We are conscious of many things, but in particular, our environment and ourselves.The different degrees are the persistent vegetative state and the minimally conscious state.
A split brain is a brain that is separated at the corpus callosum so that the two halves are almost completely isolated. The brain gets responses from sight and things from both sides of the brain, when you take that away, you take away the brain's unified consciousness.
While one is asleep, the type of brain waves change. Frequency decreases while amplitude increases as the stage deepens. We measure the wave change during sleep to determine brain activity.
Hypnosis is a social interaction in which a person responds to another person's suggestions and changes their memory, perception or voluntary action. The Stroop test was used to show that hypnotism is an altered state of consciousness.
Addiction is a body's dependence on a substance. Dopamine and insula play a strong role in addiction, because these areas involve how a brain evaluates pleasurable experiences.
The brain's functions are based off of electrical signals that control what kind of actions and thoughts go on. When a person is paralyzed, he or she is unable to get those electric signals to work correctly, for whatever reasons. However, due to Brain Computer Interfacing, if a person has a robotic limb or something with a computer that can interpret those signals then they should be able to perform some simple tasks they weren't able to prior to the use of BCI.
Blindsight, a condition in which a person, who most likely suffered damage to the visual system, is unable to see everything in their sight. Normally a person with blindsight will only lose a portion of their visual window. When a stimuli is present in the blind field, the patient can still respond to it, however its unconsciously, so the person is unaware of it. When a moving dot is in the blindspot and the person must identify which way its moving, though they cannot see it, they usually guess right when they are pressed to answer.
REM sleep is rapid eye movement sleep, when the eyes dart back and forth during sleep. Its also called paradoxical sleep. Chances are the person is dreaming when REM is active.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Chapter 3
A genotype is an organism's constitution, or basically how a gene is made up at the time of conception. Phenotype is an organisms physical characteristics, resulting from outside influences such as the environment.
Motor neurons direct the muscles to contract or relax which will produce movement. Sensory neurons detect info from the physical world and send it to the brain, traveling through the spinal cord. Interneurons communicate within local or short distance circuits.
Dopamine serves as a neurotransmitter communicating which activities are rewarding or pleasurable. It also controls involuntary movement.
The amygdala serves as a tool for helping us associate things with emotional responses. It has the ability to sear a fearful into our mind for the rest of our lives'.
Learning is shown in the brain not by the number of connections in the brain, but by the strength of each connection. A faster firing connection means something is 'known better' than something with a slower connection.
Dizygotic twins are two zygotes that are closely related. Monozygotic twins are identical twins that can only be the same sex. They have the same chromosomes and genes on each chromosomes, which means the mono twins will have more similarities. One way to study whether or not behavior is genetically inherited is to study monozygotic twins who have been separated and raised by different families. If they have the same personality, behavior and traits, then chances are there are things that are inherited from biological parents.
Axons are the extended part of a neuron that is used for transmitting info to other neurons. They vary in length and carry messages from the brain to other parts of the body. Dendrites are short branchlike appendages that increase the neuron's receptive field and detect chemical signals from neighboring neurons. In other words, a dendrite specializes in receiving while an axon is used for sending.
Action potential (aka neural firing), is the electrical signal that passes along the axon and causes chemical releases that will send signals to other neurons. Resting potential is when a neuron is resting and the charges differ on the outside and the inside. During action potential, certain ion channels will open or close, thus altering the charges in the neuron.
A neurotransmitter is a chemical signal that will activate or inhibit a function of a neighboring cell. There are many types of neurotransmitters, such as endorphins and serotonin. Each type will trigger a certain thing. The neurotransmitter is sent into a microscopic gap, called a synapse from axons, which will be received by the dendrite.
Motor neurons direct the muscles to contract or relax which will produce movement. Sensory neurons detect info from the physical world and send it to the brain, traveling through the spinal cord. Interneurons communicate within local or short distance circuits.
Dopamine serves as a neurotransmitter communicating which activities are rewarding or pleasurable. It also controls involuntary movement.
The amygdala serves as a tool for helping us associate things with emotional responses. It has the ability to sear a fearful into our mind for the rest of our lives'.
