Chapter 1 Origins of Brain and Behaviour

Question 1

What is long term potentiation?

Answer 1

More and more exposure to a topic helps your learn it better.

Question 2

Why study the brain and behavior?

Answer 2

Many behavioral disorders can be understood and maybe cured through researching the brain.
The brain is the most complex organ on earth.
How the brain produces consciousness and behavior is still unknown.

Question 3

What is the cerebral cortex? talk about the anatomy of it.

Answer 3

The cerebral cortex is the outer layer of brain tissue made from neurons. The bumps and valleys on the surface are called gyri and sulci.

Question 4

What is the central nervous system composed of?

Answer 4

The central nervous system is made of the brain and spinal cord.

Question 5

What is the peripheral nervous system made of?

Answer 5

The nervous system is all of the nerves outside of the central nervous system.

Question 6

What is a neuron?

Answer 6

A brain cell engaged in information processing.

Question 7

What is a sensory neuron?

Answer 7

A brain cell that carries information to the central nervous system.

Question 8

What is a motor neuron?

Answer 8

A neuron that carries nerve impulses to muscle fibers

Question 9

What did Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt think behavior was? Give an example

Answer 9

He thought that behavior was a series of patterns.
ex. movement, vocalization, thinking, memories.

Question 10

What did Julien Offroy de la Mettrie think of behavior?

Answer 10

He though it was produced by the brain.

Question 11

Describe the variance in behavior across species and why it occurs.

Answer 11

An animals range of behavior gets wider the more complex an animals nervous system is. The range gets narrower the less complex a system it has.

Question 12

What are innate behaviors? Give an example.

Answer 12

Patterns that are fixed. They are the same response across time.
Ex. crossbill beaks are designed to open pinecones

Question 13

What are learned behaviors? Give an example.

Answer 13

Learned behaviors are flexible ways of responding to stimuli.
Ex. Baby roof rats learned to eat pinecones from their mothers.

Question 14

What are the 3 theories of behavior?

Answer 14

Mentalism, Dualism, and Materialism.

Question 15

What is Mentalism?

Answer 15

Mentalism is a theory that explains behavior through non material functions of the mind.

Question 16

What is Dualism? What problems are associated with this theory?

Answer 16

Dualism explains that mix of the material body and nonmaterial mind giving rise to behavior.
The mind body problem is the issue of explaining the function of a non material mind commanding a material body.

Question 17

What is materialism?

Answer 17

Materialism explains behavior through the material mechanisms of the mind alone.

Question 18

Who was associated with dualism? What were their theories?

Answer 18

Rene Descartes was a dualist who thought the pineal gland is where the mind (psyche) was located. Mind and body work together. It is near the ventricles and therefore directed csf to muscles to act.

Question 19

Problem with dualist’s (who???) theory.

Answer 19

Rene Descartes’ theory that the pineal gland contained the mind is wrong as we now know it is involved in biological rhythms. Furthermore CSF doesn’t go to the muscles.

Question 20

Who’s theories were associated with Materialism?

Answer 20

Gregor Mendel, Alfred Wallace, and Charles Darwin.

Question 21

What was Charles Darwin’s concept called? what was it?

Answer 21

Natural selection. Natural selection was a explanation of how new species evolve and existing species develop over time. His theory was that overpopulation of species forced death and optimal mutated traits outlived suboptimal ones causing development across many generations resulting in new traits and eventually species over time.

Question 22

What were Mendel’s observations?

Answer 22

Genes!!! Genes are heritable factors that govern traits passed onto offspring by parents.
Similar characteristics between species were usually a result of similar genes.
Members of a species with a particular genetic makeup express specific traits (phenotype)

Question 23

What is epigenetics????!?!?!

Answer 23

Epigenetics is the study of differences of gene expression as a result of environment and experience. These factors don’t change genes, they just influence expression. Changes persist through a lifetime and can alter how a gene is expressed.