Chapter 1-7: Introduction to Behavioral Neuroscience (Vocabulary Flashcards)

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts from the lecture notes.

Behavioral neuroscience

The study of the neural and biological bases of behavior and how brain mechanisms support actions, perception, memory, and decision making.

Neuroscience

A broad, multidisciplinary field studying brain organization, development, neural activity, neuropathology, and computational approaches to brain function.

Encephalocentrism

The view that the mind is anchored in the brain; the brain is the seat of mental processes.

Cardiocentrism

The view that the mind resides in the heart; the heart is central to mental life.

Dualism

Philosophical view that mind and body are distinct substances that interact; famously proposed by Descartes.

Pineal gland

Small brain structure proposed by Descartes as the interaction site between mind and body; today known for melatonin secretion and circadian regulation.

Monism/Materialism

View that mental phenomena are fully reducible to brain processes; no separate non-physical mind.

Emergentism

Idea that the mind arises from brain activity as a higher-level phenomenon and cannot always be predicted from brain components alone.

Tabula rasa

John Locke’s idea that the mind is a blank slate at birth, shaped by experience.

Empiricism

Philosophical stance that knowledge comes from observation and experience, supported by data and experiments.

Nature vs. Nurture

Debate about the relative influence of genetics (nature) and experience (nurture) on behavior and cognition.

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)

Clear fluid circulating around the brain and spinal cord; cushions the brain and supports metabolism; conceptually linked to pneuma in ancient descriptions.

Ventricles

Hollow brain cavities that contain CSF and form a connected 3D system.

Phineas Gage

19th-century railroad worker who survived a frontal lobe injury, with personality changes illustrating the frontal lobe’s role in inhibition and behavior.

Frontal lobe

Brain region involved in inhibition, decision making, planning, and social behavior; damage can alter personality.

Hippocrates

5th-century BC physician who argued that emotions and cognitive states originate in the brain.

Aristotle

4th-century BC philosopher who proposed cardiocentrism and described the brain as a radiator to cool the blood.

Galen

2nd-century AD physician who linked brain injury to changes in behavior and discussed pneuma and CSF in his observations.

Leonardo da Vinci

Renaissance figure who devised a wax-in-ventricles method to create a 3D model of brain ventricles for anatomical study.

Ramon y Cajal

Early 20th-century Spanish neuroscientist who used Golgi staining to visualize neurons and infer neural circuitry.

Golgi staining

Histological technique that stains entire neurons, enabling detailed visualization of neuronal morphology.

Purkinje cells

Large, distinctive neurons in the cerebellum highlighted by Cajal as examples of neuron types.

Baby Lab

Infant research showing that babies as young as a few months show preferences for prosocial (nice) behavior, arguing against the blank-slate view.

Agnosia

Inability to interpret or recognize visual information despite intact vision, as in Doctor P’s case.

Optogenetics

Modern technique using light to control the activity of specific neurons to study brain-behavior relationships.