Psych 255

Brain

Produces behavior and what is affected by behavior

Behavior

An observable phenomenon produced by the nervous system that has both a cause and a function

three controversies

Nature vs nurture

Perspective on Brain and Behaviour

The evolution of evolution

Nature vs Nurture

both

Perspective on Brain and Behaviour

mentslism

Dualism

Materialism

Phones Gage

Mentalism-Aristotle

An explanation of behavior as a function of the nonmaterial mind

Dualism-Descartes

A nonmaterial mind and the material body contribute to behavior

Dualism-Rene Descartes

Mind regulates behavior by directing the flow of ventricular fluid to appropriate muscles (pineal body and ventricles)

Materialism

Behavior can be explained as a function of the nervous system without explanatory recourse to the mind

Phineas Gage

If you physical change the brain it will change who you are 

The evolution of evolution

Evolution and Natural selection

Natural Selection (Darwin)

Organisms that have advantageous traits for the environment that they live in will be able to survive and procreate, thus passing on their advantageous traits to the next generation

Implications of natural selections

brains/ neurone are related

behaviours are related

complexity in brain and behaviour evolved gradually, in response toenvironmental demands & experience

How are traits selected naturally

Genetic variation —> Adaptive trait —> increases chances of survival —> trait passed on to offspring

Why study the brain and behavior?

Many behavioral disord

Dorsal

Up, above, or superior

Ventral

Down, Below, inferior

Lateral

Left, side

Medial

Right, Middle

Anterior

Front, rostral

Posterior

Behind, Tail, Caudal

Horizontal planes

Anterior to Posterior

Sagittal planes

Lateral to Medial

Coronal plane

Dorsal to Ventral

Contralateral

left motor cortex works the right hand) vise versa 

Ipsilateral

right olfactory bulb works the right olfactory cortex) vise versa

Efferent

outgoing

Afferent

incoming

Create a sensory reality (first primary function)

Our sense organs receive information and send it to our brain and our brian interprets it and provides information to us about the world.

Integrate and store information (second primary function)

We hear something (take in information) we integrated in to understand it and we store it for X amount of time

Produce behavioral response (third primary function)

What we do after we hear the noise. We get up and check it out, we ignore it

Nervous system

Is made up of the brian, spinal cord, and nerves (cranial nerves and spinal nerves)

Central Nervous System

Brain and Spinal Cord (receives , processes, interprets, stores and responds to sensory information)

Spinal Cord

Spinal Reflex

Peripheral Nervous System

Somatic NS and Autonomic NS (affect nerves and effect nerves)

somatic NS

12 pairs of Cranial nerves

Sensory fibers

Dorsal side of spinal cord

Motor fibers

Ventral side of spinal cord

Sympathetic Nervous System

Initiates “fight or flight”response

Parasympathetic system

Allows body to “rest and digest

Meninges

dura mater

arachnoid layer

pia mater

layers of the head

skull

Meninges (dura mater, arachnoid layer, pia ater)

subarachnoid space filled with CSF)

Major Fissures

Central fissure

longitudinal fissure

lateral fissures

internal features

white matter

gray matter

ventricle

white matter

areas of the nervous system rich in fat-sheathed neural axon

grab matter

areas of the nervous system predominately composed of cell bodies and blood vessels

ventricle

a cavity in the brain that produces and contains cerebrospinal fluid

Ventricular system

lateral ventricles

third ventricle

fourth ventricle

Corpus callous

band of fibres connecting the two cerebral hemispheres

the brainstem

hindbrain

midbrain

diencephalon

hindbrain

cerebellum

medulla oblongata

pons

reticular formation

cerebellum

motor coordinations

cognitive functions

midbrain

tectum

tegmenjtum

tectum

superior colliculi —> visual

inferior colliculi —> auditory

diencephalon

hypothalamus

thalamus

forbrain

neocortex

limic system

basal ganglia

basal ganglia

important for controlling voluntary movements

limbic system

Amygdala
Hippocampus

Cingulate cortex

Amygdala

emotion processing

hippocampus

involved in memory and spatial navigation

Cingulate Cortex

cognitive and emotional processing

occipital lobe

visual functions

parietal lobe

movement programming

temporal lobe

auditory function

frontal lobe

ensures behavior is appropriate for context

neocortical maps

cytoarchitectonics used to make cortical maps

NS creates movement and perception

The nervous system creates a perceptual reality for each of us.. And allows us to act within this reality 

The NS is forever changing (plasticity)

The brain is physically changed by experience

Many of the bairns circuits are crossed

Most sensory inputs to the brain and motor outputs from the brain are crossed

Functions are produced by Neuronal Circuits

Neurons don't working in isolation– rather function are reproduced by circuits of neurons working together

Brain is symmetric and asymmetric

• Structural asymmetry 

  • Planum temporale 

• Structural symmetry 

  • Primary sensory and motor cortices 

• Functional asymmetry 

  • Language vs. music and prosody 

• Functional symmetry 

  • Sensory and motor control 

Hierarchical and parallel origination

Sensory and motor processing occurs at multiple levels of the CNS

Sensory and motor divisions

• Peripheral nervous system 

  • Spinal nerves 

  • Cranial nerves 

• Central nervous system 

  • Spinal cord all the way up to the cortex

Sensory input divided for object recognition and motor control

• Sensory information is used for

• These processes take place in parallel, in distinct neural regions 

Function Localized and distributed

• Basic functions are localized (controlled by a specific brian area) 

• Whereas complex functions are distributed (multiple localized areas play a role in the function) 

Brain uses excitation and inhibition

Brain work is using both excitation and inhibition