Physiological Psychology Course Blog

Many children (and adults) are scared of needles. During childhood, vaccines and immunizations are administered to keep children from contracting diseases that can be fatal. A VR experience has been created specifically to divert children's attention away from the needle and fear associated with it. The child receiving a vaccine wears a VR headset and the nurse administering it follows along on a second screen. The cold sensation of the disinfecting wipe is associated with a piece of ice in the VR and the needle is associated with a "fire fruit." These visuals alter the children's perception of the stimulus and make them more calm. This allows medical professionals to administer shots more quickly and effectively and make the experience better for the children.  Critique: I wonder how this could be used when children need to receive multiple shots. If they watch the same video over and over they will get bored and possibly end up loosing focus which could lead to th...

https://neurosciencenews.com/sleep-teen-behavior-9938/ Summary: Adolescents require 8-10 hours of sleep a night. Studies have shown that when individuals do not get enough sleep their health and behavior can suffer. It is shown that lack of sleep can cause learning difficulties, impaired decision making and other health issues. In a new study researchers found a correlation between hours of sleep and risk-taking behaviors in high school students. Accidents associated with lack of sleep are one of the leading causes of death among adolescents. Sleep is crucial for optimal health and can have effects on every part of your body and behavior in ways you are not consciously aware of. Students who reportedly slept less than 6 hours were more prone to use drugs and alcohol and more likely to attempt suicide. Review: Sleep deprivation has many long lasting effects on health. A brain structure called the ventricles play an important role when we are sleeping. The ventricles act as a was...

Link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2017/07/10/brain-training-games-dont-really-train-brains-a-new-study-suggests/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.6a27bd8e04c9 Summary:  Studies is shown that the brain training games appear to have no more effect on healthy brains than the video games. Scientists did the studies, where people were able to choose and play either Lumosity brain-training games or regular video games. The studies last for 10 weeks. There was no evidence that commercial brain-training leads to improvements in memory, decision-making, sustained attention or ability to switch between mental tasks. When the scientists said that the brain training games do not work, the Lumosity insisted that brain-training games improve the performance. Specifically better on some mental tasks than crossword puzzles. However, o ther studies have suggested that the brain games increase activity in the executive control network, only some have shown the increase in eve...

A broken heart is probably one of the worst feelings in the world. People often equate brokenheartedness with being punched in the stomach. Heartbreak causes several effects on your body. When you're in love, dopamine and oxytocin are released.  Dopamine can have a person experiencing happiness and pleasure. When you experience a heartbreak, your body releases stress hormones (epinephrine). A terrible breakup can have you questioning your identity. Also, heartbreak can lead to depression. The content is related to the topic emotions. A stimulus causes a psychological response, then produces a feeling of emotion. Heartbreak and physical pain share common neural responses. The  anterior cingulate and the anterior insula e are two areas of the brain that process the emotional and distressing aspects of physical pain. These parts of the brain tell us that we are experiencing an unpleasurable feeling or emotion.. https://www.elitedaily.com/dating/scientific-reasons-why-a-...

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301051118300644?via=ihub Summary : Emotion has a tremendous impact on one's impulsivity. Common when experiencing negative urgency or distress, impulsivity can be essential. Impulsive actions can also be displayed in an attempt to alleviate one's mood state. For example, binge drinking is an act that has the potential to alleviate or ease one's mood at a given time. Impulsivity is complex, made up of many possible causes and potential actions; there are numerous emotional and physiological states in shaping impulsive action. Although impulsivity can be considered a symptom of neurological conditions, it can also be a characteristic or personality trait of a healthy individual. Researchers find it extremely difficult to define impulsivity, which has led to it's categorization within many subtypes. A comprehensive factor analysis of many impulsivity scales was performed in order to separate different subtypes of impu...

The article above explains a possible new finding in regulating motivation for drugs specifically in heroin addicts. In glial cells drugs produce plasticity, which can reduce motivation for heroin. The treatments that are being studied could possibly help opiod addicts. This new finding could possible be a step closer to figuring out what addiction actually is, while preventing relapse, and drug use altogether. The research was established at the University of Buffalo, where Dietz and his colleagues found changes in RNA specially dealing with the glial cell oligodendrocyte (OPC's). Non- Neural glial cells regulate cellular and behavioral responses to heroin. These glial cells turn into myelin where they are used to communicate between neurons. In 2014, Sim Fraiser, PHD, located the gene called soxio as the "master switch" that changes the stem cell into myelination. The hypothesized solution is to facilitate OPC's to the brain to reverse the disconnect between the pr...

            The article “This is your brain on music” written by Elizabeth Lanau and posted on CNN discussed a study which was done to investigate the neurological effects that music has on an individual. Salimpoor, a researcher, found that when listening to music, certain parts of the brain are affected. The study tested the effects of either anti-anxiety medicine or music on patients who were going into surgery. The outcome was measured by the patients’ stress hormone and their self-reported feelings of anxiety. The data revealed that those who listened to music experienced less feelings of anxiety than those who were given medicine. Further research tested individuals’ brain activity, using an fMRI, while they were listening to music. The brain shows activity in similar areas across the brain. From here, researchers hope to focus more on what chemicals are involved during this activity. This reminds me of the mesolimbocorti...