Biological Basis of Behavior - 1

psychology

study of behavior and what influences it

naturalistic observations

observing animal behavior to understand it

experimentation

ask humans/animals to perform a task and change features of interest to see influence on behavior

behavioral intervention

a type of experiment where you see how performing tasks changes brain/body

somatic intervention

change something about the body to see the behavioral influence

dualism

the mind and body are different and unconnected

materialism

the mind is a product of the brain

behavior

observable actions

neurons

brain cells

cerebral cortex

the outer part of the brain, which is divided into two hemispheres and four lobes with distinct jobs. the exterior gray matter contains cell bodies and the white matter connects and supports those cells

primary sensory cortex

sensory input region

primary motor cortext

motor output region

topographic organization

things are organized similarly in the brain as they are in space

somatopically

nearby regions of the brain process nearby regions of the body

retinotopically

nearby locations on the retina are mapped onto nearby locations on the brain

tonotopically

similar frequencies of sound are mapped nearby in the brain

primary brain areas

first place to get information from their respective sources/senses

secondary brain area

gets info from the primary brain area

association cortex

does the majority of the higher level processing functions of the brain - integration, connection making, associating information with prior knowledge

arrangement of the visual system

hierarchical - each region processes the inputs into more complex ideas (outlines —> object recognition)

parts of a neuron

dendrite - listen

cell body - decide

axon - communicate

action potential

movement of salts through neurons to communicate

neuron polarity

the interior is negative relative to the exterior at rest

neuron ions

K⁺ is on the interior and Na⁺ is on the exterior

main reason for resting membrane potential?

sodium-potassium pump - 3 Na out for every 2 K in

action potential process

1. resting membrane potential - sodium potassium pump maintains resting membrane potential - 3 Na⁺ in, 2 K⁺ out (-70mV)

2. depolarization - ligand gated ion channels let Na⁺ into the cell (membrane potential gets more positive)

3. depolarization - voltage gated ion channels let more Na⁺ into the cell when the threshold is hit (-55mV)

4. repolarization - voltage gated K⁺ channels let K⁺ out of the cell (40mV)

5. hyperpolarization - K⁺ channels close slowly, so the charge becomes too negative

what must happen for an action potential to occur?

the threshold must be hit - excitatory signals must be strong enough, and outweigh inhibitory signals

frontal lobe functions

decision making, problem solving, higher level

parietal lobe functions

sensory, proprioception

temporal lobe functions

hearing, long term memory

occipital lobe functions

vision

gray matter

cell bodies and dendrites

info processing

white matter

axons

neural communication/brain connections

four primary cortexes

visual, auditory, motor, sensory

each acquires info from the “outside”, does preliminary processing, and sends info to the secondary cortices

auditory cortex - lobe and form of organization

temporal lobe

tonotopic

motor cortex - lobe and form of organization

frontal lobe

somatotopic

visual cortex - lobe and form of organization

occipital lobe

retinotopic

sensory cortex - lobe and form of organization

parietal lobe

somatotopic

fusiform face area

recognizes faces - temporal lobe

parahippocampal place area

recognizes places - temporal lobe

two forms of neural communication

electrical - getting to voltage threshold/voltage gated channels

chemical - neurotransmitters binding to ligand gated channels

synapse

• where neurons meet (axon and dendrite)

• where information is received

• where neurotransmitters bind to ligand gated channels

excitatory neurotransmitters

get the cell closer to the threshold voltage (more positive)

inhibitory neurotransmitters

gets cell further from threshold voltage (more negative)

why is the brain arranged topographically?

maximizes efficiency by keeping related neurons close together

if neuron A is connected to neuron B and fires an action potential, will neuron B always fire?

no - the signal could be inhibitory, the threshold may not be reached, or other inputs could also be received at the same time that cancel out A’s excitatory signals