Wk 1 lect 2 thurs 4.5.12GrijalvaThe Biology of the Mind Biology, Behavior, and MindNervous system provides us with the skills and other things we haveMind- consciousness/ rooted in a variety of different disciplines/ thinking about thinking/ intellect,feelings, sensations/ what makes our mind different from mammal’s mind (ex: lang., different aspects) / mammals do have minds but not exactly how we perceive a mind to be and it depends on the mammals( they have self- awareness)/ the thinking and perceiving part of consciousness/ generated by the brain/ animals are conscious in a different type of way than humans are/ an emergent propertyBrain- the brains of animals are structurally and functionally not that different from humans/ framing of the mind differs amongst species/ goes through a process of development/ the brain has evolved/ we associate life with the brain/ ability to guide our behavior to interact with the outside world/ sensory and motory systems are the basics of the brain such as breathing and smelling/ the brain starts changing in certain ways as different species are observed and studied/ mammals have emotions & sensations butmay have different feelings than humans/ 3 parts of the brain are the limbic system(emotions/ highly developed in mammals), cerebral cortex( beyond basic rudimentary things/ sensory processes/ thinking and problem solving) evolved overtime/ different parts of the brain function as different things we express/ the mass of neural tissue in the cranial(skull) of vertebrate animals/ when the parts of the brain come together they form the brain/ different parts of the brain are emergent properties( ex: neurons bring up something that is not tangible which is the mind)/ Psyche- the conscious and unconscious together as a unitBrain and MindEx: Terri Shiavo ended up with brain damage caused by the bulimia which was caused the cardiac arrest/ should they keep her alive?/ her body is alive but is the brain alive/ problematic because she had functional body processes but they were artificial because technology was used/ the level of consciousness and the sense of mind/ can’t have a mind without a brain but you can have a brain without a mindFranz Gall and PhrenologyBumps on the head could reveal a person’s mental abilities and character traits/ aroused the study of the shape of the brain study head injuries and they found that there are areas of the brain that do different types of thingsactually the shape of the head has little to do with abilities and traitsModule exampleAreas of the brain has to do with language/ ex: left handed people have lang capabilies In the left side of the brain they may be able to comprehend but not speak well if the left side of their brain were to get damagedThere are different modular components animals may have different onesComprehension is an input processCan understand clinical conditions by understanding what goes on in the skull but not looking at the bumps on the skullEverything psychological is also biological/ without the brain we have nothingBrain continues to develop well into your 20’s/ connections are more important than the number of neurons because there are 100 billion neurons/As our brain gets older and matures the last one to mature is the frontal cortex (helps us to make judgments/act socially appropriately/ helps us to make wise choices)Some areas of the brain are impulsive in natureSupportive cells, called neuroglia or glial cells assist in neural communication. Outnumber neurons by as much as 50 to 1Most neurons generate tiny electric currents (in the order of millivolts or thousandths of a voltNeurons communicate with each other by releasing chemical messengersNervous systemCentreal nervous system- brain and spinal cordPeriphereal nervous system- everything else Somatic division( body), autonomic nervous system( different kinds of function and properties), and cranial nerves( emerge from the base of the brain)SomaticNerves arising from the spinal cord/ connect to skeletal muscles for motor control/ convey sensory info. From skin, muscle, and joints/ brain send signals down spinal cord to govern processesInput and outputs of spinal cordNatural reflex- respond without involving the brain/ allow the ability to activate motor neurons/ in the absence of providing info to the brain/ reflex can happen without… / allows us to move from dangerous situations before there is tissue damage/ within the spinal cord/ fibers are on the spinal cord and are myelinatedFiber bundles- projection from the neurons/ some neurons have long fibers and some have short fibers/ myelin provides the mechanism to speed up transformation of info myelin is made up of fat/ a lot of neural processes do not contain myelin-Autonomic Nervous system-Involved in controlling the activity of visceral and gut tissues-2 subdivions (one is more active than the other depending on what you’re doing)-Parasympathetic division- energy restoration and conservation/ during rest, digesting food but not during activity/ slow down heart rate/ taking in glucose and incorporates it-Sympathetic division- energy expenditure, excitement, arousal- “fight or flight” response/ survival aspects/ increases heart rate and blood pressure and dilates pupils -Internal environment-the body runs on glucose so it sustains the level of glucose- The adrenal glands release 2 important adrenal hormones in the blood stream/ hormones are chemicals released into the blood stream/ the hormones sustain the arousal in during the sympathetic division/ when the hormones are in the blood stream it takes some time for them to leave and it can affect any organ with a receptor -Neurons are short acted and brief- The brain releases neurotransmitters- won’t have moods unless the body respondsCommon features of Neurons nerve cells) with other cells- Like all cells of the body, neurons are comprised of a cell body, consist-Exhibit a variable number of protruding processes and extensions from the cell body called neurites…Dendrites- vvariable in number and length and bransching…Axons- typically a single process,.. -neural transmitterMolecules ( proteins) with specific configuration/ certain attraction between transmitter and receptor/ changes the electrical property and causes an impulse called action potential( a change in electrical property that provide the bases for the impulse)Axons- convey info away from the cell body/ no ribosomes( make