SAC 2 Brain
Other info:
● Typical & Atypical Behaviour:
○ Typical: Activity consistent to how an individual actually behaves
○ Atypical: Activity inconsistent to how a individual actually behaves
● Categorising Behaviour
○ Cultural perspectives: Limited to one country or culture, not universal.
○ Social Norms: a shared belief of what is normal, also not universal and can
be difficult to differentiate between unconventional and atypical behaviour.
○ Statistical Rarity:Something that lies outside the range of normality, may be
regarded atypical even if common. Both ends of the statistical rarity bell curve
are atypical but only one is negative.
○ Personal Distress:Feeling distressed or unpleasant emotions. Distress may
not occur even if behaviour is atypical, can’t be used alone in deciding
whether behaviour is atypical.
○ Maladaptive behaviour:An action that impairs an individual's ability to meet
demands of life. It is dependent on judgement, context and culture can also
play a role.
● Normality:
○ Typical behaviour
● Categorising Behaviour
○ Social-cultural approach:What societies and culture norms that govern
behaviour
○ Situational approach: Based on what is acceptable in different contexts.
○ Historical approach: what is considered normal depending on time period
○ Statistical approach: what is normal depending on what others
think,feel,believe
○ Functional approach: Normality dependent on ability to meet demands
○ Medical approach: all abnormal has an underlying biological cause.
Role of the brain in mental processes and behaviour
● different approaches over time in understanding the role of the brain in
behaviour and mental processes
Brain Research:
● Brain ablation- early on in brain experiments they would remove
parts of animal brains and observe how their behaviour changes and
based on that they would note down what the function was of the part
they removed
● Brain Leisioning- Similar to ablation but it happens when the part
isn’t completely removed but is rather damaged and then it is recorded
the change in behaviour after damage.
● Split-Brain Experiments-Corpus callosum is severed therefore
removing the connection between the two hemispheres and so
provides evidence of specialization of the two hemispheres. So if there
was an image in the left visual field the right hemisphere would
process it however would be unable to name it or say it outloud but
, could draw it out. Because left hemisphere responsible for language
whereas the Right hemisphere is responsible for voluntary movement.
Neuroimaging is a technique that captures pictures of the brain:
● Structural - technique used to show the brain’s structure and
anatomy:
○ Computerised Tomography [CT] uses x-ray equipment to scan
the brain at different angles. 2D x-rays of the brain are stacked
together for a 3D image showing the horizontal cross section.
Patient is given a substance called contrast to show the blood
vessels. Primarily used to detect disease or disease
disorder.
○ Magnetic Resonance Imaging [MRI] uses harmless magnetic
and radio fields. The MRI technique is more sensitive and
more clear compared to CT scans. It utilises (hydrogen) in the
water molecules in someone's brain to get realigned by the
magnets which produce signals which turn into images.
● Functional - technique used to provide a view of a particular aspect of
the brain at work
○ Positron Emission tomography [PET] produces coloured
images to show the activity and function of the brain. A glucose
solution containing a radioactive tracer is given to the patient
which is tracked to get images, more activity the more glucose
used so higher emissions.. Gives us an idea of what part of the
brain is most active during a certain task. Red showing most
and Purple show least activity.
○ Functional MRI [fMRI] records brain activity by measuring the
oxygen consumption by the brain, more active a region is the
more oxygen it will use via blood flow. Provides clearer images
when compared to PET as a fMRI can be taken multiple times
as there is lack of radiation exposure.
● the roles of the hindbrain, midbrain and forebrain, including the cerebral
cortex, in behaviour and mental processes
Brain structures:
● Hindbrain:
Responsible for basic survival functions
○ Medulla- regulates autonomic processes e.g respiration, heart
rate, BP and digestion. Also the connectivity of the brain to the
spinal cord.
