Behavioral Neuroscience Lecture 4 2 02 04 Discussion Genes and Behavior Are abilities based in biology or the environment Can genes predict success divorce intelligence health career What if genotypic information was as readily available as your phenotype Should health care providers or employers have access to our genotypic information Phineas Gage September 13th 1848 Phineas 25 Rutland Burlington Railroad Cavendish VT Paving the way for new RR tracks Tamping Iron 1 25 x 3ft Phineas Gage the historical beginnings of the study of the biological basis of behavior Accident Quick Recovery Months later No longer Gage Capable efficient best foreman well balanced mind Extravagant anti social liar grossly profane Stint with P T Barnum Carriage driver in Chile Died 12 years later Intellect unimpaired Frontal lobe involved in thinking planning setting goals inhibiting impulses The brain is not a single or simple entity It s an integrated system with different specialized parts Links can be revealed by damage to specific structures Every sight sound taste twitch dream memory thought etc is biological How does communication occur Electrochemical communication between brain sensory organs muscles and glands Nervous system The Neuron Structure Action Communication Brain THE HUMAN BRAIN Centerpiece of Nervous System BRAIN AT BIRTH 25 of adult weight CONTAINS MOST OF THE NEURONS YOU WILL EVER HAVE ABOUT 100 BILLION NEURONS 100 000 000 000 Communication Networks Broad overview 3 functions Receive transmit signals brain body Solve survival problems Automatically regulates internal states Fight or Flight Transmit from sensory to CNS Restore Sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions of nervous system Specific Parts The Neuron Structure Neurons building blocks of nervous system Specific Parts The Neuron Function 1 3 2 Neurons 3 functions Reception Conduction Transmission Types of Neurons Sensory Neurons afferent Neurons that send signals from the senses skin muscles and internal organs to the CNS Motor Neurons Efferent Neurons that transmit commands from the CNS to the muscles glands and organs The Withdrawal Reflex NOTE Not just one neuron at a time Complex networks of thousands of neurons sending and receiving are basis of all psychological activity Neural networks habits Action I Messages occur in form of electric impulses http homepage psy utexas edu homepage class Psy301 Pennebaker DailyOutlines Sept08 20Stress neuricon gif Neuron Every neuron has membrane Some ions permeate more easily Na do NOT pass easily K DO pass easily Resting state Negative Negatively charged ions permanently trapped inside cell W W Norton Action Potential When dendrites stimulated IF enough stimulation Delicate balance altered Membrane breaks down Positively charged ions rush in depolarization Charge less negative Action Potential Quick burst of electrical energy surges down axon Relay Race Action Potential starts at dendrite Through cell body Down Axon Axon Terminals How does it get to the next cell s dendrites Neurons don t touch Synapse millionth inch gap In synapse vesicles w Neurotransmitters Chemical messengers that transmit info Communication Impulse releases neurotransmitter from vesicles Neurotransmitter enters synaptic gap Neurotransmitter binds to receptors on the receiving neuron Neurotransmitters Can be inhibitory or excitatory Won t stop until Reuptake Enzyme deactivation Autoreception Neurotransmitters 75 Acetylcholine ACh 1st substance identified as NT Links motor neurons and muscles contract or relax e g curare vs black widow spider Also involved in memory learning sleep dreaming Endorphins the brain s own morphine 1973 injected rats with morphine Bound like NTs Brain had receptors for exogenous substance Brain must produce its own morphine Released during pain and discomfort One Brain or Two Right and left sides have different strengths Right visual spatial tasks Left Reading verbal processes Each hemisphere controls opposite side What if the two sides were disconnected split brain patients Case Study WJ 1961 W J comes to the lab Cards blocks 2 red sides 2 white 2 mixed Use 1 hand to assemble blocks Left hand success vs right hand success Acting as 2 separate brains Left hand YES Right hand NO Sometimes Left would sneak up to help right Each half brain worked outside the conscious realm of the other LATERALIZATION WHICH FUNCTIONS Left Adult speech Literal interpretation Analytical thinking Right Visual Auditory patterns Interpretation of subtleties Holistic thinking Face Recognition The lobes of the cerebral hemispheres The lobes of the cerebral hemispheres Planning decision making speech Sensory Auditory Vision
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