BPCC 102 Solved Guess Paper 2026 for Biopsychology (IGNOU BA Honours Psychology, BAPCH)

Methods to study biopsychology

Question: Describe the main methods used to study biopsychology.

Meaning: Different brain areas have different functions. Biopsychology methods study the human brain by relating brain damage or brain activity to changes in behaviour.

1. Ablation methods: a brain area is removed or destroyed and the change in behaviour after the lesion is assessed. Techniques include aspiration, radio-frequency lesions, knife cuts, cryogenic blockade and nerve poison.
2. Histological methods: tissue is fixed in formalin, frozen, embedded and stained (Nissl, myelin or membrane stains) for microscopic study.
3. Psychophysiological recording: non-invasive recording from outside the skull through EEG, MEG, EMG for muscle tension, EOG for eye movements and electro-dermal activity (SCL and SCR).
4. Electrical stimulation: the brain is stimulated electrically to alter the resting potential and trigger an action potential, producing area-specific behaviour changes.
5. Chemical stimulation: drugs and techniques such as 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG), cerebral dialysis, in-vivo voltametry, immunocytochemistry and microiontophoresis.
6. Stereotaxic lesion: a stereotaxic atlas and apparatus locate and damage tiny interior structures that ablation cannot reach.
7. Neuroimaging: contrast X-ray, CT scan and MRI image brain structure and help diagnose disease.
8. Neuropsychological assessment: standardised behavioural tests assess cognitive functioning linked to brain regions.

Conclusion: Biopsychologists combine invasive methods (ablation, lesion) with non-invasive ones (recording, imaging), so the eight methods together show how brain structure relates to behaviour.

Synapse and synaptic transmission

Question: Explain the structure of a synapse and describe the steps of synaptic transmission.

Meaning: The point where the terminal button of one neuron contacts the dendrite of another neuron is called a synapse; information passes at these junctions. Synapses can be axodendritic, axosomatic or axoaxonic, and they are either electrical (rare) or chemical (common).

Structure of a synapse

1. Synaptic knob: a tiny bulge at the end of the terminal button holding vesicles filled with neurotransmitters.
2. Synaptic cleft: the gap between the presynaptic axon terminal and the postsynaptic dendrite, filled with extracellular fluid.
3. Postsynaptic membrane: carries the receptors to which neurotransmitter molecules attach.

Steps of synaptic transmission

1. The nerve impulse reaches the terminal buttons and calcium ions rapidly move inside.
2. Vesicles merge with the presynaptic membrane and release neurotransmitters.
3. Neurotransmitters cross the cleft and bind to receptors on the postsynaptic membrane.
4. Excitatory transmitters produce an excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP); at threshold an action potential starts. Inhibitory transmitters cause hyperpolarisation, the inhibitory postsynaptic potential (IPSP).
5. Unbound transmitters are taken back by reuptake or broken down by enzymes, clearing the synapse for the next release.

Conclusion: The synapse turns an electrical signal into a chemical one and back again, which keeps transmission one-directional and filtered.

Autonomic nervous system

Question: Describe the structure and functions of the autonomic nervous system.

Meaning: The autonomic nervous system is the part of the peripheral nervous system that carries efferent impulses to visceral effectors. As the name suggests, its functions are more or less automatic. It controls organs, glands and involuntary muscles, regulating heart rate, smooth-muscle contraction and glandular secretion to maintain homeostasis.

1. Sympathetic division: located mainly in the thoracic and lumbar regions of the spinal column and responsible for fight-or-flight (fight linked with anger, flight with fear). It dilates the pupils, raises heart rate, dilates the bronchi, inhibits salivation and digestion, and acts as the emergency response.
2. Parasympathetic division: brings the body back to a calm, resting state. It constricts the pupils, stimulates salivation and digestion, slows the heart, constricts the bronchi and causes the bladder to contract.

Principle of working

1. Autonomic antagonism: when one division stimulates an effector, the other inhibits it.
2. Tonic action: both divisions conduct impulses continuously, and their sum decides the dominant effect.

Conclusion: The sympathetic division mobilises the body for emergencies while the parasympathetic conserves and restores it; their balanced antagonism keeps the body in homeostasis.

Cerebral dominance and the two hemispheres

Question: What led to the development of the theory of cerebral dominance? Differentiate between the left and right hemispheres.

(a) Development of the theory

Cerebral dominance is the earlier idea that one hemisphere, usually the left, controls all important cognitive processes. Paul Broca (1864) found that his aphasia patients all had left-hemisphere damage and concluded that it controls language. Hugo-Karl Liepmann (early 1900s) found the same for apraxia patients. Marc Dax (1836) had anticipated this earlier. Together they suggested the left hemisphere controls language and voluntary movement.

(b) Left vs right hemisphere

The two hemispheres look alike but differ in function, a difference called lateralisation. According to Pinel and Barnes (2017), lateralisation is statistical rather than absolute. It has been found in seven areas: vision, audition, touch, movement, memory, language and spatial ability.

Conclusion: The left hemisphere leads in language and verbal-analytic work while the right specialises in spatial and emotional processing, a relative rather than absolute division of labour.

Endocrine glands and hormones

Question: Discuss the structure, functions and role of the endocrine glands.

Meaning: Endocrine glands are ductless glands that secrete hormones directly into the bloodstream when stimulated, unlike exocrine glands, which release into ducts. Hormones do not start biological processes; they regulate processes already going on, act slowly, and can influence other hormones.

1. Pituitary gland: the master gland, about 0.5 g, at the base of the skull and attached to the hypothalamus. The anterior part (adenohypophysis) secretes ACTH, TSH, LH, FSH, prolactin and growth hormone.
2. Adrenal gland: sits on top of each kidney, with an outer cortex secreting mineralocorticoids, glucocorticoids such as cortisol and gonadocorticoids, and an inner medulla. It helps the body cope with stress.
3. Thyroid gland: two lobes in the neck, about 30 g, secreting thyroxine, triiodothyronine and calcitonin; it regulates metabolism, growth and tissue differentiation.
4. Parathyroid glands: four small glands near the thyroid secreting parathormone (PTH), which regulates calcium, phosphorus and vitamin D in the blood.
5. Pancreas and gonads: regulate blood sugar and reproductive functions respectively.

Conclusion: Because the hypothalamus links the nervous system to the pituitary, the endocrine glands work as a slow chemical control system that strongly shapes behaviour.