Learning is shown in the brain not by the number of connections in the brain, but by the strength of each connection. A faster firing connection means something is 'known better' than something with a slower connection.
Dizygotic twins are two zygotes that are closely related. Monozygotic twins are identical twins that can only be the same sex. They have the same chromosomes and genes on each chromosomes, which means the mono twins will have more similarities. One way to study whether or not behavior is genetically inherited is to study monozygotic twins who have been separated and raised by different families. If they have the same personality, behavior and traits, then chances are there are things that are inherited from biological parents.
Axons are the extended part of a neuron that is used for transmitting info to other neurons. They vary in length and carry messages from the brain to other parts of the body. Dendrites are short branchlike appendages that increase the neuron's receptive field and detect chemical signals from neighboring neurons. In other words, a dendrite specializes in receiving while an axon is used for sending.
Action potential (aka neural firing), is the electrical signal that passes along the axon and causes chemical releases that will send signals to other neurons. Resting potential is when a neuron is resting and the charges differ on the outside and the inside. During action potential, certain ion channels will open or close, thus altering the charges in the neuron.
A neurotransmitter is a chemical signal that will activate or inhibit a function of a neighboring cell. There are many types of neurotransmitters, such as endorphins and serotonin. Each type will trigger a certain thing. The neurotransmitter is sent into a microscopic gap, called a synapse from axons, which will be received by the dendrite.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Chapter 1: The Brain, The Mind, And Various Other Things
Okay....so here's my discussion questions about Chapter 1 and possibly the article on studying and testing...I don't know, I'm writing this before basketball practice so lets see how far I can get.
First off we're going to talk about scans, but not just any kind of scans, we're talking fMRI scans. These things are incredible. They take pictures of your brain during various activities and then study it to see what parts and emotions are activated at given times. You've got to admit that's pretty cool, since it gives scientists and psychologists a better chance to push their theories and studies further.You know, since they can see brain activity and all.
Psychology is an empirical science. For those of you who don't know what empirical means, or forgot....it means the ability to be observed or interpreted with our senses. So psychology is an empirical science because it allows us to use our senses, mainly sight, to study things, such as behavior and/or actions and reactions to a given scenario, etc....
The mind and adaptivity; evidently they go together. At least that's what my book told me, and usually the book's right. Our brains have come quite a ways over a short period of time if you think about it. From creating fire by rubbing two sticks together, creating the lightbulb, then creating all these newfangled contraptions called Blackberries and iPods, our minds have learned to adapt and change the human lifestyle greatly.
Psychology became a discipline around the 1870s, in Wilhelm Wundt's laboratory in Germany. Across the pond in America, William James became critical of Wundt's original structural theory. James claimed that the brain was far too complicated to break down. I'm inclined to believe him.
Several professions use psychological science. However I'm only going to list two: Physicians, who need to know how to relate to their patients and how to study how the behavior of their patients affects the patients' health. According to the Bureau of Labor, psychology majors can get a job nearly everywhere. You can be a police officer, social worker, attorney's assistant, or eve a research assistant! Oh the possibilities.
What is psychological science? That's a good question. I believe its the study of the mind, brain and behavior using science or scientific methods. This goes back to the whole "psychology is an empirical science" theory. We can use our senses to study people and what they do, and maybe a dive a little deeper into why they do things.
The brain and the mind, are they related? Possibly. You see...there's this thing called Dualism. The idea, thought of by Rene Descartes, was that the mind and the brain are separate, yet intertwined. The mind, which controlled action, was divine and separate from the body. Most psychologists disprove that theory however, and instead believe the mind is what the brain does.
Onto the levels of analysis. There are four of them; biological, individual, social, and cultural. Evidently, if you want to analyze something about the mind, you have to tackle one of these specific levels. Music, studied across different cultures, affects emotions and thought processes greatly. Pleasant music, which varies according to its listener, releases serotonin in the brain, making one feel good and elevate mood.
