NSCI 110 1st EditionExam #1 Study Guide Chapters 1-5Chapter 1I. Brain and behavior have evolved togethera. Is most complex living organ and found in many groups of animalsb. Behavioral disorders can be understood by looking at the brainII. “Brain” = tissue found within the skulla. Cerebrum (forebrain) divided into 2 hemispheresi. Conscious behaviorsii. Brainstem responsible for most unconscious behaviorsb. Cerebellum responsible for learning and coordinated motor movementsIII. Neurons control the nervous systema. Have receptors in skin (sensory), muscles (motor), internal organs (sensory and motor)i. Communicates with brain cells through the spinal cordIV. The central nervous system is encased in bone (skull and vertebrae)a. All other neurons that proliferate constitute the peripheral nervous systemV. Thinking is a behavior that forms patterns over timea. Behaviors consist of inherited or innate and learned actionsb. Animals with simpler nervous systems rely more heavily on innate behaviorsi. Have less of a capacity for learning new responsesVI. Aristotle and mentalisma. The idea that the mind is responsible for behaviorb. The “psyche” is responsible for consciousness, perceptions, emotions, opinion, memory, reasonVII. Descartes and dualisma. Linked the mind to the bodyb. Proposes that most automatic activities such as breathing can be physically explained and that the nonmaterial mind is responsible for rational behaviorc. Difficulty in his theories led to the mind-body problemi. Proposed the language and action testsVIII. Darwin and materialisma. Idea that behavior can be fully explained by the physical structure of the brain and rest of nervous systemb. Darwin looked at structure of animals and animal behavior, discovered many commonalitiesc. Mendel discovered that genes give rise to physical traitsi. New traits appear because of alternative allelic combinationsd. Because all species are related, their brains and behavior must be, tooi. Brains of complex animals evolved from simpler ones but are also greatly shapedby learning and new experienceIX. Epigenetics is the study of differences in gene expression due to experience and environmenta. Can persist throughout a lifetime and be passed on to the next generationX. The evolution of the nervous system is as follows:a. Brain cells and muscles allow animals to moveb. Nerve net consisting of just neurons (sensory and motor)c. Bilateral symmetry arisesd. Segmentation arises (repeating similar segments)e. Ganglia are clusters of neurons that resemble brainsf. Spinal cord arises in chordatesg. Brain displays the greatest degree of encephalizationi. Displays specializationsXI. What does brain size signify?a. Principle of proper mass explains that larger brains accompany more complex behaviorsi. Brain-body size ratio of about 2/3XII. Neoteny (the slowness of maturation) has helped humans retain some juvenile characteristicsChapter 2I. The brain exhibits neuroplasticitya. Also gives rise to phenotypic plasticity (same genotype but epigenetics causes different expression)II. The nervous system can be anatomically and functionally dividedIII. The meninges covers the brain and spinal corda. Dura mater is the outer most layer (fibrous)b. Arachnoid membrane (connective tissue)i. Subarachnoid space is filled with CSF1. Cushions brain and allows flow of nutrientsc. Pia mater is the innermost layer, thin wrapping around the brain (connective)IV. Orientationsa. Spatial orientationi. Ventral/inferior vs dorsal/superiorii. Anterior/rostral vs posterior/caudaliii. Medial vs. lateralb. Anatomical orientationi. Coronal section produces a frontal viewii. Horizontal section produces a dorsal viewiii. Sagittal section produces a medial view1. Mid-sagittal planeV. Outer layer of forebrain is the cerebral cortexa. Gyri are bumps and sulci are grooves on the surfacei. Longitudinal fissure separates left and right hemispheresVI. Cerebral circulation a. Arteries emerge from the neck and wrap around the brainstem, cerebrum, and cerebellum where they pierce its surface i. Three major arteries send blood to the cerebrum:1. Anterior cerebral artery2. Middle cerebral artery3. Posterior cerebral arteryii. Strokes in these arteries are extremely severe1. Affect opposite sidesVII. Internal features of the braina. Gray matter consists of cell bodies and capillariesi. Collect and modify infob. White matter is most nerve fibers with myelinated axonsi. Form neural connectionsc. Ventricles contain CSFi. There are four in the human brain, they are all connectedii. Flow from two lateral to the third to the fourth1. Then into the cerebral aqueduct which runs down the spinal cordiii. Thought to be important in maintaining brain metabolismiv. Allows certain substances access to the brain and helps get rid of wasteful onesv. Cushions hard impacts to the headd. If cut sagittally:i. The corpus callosum is a band of white matter that allows communication between the two hemispheres1. Underneath lies subcortical structures like the brainstem2. Many cortical-subcortical connections as wellVIII. Cells in the nervous systema. Neurons carry out major functions i. Are connected by axons that collect together to form entire nerves (PNS) or tracts (CNS)b. Glial cells aid and regulate activities IX. The spinal cord is responsible for principle movementsa. Houses spinal nerves that carry sensory and motor signalsi. Spinal reflexes are automatic, the signals aren’t sent to the brainX. The brainstem begins where the spinal cord enters the skull, extends into the forebraina. Receives afferent neurons and sends efferent ones to the spinal cordb. Responsible for most unconscious behaviorc. Divided into:i. Hindbrain1. Important in motor functions, breathing, balance2. Includes the cerebellum3. The reticular formation is a netlike mixture of gray and white matter, responsible for awakeness 4. The pons contains nuclei that receives input from the cerebellum5. The medulla contains nuclei that regulate vital functions like breathing and heart rateii. Midbrain1. Tectum (dorsal) receives a ton of sensory info from the eyes and earsa. Superior colliculus receives visual info and inferior colliculus receives auditory infob. Work together to produce orienting movements related to sensory input2. Tegmentum (ventral)a. Red nucleus controls limb movementsb. Substantia nigra key in motor activityc. Periacqueductal gray matter controls species-typical behaviors (sexual behaviors)iii.