Foundations of Behavioral Neuroscience
Foundations of Behavioral Neuroscience
Covers the basics of behavioral neuroscience, including definitions and historical perspectives.
Consciousness
Questions regarding consciousness: common features, criteria for counting as conscious, spectrum vs binary perception, importance of self-awareness, AI simulation of consciousness.
Behavior
Definition: Any observable action or response of an organism to its environment. Includes simple movements and complex actions.
Biological Explanations of Behavior
Need to answer four types of questions to understand behavior:
Physiological (Mechanism)
Ontogenetic (Development)
Evolutionary (Phylogeny)
Functional (Adaptation)
These questions provide complementary frameworks for analysis.
Niko Tinbergen
Dutch ethologist who studied herring gull chicks.
Discovered sign stimulus through experiment showing preferential pecking at red spots on beaks.
Described four categories to analyze any behavior: causation, ontogeny, function, and phylogeny.
Phineas Gage
Accident on September 13, 1848, caused a significant change in personality after a brain injury.
His case is foundational in understanding the role of specific brain areas on personality and behavior.
Behavioral Neuroscience
Defined as the study of brain mechanisms underlying behavior, incorporating various academic disciplines including biology and psychology.
Roots of Behavioral Neuroscience
Historical perspectives from ancient civilizations to modern theories such as dualism and monism.
Key figures: Hippocrates, Aristotle, Descartes, Müller, Broca, Cajal.
Learning in Neuroscience
Learning is studied through experimental design focusing on conditioning (Pavlov - Classical; Thorndike - Operant).
Animal Intelligence and Emotions
Discussion on whether animals have emotions and intelligence, including examples of animal behavior that exhibit emotional depth and social intelligence.