Begrepp Biologisk psykologi

Central nervous system (CNS) Part of the nervous system that consists of the brain and spinal cord.

Cerebrum - The portion of the brain between the cerebrum and the brainstem. It is important for learning and coordinating complex movements.

Brainstem A stalk-like part of the brain consisting of medulla oblongata, the midbrain, and the pons, which joins the brain to the spinal cord.

Lobe A subdivision of the cerebral cortex.

Sulcus A shallow furrow on the surface of the brain.

Gyrus A ridge on the surface of a cerebral hemisphere caused by the infolding of the cerebral cortex.

Peripheral nervous system (PNS) The part of the nervous system that is outside the central nervous system; it is made up of the somatic nervous system and the autonomic nervous system.

Afferent Neuron that conveys sensory information to the central nervous system.

Efferent Neuron that conveys information from the central nervous system to an organ of response.

Soma the cell body

Dendrites A projection that conducts the electrochemical stimulation received from other neural cells to the cell body of a neuron.

Axons A projection that extends from the cell body of a neuron to the terminal endings and transmits the neural signal.

Myelin A white fatty material (enclosing the axons of some neurons) that insulates the neurons and permits the rapid transmission of electrical signals along the axon

Tracts Bundles of neurons.

Synapse The junction between two neurons where neurons communicate by chemical means

Oligodendrocyte Type of glial cell that produces myelin.

Astrocyte - A star-shaped glial cell of the central nervous system that limits the exchange of substances between the blood and the brain.

Neurotransmitter/-s A chemical that is released by a neuron and travels across the synapse to bind to receptors on the postsynaptic terminal of another neuron to change the electrical activity of the target cell.

Synaptic plasticity Alteration in the strength of a synapse (i.e. the likelihood of the postsynaptic neuron being activated by presynaptic activity).

Synaptogenesis The formation of synapses between neurons

Pavlovian (classical) conditioning Learning; that associates a stimulus with an outcome.

Psychopharmacology The study of the effects of drugs on brain and behaviour.

Therapeutic index The ratio between the toxic dose and the therapeutic dose of a drug; a measure of drug safety.

Delirium tremens A psychotic condition typical of withdrawal in chronic alcoholics, involving tremors, hallucinations, anxiety, and disorientation.

Placebo effect A positive response to an inactive treatment (e.g. a sugar pill).

Nocebo effect A negative response to an inactive treatment.

First pass effect The reduction in the amount of drug reaching sites of action due to metabolism of orally administered drugs by enzymes in the stomach and liver.

Psychedelic drugs A psychoactive drug that induces hallucinations or altered sensory experiences.

Psychoactive drugs A drug that can produce a psychological effect.

Withdrawal State associated with the cessation of drug taking.

Tolerance Process whereby repeated administration of a stimulus results in a progressively weaker response. In the context of drug administration, more of a drug will be required to achieve the same response.

Hippocampus Brain area within the temporal lobe; involved in declarative memory

Down-regulated The process by which a cell decreases the quantity of a cellular component, such as a receptor, in response to an external variable.

Agonists Substance that binds to the same receptors as a neurotransmitter and has a similar effect on neuronal function as that neurotransmitter.

Inverse agonists Substance that binds to the same receptors as a neurotransmitter and has the opposite effect on neuronal function to that neurotransmitter.

Antagonists A substance that binds to a receptor but does not have any physiological effects.

Opioid - Class of chemicals with similar effects to morphine

Ventral From the Latin venter (meaning ‘belly’), in biology ventral refers to the front or lower side of something (e.g. bottom of the brain).

Default mode network A network of interacting brain regions that are more active during times of rest compared to times of cognitive activity

Blood brain barrier A network of blood vessels and cells that limits the exchange of substances between the blood and the brain.

Korsakoff’s syndrome - A syndrome associated with excessive alcohol consumption that is caused by lack of thiamine (vitamin B1) and results in cognitive impairments.

Foetal alcohol syndrome A syndrome associated with excessive consumption of alcohol by the mother during pregnancy. Babies are characterised by poor growth, delayed development and

Half-life The period of time required for the concentration or amount of drug in the body to be reduced by one-half; a measure of duration of drug action.

Sensitization Process whereby repeated administration of a stimulus results in a progressively stronger response.

Bioavailability The degree to which a drug is available at sites of action after administration.

Allosteric modulation A substance which indirectly influences neurotransmission by acting at a site distinct from the primary binding site to modify receptor structure.

Basal ganglia A collection of subcortical nuclei, important for the control of movement

Genotype The genetic makeup of an organism which is a combination of alleles responsible for determining characteristics and traits of an organism.

Phenotype - The observable physical or biochemical characteristics of an organism, determined by both genetic makeup and environmental influences

Synaptopathy Dysfunction in synapse function.

