...Biological Influences Neurotransmitters are a special chemical stored in vesicles in the terminal buttons. These buttons are located at the end of the axons. The neurotransmitters are released into the tiny spaces between the neurons called synapse. They carry signals from neuron to the dendrites of the next receiving neuron. (Davis & Palladino, pg 53). The effects of this action can vary depending on the neurotransmitter type and the location of the synapse. Two different outcomes can come out of this. One effect would be the neuron that receives the neurotransmitter might transmit the message to other neurons, which is called excitation. Or, the other effect would be that the neuron receiving the neurotransmitter becomes unlikely to transmit the message to other neurons, which is referred to as inhibition. This can have different effects on the body. Neurotransmitters actually impact our moods, aggression, motor skills, memory, and our sleeping behaviors. Too much or too little of particular neurotransmitters can play havoc with a persons health, and can cause a number of common illnesses. Acetylcholine was the first neurotransmitter to be discovered. It was found to control the activity with in the areas of the brain that relate to learning, memory, and attention. Acetylcholine also works within the junction of various nerves and skeletal muscles. (Davis & Palladino, pg.55). The muscles in our lungs that keep us breathing would be paralyzed without acetylcholine...
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...INTERNET ACTIVITY NEUROTRANSMISSION AND THE NERVOUS SYSTEM Use the Internet to answer the questions associated with this activity. Go to Google and type in “Neurotransmitters” Click on the link “Neurotransmitters for Kids” Click on the Explore tab on the left side. You will use page to locate the links to each activity. 1) Go to Neuroscience Methods and Techniques and use the glossary of neuroscience words to describe how the following terms are applied to the neurotransmission process: A) Neurotransmitters— B) Synapse— C) Depolarization— 2) Go the The Neuron and click on Gallery of Neurons and look at the various microscopic images of these pictures which show how neurons look under a microscope. Tell which is your favorite. 3) Under the same heading, go to “Lights, Camera, Action Potential” and answer the following questions: A) What is the term that is mentioned that describes an electrically charged chemical? B) Is the electrical current polarized or depolarized during the action potential? 4) Go the “Higher” Functions and click on “Smart Drugs?.” Read through this page that includes information about the possibility that drugs may someday be used to help with memory and thinking processes. Answer these questions: A) What is your opinion about the possibility that chemicals could actually change our thinking and learning capabilities? (for this one, be sure to read what the research...
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...It has long been speculated that there is a relationship between exercise and it’s effects on mental health. However, it has not been until recent years that evidence has shown that exercise indeed has a profound benefit on brain function. Studies show that humans and animals that are engaged in regular physical activity have an improvement in learning and memory, protection of overall mental health, and also suggest that an active and healthy lifestyle may help in reversing the effects and causes of depression. One of the most intreresting changes caused by exercise is Neurogenesis, or the creation of new neurons. New neurons are created in the hippocampus, however the exact process behind this neurogenesis is still unknown. It is possible that stresses caused by exercise result in a spike in calcium in neural cell, which, in turn, causes hippocampal neurons to run through a cell building process. This cell building process activates the BDNF (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor) gene, which creates BDNF proteins that aid the process of neurogenesis. Thus it is shown that BDNF is generated as a protective response to stress, as it acts not only to generate new neurons, but also to protect existing neurons. (Cotman, Berchtold & Christie, 2007) However, BDNFs do more than protect, they also repair. For example, in a comparison between sedentary and active mice, scientists found that mice which were generally more active rebuilt damaged brain tissue more efficiently than sedentary...
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...for both medicinal purposes, as it provides treatment for many patients who suffer from a variety of ailments, and recreational purposes, as it isn’t dangerous like other decriminalized drugs. In normal bodily functions, inhibitory neurotransmitters (such as Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA)) exist in the synaptic cleft, which is the gap between neurons. The neuron is the basic functioning unit of the nervous system. It is an elongated cell that’s purpose is to transmit messages from the brain to motor neurons, which allows humans to function. The messages travel via an electrical current from one end of the neuron to the other. These messages are then transmitted between the neurons in a pathway through the synaptic cleft – the gap between adjacent neurons – via chemicals called neurotransmitters. Dopamine is one of several neurotransmitters that causes the post-synaptic neuron (the neuron after the synapse, the one that ‘receives’ the message) to polarize in its charge, thus transmitting the message to the next neuron in the pathway. Neurotransmitters can either be excitatory or inhibitory. Excitatory neurotransmitters increase the probability that the target cell will fire an action potential and polarize (i.e. Dopamine). Inhibitory neurotransmitters regulate...