It's kind of sad to admit, but once again, women got cheated in history. Turns out they had a very strong impact on psychology, but the fact they were female brought them down. Consider Mary W. Calkins, who studied with William James at Harvard. She chose to dive into philosophical psychology, but had trouble because it was new to America. Nevertheless, she excelled at every test and should have earned a PhD from Harvard. However, it was refused. Margaret Washburn had better luck, earning her PhD and becoming the first woman to ever earn one in Psychology. Nowadays women have taken over, with 70% of all psychology majors being women. Good job ladies.
Critical thinking. A systematic way of evaluating information to reach reasonable conclusions. In order to be a critical thinker, you can't just accept something. You have to ask "Why?". When conducting an experiment, ALL aspects of the scenario have to be looked at, including holes in the experiment, seeing alternative conclusions, and using logic to explain things the best you can. Your critical thinking can be improved by studying and understanding psychology to better get a grip on the mind and brain, and how they function.
First off we're going to talk about scans, but not just any kind of scans, we're talking fMRI scans. These things are incredible. They take pictures of your brain during various activities and then study it to see what parts and emotions are activated at given times. You've got to admit that's pretty cool, since it gives scientists and psychologists a better chance to push their theories and studies further.You know, since they can see brain activity and all.
Psychology is an empirical science. For those of you who don't know what empirical means, or forgot....it means the ability to be observed or interpreted with our senses. So psychology is an empirical science because it allows us to use our senses, mainly sight, to study things, such as behavior and/or actions and reactions to a given scenario, etc....
The mind and adaptivity; evidently they go together. At least that's what my book told me, and usually the book's right. Our brains have come quite a ways over a short period of time if you think about it. From creating fire by rubbing two sticks together, creating the lightbulb, then creating all these newfangled contraptions called Blackberries and iPods, our minds have learned to adapt and change the human lifestyle greatly.
Psychology became a discipline around the 1870s, in Wilhelm Wundt's laboratory in Germany. Across the pond in America, William James became critical of Wundt's original structural theory. James claimed that the brain was far too complicated to break down. I'm inclined to believe him.
Several professions use psychological science. However I'm only going to list two: Physicians, who need to know how to relate to their patients and how to study how the behavior of their patients affects the patients' health. According to the Bureau of Labor, psychology majors can get a job nearly everywhere. You can be a police officer, social worker, attorney's assistant, or eve a research assistant! Oh the possibilities.
What is psychological science? That's a good question. I believe its the study of the mind, brain and behavior using science or scientific methods. This goes back to the whole "psychology is an empirical science" theory. We can use our senses to study people and what they do, and maybe a dive a little deeper into why they do things.
The brain and the mind, are they related? Possibly. You see...there's this thing called Dualism. The idea, thought of by Rene Descartes, was that the mind and the brain are separate, yet intertwined. The mind, which controlled action, was divine and separate from the body. Most psychologists disprove that theory however, and instead believe the mind is what the brain does.
Onto the levels of analysis. There are four of them; biological, individual, social, and cultural. Evidently, if you want to analyze something about the mind, you have to tackle one of these specific levels. Music, studied across different cultures, affects emotions and thought processes greatly. Pleasant music, which varies according to its listener, releases serotonin in the brain, making one feel good and elevate mood.
It's kind of sad to admit, but once again, women got cheated in history. Turns out they had a very strong impact on psychology, but the fact they were female brought them down. Consider Mary W. Calkins, who studied with William James at Harvard. She chose to dive into philosophical psychology, but had trouble because it was new to America. Nevertheless, she excelled at every test and should have earned a PhD from Harvard. However, it was refused. Margaret Washburn had better luck, earning her PhD and becoming the first woman to ever earn one in Psychology. Nowadays women have taken over, with 70% of all psychology majors being women. Good job ladies.
Critical thinking. A systematic way of evaluating information to reach reasonable conclusions. In order to be a critical thinker, you can't just accept something. You have to ask "Why?". When conducting an experiment, ALL aspects of the scenario have to be looked at, including holes in the experiment, seeing alternative conclusions, and using logic to explain things the best you can. Your critical thinking can be improved by studying and understanding psychology to better get a grip on the mind and brain, and how they function.
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