Neurulation The formation of the embryonic neural plate and its transformation into the neural tube.

Neural tube A hollow tube-like structure running the length of the vertebrate embryo that eventually forms the brain and spinal cord.

Critical periods Specific stages in development during which systems and behaviours are shaped and moulded for life.

Antipsychotic Medication used to treat schizophrenia or psychosis

Imprinting Differential expression of a gene as a function of whether it was inherited from the male or the female parent. Either the maternal or the paternal version of the allele is silenced through the addition of methyl groups during egg or sperm formation.

Translocation - Transfer of a chromosomal segment to a new position.

Quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis The statistical analysis and identification of stretches of DNA that are linked to the genes that underlie a particular trait.

Genome The complete set of genes in an organism.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) An examination of genetic variants to see if any variant is associated with a trait. The method involves assessing whether gene variations, called single nucleotide polymorphisms or SNPs, occur more frequently in people with a particular disease than in people without the disease

Transgenic An organism that has a segment of foreign DNA incorporated into their genome.

Monozygotic - From a single fertilised egg; relates to identical twins.

Dizygotic Non-identical or fraternal twins where each twin is derived from two separately fertilised eggs.

Polymorphism Term used to describe the naturally occurring multiple forms of a single gene that can exist in an individual or among a group of individuals

Genes Alleles An alternative form of a gene.

Chromatin - Part of the nucleus of a cell (consisting of DNA and histone proteins) that makes up chromosomes.

Linkage analyses A method that investigates whether there is an association between easily identifiable pieces of DNA (genetic markers) and a trait of interest or disease. If the marker is present in all affected individuals, then this suggests that a gene close to the marker region is involved in the trait/disorder.

Refinement - The process by which non-active synaptic connections are lost during development.

Single nucleotide polymorphisms A variation in DNA sequence that occurs when a single nucleotide is altered

Teratogen An agent that causes malformation of an embryo or foetus.

Transcription The process of making a copy of genetic information stored in a DNA strand into a complementary strand of RNA

Dyskinesias An impairment in the ability to control movements.

Posterior From the Latin word posterus, meaning ‘coming after’, in biology posterior refers to the back of something (e.g. the brain)

Anterior From the Latin word ante, meaning ‘before’, in biology anterior refers to the front of something (e.g. the brain).

Neurofibrillary tangles - Aberrant aggregation of a neuronal protein, tau, especially the cerebral cortex and hippocampus, which occurs in Alzheimer’s disease.

Necrosis Cell death due to damage or trauma to cells.

Plaques Abnormal clusters of protein fragments that accumulate between neurons in Alzheimer’s disease.

Genome The complete set of genes in an organism

Apoptosis The process of programmed cell death in which cells self-destruct to remove unwanted cells

Dementia An umbrella term describing symptoms of cognitive decline that may include memory loss and difficulties with thinking, problem solving or language.

Cerebellum The portion of the brain between the cerebrum and the brainstem. It is important for learning and coordinating complex movements.

Electrolytic lesions Damage caused by delivery of an electric current through a probe inserted into a region of the brain.

Dorsal - From the Latin dorsum, meaning ‘back’, dorsal refers to the back, or upper side, of something (e.g. top of the brain).

Long-term potentiation (LTP) Persistent enhancement of postsynaptic response

Implicit learning Unconscious learning; includes pavlovian and instrumental conditioning

Long-term depression (LTD) Persistent reduction of postsynaptic response

Amygdala Brain area within the temporal lobe; involved in pavlovian conditioning and emotional processing

Memory reconsolidation Restabilisation of a reactivated memory trace.

Tetrodotoxin Toxin from the puffer fish that blocks sodium channels and thus prevents neuronal activity

Retrograde amnesia Memory loss for information prior to brain damage.

Mnemonic Relating to memory processing

Cellular consolidation - Time-dependent stabilisation of memory within a brain area, taking place over minutes to hours.

Amnesic Lacking in memory.

Unconditioned stimulus The outcome that drives learning in pavlovian and instrumental conditioning.

Conditioned stimulus A previously neutral stimulus that is conditioned during pavlovian conditioning to predict an outcome.

Fear conditioning Pavlovian conditioning involving an aversive fearful outcome

Instrumental conditioning Learning that associates an action with an outcome (same as operant*).

Semantic memory Retention of factual information

Synaptic plasticity Alteration in the strength of a synapse (i.e. the likelihood of the postsynaptic neuron being activated by presynaptic activity).

Working memory Short-term store of information in an online state for current processing and u

Long-term memory Retention of information over a period of greater than 24 hours and up to a lifetime.

Aspiration Sucking out of a region of the brain

Excitotoxic lesions - Damage caused by the delivery of a toxin into the brain that over-excites neurons to death.

