Behavioral Neuroscience - Class #1

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms from the lecture notes on Behavioral Neuroscience.

Behavioral neuroscience

Studies the relationships between behavior and the body/brain.

Mind-brain problem

Question of what the mind is and how it relates to the brain.

Prescientific psychology

Early, non-scientific attempts to understand mind and behavior before modern psychology.

Monism

The idea that the mind and body consist of the same substance.

Materialistic monism

Monism asserting that everything, including mind, is physical.

Dualism

The idea that the mind and brain are separate.

Model (in neuroscience)

A proposed mechanism for how something works.

Empiricism

Gaining knowledge through observation and experience.

Luigi Galvani

Demonstrated that electricity can stimulate nerves.

Fritsch and Hitzig

Produced movement in dogs by electrically stimulating exposed brains.

Hermann von Helmholtz

Demonstrated that nerves do not behave like simple conducting wires.

Localization (of function)

The idea that specific brain areas carry out specific functions.

Phrenology

Theory that 35 different faculties of emotion and intellect are localized in precise brain areas.

Equipotentiality

Idea that brain can function as an undifferentiated whole.

Nature and nurture

Ongoing debate about how heredity and environment shape behavior.

Gene

Biological unit that directs cellular processes and transmits inherited characteristics.

DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid; double-stranded, double-helix genetic material.

Allele

Different versions of a gene.

Dominant allele

Allele that expresses its effect regardless of the paired allele.

Recessive allele

Allele that influences a trait only when paired with the same allele.

Heterozygous

Two different alleles.

Homozygous

Two identical alleles.

Phenotype

An observable characteristic.

Genotype

Combination of alleles present in an individual.

Genome

All the genes in our chromosomes.

Gene expression

Translation of encoded information into production of proteins.

Human Genome Project

Project with the goal to map the location of all the genes on human chromosomes.

Natural selection

Process where genes that confer more adaptive traits increase survival and reproduction.

Heritability

Percentage of variation in a trait attributed to genetic factors.

Vulnerability

Genes contribute to predisposition for a disorder.