What are the origins of the brain and behavior?

Question 1

mind

Answer 1

Proposed nonmaterial entity responsible for intelligence, attention, awareness, and consciousness.

Question 1

radiator hypothesis

Answer 1

Idea that selection for improved brain cooling through increased blood circulation in the brains of early hominids enabled the brain to grow larger.

Question 2

psyche

Answer 2

Synonym for mind, an entity once proposed to be the source of human behavior.

Question 2

species-typical behavior

Answer 2

Behavior that is characteristic of all members of a species.

Question 3

neuron

Answer 3

Specialized nerve cell engaged in information processing.

Question 3

phenotype

Answer 3

Individual characteristics that can be seen or measured.

Question 4

culture

Answer 4

Learned behaviors that are passed on from one generation to the next through teaching and experience.

Question 5

segmentation

Answer 5

Division into a number of parts that are similar; refers to the idea that many animals, including vertebrates, are composed of similarly organized body segments.

Question 7

central nervous system (CNS)

Answer 7

The brain and spinal cord that together mediate behavior.

Question 8

cerebellum

Answer 8

Major structure of the brainstem specialized for coordinating and learning skilled movements. In large-brained animals, the cerebellum may also have a role in coordinating other mental processes.

Question 9

cerebrum (forebrain)

Answer 9

Major structure of the forebrain that consists of two virtually identical hemispheres (left and right) and is responsible for most conscious behavior.

Question 10

deep brain stimulation (DBS)

Answer 10

Neurosurgery in which electrodes implanted in the brain stimulate a targeted area with a low-voltage electrical current to facilitate behavior.

Question 11

species

Answer 11

Group of organisms that can interbreed.

Question 12

bilateral symmetry

Answer 12

Body plan in which organs or parts present on both sides of the body are mirror images in appearance. For example, the hands are bilaterally symmetrical, whereas the heart is not.

Question 13

peripheral nervous system (PNS)

Answer 13

All the neurons in the body located outside the brain and spinal cord; provides sensory and motor connections to and from the central nervous system.

Question 14

dualism

Answer 14

Philosophical position that holds that both a nonmaterial mind and a material body contribute to behavior.

Question 15

mentalism

Answer 15

Explanation of behavior as a function of the nonmaterial mind.

Question 16

materialism

Answer 16

Philosophical position that holds that behavior can be explained as a function of the brain and the rest of the nervous system without explanatory recourse to the mind.

Question 16

persistent vegetative state (PVS)

Answer 16

Condition in which a person is alive but unable to communicate or to function independently at even the most basic level.

Question 18

epigenetics

Answer 18

Differences in gene expression related to environment and experience.

Question 19

embodied language

Answer 19

Hypothesis that the movements we make and the movements we perceive in others are central to communication with others.

Question 20

clinical trial

Answer 20

Consensual experiment directed toward developing a treatment.

Question 21

encephalization quotient (EQ)

Answer 21

Jerison’s quantitative measure of brain size obtained from the ratio of actual brain size to expected brain size, according to the principle of proper mass, for an animal of a particular body size.

Question 21

minimally conscious state (MCS)

Answer 21

Condition in which a person can display some rudimentary behaviors, such as smiling or uttering a few words, but is otherwise not conscious.

Question 23

hemisphere

Answer 23

Literally, half a sphere, referring to one side of the cerebrum.

Question 25

mind-body problem

Answer 25

Quandary of explaining how a nonmaterial mind and a material body interact.

Question 26

traumatic brain injury (TBI)

Answer 26

Wound to the brain that results from a blow to the head.

Question 27

hominid

Answer 27

General term referring to primates that walk upright, including all forms of humans, living and extinct.

Question 28

genotype

Answer 28

Particular genetic makeup of an individual.

Question 29

natural selection

Answer 29

Darwin’s theory for explaining how new species evolve and how existing species change over time. Differential success in the reproduction of different characteristics (phenotypes) results from the interaction of organisms with their environment.

Question 30

neoteny

Answer 30

Process in which maturation is delayed and so an adult retains infant characteristics; idea derived from the observation that newly evolved species resemble the young of their common ancestors.

Question 31

chordate

Answer 31

Animal that has both a brain and a spinal cord.

Question 33

cladogram

Answer 33

Phylogenetic tree that branches repeatedly, suggesting a taxonomy of organisms based on the time sequence in which evolutionary branches arise.

Question 34

nerve net

Answer 34

Simple nervous system that has no brain or spinal cord but consists of neurons that receive sensory information and connect directly to other neurons that move muscles.

Question 35

spinal cord

Answer 35

Part of the central nervous system encased within the vertebrae (spinal column) that provides most of the connections between the brain and the rest of the body.

Question 36

common ancestor

Answer 36

Forebearer from which two or more lineages or family groups arise and so is ancestral to both groups.

Question 37

brainstem

Answer 37

Central structure of the brain responsible for most unconscious behavior.

Question 38

ganglia

Answer 38

Collection of nerve cells that function somewhat like a brain.