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Biological Bases Of Behavior > Chapter 1 - Brain And Behavior > Flashcards

Chapter 1 - Brain And Behavior Flashcards

1
Q

Cerebral cortex

A

Heavily folded outer layer of brain tissue composed of neurons (cortex = bark)

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2
Q

Gyri

A

Bumps. A ridge or fold between two clefts on the cerebral surface in the brain.

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3
Q

Sulci

A

Grooves. A groove or furrow, especially one on the surface of the brain.

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4
Q

Forebrain –

A

prominent in mammals and birds,

responsible for most conscious behaviors

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5
Q

Brainstem

A

source of behavior in simpler animals,

responsible for most of our unconscious behaviors

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6
Q

Four Lobes of the Brain

A 
1. Frontal
– “Executive” functions, decision making
2. Parietal
– Integrates sensations into body coordinates
3. Temporal
– Hearing, language, memory, smell, taste
4. Occipital
– Visual processing
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7
Q

Central Nervous System (CNS)

A
  • The brain and spinal cord
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8
Q

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

A

– Somatic division: conveys sensory information
to the CNS and motor information from the CNS
to the muscles.
– Autonomic division: enables the CNS to govern
the workings of the internal organs (e.g.,
heartbeat, respiration)

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9
Q

Nervous system subdivides in:

A

CNS and PNS

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10
Q

Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt:

A

Behavior consists of patterns in time.”
– Examples
• Movements, vocalizations, thinking

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11
Q

Animals produce behaviors that

A

– are inherited ways of responding

– that are learned

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12
Q

Most behaviors probably consist of

A

a mix of

inherited and learned actions

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13
Q

Mentalism

A

An explanation of behavior as a function of the nonmaterial mind

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14
Q

Aristotle

A

– Believed the brain cooled the blood; no role in
producing behavior
– Psyche: Synonym for mind; an entity once
proposed to be the source of human behavior

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15
Q

Dualism

A

Both a nonmaterial mind and the material

body contribute to behavior

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16
Q

Mind–Body Problem

A

– Quandary of explaining a nonmaterial mind in command of a material body

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17
Q

Rene Descartes

A 
• Mind directs rational behavior
• Body and brain direct all other behavior via
mechanical and physical principles
– Examples: sensation, movement, and
digestion
• Mind is located in the pineal gland of the
brain, which sits beside ventricles filled
with fluid 
• Mind regulates
behavior by
directing the flow
of ventricular
fluid to appropriate
muscles
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18
Q

Descartes and Dualism

A

Pineal gland is involved in biological
rhythms, but not in intelligence or
behavioral control
• Fluid is not pumped from the ventricles to
control movement
• Nonmaterial influences on the body would
violate the law of conservation of matter
and energy

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19
Q

Darwin and Materialism

A

• Behavior can be explained as a function of
the nervous system without explanatory
recourse to the mind
• Related to evolutionary theories of Alfred
Wallace and Charles Darwin
– Both were struck at the many similarities
among species

20
Q

Darwin’s Concept of Natural Selection:

A

• Explanation for how new species evolve
and existing species change over time
• Differential success in the reproduction of
different characteristics (phenotypes)
results from the interaction of organisms
with their environment

21
Q

How are Traits Selected Naturally?

A

Appearance of New Trait
(e.g., via mutation)

Trait Increases
Reproductive Success

Increases
Chances of
Survival

Trait Passed
on to Offspring

22
Q

Epigenetics

A

• Study of differences in gene expression
related to environment and experience
• Epigenetic factors do not change your
genes, but they do influence how your
genes express the traits you’ve inherited
from your parents
• Epigenetic changes can persist throughout
a lifetime, and the cumulative effects can
make dramatic differences in how your
genes work

23
Q

Darwin and Materialism 2

A 
1.Because all animal species
are related, so too must be
their brains
2.Because all species of
animals are related, so too
must be their behavior
3.Can study and understand
human behavior and brain
function by comparing the
genes, brains, and
behaviors of different
animals
24
Q

Common Ancestor

A

• A forebearer from which two or more
lineages or family groups arise
– Example: Humans and apes are thought to
share a common ancestor
• Can trace our lineage by comparing the
genes, brains, and behaviors of different
animals

25
Q

Taxonomy of Modern Humans

A 
The evolution of brain cells and the brain
• Only Animalia, contains
species with muscles
and nervous systems
• Muscles and nervous
systems evolved
together to underlie the
forms of movement
(behavior) that
distinguish members of
the animal kingdom
26
Q

Nerve net:

A

– Simple nervous system with sensory and

motor neurons

27
Q

Segmented nerve trunk:

A

– Bilaterally symmetrical (the same on both
sides of the body)
– Segmented (divided into a number of parts)

28
Q

Ganglia:

A

Structures that resemble and function

somewhat like a brain

29
Q

Brain:

A

– The chordate phylum display the greatest
degree of encephalization: they have a true
brain.
– Of all the chordates, humans have the largest
brain relative to body size.

