Biopsychology Motivation and internal regulation
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Biopsychology Motivation and internal regulation - Leaderboard
Biopsychology Motivation and internal regulation - Details
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40 questions
| 🇬🇧 | 🇬🇧 |
| How does sleep work? | Animals have rhythms that correspond to functional activity of animal |
| Biological clock | Rhythm is a response to an external stimulus animals have an internal mechanism |
| What is the Endogenous circadian rhythms? | Internally controlled cycles that last about a day |
| Evidence for circadian rhythms: | If you stay up all night, you feel sleepier as it gets later but perk up a bit in the morning animals kept in total darkness still keep to a 24h cycle humans kept in an environment with a 28hr cycle cannot synchronise, and go back to 24hr cycle blind and deaf animals have normal circadian rhythms |
| What does the SCN brain area do? | Damage to SCN = damage to circadian rhythms remove SCN and keep tissue culture and it continues to produce 24hr rhythm of action potentials hamsters who had a 20hr SCN implanted started to live a 20hr cycle |
| How does SCN control circadian rhythms? | Controls the pineal gland = endocrine hormone behind thalamus releases melatonin = hormone makes us sleepy |
| Upsetting the biological clock | Internal clock but responds to environment feedback system between world and clock allows adaptation stimulus that changes the clock is called 'zeitgeber' good for changes in seasons |
| What is the zetigeber? | Means 'time giver' for most land mammals = zeitgeber is light but also respond to exercise, noise, temp, meals some marine mammals respond to tides |
| How does jet lag disrupt rhythms? | Disruption by crossing time zones sleeping at wrong times, depression, lack of concentration, nausea mismatch between bio clock and external stimuli |
| What is a phase delay and phase advance? | Phase delay: delaying your sleep - easier phase advance: sleeping earlier |
| How does shift work disrupt rhythms? | Even after years of shift work, people still have disruptive sleep patterns feel fatigued can't sleep well during the day don't adjust well to working at night |
| Why is light so important? | Small branch of optic nerve goes straight to SCN comes from special ganglion cells special photopigment, melanopsin (not rods or cones) respond directly to lights respond slowly and turn off slowly so SCN can gauge the time of day |
| How can stages of sleep be detected? | With an EEG eeg can detect electrical signals of spontaneous brain activity |
| Describe the 4 stages of sleep: | Stage 1 and 2: irregular activity, high but declining, bursts of activity in stage 2, cortex still receiving sensory light stage 3 and 4: slow wave sleep (SWS) = neuronal activity is highly synchronised, sensory input reduced |
| What is REM sleep? | 90min cycles rapid eye movement also called paradoxical sleep neither light nor deep sleep light because lots of brain activity deep because muscles are relaxed |
| What is the brain doing during REM? | Lateral geniculate nucleus in the thalamus (limbic system) = emotions Pons (brainstem) = 'bridge' axons from cortex to spinal cord = movement (inhibits) |
| What happens when you lesion the pons? | Did this to cats cats still had REM sleep but muscles not relaxed chased prey |
| What is the insomnia sleeping disorder? | Stress, anxiety, depression shifting circadian rhythms dependence on sleeping pills |
| What is sleep apnea sleeping disorder? | Inability to breathe while sleeping due to obesity or old age? |
| What is narcolepsy sleeping disorder? | Attacks of sleepiness during the day REM during the day? |
| What is the periodic limb movement disorder? | Involuntary movement of the legs/arms maybe something to do with pons? |
| Function of sleep? | A form of hibernation? conserving energy when you can't get much done - food is scarce, light is too light/low hibernating hamsters live longer than other hamsters |
| Animals vary in how much sleep depending on: | Safety from predators how much time they need to find food whether they need to surface for air |
| Where does lack of sleep lead? | Causes dizziness, hallucinations etc eventually the immune system shuts down in severely deprived animals more sleep enhances memory |
| Facts about REM sleep | We spend 1/5 sleep in REM sleep emotional activity during REM if deprived, the brain attempts REM during waking hours babies have more REM sleep than adults mammals and birds have REM sleep must be a biological function |
| Why do we need sleep? what is it for? | To strengthen memories - weed out pointless connections sleep overall improves memory anti-depressant drugs (MAO inhibitors) reduce REM and people have memory problems |
| Dreaming: The activation - synthesis hypothesis: | Effort to make sense of distorted info PGO waves from Pons activate parts of cortex, which synthesises a story but not always in REM |
| Dreaming: The clinico-anatomical hypothesis: | Dreaming is thinking senses are supressed, so brain left to own devices motor cortex suppressed so no action pre-frontal cortex suppressed so no working memory to piece together a believable story |
| Temperature regulation: | To regulate temperature, humans: sweat shiver blood vessel constriction blood vessel dilation pre-optic area: near hypothalamus - changes in its own temp, and temp receptors in skin |
| Thirst: | Humans have flexible strategies depending on circumstances if water is scarce - pituitary gland releases vasopressin blood vessels constrict raises blood pressure and compensates for the flow fluid volume vasopressin is an antidiuretic hormone (ADH) - makes urine more concentrated |
| Why do hangovers make us thirsty? | Drinking alcohol blocks production of vasopressin by pituitary gland prevents kidneys absorbing water makes urine more diluted morning after experience massive widespread dehydration - hence very thirsty |
| Hunger: how do we know what to eat? | Combination of learned and unlearned strategies learned from peers, culture but innate tastes are essential likeness of sweet food, disgust for bitter/sour |
| Hunger: how do we know when to eat? | Hypothalamus (associated with regulating behaviours) has neurons sensitive to hunger and feeling full these feeding mechanisms seem to have changed very little from mammalian times many areas involved so can make errors, but can also be compensated |
| Eating disorders: Obesity | Problem in industrialised countries huge cultural influence social aspect of eating in our biology - tendency to like fatty foods some genetic disorders |
| Eating disorders: Anorexia nervosa: | Unwillingness to eat 0.3% of young women perception of fatness even when thin body deterioration, muscle wasting, death unlikely to be genetic serious condition |
| Eating disorder: bulimia nervosa: | Extreme dieting mixed with binge eating vomit after meals imbalance of hormones associated with feeding but may result in erratic eating rather than cause |
| How does our sex and gender affect our behaviour - evolutionary theory: | We are the product of successful strategies, so should have inherited successful strategies men and women were subject to different selection pressures in evolutionary history - therefore exhibit different traits |
| Reproductive behaviours: | Men and women differ: sexual strategies - reproductive behaviour Mate choice, attitude to sexual behaviour |
| Reproductive behaviours men vs women | Men: numerous mobile sperm; potential to father many offspring more promiscuous women: few immobile eggs; maximum 20 in a lifetime the 'choosy' sex 'evolutionary battle of the sexes' |
| Sexual strategies: role of hormones: | Men: androgens (testosterone) produced in testes and the adrenal gland sensitises regions of the brain underlying sexual motivation removal of the testes (i.e. cancer) results in decreased sex drive, but still some production in brain women: oestrogen produced by ovaries and androgens produced by adrenal gland androgens associated with sex drive postmenopausal women can still have high sex drive due to androgen production |