UWSP - PSYC 325 Ch. 1

Behavioral neuroscience

study of neural bases of behavior & mental processes

neuron

the basic unit of the nervous system

synapses

where neuron’s contact other cells

neuroscience

study of the nervouse system

5 major perspectives

1. describing

2. biological mechanisms

3. development of behavior over many life spans

4. evolution of behavior over many life spans

5. studying applications of neuroscience

Ontogeny

the process by which an individual changes in the course of it’s lifetime

proximate questions

questions about the physical interactions that control a particular part

3 approaches used by behavioral neuroscientists

somatic intervention, behavioral intervention & correlation

somatic intervention

an approach to finding relations between body & behavioral variables that involves manipulating body structure or function & looking for resultant changes in behavior

behavioral intervention

an approach to finding relations between body & behavioral variables that involves intervening in the behavior of an organism & looking for resultant changes in body structure or function

correlation

finding the extent to which a given body measure varies with a behavioral measure

neuroplasticity

the ability of the nervous system to change in response to experience or the environment

reductionism

the scientific strategy of breaking a system down into increasingly smaller steps

level of analysis

scope of experimental approaches

• ranges from the level of the individual interacting to the level of the molecule

Alzheimer’s & stroke

2 most common neurological disorders

depression & anxiety disorders

2 most common psychiatric disorders

Leonardo da Vinci

studied the human body & laid foundation for accurate anatomical drawings by providing views from different angles

Rene Descartes

wrote On Man - explained how behavior of animals could be like machines, proposed concept of spinal reflexes & a neural pathway for them, suggested that the mind & body come in contact in the pineal gland, and invented dualism

dualism

mind is subject to only spiritual interactions while the body is subject only to material interactions → modernly rejected by neuroscientists

Thomas Willis

studies the human brain & disorders → convinced people that the brain is the organ that coordinates & controls behavior

prenology

the outmoded belief that bumps on the skull reflect enlargements of brain regions responsible for certain behavioral faculties, assigning regions of the brain to things like love of family, color, etc.

Paul Broca

argued that language ability was not a property of the entire brain but regionally localized

• presented patient analysis- postmortem who lost ability to speaks for years, only brain damage found was within the frontal portion of the brain on the left side

William James

Principles of psychology - signaled modern approach to behavioral neuroscience

• ideas like consciousness became seen as properties of the nervous system & asked questions like whether brain size is related to ability across species

Hermann Ebbinghaus

showed how to measure learning & memory in humans

Edward Thorndike

showed how to measure learning & memory in animals

Ivan Pavlov

described classical conditioning in animals, especially dogs

Margaret Floy Washburn

surveyed behavior across species to illustrate evolution of behavior & mind

Shepard I. Franz

removed different brain regions in animals to find site of learning & memory

Donald O. Hebb

The Organization of Behavior - showed how complex cognitive behavior could be accomplished by networks of active neurons

• suggested that randomized cell connections could become organized, by sensory input & stimulation, into strongly interconnected groups called cell assemblies

Consciousness

state of awareness of one’s own existence & experience

Different levels of analysis in behavioral neuroscience

social, organ, neural systems, brain region, circuit, cellular, synaptic, & molecular levels