Lecture 1 Flashcards
Mediates all behavior with influence from genes and the environment
The brain~~~ it’s always the brain
Pharmacology
Study of action of drugs and their effects
Neuropharmacology
Drug-induced changes in behavior (mood, thinking, how we act, how we feel
Psychopharmacology
Drug-induced changes in behavior (mood, thinking, how we act, how we feel)
Phineas gage
Asshole, frontal lobe
John Harlow
Studied the asshole. Behavioral pathology with frontal lobe damage. Prefrontal cortex
How do we study the brain
Natural damage- PG Experimental manipulations: Lesions Simulations Recordings
Vmh
Satiety—lesion causes fat rats
Stimulating motor cortex
Gross locomotive activity such as running around the cage or fine locomotive activity such as grooming.
Recordings
Experimental manipulations
Cortical EEG for sleep monitoring CAT PET MRI fMRI
Experimental manipulation
Recordings White matter vs grey matter Ventricles (more fluid or tissue) Hippocampus (memory loss) Basal ganglia (locomotion/motor activity)
Localisation of function
Assumes that the brain is made of a collection of many different parts; each of which mediates or controls specialized functions
Caveats
Localized but integrated
Necessary but not always necessary sufficient to only have localized and not integrated
Role in mediating drug effects
In reality networks that work in tandem
Basal ganglia
Motor activity
Lots of dopamine: cocaine works on dopamine in the basal ganglia
Reductionism
Vs.
Neuroreductionism
Explain complex materials in terms of simpler ones
Explain the brain by breaking it down into it’s smaller parts
White matter, neurons, proteins
Neuroreductionism two major tenets
1) The brain controls all behavior, therefore in order to understand behavior, it is necessary to study the brain
2) lots of other things contribute to behavior, but since the brain is always involved it is sufficient to study only the brain
Csn
Brain, spinal cord
Neurons and glia
Pns
Everything else
Why are Neurons (specialized?)
Polarized
(different bottom compared to top)
(More negative on inside than outside)
Excitable
(They have the ability to produce electrical signals within themselves called action potentials)
Modulatory
(Can release neurotransmitters)
(To modulate other cells)
Need ion channels to pass through the brain
Sodium, potassium, calcium, chloride
(Ligand gated)
(Voltage gated)
Dendritic spines
Small bumps on dendrites. More ears - more root signals
Axon hillock
Between soma and axon
Were the action potential begins
Concentrated with very low voltage threshold ion Channels (Na+)
Terminal buttons
Synapse
Releases neurotransmitters
Pharmacokinetics
Is the study of what the body does to
The drug
Pharmacodynamics
Is the study of what a drug does to the body
Where does behavior come from?
The brain mediates all behavior and has some influence from our genes and the environment
What are two ways we cans study the brain?
Natural Damage
Experimental Manipulation
Natural Damage ex.
Phineas Gage getting impaled by a metal rod that went through the front of his head; Damaging his frontal lobe more specifically prefrontal cortex of which is known to deal with operational thought. He was a really nice guy and then turned in to a mean guy that made irrational decisions and lacked critical thinking
Experimental Manipulation ex.
3 types:
lesion- vmh/lha
stimulation- motor cortex
recordings- EEG recordings during sleep to see the different waves the sleep cycles have
Reductionism
simplifying complex concepts as much as possible/in way that is easier to understand/ breaking it down
Neuroreductionism
Breaking down the functions and structures of the brain into smaller
Threshold dose: dose response curve
smallest dose that produces an effect
ED50: dose response curve
dose that produces half the maximal effect
Maximum response: dose response curve
assume all receptors are occupied
