Intro to Biopsychology and L1 Brain Controls Behavior

biopsychology

merges biology, neuroscience, and psychology to reveal how the brain produces behavior

context

circumstances following an event and unique interactions between behavior, brain, and environment

ultimate causes

physical and behavioral characteristics causing long term evolutionary changes, "why question"

proximal causes

short term causes of behavior, like loud noises, answer the "how questions" of mechanism and environment

environmental context

internal (digestion) and external (distractions on drug addiction)

experiental context

takes prior experiences into account, applies to future decisions

epigenetic

the study of environmental influences on gene expression that occur without a DNA change

what did aristotle believe and what evidence supports it?

Aristotle did not believe the brain controlled behavior; ganglia cells in chickens still move the body around after its head is cut off

what did gladiator's head injuries prove about the brain?

Gailen discovered that head injuries resulted in brain damage

What was the significance Fritzch and Hitzing's report?

stimulated dog brain using electrodes, dog twitched

proved:

1. brain is electrically excitable

2. regional specifficty of the brain to muscle groups, 1:1 mapping

3. replicable study, twitching happened every time

what was the significance of Robert Bartholomew's study

did conscious stimulation on a hole on Mary's head, she couldn't override neural impulse, problems with consent:

1. real evidence for an electrical brain of humans and its control of behavior

2. stimulation works in people, not just animals

3. continuity of function/organization of brain across most animals tested

4. important for current animal studies because of continuity

what is important about transcranial magnetic stimulation?

ability to do direct stimulation without surgery

what is a sagital section?

right through the middle of the hemispheres

what happened in John Flynn's cat surgery when stimulating the thalamus?

when electrically stimulated hypothalamus, cat would snarl and express "affective defense behavior" and "quiet biting attack" where a cat would attack a toy

what was significant about the different behaviors expressed by cats in Flynn's study?

shows 2 different goal directed behavior in the same hypothalamus:

1. behavior can be induced rather than a simple muscle twitch

2. behavior changed depending on where the hypothalamus was stimulated

what patients did Wylder Penfield study in 1950-70s?

epileptic patients having severe seizures, experienced an "aura" before the onset of a seizure (smell of pennies, rain)

what was Penfield's goal when removing the starting point of the seizure?

to stop synchronous neural firing remove locus of aura, getting rid of where they originate may help stop the effects

could pull out specific memories/emotions through electrical stimulation

what did patients report in Penfield's study when probing visual cortex, midline, and lateral sides of the brain?

visual cortex: seeing things that weren't there

midline: move arms

lateral: move arms

what was the goal of Micheal Ganzanaga's probing of the corpus collosum?

corpus collosum is where neurons communicate across hemispheres, called white matter

attempts to keep the seizures on one half of the brain

what does contralateral side mean?

that the right field of visual input is controlled by the left hemisphere and vice versa

90% of right handed people process language in the left side of the brain (language left)

facial recognition happens in the right side (left vis field)

what does ipsilateral mean?

right side of visual field input is processed by right side of brain (matches)

how were the hemispheres with contralateral functioning impacted by corpus collosum probing?

if right field of vision is covered, the left visual field goes to right hemisphere and language is impaired (bc lacks input from the contralateral side)

how does MRI activation work?

light up parts of the brain to localize behavior and use resources to complete tasks (glucose utilization)