Muscimol GABA receptor agonist

Memory extinction Reduction in pavlovian or instrumental memory expression when the conditioned stimulus (CS) or action is no longer associated with the outcome.

Episodic memory - Retention of information for personal life events

Iconic memory Very short-lasting retention of visual information

Urbach–Wiethe disease Degenerative disease resulting in selective damage to the amygdala.

Associative LTP - LTP that depends upon the co-activation of two inputs, and strengthens both pathways.

Non-associative LTP LTP that is induced by activity in a single input pathway.

Rescorla–Wagner rule Rule that determines how much is learned on a given training trial; it depends on the prediction error

Anterograde amnesia Failure to form new memories after brain damage.

Systems consolidation - Time-dependent transformation of memory, resulting in a change in the dependence upon different brain areas

Lesions Damage to the brain (usually experimentally-induced).

Lightness constancy The phenomenon of perceiving surfaces to have consistent reflectance despite changes in their illumination

Lateral inhibition Inhibition of one neuron by a neuron responding to a neighbouring spatial position.

Mirror neurons Neurons that are active both when a monkey performs an action and when it perceives the same action. Also found in people

Simple cell Type of cell in the visual cortex that responds to an appropriately oriented feature of an image that falls within its receptive field.

Cochlea The main auditory sensory organ located in the inner ear.

Binocular disparities The difference in the positions of the two images of an object in the two eyes. Acts as a depth cue in binocular stereopsis.

Amygdala Brain area within the temporal lobe; involved in pavlovian conditioning and emotional processing.

Retinal ganglion cell The output stage of the retina; the axons of retinal ganglion cells form the optic nerve.

NSAIDs Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; act peripherally to reduce swelling and pain

Muscle spindles Sensory cell that signals stretching of a muscle.

TENS Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation; electrical stimulation of the skin used to reduce pain.

Lightness contrast - The phenomenon through which the perceived lightness of a surface depends upon its background. A given reflectance appears lighter against a dark background than it does against a light background

Endorphins Naturally occurring peptides in the brain that bind to the same receptors as opiates.

Congenital - A condition that is present from birth

Receptive field The region of a receptive surface, such as the skin or the retina, which, when stimulated, changes a cell’s response.

Rhodopsin - The visual pigment found in photoreceptors that can be bleached by light to produce a neural response.

Basilar membrane Membrane in the cochlea of the inner ear that vibrates in response to a sound and is important in exciting the hair cells that act as auditory receptors.

Photoreceptors The rods and cones, which are the visual receptors.

Saccule Organ of the inner ear that, together with the utricle, detects linear acceleration of the head; it is important in balance.

Neuropathic pain Pain that cannot be attributed to the normal firing of nociceptors

Semi-circular canals The three semi-circular canals in the inner ear which detect rotational acceleration of the head; they are important in balance.

Body schema - The sense of our body’s position in space.

Albedo The proportion of incident light that a surface reflects. Sometimes called reflectance

Surface reflectance The proportion of light falling upon a surface that it reflects. See also albedo.

Change blindness The inability, under some circumstances, to be unable to detect quite major changes in the visual scene.

Opponency A theory of colour vision in which colours are arranged in antagonistic pairs, with yellow the opponent of blue and green the opponent of red.

Utricle Organ of the inner ear that, together with the saccule, detects linear acceleration of the head; it is important in balance.

Polymorphisms Term used to describe the naturally occurring multiple forms of a single gene that can exist in an individual or among a group of individuals.

Electrophysiology Recording of electrical activity from neurons.

Hertz The name of the unit (cycles/second) in which frequency is measured

Frequency spectrum The pattern of frequencies making up a stimulus.

Haptic The active exploration of the world through touch, sometimes called ‘active touch’.

Motor unit The set of muscle fibres and the single motoneuron that innervates them

Motor pool The set of spinal motoneurons that innervate a single muscle.

Flexors A muscle that acts to bend a joint.

Alpha motoneurons The final stage in the motor pathway. Motoneurons have cell bodies in the spinal cord and their axons project to muscle fibres.

Actin One of the proteins, with myosin, that are important in the contraction of muscle fibres

Myosin One of the proteins, with actin, that is responsible for the contraction of muscle fibres.

Neuromuscular junction A synapse between a motoneuron and a muscle fibre

Extrafusal muscle fibres The main contractile element making up skeletal muscles.

Intrafusal muscle fibres - A type of muscle fibre that contracts weakly and ensures that muscle spindles are at the correct length to detect muscle stretch

Extensors A muscle that acts to straighten a joint

Electromyography Recording of electrical activity from muscles

Tetanic contraction The smooth contraction of a muscle fibre that results when individual twitches fuse during rapid stimulation

Autonomic Relating to the autonomic (involuntary) nervous system

James–Lange theory - Theory that emotional feelings are dependent on physiological responses.

