Neuroscience (Lecture 1)

Question 1

Neuroscience

Answer 1

multidisciplinary apporach to the study of the brain and nervous system

Question 2

biopsychology

Answer 2

the biological approach to psychology

Question 3

psychology

Answer 3

the study of the mind

Question 4

mind

Answer 4

the brain

Question 5

Mind according to the Melanesian culture

Answer 5

memory was attributed to the stomach

Question 6

intellect according to the Melanesian culture

Answer 6

larynx

Question 7

Majority of early cultures believed what was the seat of the mind

Answer 7

the heart

Question 8

Hippocrates beliefs (460-379BCE)

Answer 8

the brain is the most powerful organ of the human body

Question 9

Aristotle’s beliefs

Answer 9

• the brain exists to cool the blood overheated by the seething heart
• the heart was the real seat of the mind

Question 10

Galen (130-200 CE)

Answer 10

• supported the Hippocratic view of the brain
• belived that the body functioned through the work of 3 types of spirits
  1. natural spirits
  2. vital spirits
  3. animal spirits

Question 11

mind v body

Answer 11

question of wether the mind is an inanimate invisible spiritual force or a function of the physical properties of the body/brain

Question 12

animistic theory of mind

Answer 12

the mind is essentially spiritual nature

Question 13

Support for mechanistic view

Answer 13

In the dark ages there was war, famine, and no legal authority. the church told you what to believe in order to get into heaven

Question 14

mechanistic view

Answer 14

brain is the physical basis of the mind (not house for spirits)

Question 15

mental illness

Answer 15

any illness with no physical cause (used to be thought to be the work of witchcraft or the devil)

Question 16

When was mental illness finally recognized as a disease?

Answer 16

late 16th/ early 17th century

Question 17

Franz Joseph Gall (18th - 19th century)

Answer 17

• physical traits may indicate mental faculties
• oganology
• Johann Spurzhein = Phrenology

Question 18

Contributions of Phrenology

Answer 18

• reinforced the notion of the brain as being the prime organ of the mind
• encouraged scientific research on the relationship of different brain regions and behaviors (often to disprove phrenological theory)

Question 19

organology

Answer 19

mental faculties (powers) could be attributed to larger brain regions dedicated to those faculties

Question 20

Phrenology

Answer 20

idea that the sizes of brain areas were meaningful and could be inferred by examining the skull of an individual

• brain areas have localized specific functions
• example: character, emotion, and thoughts had specific area in the brain

Question 21

Pierre-Paul Broca (1894-1880)

Answer 21

• localization of function
• had patient named Tan who could only say the word tan
• after tan died did autopsy and discovered lession in an area he deemed Brocas area

Question 22

Brocas Area

Answer 22

• in left temporal lobe

- regoin reals with speech

Question 23

General trends over the centuries

Answer 23

• seat of the mind starts to be considered to be the brain
• towards the mechanistic/physiological view of the mind
• away from the animistic/spiritual view