30
Q

Chordate Nervous System

A

• Nervous systems vary widely among
chordates, but all are/have:
– Bilaterally symmetrical and segmented
– Brain and spinal cord encased in cartilage/bone
– “Crossed” organization: Each hemisphere
receives information from and controls the
opposite side of the body

  • Emergence of complex behavior* in chordates is
    closely related to the evolution of the cerebrum and
    cerebellum
31
Q

Features common to primates:

A 
Excellent color vision
• Eyes in front of face: enhance depth
perception
• Females: Usually only one infant per
pregnancy; infants require more care
• Large brains for skilled movements and
social behavior
32
Q

Hominids:

A

– Evolved 5 million years ago
– Primates that walk upright; includes all forms
of humans, living and extinct

33
Q

Australopithecus:

A 
Early hominids were
among the first primates
to show distinctly human
characteristics, including
walking upright and
using tools
• Its brain was the size of
that of a modern ape,
about one-third the size
of the modern human
brain
34
Q 
Homo habilis (“handy
human”)
A

Made simple stone tools

2 million years ago; in Africa

35
Q 
Homo erectus (“upright
human”)
A

More sophisticated tools
than H. habilis
1.6 million years ago; in
Europe and Asia

36
Q

Homo sapiens

A

– Appeared within the last 200,000 years
– Until 30,000 years ago in Europe and 18,000
years ago in Asia, coexisted with other
hominid species
• Example: Neanderthals in Europe, who had
comparable or even larger brains than H. sapiens
• Exact reason why we replaced Neanderthals is
unknown

37
Q

Jerison (1973)

• Principle of Proper Mass:

A

– Species exhibiting more complex behaviors
will possess relatively larger brains
• Jerison developed an index of brain size to
allow comparisons among different
species
– Used body size to predict brain size

38
Q

Encephalization Quotient (EQ):

A

Measure of brain size obtained from the ratio
of actual brain size to the expected brain size
for an animal of a particular body size
• H. sapiens have the largest EQ

39
Q

Enlarging Hominid Brain

A 
Relative size of the
hominid brain has
increased nearly
threefold
– Australopithecus
afarensis (left)
– Homo erectus (center)
– Modern Homo sapiens
(right)
40
Q

Stedman and Colleagues (2004)

A

Genetic
Mutation

Smaller Facial
Muscles & Bones

Change
in Diet

Increased
Brain Size

41
Q

Radiator Hypothesis (Falk, 1990)

A

active brain = more heat

Increased
Blood
Circulation

Improved
Brain
Cooling

Enabled Size of
Hominid Brains to
Increase

42
Q

Neoteny

A 
• Rate of maturation is slowed
– Allows more brain cells to be produced
• Adults retain some infant characteristics
• Newly evolved species resemble the
young of their common ancestors
– Adult human heads look more like the heads
of juvenile chimpanzees than adult
chimpanzees
43
Q

Evolutionary Approach

A

Make brain-behavior comparisons between
different species

• CAUTION:
– Difficult to make brain-behavior comparisons
between members within the same species
• Example: Brain size and intelligence

44
Q

Fallacies of Human Brain-Size

Comparisons

A

• Brain size and intelligence do not seem to
be particularly related
– Research has shown that many smart people
(e.g., Einstein) have average size brains
– Women’s brains weigh about 10% less than
men, but the two sexes do not differ in
measures of average intelligence

45
Q

Culture

A

Learned behaviors that are passed on from one
generation to the next through teaching and
learning
• Enabled by our large brains

46
Q

brain is highly flexible

A
  • We perform many tasks today that our brains
    were not originally selected for early during
    evolution
    • Example: programming computers

Biological Bases Of Behavior (2 decks)

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