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...the family. If a predisposition to unipolar depression is inherited then relatives should have a higher rate of depression than the general population. Research has supported this claim. If the predisposition is inherited it would also be expected that more cases of depression would be apparent in close relatives compared to distant relatives. Twin studies are used as identical twins share 100% of the same genes, therefore if one twin has the disorder the other should also. Twin studies have found rates consistent with this expectation. Evaluation which supports genetic theory of unipolar depression includes from Harrington et al, who found a 20% likelihood of developing depression in those with a relative with depression, compared to 10% of those with no depressive relatives. This shows that it is twice as likely to develop depression if the individual has a close relative who has or has had the disorder, suggesting a genetic link. Similarly, support...
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...Edexcel GCE Biology Advanced Unit 5: Energy, Exercise and Coordination June 2010 Scientific Article for use with Question 7 Do not return the Insert with the question paper. Paper Reference 6BI05/01 Turn over N37096A ©2010 Edexcel Limited. 1/1/1/1/1/ *N37096A* Scientific Article for use with Question 7 It’s All in the Mind The link between the brain as a physical organ and what we feel in our conscious mind has long been the subject of research, particularly where we appear to be unable to control aspects of mood or behaviour and where normal life is affected. Stress, pain and depression can be explained in terms of nerve impulses and brain chemistry, and the causes of Parkinson’s disease are well understood, but finding reliable ways of correcting problems has proved elusive. Understanding more about how the brain works may well lead to new methods for treating such problems. Dancing Worms and Deep Depression In a laboratory in Germany, a tiny worm dances to flashes of light. A flash of yellow and it darts forward. A flash of blue and it jerks back. Yellow, forward, blue, back – right on cue every time. The worm is not a toy or a robot but a living creature. It has been engineered so that its nerves and muscles can be controlled with light. With each flash of blue its neurons fire electric pulses, causing the muscles they control to clench. A flash of yellow stops the nerves firing, relaxing the worm’s muscles and lengthening its body once again. The worm is in the vanguard...
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...ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION FROM MOBILE PHONE ON THE LEVELS OF CORTICAL AMINO ACID NEUROTRANSMITTERS IN ADULT AND YOUNG RATS Y.A. KHADRAWY*, NAWAL A. AHMED**, HEBA S. ABOUL EZZ**, N.M. RADWAN** *Medical Physiology Department, National Research Center, Giza, Egypt **Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt Abstract. The present study aims to investigate the effect of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) generated by mobile phones on the levels of amino acid neurotransmitters; glutamate, aspartate, GABA, glycine and taurine in the cortex of adult and young rats. Several studies showed that EMR could influence normal brain physiology, probably by changing cortical excitability. In the present study, adult and young rats were exposed to EMR for one hour/day. Amino acids were measured after 1 hour, 1, 2 and 4 months of daily EMR exposure and after 1 month of stopping exposure that extended daily for 4 months. The present data showed that in adult rats EMR induced significant changes in the cortical levels of some studied amino acids throughout the exposure periods. However, in young rats EMR induced significant changes after 4 months of daily exposure and after stopping exposure. It could be suggested that the changes in amino acid neurotransmitters may underlie the EMR-induced changes in cortical excitability. Key words: Electromagnetic radiation, amino acid neurotransmitters, cortex, rats. INTRODUCTION The increasing number of telecommunication devices...