○ Pons- connects neural messages between different areas in
the brain
○ Cerebellum- coordinates fine muscle movement, maintains
balance and posture
● Midbrain:
it is the central part of the brain, and part of the brain stem:Processes
sensory information, Coordinating movement and regulating sleep
Other info:
● Typical & Atypical Behaviour:
○ Typical: Activity consistent to how an individual actually behaves
○ Atypical: Activity inconsistent to how a individual actually behaves
● Categorising Behaviour
○ Cultural perspectives: Limited to one country or culture, not universal.
○ Social Norms: a shared belief of what is normal, also not universal and can
be difficult to differentiate between unconventional and atypical behaviour.
○ Statistical Rarity:Something that lies outside the range of normality, may be
regarded atypical even if common. Both ends of the statistical rarity bell curve
are atypical but only one is negative.
○ Personal Distress:Feeling distressed or unpleasant emotions. Distress may
not occur even if behaviour is atypical, can’t be used alone in deciding
whether behaviour is atypical.
○ Maladaptive behaviour:An action that impairs an individual's ability to meet
demands of life. It is dependent on judgement, context and culture can also
play a role.
● Normality:
○ Typical behaviour
● Categorising Behaviour
○ Social-cultural approach:What societies and culture norms that govern
behaviour
○ Situational approach: Based on what is acceptable in different contexts.
○ Historical approach: what is considered normal depending on time period
○ Statistical approach: what is normal depending on what others
think,feel,believe
○ Functional approach: Normality dependent on ability to meet demands
○ Medical approach: all abnormal has an underlying biological cause.
Role of the brain in mental processes and behaviour
● different approaches over time in understanding the role of the brain in
behaviour and mental processes
Brain Research:
● Brain ablation- early on in brain experiments they would remove
parts of animal brains and observe how their behaviour changes and
based on that they would note down what the function was of the part
they removed
● Brain Leisioning- Similar to ablation but it happens when the part
isn’t completely removed but is rather damaged and then it is recorded
the change in behaviour after damage.
● Split-Brain Experiments-Corpus callosum is severed therefore
removing the connection between the two hemispheres and so
provides evidence of specialization of the two hemispheres. So if there
was an image in the left visual field the right hemisphere would
process it however would be unable to name it or say it outloud but
, could draw it out. Because left hemisphere responsible for language
whereas the Right hemisphere is responsible for voluntary movement.
Neuroimaging is a technique that captures pictures of the brain:
● Structural - technique used to show the brain’s structure and
anatomy:
○ Computerised Tomography [CT] uses x-ray equipment to scan
the brain at different angles. 2D x-rays of the brain are stacked
together for a 3D image showing the horizontal cross section.
Patient is given a substance called contrast to show the blood
vessels. Primarily used to detect disease or disease
disorder.
○ Magnetic Resonance Imaging [MRI] uses harmless magnetic
and radio fields. The MRI technique is more sensitive and
more clear compared to CT scans. It utilises (hydrogen) in the
water molecules in someone's brain to get realigned by the
magnets which produce signals which turn into images.
● Functional - technique used to provide a view of a particular aspect of
the brain at work
○ Positron Emission tomography [PET] produces coloured
images to show the activity and function of the brain. A glucose
solution containing a radioactive tracer is given to the patient
which is tracked to get images, more activity the more glucose
used so higher emissions.. Gives us an idea of what part of the
brain is most active during a certain task. Red showing most
and Purple show least activity.
○ Functional MRI [fMRI] records brain activity by measuring the
oxygen consumption by the brain, more active a region is the
more oxygen it will use via blood flow. Provides clearer images
when compared to PET as a fMRI can be taken multiple times
as there is lack of radiation exposure.
● the roles of the hindbrain, midbrain and forebrain, including the cerebral
cortex, in behaviour and mental processes
Brain structures:
● Hindbrain:
Responsible for basic survival functions
○ Medulla- regulates autonomic processes e.g respiration, heart
rate, BP and digestion. Also the connectivity of the brain to the
spinal cord.
○ Pons- connects neural messages between different areas in
the brain
○ Cerebellum- coordinates fine muscle movement, maintains
balance and posture
● Midbrain:
it is the central part of the brain, and part of the brain stem:Processes
sensory information, Coordinating movement and regulating sleep
