Summary
Summary AQA psychology A-level biopsychology notes
- Module
- Biopsychology
- Institution
- AQA
AQA psychology A-level biopsychology notes
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BiopsychologyThe divisions of the nervous system
• The nervous system: complex network of
nerve cells that carry messages to and from
brain and spinal cord, to the body.
• Central nervous system: the brain and sp
cord, controls behaviours, regulates physiol
processes. Sends messages to muscles and
glands
• Spinal cord: relays information between th
• brain and body, allows the brain to regulate
Brain: receives information from sensory receptors, occipital lobe- processes visua
bodily processes, coordinates voluntary
information, brain stem- regulates automatic functions (breathing, heart beat)
• movements
Peripheral nervous system: nerves outside the CNS, relay nerve impulses from
to the body and back
• Somatic nervous system: transmits and receives messages from the sense via
different types of neurons, sensory- send messages to CNS, motor- pass info from C
to body, controls internal organs and glands
• Autonomic nervous system: regulates involuntary movements, uses motor neur
controls skeletal muscles and movement
,• Sympathetic nervous system: uses noradrenaline, has stimulating effects, involved in
responses to do with emergencies, neurons from SNS travel to every organ and glands , p
the body for rapid action, slows down non-emergency bodily processes
• Parasympathetic nervous system: uses acetylcholine, had inhibiting effects, relaxes o
and gland once emergency has passed
The structure and function of sensory, relay and motor neu
• Neurons: specialised cells, move electrical impulses to and from CNS
• Dendrites: receive signals from other neurons/ sensory recep
• Cell body: the control centre of the neuron
• Axon: carries the impulse where it terminates at the axon ter
• Myelin sheath: insulting layer around the axon, allows nerve
impulses to transmit more rapidly, if damaged, impulses slow
• Sensory: tell brain about external/ internal environment by
processing information from senses
• Relay: carry messages from one part of the CNS to another,
connect sensory and motor neurons
• Motor: carry signals from CNS, helping organs, glands and muscle function
• Synapse: the specialised gap between neurons (synaptic cleft)
• Transmitted: signals in neurons- electrically, signals between neurons- chemically
, The process of synaptic transmission (neurotransmitters,
excitation and inhibition)
• Synaptic transmission: the process for transmitting messages between neurons
Nerve
• Electrical impulse travels down the neuron, prompts release of
impulses
Presynaptic
cell
neurotransmitters from the synaptic vesicles
• Diffused across the gap, binds to specialised receptors that are
Post synaptic
cell
activated by that particular neurotransmitter
• Taken up by post-synaptic receptor, chemical message is converted
back into electrical impulse
Excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters
• Potential: right neurotransmitter meets the right receptor, specifi
ion channel in the membrane is opened up, ions flow through,
causes a potential in the dendrites
• Excitatory potential: more likely for the neuron to fire
• Inhibitory potential: less likely for the neuron to fire, message is likely to be stopped
at the post-synaptic neuron
• Summation: sum of excitatory and inhibitory influence- if net effect on post synaptic
neuron is inhibitory, neuron is less likely to fire, if net effect is excitatory, neuron will be
more likely to fire.
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