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...Discuss the role of neural and hormonal mechanisms in aggression. (24 marks) Testosterone is a hormone produced in the male testes and in female ovaries however males produce 10 times more than females. Testosterone has been linked to aggression and as it plays a part in increased muscle and bone mass, this suggests that it plays a structural role in influencing aggression. Testosterone has been shown to correlate with the level of aggression displayed by humans and animals. For example when levels of testosterone peak around the start of puberty there is also a corresponding level of aggression displayed in young males during this time. Testosterone modulates levels of various neurotransmitters that mediate effects on aggression. There seems to be a critical period early in life, where exposure to testosterone is essential to elicit aggression in adulthood. It is though testosterone helps sensitise androgen responsive system. There have been many experiments done to see the effects of adding and removing testosterone. All of which have been performed on animals due to methodological and ethical issues with testing on humans. It was found that male mice that are castrated at birth showed a decreased level of aggression. These findings were also supported by similar studies involving different species fo animals and so it is not solely specific to mice. Although castration research can be useful, castration disrupts other hormone systems as well as testosterone and os these...
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...Edexcel GCE Biology Advanced Unit 5: Energy, Exercise and Coordination June 2010 Scientific Article for use with Question 7 Do not return the Insert with the question paper. Paper Reference 6BI05/01 Turn over N37096A ©2010 Edexcel Limited. 1/1/1/1/1/ *N37096A* Scientific Article for use with Question 7 It’s All in the Mind The link between the brain as a physical organ and what we feel in our conscious mind has long been the subject of research, particularly where we appear to be unable to control aspects of mood or behaviour and where normal life is affected. Stress, pain and depression can be explained in terms of nerve impulses and brain chemistry, and the causes of Parkinson’s disease are well understood, but finding reliable ways of correcting problems has proved elusive. Understanding more about how the brain works may well lead to new methods for treating such problems. Dancing Worms and Deep Depression In a laboratory in Germany, a tiny worm dances to flashes of light. A flash of yellow and it darts forward. A flash of blue and it jerks back. Yellow, forward, blue, back – right on cue every time. The worm is not a toy or a robot but a living creature. It has been engineered so that its nerves and muscles can be controlled with light. With each flash of blue its neurons fire electric pulses, causing the muscles they control to clench. A flash of yellow stops the nerves firing, relaxing the worm’s muscles and lengthening its body once again. The worm is...
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...I love the Bing commercials. They feature two people, with one responding to an innocent question posed by the other with a laundry list of related search engine terms and definitions. It’s a clever ad that makes us laugh, because we recognize it as an exaggeration of reality. When we search for anything online, we typically have to sift through pages of information, some relevant but most not. And often, we’ll start out by searching for one thing and then bump into something even more intriguing and veer off in that direction. We often repeat this pattern many times. Before you know it, the search for “tickets to Hawaii” that you started at 8 pm has morphed into a search of “great battleships of the Pacific” by 10 pm…then “movies by Stanley Kubrick” at 11…and so on ad nauseam. Meanwhile, your wife is angry because you promised to help your son with his homework hours ago and everything else you had planned that evening didn’t get done, such as responding to your sister’s text, friending your old college buddy on Facebook, and responding to someone who flamed you in their forum. You may ask yourself, well…how did I get here? In fact, there certainly seems to be some neurological basis for our attention dopiness, or more accurately, dopamine levels. As Lucy Jo Palladino explains in her book Find Your Focus Zone, activities such as watching TV or playing video games activate the basal ganglia of the brain, which releases dopamine. When dopamine levels increase, you’re inclined to...
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...experience our interactions with them, and with other people, in the future, yet the precise roles that different memory systems play in these processes have yet to be elucidated. Short-term memory involves a temporary synaptic modification, presumably consisting of transient alterations in the concentration, binding, or uptake of various neuro transmitter substances. Short-term synaptic enhancement refers to a model of such short-term memory processes, and it suggests a way that neurochemical activity might briefly maintain memories by modifying the synapse for brief periods of time. The mechanisms mediating STE appear to occur primarily in the presynaptic neuron, perhaps involving an increased number of synaptic vesicles releasing neurotransmitter substance into the cleft in response to an action...
