Hippocampus is very important in transition of information from short term memory to long term memory. How primacy/recency effect works w/ long-term memory: -Brain is able to store information at beginning of list in long term memory- therefore relatively unaffected by interference But it's more complicated for the middle and end of a list But hippocampus can't keep up with pace of new information- becomes less active- middle of list remains in working memory. Last group of words causes interference and you lose the middle group. Can recall last group of words usually because it is still retained in working memory, unless there is some form of interference. Ex: when you revisit a surah that you haven't reviewed in awhile, you can usually recite the first few ayat before struggling to remember the rest

Psychology

the science of thoughts (cognition), feelings (emotions), and behavior (actions)

The Trichromatic Theory

theory of color vision that proposes three types of cones: red, blue, and green different cones respond to different wavelengths of light Short wavelength cones (blue-violet) Medium wavelength cones (yellow to green) Long wavelength cones (orange to red) Any color can stimulate the combination of cones which stimulates perception Can combine any of the cones to make the color seen (Ex: combine red and blue cones to see purple)

Activation-Synthesis Theory

theory that dreams reflect inputs from brain activation originating in the pons, which the forebrain then attempts to weave into a story At least 2 things going on during REM sleep: Largely random activation Brain tries to synthesize it into a coherent narrative Why our dreams often make no sense and jump from one thing to another Theory believes that our dreams really have no meaning to them; no need to analyze them

Opponent Process Model

theory that within the bipolar cells exists 3 opposite color pairs: 1) Blue-yellow 2) Red-green 3) Black-white Ex:Activation of blue sensitive cells---Inhibition of yellow sensitive cells -Afterimages are caused when the eye's photoreceptors adapt to overstimulation and lose sensitivity Ex:Activation of blue sensitive cells---Inhibition of yellow sensitive cells Cones get tired... get less responsive over time -But inhibition of opposite color is still there Gets released after staring at one color for a long time-- due to fatigue of cones for that color. Opposite color becomes dominant temporarily because it is not fatigued This theory helps explain red/green color blindness

Working Memory

used to be called short term memory -What you are actively, consciously thinking about Primacy-recency effect You are most likely to remember information at the beginning and at the end of a list/sequence Demonstrates one of the features of working memory: LIMITED CAPACITY, 7+/- 2 pieces of information typically you can remember 5 to 9 pieces of information at once MAINTENANCE REHEARSAL Trying to maintain new information in working memory -Repeating items over and over to oneself INTERFERENCE -a new memory that blocks your ability to remember what you are trying to use your working memory for Ex: countdown from 30 after receiving new information Decreases memory of new information because of limited capacity of working memory

Rods and Cones

where transduction is taking place Have axons and terminal ends to synapse with bipolar cells which then synapse with the ganglion cell ganglion cell's axons then come together to form the optic nerve = a bundle of nerves Brain can put the two images from the visual field together using top-down processing (think of how when you see a billboard you recognize general features like its main message, then you notice finer details like the phone number to contact)

How much sleep do we need?

8 hours, on average, for good health Distribution in the population At puberty, sleep need increases As a teenager, optimal sleep is 8.5-9 hours After about a week of sleep deprivation, people seem to adapt to it When you are chronically sleep deprived, you lose the ability to rate your own level of impairment.

Steps to carry out Research Study

1. Form a hypothesis Based off of observations. To be a scientific hypothesis- must be measurable and testable Define hypotheses with operational definition, and be specific Quality AND quantity. Bad Ex: "Students who sleep less have worse academic behavior." Bad because how do you define sleep and academic behavior. vs Good Ex: Fewer hours of sleep as measured by self-reported sleep schedules is associated with worse academic performance measured with college GPA. Most have independent (IV) and dependent variables (DV). Ex: hours of sleep (IV) → academic performance (DV) Placebo (control) groups 2. Do a literature review 3. Design the study Sample must be representative of population. Almost never just interested in the sample-- interested in what is true about the broader population. Must define population based on scientific question of interest. Very difficult to get truly representative sample. Therefore, every study is biased (in some way). Only through true random sampling. Every person in the population has an equal chance of being selected for the study. Generalizability/external validity of study to world. Size The larger the sample, the more like the population (statistically). How much is enough? -depends on nature of study. -Internal validity -Experimental control. Lying, underreporting and overreporting=systematic biases. -Strongest type of design from internal validity perspective=experimental design. Manipulations. Assign to different groups (experimental and control groups). Measure differences in variable of interest in beginning and end of experiment. Use random assignment (to experimental and control groups) to reduce confounding variables/alternative explanations --> high internal validity. Cross sectional study -Correlational research. Relationship between IV and DV. Weakness: no causation. -No such thing as a perfect study- there are always flaws. 4. Conduct the study 5. Analyze the results -Descriptive statistics. Describing the sample. What is it like, what relationships are there, etc. Only about the sample. -Inferential statistics. Sample → Population. Based on what I know about the sample, what can I infer about the population? Small sample size- hard to make inferences about population. *Bigger sample size- greater ability to draw conclusions about population. The p (probability) value. Less than or equal to 0.05. Confident that the results/relationship are not due to chance. If in reality there is no effect/no difference, what is the probability that you would have found this difference anyway? Could see significant result in sample (especially if small) but not seen in population. 6. Report the results To contribute to larger science community. Increase funding. Replication is critical

3 Types of Memory

1. Sensory 2. Working 3. Long-term