Brain and Behavior Flashcards
What is the Nervous System (CNS,PNS) composed of?
- Brain
- Spinal Cord
- Periphery
Brain
- coordination of info. and decision making
- development, trauma, altered chemistry, and altered pathways
Spinal Cord
-convayence of info
Periphery
-sensation and perception
Brainstem
-arousal, frustration, pleasure
Thalamus
- coordinates sensory input
- all senses except for smell (olfactory on its own)
Olfactory Bulb
-directly
Hypothalamus
- links brain to endocrine system
- many inputs from brainstem
Hippocampus
-regulates amygdala
Amygdala
- emotional/fear center of the brain
- fear memories are 3 F’s (flight, fight, freeze)
- sympathetic
Cingulate
- play/maternal behavior
- only seen in mammals
Cerebral Cortex
- higher learning
- info stored like cues they know, routines, and voluntary problem solving
- parasympathetic
Parasympathetic
- rest and digest
- low HR, BP, etc
Sympathetic
- flight and fight
- high HR, BP, respiration rate
- blood diverts away from GI tract
- release of epinephrine from adrenal medulla
What happens in 1/2 second of stress?
-adrenal medulla->epinephrine->cortisol
What happens in 5 seconds of fight or flight?
- hyperalertness
- more blood flow thru skeletal muscles
- pain responses inhibited
What happens after stressor subsides?
-cortisol is still produced for some time
Cortisol (Steroid Hormone)
- short term: helps cope w/ stress, injury and defense
- long term: muscle wasting, impaired immunity and fertility
- can be measured thru saliva and feces
What can cause increased reactivity?
- heredity
- maternal influences
- lack of socialization/early handling
- early weaning
- neurochemical imbalances
- hormonal issues
- medical issue causing pain
- drug interactions
- trauma
- punishment based training
Threshold for Reactivity
- dog is not listening or eating during threshold
- cerebral cortex in charge before threshold, and then amygdala afterwards
- after threshold leads to aggression, freezing and panic
How do we change reactive behavior?
- work sub-thershold
- change how they feel about stimulus
- can’t use reinforcement and punishment
- use classical
BAS: Behavioral Activation System
- reward gaining and avoidance of punishment=increase in behavior
- overactive: unable to control maladaptive impulses
- always in “trouble”
- sympathetic dominance
BIS: Behavioral Inhibition System
- recognition of signals anticipating punishment or non-reward=inhibits behavior
- inhibit after punishment event, don’t make same mistake twice
- parasympathetic dominance
Dopamine (Neurotranmitter)
- associated w/ disorders like schitzophrenia (too much dopamine or receptors) and parkinson’s
- reward experiences from positive or negative reinforcement depends on dopamine
Serotonin (Neurotransmitter)
- important in sleep cycles
- implicated in stress, depression, and aggression
- receptors in amygdala; aid in inhibiting aggression
- anit-depressant drugs
Quiet Attack
- predatory behavior
- no agitation, silent
- pleasurable experience, animals self stimulate
- feels like reward
Affective Aggression
- offensive and defensive displays
- acts on anything in reach
- closely associated w/ pain and fear
- escape was 1st choice but once pain in involved the animal attacks
Norepinephrine (Neurotransmitter)
- increased levels in hypothalamus and amygdala decrease aggression
- depletion of NE makes animal exhibit rage
- breed specific differences in amount of NE
Dominance Aggression
- theory suggests it is actually proactive avoidance of perceived aversive outcomes
- “dominant” dogs learn defense coping mechanism to control aversive outcomes
Submission
- dogs are more likely to react non-aggressively to perceived threat
- this is not b/c of lower status, but because primary mode is avoidance
