Psyc4130 1nd Edition Exam 1 Study Guide Lectures 1 7 Lecture 1 2 Jan 8 10 Chapter 1 Notes Dualism belief that the body is physical but the mind or soul is not Monism belief that everything in the universe consists of matter and energy that the mind is a phenomenon produced by the workings of the nervous system Conscious simple wakefulness are aware of and can tell others about our thoughts perceptions memories and feelings o Can be altered by changes in the structure or chemistry of the brain o Physiological function like behavior o Communication and ability to send and receive messages with others and inside our own heads awareness of own existence Blindsight common belief that perceptions must enter consciousness to affect our behavior is incorrect Our behavior can be guided by sensory information of which we are completely unaware Ability of a person who cannot see objects in their blind field to accurately reach for them while remaining unconscious of perceiving them caused by damage to the mammalian visual system of the brain o Mammalian visual system direct connections with the parts of the brain responsible for consciousness The visual cortex of the brain and some of the nerve fibers that bring info to it from the eyes o Primitive visual system guides hand movement toward an object even though they can t see what they are reaching for Can control behavior without producing a conscious sensation Consciousness is not a general property of all parts of the brain Split brainso Corpus callosum largest commissure of the brain interconnecting the areas of the neocortex on each side of the brain o Split brain operation brain surgery that is occasionally performed to treat a form of epilepsy the surgeon cuts the corpus callosum which connects the two hemis of the brain o Cerebral hemispheres the two symmetrical halves of the brain constitute the major part of the brain Left hemisphere controls speech Unilateral neglect failure to notice things to a persons left due to damage in the right side of a persons brain the cortex of the parietal lobe which receives auditory and visual information o They can tell when someone touches the left side of their body or see things located to their left they just ignore such stimuli and act as if the left side of the world and the left side of their bodies don t exist o i e flower or clock drawing example o Neglect of left half of body and left half of things in the environment Perception of Self o Rubber hand illusion stroked left hand and rubber hand with paint brush in same direction subjects began to experience the rubber hand as their own premotor cortex involved in planning movements was activated However if stroked in different directions or at dif times subjects didn t experience rubber hand as their own The nature of behavioral neuroscience o Ultimate function of nervous system is behavior Goals of research o Generalization a type of scientific explanation a general conclusion based on many observations of similar phenomena o Reduction a type of scientific explanation a phenomenon is described in terms of the more elementary processes that underlie it o Must first understand psychologically why a particular behavior occurs that is what function it performs before we can understand what physiological events made it occur Biology Roots of Behavioral Neuroscience o Aristotle thought the brain served to cool the passions of the heart o Galen thought Aristotle was wrong absurd He dissected brains of animals o Descartes father of modern philosophy mind and brain in the control of behavior Reflexes an automatic stereotyped movement that is produced as the direct result of a stimulus He was a dualist believed mind controlled the movements of the body while the body gave the mind info about what was happening in environment pineal body o Galvani 17th century Italian physiologist found that electrical stimulation of a frogs nerves caused contraction of the muscle to which is was attached Thus the brain didn t inflate muscles by directing pressurized fluid through the nerve o Johannes Muller 19th century German physiologist Doctrine of specific nerve energies conclusion that because all nerve fibers carry the same type of message sensory info must be specified by the particular nerve fibers that are active brain is functionally divided some parts perform some functions while others perform others o Flourens 19th century French physiologist Experimental ablation removed various parts of animal s brains and observed their behavior and by seeing what they could no longer do he could infer the function of the missing portion of the brain o Broca portion of cerebral cortex on front part of left side of brain performs functions that are necessary for speech o Hemholtz devised a mathematical formulation of the law of conservation of energy invented ophthalmoscope used to examine the retina of the eye devised an important and influential theory of color vision and color blindness and studied audition music and many physiological processes First to measure the speed of conduction through nerves Functionalism and the Inheritance of Traits o Darwin Functionalism belief that characteristics of living organisms perform useful functions Must first understand the natural history of the species so that behaviors can be seen in context Blest experiment with mealworms on different backgrounds did bird eat it avoided less where the background contained eyespots Natural selection inherited traits give a selective advantage Mutations accidental changes in the chromosomes of sperm of eggs that join together and develop into new organisms Selective advantage animal is more likely than other members of its species to live long enough to reproduce and pass on its chromosomes to its own offspring Evolution of the Human Species o Evolution the process is gradual change in the structure and physiology of plant and animal species as a result of natural selection Evolution of Large Brains o Vary in number of neurons found in each gram of tissue Behavioral neuroscientist studies the physiology of behavior primarily by performing physiological and behavioral experiments with lab animals Lecture 3 7 Jan 13 15 17 22 24 Chapter 2 Structure and Functions of Cells of the Nervous System Cells of the Nervous System Neurons Most neurons have cell body soma dendrites axon and terminal buttons o 1 Soma cell body contains nucleus and much of the machinery that provides for the life process