Cannon–Bard theory Theory that emotional feelings and physiological responses occur in parallel.

Sympathetic nervous system Part of the autonomic nervous system; involved in emotional physiological responses

Klüver–Bucy syndrome - Pattern of symptoms associated with damage to the temporal lobe; includes loss of fear.

Schachter–Singer theory Theory that physiological responses activate emotions, but cognitive interpretation determines the emotion felt

Neophobia - Fear of new objects

Ventromedial prefrontal cortex Brain area within the prefrontal cortex; involved in memory extinction and emotional decision making.

Subliminal Below conscious threshold.

Neurotoxic Damaging to neurons

Emotional facial paresis Disorder involving the inability to produce unconscious emotional facial expressions.

Volitional facial paresis Disorder involving the inability to move facial muscles voluntarily.

Conditioned emotional response Fear responses resulting from fear conditioning

Endocrine Relating to hormonal function.

Cytoarchitecture Structure and organisation of neurons

Epigenetic Relating to changes that alter the expression of genes, but not involving a change in the genetic sequence.

Mnemonic Relating to memory processing.

Memory reconsolidation Restabilisation of a reactivated memory trace

Memory extinction Reduction in pavlovian or instrumental memory expression when the conditioned stimulus (CS) or action is no longer associated with the outcome

Reinforcer A reward that acts as a positive outcome to engage pavlovian or instrumental conditioning

REM behaviour disorder A sleep disorder in which the sufferer lacks muscle paralysis during sleep and appears to physically act out vivid, often unpleasant dreams.

Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep - A sleep phase characterised by eye movements, paralysis, and a desynchronised EEG.

Slow wave sleep Stages 3 and 4 of sleep.

Incentives A stimulus that induces action or motivates effort.

Arcuate nucleus - A nucleus of the hypothalamus containing cells that are important for nutrient monitoring.

Beta activity Irregular, high frequency but low amplitude brain waves of around 13–30 cycles per second, associated with waking.

Obesity Having a body mass index greater than 30kg/m2.

Hedonic Pleasurable sensation

Circadian rhythm - A daily rhythmic activity cycle exhibited by many organisms.

Zeitgeber A stimulus or event that sets a biological clock.

Ghrelin A hormone produced by cells lining the stomach that stimulates appetite.

Anorexia Eating disorder characterised by low body weight and eating disturbances that cause clinical impairment to health.

Bulimia An eating disorder characterized by binge eating followed by purging

Binge Eating Disorder - An eating disorder that involves eating large quantities of food, over a short period of time

Satiety The inhibition of appetite

Sensory specific satiety Decreased motivation to consume a specific food that has been eaten to satiety

Somnambulism Sleep walking

Narcolepsy A neurological disorder that affects the control of sleep and wakefulness.

Sleep paralysis Temporary inability to move due to muscle paralysis either when falling asleep or awakening

Delta wave A high amplitude pattern of brain electrical activity that occurs with a rhythm of four cycles per second and occurs especially in slow wave sleep.

Theta wave activity A pattern of brain electrical activity that occurs with a rhythm of 3–7 cycles per second, associated with Stage 1 sleep.

Ultradian rhythm A biorhythm having a period of less than 24 hours.

Microbiome The collective genomes of the microbes that live inside and on the human body.

Microbiota Collection of bacteria, bacteriophage, fungi, protozoa and viruses that live inside and on the human body.

Insulin A hormone produced in the pancreas, which regulates the amount of glucose in the blood.

Leptin A hormone produced by fat cells that signals amounts of fat stored by the body.

Homeostasis The process by which the body maintains a stable internal environment in response to deviations from that environment.

Neurogenesis The process by which new nerve cells are generated.

Reuptake inhibitors A drug that blocks the reuptake of a neurotransmitter from the neuron that released it.

Psychoneuroimmunology - The study of interactions between behaviour, neural and endocrine function, and immune processes.

Allele An alternative form of a gene.

Anxiolytic A medication used to treat anxiety.

Hallucination A false or distorted perceptual experience that occurs in the absence of a sensory stimulus but appears to be a real perception.

Monozygotic From a single fertilised egg; relates to identical twins.

Dizygotic Non-identical or fraternal twins where each twin is derived from two separately fertilised eggs.

Concordance rate The extent to which individuals, typically twins, share a particular trait.

Akathisia A movement disorder consisting of difficulty in staying still and a subjective sense of restlessness.

Delusion A symptom of psychosis that is a belief maintained despite contradictory evidence.

Extra-pyramidal symptoms Side effects associated with treatment with some antipsychotic medications, including include dyskinesias, Parkinsonism, akinesia, akathisia.

Tardive dyskinesia A movement disorder that affects a person’s ability to perform voluntary muscular movements, resulting from the long-term use of some antipsychotic medications.

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