Chapter 4 book (exam2) Flashcards
central nervous system
brain and spinal cord
peripheral nervous system
nerves
neural circuits
groups of interconnected neurons that are able to regulate their own activity using a feedback loop
nerons
nerve cells
tinbergen’s work with gulls
chicks ignore almost everything except the shape of the bill and the red dot at the end of it.
- when gull chick sees pointed object with a contrasting dot at tip, the sensory signals reach the brain, where other neurons eventually generate motor commands that cause the chick to peck at stimulus - whether parent or cardboard on a stick (page 107)
- gray lag goose will put anything that looks like
an egg that is outside its nest back in it. Tinbergen and Lorenz conclude that goose must have a perceptual mechanism that is highly sensitive to visual cues provided by egg shaped objects (pg 108)
ethology
study of proximate mechanisms and adaptive value of animal behavior is a discipline founded by Tinbergen and Lorenz
Instinct
- innate behavior.
- appears fully functional the First time it’s performed.
Instinctive behaviors are dependent on
the gene-environment interactions that took place during development (pg 108)
sign stimulus
effective component of an action or object that triggers a fixed action pattern in an animal
releaser
sign stimulus given by an individual as a social signal to another individual
fixed action pattern
an innate, highly stereo-typed response that’s triggered by a well-defined, simple stimulus. once the pattern is activated, the response is performed in its entirety.
innate releasing mechanism
a conceptual neural mechanism thought to control an innate response to a sign stimulus
codebreaking
ability of species to exploit the FAP’s of other species
(ex: blister larvae evolved to exploit male bee tendency to try to mate with anything that resembles a female (like a larvae cluster) and thereby maximize their chances of developing in a food - rich environment)
mouth markings on zebra finches are
sign stimuli that parents use to feed chicks
cuckoo and brown headed cow birds must be able to deceive their hosts by
looking and behaving in ways that stimulate adult host to feed them. (codebreaking)
aka brood parasite chicks exploit sensory systems of hosts to ensure they get fed - even if their markings don’t match the host species’ chicks
night hunting bats vocalize
ultrasonically using ultrasound frequencies between 20-80 kilohertz (above human hearing range)
bats locate food and navigate using
echolocation
bat’s sonar is capable of creating
full 3-D images of the world in complete darkness
Each moth ear consists of flexible sheet of
cuticle - tympanum. attached to tympanum are two neurons A1 & A2 auditory receptors.
action potential
a neural signal that transmits information via a self-regenerating change in membrane electrical charge that travels the length of the nerve cell, sometimes triggering further action potentials in adjacent nerve cells.
neurotransmitter
chemical signal that diffuses from one nerve cell to another across a synapse (112)
synapse
point of near-contact between one nerve cell and another (112)
interneurons
a nerve cell that relays signals either from sensory receptor neurons (touch receptors, odor receptors, light receptors) to the CNS (a sensory interneuron) or from the CNS to neurons commanding muscle cells (motor interneuron)
ganglion
neural structure composed of a highly organized mass of neurons
moth behavior is a product of
integrated series of chemical and biophysical changes in a network of cells
on months, the A1 receptor has
great sensitivity to pulses of ultrasound
if the bat is directly behind the moth there is __ fluctuation in neural activity
no fluctuation in neural activity. NOT the case if the bat is above/below/to the side
wing muscles on moth are controlled by
thoracic ganglia and allied motor neurons
when A1 cells are equally active
the moth is facing in opposite direction from the bat and heading away from danger
if bat is within 3 meters moths
employ drastic evasive maneuvers such as wild loops and power dives.
A2 receptor (is/is not) necessary to trigger erratic evasive behavior
is not necessary
Terminal buzz phase
last 150 milliseconds of a bat attack
command centers
neural cluster or integrated set of clusters that has primary responsibility for the control of a particular behavioral activity
a mantis’s nervous system sorts out
its options thanks to inhibitory relationships between an assortment of command centers
segmental ganglia responsible for
telling the muscles in particular segments to carry out given movements
even if a mantis’s head is bitten off his body carries him in a circular path until
he reaches the female - then climbs on her back, twists his abdomen down to copulate competently (pg 119-120)
many animals use _____ to find food (120) attract mates, or navigate great distances
UV radiation
UV radiation plays a role in navigational abilities of
monarch butterflies
Circadian clock
internal osculator modulated by external cues such as sunlight or temperature that regulates physiological processes
some animals can use ___ ___ as a compass
polarized light
cricket sensory interneurons called (1)
1) plays a key role in ___(2
(1) int-I or ANZ
(2) perception of ultrasound
Int-1 cells seem to be part of (1)
it’s necessary and sufficient for (2)
(1) a neural circuit
(2) it’s necessary and sufficient for the apparent bat-evasion response of flying crickets
natural selection - predator detection systems ___
have been lost in a few species of moths (pg 126)
motor neurons cause
movement to escape predators
dorsal flexion neurons (DFN’s) active when
animal bent into a “U”
Ventral flexion neurons (VFNs) produces pulse of
action potentials that turn the slug into an inverted “U”
Escape reaction of slug - messages relay from
Dorsal Ramp Interneurons (DRI) to
Dorsal Swim Interneurons (DSI) to
Ventral Swim Interneurons (VSI) to
Cerebral Neuron 2 (C2)
Central Pattern Generator
group of cells in an organisms nervous system that produces a particular pattern of signals necessary for functional behavioral response
Plainfin Midshipman Fish sing or hum songs lasting (a) [how long] in order to (b)
(c) type II males ___ and try to ____
(a) 1 min to 1 hour
(b) attract mates (type I).
(c) type II males grunt and try to sneak in Type 1 territory to fertilize female eggs
ability of neurons and neural circuits to ignore (__ out) vast amounts of potential information in order to focus on biologically relevant elements within diverse ___ bombarding an animal
stimulus filtering
Examples of stimulus filtering:
A) Moth A1 receptors activated only by __ stimuli
B) Moles can see and smell
A) acoustic
B) they largely ignore visual stimulation even when they can see
Moles can collect complex patterns of information about what it encounters underground (and can identify prey) because of
EIMER’s ORGANS - sensory devices.
Moles have 22 fleshy appendages around its nostrils, 11 on each side covered with these sensory devices.
Mole appendage 11 referred to as
tactile fovea
Mole appendage 11 - __% of decoding dedicated to this (possibly because its right above mouth)
25%
Cognition
mental process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience and the senses
Cognitive skills evolve in response to
particular selection pressures associated with particular environments - both social and ecological
Human life history traits and large brains might be the result of
our ability to collect and use more energy than our closest relatives (137)
relationship between brain size and problem solving - bowerbirds
male satin bowerbirds build complicated structures to attract females.
The larger-brained bowerbirds build more complicated the bowers.
social brain hypothesis
advanced problem solving and the like evolved in the context of dealing with the obstacles to reproductive success posed by interacting socially with members of one’s own species
domestication hypothesis
domesticated animals evolved an inherent sensitivity to human gestures but non-domesticated animals did not.
