PSYC 4130 1st Edition Lecture 2 Outline of Last Lecture I Philosophical Foundations of Behavioral Neuroscience A Materialism B Dualism C Inferential and Materialistic a Hemi Neglect b Blindsight c Split Brain II Brief History of Physiological Psychology A 5th Century Hippocrates Aristotle B 2nd Century Galen C 17th Century Descartes Outline of Current Lecture I Brief History of Physiological Psychology continued A 17th Century Descartes Galvani B 19th Century Muller Flourens C Late 19th Century Jackson Broca localization II Brain Regions and Modern Psychology Psychiatry and Neuroscience A Listed areas of the brain and their function Current Lecture Brief History of Physiological Psychology 17th Century o Descartes continued o All non human life is governed simply by reflexes without ANY conscious experience o Humans alone are gifted by God with consciousness o Proposes a hydraulics model of human behavior in which the brain ventricles contract to squeeze CSF cerebrospinal fluid through the nerves to ultimately make the muscles move o Because humans have volition the ability to choose to behave or not behave in certain ways it is reasoned the volition cannot be purely mechanical how These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute would that work so instead must be controlled by the individual s soul spirit mind o Descartes proposes that the pineal gland body in the middle of the brain is the point of contact between the spiritual realm and the physical Pineal gland role today is to secrete serotonin helps you go to sleep at night melatonin o Luigi Galvani Physiologist Galvani shows that Descartes hydraulics model is incorrect Electrical stimulation causes frog legs to twitch But what was the nature of this electrical message and how fast does it travel th 19 Century o Johannes Muller Muller physiologist applies experimental methodology to investigating sensory function and develops the doctrine of specific nerve energies It holds that the nature of our sensory and perceptual experiences depends on WHICH nerves are stimulated in our bodies not on HOW they are stimulated i e the same basic electrical signal does it all What we end up perceiving consciously depends on which nerves are stimulated in our bodies Same basic neural signal does it all but depends on which nerves are being stimulated Ex visual vs hearing Thus the channel for the electrical activity and ultimately the region of the brain that receives these signals is the most important determinant of what we consciously experience o Pierre Flourens Flourens reasons that if Muller is correct then specific regions of animals brains must control specific functions He employs the experimental ablation method to selectively destroy specific regions of animals brains and then systematically observe how their behaviors are altered by the damage He goes into brain of animal selectively destroy part of brain see how animals acts responds Some of Flourens Functional Regions of the Mammalian Brain Hindbrain control basic vital functions vegetation function stuff that will keep you alive Midbrain controls visual and auditory reflexes visual centers not seeing or seeing different things automatic reflexes Cortex governs purposeful movements aka goal directed behaviors Late 19th Century o John Hughlings Jackson Proposes a functional hierarchy of brain function like an upside down triangle shape At each higher level in the neuraxis from spinal cord to cerebral cortex increasingly complex regulation of lower reflexes is enabled Midbrain does what spinal cord can do and does more control neural signals in spinal cord to produce more complex algorithm Spinal cord mediation stimulus and responses o Paul Broca Identifies the seat of articulate language in the left frontal operculum This region was damaged by neurosyphilis in a patient named Leborgne who upon admission to the hospital was able to say only Tan Patient can t articulate a response can respond and understand language though Tan as Leborgne came to be called died a short time thereafter due to infection Broca autopsied Tan s brain and confirmed the Bouillaud Auburtin Hypothesis by identifying a dramatic lesion in Tan s left frontal operculum a region now known as Broca s Area o Localization Tans case as mentioned above is viewed as strong evidence in favor of LOCALIZATION Localization holds that specific brain regions control specific cognitive emotional and motor functions To the extent that localization is true functional maps of the brain can be drawn up Localization of function localized to discrete centers in the brain Brain relies more heavier on certain areas but overall is collaborate and distributed system German physiologists Gustav Fritsch and Eduard Hitzig found further evidence for localization They applied electricity to dogs cerebral cortexes and recorded behaviors in specific body regions Later work with humans e g Bartholow s work replicated the map of the primary motor cortex o Motor cortex consistent with localization hypothesis Brain Regions and Modern Psychology Psychiatry and Neuroscience Movement Primary Motor Cortex Bodily Sensations Somatosensory Cortex Vision Occipital Lobe Hearing Superior Temporal Lobe Storage of Long Term Memories Hippocampus Fear Learning Amygdala Planning Movements Premotor Cortex Decision Making including moral decisions Prefrontal Cortex