Module 1 Flashcards
Behavioral Neuroscience
Aims to understand the brain structures and functions that respond to experiences and generate behavior.
Synonyms:
biological psychology
brain and behavior
physiological psychology
Discuss the importance of the Renaissance in better understanding human
anatomy.
Created a brain-centered view of mental processes (emotion, thought, etc).
Ex.
Galen’s experiences in treating head injuries of gladiators.
Leonardo da Vinci portrays fluid-filled ventricles connecting to the eye.
Explain Descartes’s contribution to early neuroscience and his now discredited
ideas of dualism.
René Descartes (1596–1650) tried to explain how the control of behavior might resemble the workings of a machine, proposing the concept of spinal reflexes and a neural pathway for them.
Dualism: The notion, promoted by René Descartes, that the mind is distinct from the material body and brain.
Trace the history of phrenology and the relationship to modern thinking about
brain and behavior.
Phrenology: The belief that bumps on the skull reflect enlargements of brain regions responsible for specific behaviors, feelings, and personality traits.
- Was wrong in many aspects, people believed that by feeling the bumps on one’s head you could deduce their character
But, Phrenology led to the localization of function, which asserts that different brain regions specialize in specific behaviors.
Ex. Paul Broca (1824–1880) noted that damage to a particular region of the left side of the brain reliably causes problems with speech production.
Cardiocentric hypothesis
Aristotle: The heart is responsible for thought, consciousness, sensation, emotions, and personality.
Leonardo da Vinci
Developed detailed drawings of the brains ventricular system (holds CSF).
Gall
Believed in a discrete view of the brain where specific structures or brain locations = a specific function.
Flourens
Believed in a holistic view of the brain (all structures contribute to all mental processes).
Broca and Wernickle
Discrete view of the brain, discovering that certain brain regions selective contribute to language.
Patient “Tan”
Language ability is restricted to a small area based on symptoms of a patient with damage to that region.
Phineas Gage
Removing pre-frontal cortical region resulted in major behavioral changes.
Patient H.M.
The anterior temporal lobes on both sides were removed, they could remember things for a short time only.
Anterograde Amnesia
Inability to form new memories after the onset of a disorder.
Neuron Doctrine
Santiago Ramon and Cajal: Nervous system is composed of discrete neurons, which are separate from one another as opposed to a continuous network.
- Connected via synapses
Reticular Theory
Neurons make up one large and physically connected web= a reticulum.
Optogenetics
Modulating neuron activity with light
- Selectivity (cell type, roi)
- Modulation (can inhibit or excite)
- Transient (can turn on or off)
What are the four basic elements that neurons share ?
(1) an input zone (dendrites, which may be elaborately branched and
contain dendritic spines), (2) an integration zone (the cell body and the axon
hillock), (3) a conduction zone (the axon, which may split into axon collaterals),
and (4) an output zone (the axon terminals).
How is information transmitted from neuron to neuron?
Synapses
What happens after the arrival of an impulse along the axons?
Boutons release transmitters from the axon terminals that bind to receptor proteins and produce a response.
CNS (Central Nervous System)
The brain and spinal cord
PNS (Peripheral Nervous System)
The somatic and autonomic systems
Somatic nervous system
Connects muscles and sensory systems with the CNS.
Autonomic nervous system
Connects internal organs to the CNS.
Further divided into the sympathetic and parasympathetic divisons.
Sympathetic division
Prepares body systems for action
Parasympathetic division
Tends towards relaxation
Gyri and Sulci
Ridges and valleys
Somatic intervention
Bodily variables are manipulated in a precise and controlled manner, and consequent effects on behavior are noted.
Ex. Injecting hormones into mice to note behavioral changes
Correlational approach
The covariance of behavioral and neural events may give rise to hypotheses about the function of the nervous system.
Ex. Measuring brain size and then administering a memory test to see if there is a correlation between two variables.
Behavioral interventions
The behavior of individuals is
altered in a controlled manner, and the consequent alterations of neural structure
and function are noted.
Ex. Having adults of the opposite sex interact to view hormonal changes.
Hyperpolarization
Decreases the probability that a nerve impulse will be produced.
Inhibitory postsynaptic potential
Depolarization
Increases the probability that a nerve impulse will be produced.
excitatory postsynaptic potential
Action potential
Nerve Impulse
Absolute refractory phase
The voltage-gated Na+ channels are
completely insensitive to further stimuli.
Relative refractory phase
Voltage-gated Na+ channels are closed but able to respond to new stimulation,
but the voltage-gated K+ channels remain open, allowing continued efflux of K+.