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...Exercise 6: Cardiovascular Physiology: Activity 4: Examining the Effects of Chemical Modifiers on Heart Rate Lab Report Pre-lab Quiz Results You scored 100% by answering 4 out of 4 questions correctly. 1. The parasympathetic nervous system releases __________ to affect heart rate. You correctly answered: d. acetylcholine 2. A cholinergic drug that worked the same as acetylcholine would You correctly answered: c. be an agonist and decrease heart rate. 3. Norepinephrine affects the heart rate by You correctly answered: a. increasing the rate of depolarization and increasing the frequency of action potentials. 4. The __________ receptor binds norepinephrine and epinephrine. You correctly answered: b. ß-1 adrenergic 03/02/13 page 1 Experiment Results Predict Question: Predict Question 1: Pilocarpine is a cholinergic drug, an acetylcholine agonist. Predict the effect that pilocarpine will have on heart rate. Your answer : b. Pilocarpine will decrease heart rate. Predict Question 2: Atropine is another cholinergic drug, an acetylcholine antagonist. Predict the effect that atropine will have on heart rate. Your answer : a. Atropine will increase heart rate. Stop & Think Questions: Which of the following is true of epinephrine? You correctly answered: c. It increases the heart rate and mimics the sympathetic nervous system. The final chemical modifier we will look at is digitalis (also known as digoxin and digitoxin and derived from the foxglove plant). Individuals with weakened...
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...Outline and evaluate biological explanations of depression. 8 + 16 marks One biological explanation of depression is genes. This suggests that depression is inherited. Research shows that individuals with a depressed relative (parent/sibling) are 1.5. to 3 times more likely to develop depression than those without a depressed relative. Twin studies show a concordance rate of 46% for MZ (identical) compared with 20% for DZ (non-identical) twins. This suggests that genes have a role in whether people develop depression or not. However, concordance rates are never 100% for identical twins so this suggests that genes can’t be a full explanation because MZ twins share 100% of their genes and so if genes were the only cause of depression there would be a 100% concordance. This means that there must be other factors involved for example environmental ones such as upbringing and interaction with parents and family members. Higher concordance rates for MZ twins could be explained by the fact that being identical, they are more likely to share a more similar life experience than non-identical twins. It makes sense to take a mixed approach; the diathesis-stress model shows how there can be a genetic predisposition, which is triggered by environmental cues such as life experience. Research has shown that women who were genetically predisposed to depression (had an identical twin suffering with depression) were more likely to develop depressive symptoms when faced with negative life experiences...
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...Gabriel Test 1 Study Guide (Topics and Concepts) for Chapter 1 and 2: Chapter 1 * Define psychology Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes * Identify and explain psychology’s four primary goals.description, explanation, prediction, influence * Understand the meaning of a theory a theory organizes facts systematically and guides scientific reaserach * **Compare and contrast basic and applied research Basic research is to seek new knowledge and expore and advance scientific understanding. Applied research is to solve practical problems and improve the quality of life * Compare and contrast naturalistic and laboratory observations, case studies and survey research, including their advantages and limitations. Naturalistic Observation – where reasearchers observe behavior in its natural setting without attempting to influence or control it. It allows study of behavior in normal settings but you have to wait for things to happen and observer bias distrots observations. Laboratory Observation- Studying behavior in a labortatory, Reasearchers have more control and use morepresise equipment to measure responses but they lose sontaneirt that occurs when behaviours take place in a more natural setting Case study – an in depth study of one or a few participants consisting of info gathered through observations, interviews and psychological testing. Good for studying people who have uncommon psychological or physiological disorders or brain...
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...controller of behavior. For centuries, scientists and philosophers have been infatuated by the brain, but until recently the brain has been viewed as perplexing. Now, however, the brain is beginning to show its secrets. Scientists have learned more about the brain in the last few years than in all previous centuries because of the accelerating pace of research in neurological and behavioral science and the development of new research techniques. The brain is like a committee of experts. All the parts of the brain work together, but each part has its own special properties. Biological causes of clinical depression continue to be studied extensively. Great progress has been made in the understanding of brain function, the influence of neurotransmitters, and other biological processes, as well as how they may relate to the development of depression. Depression or anxiety causes individuals to have many changes in their behaviors. They tend to become isolated from their family, friends, or be social. Their eating patterns lead to either weight gain or loss; and sleeping patterns change where they either do not sleep or sleep excessively. They become agitated, irritable, and fatigue or have lack of energy. Biological psychology aims at finding the biological factor of depression. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, (SSRI) have had a major impact on the field of biological psychology because it is the most commonly prescribed medication for the treatment of depression and other...
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