Chapter 2: Neuroscience and Behavior

Introduction
• Plato located the mind in the head; Aristotle believed mind was in the heart
• Franz Gall (1800s) invented phrenology – bumps on the skull can reveal mental abilities
& character traits
• Biological psychologists: psychologists who study links between biological activity &
psychological events

Neural Communication
• Cells -> organs -> organ systems -> body -> family -> community
• Animals differ, but nervous systems operate similarly
Neurons
• Neurons (nerve cells) make up the nervous system
o Cell body, and branching fibers (dendrites) that receive & conduct information to
cell body, where the axon fibers pass the message to other neurons, muscles, or
glands (axons speak; dendrites listen)
• Axons: can be long (several feet)
• Motor neurons – control muscles
• Myelin sheath – layer of fatty tissue which insulates axons and helps speed their
impulses
o Multiple sclerosis – myelin sheath degenerates – slowing of communication to
muscles & loss of muscle control
• Neural impulse travels from 2—200mph+; measured in milliseconds
• Neuron fires impulse when signals received from sense receptors stimulated by pressure,
heat, light, chemical messages from other neurons – action potential – brief electrical
charge which travels down the axon
• Neurons generate electricity from chemical events – chemical-to-electrical process: ions
exchanged; fluid interior of axon has many anions, while outside of the axon has cations
– resting potential
o Axon is selectively permeable
• The firing of a neuron: first bit opens gates and Na cations come through and depolarizes
the axon, causing the axons’ next channel to open, tripping the next one, then the next,
during the refractory period the neuron pumps the sodium cations outside so it can fire
again
• The neuron receives signals from 1000s of neurons on dendrites – some excitatory or
inhibitory; if excitatory signals minus inhibitory signals exceeds a minimum intensity
(threshold), an action potential is triggered
• Action potential do not have varying intensities; the intensity of a stimulus can trigger
more neurons to fire, and fire more often
How Neurons Communicate
• Santiago Ramon y Cajal (Spanish anatomist) described gaps between individual nerve
cells, concluded neurons must function as independent agents
• Sir Charles Sherrington (British psychologist) noticed neural impulses take a long time to
travel a neural pathway, & inferred must be an interruption in transmission
 • The junction between axon terminal of one neuron is separated from receiving neuron by
a gap called the synapse
• When the action potential reaches the axon’s end, it triggers the release of
neurotransmitters (chemical messengers) that cross the gap & bind to receptor sites,
unlocking tiny channels & allowing ions to enter receiving neuron
• Excess neurotransmitters reabsorbed by sending neuron by reuptake
How Neurotransmitters Influence Us
• Acetylcholine (ACh) – important in learning & memory, is the messenger between every
motor neuron & skeletal muscle – when it is released to muscle cells, muscle contracts; if
it is blocked, muscles cannot contract
• Pert & Snyder (1973) discovered morphine (opiate that elevates mood & eases pain)
bound to receptors in areas linked w/ mood & pain sensations – concluded brain contains
neurotransmitters similar to morphine named endorphins (endogenous morphine) –
natural opiates released in response to pain & vigorous exercise (“runner’s high”,
acupuncture, indifference to pain in severely injured people)
How Drugs and other Chemicals Alter Neurotransmission
• when flooded w/ opiate drugs, brain may stop producing its natural opiates – withdrawal
means deprivation of opiates
• Agonists excite – may be similar to neurotransmitter to mimic its effects or block its
reuptake
o Opiate drugs may amplify normal sensations of arousal or pleasure
o Black widow spider venom floods synapses w/ Ach
• Antagonists inhibit a neurotransmitter’s release (Botulin – blocks ACH release)
• Or occupies receptor site and blocks its effect (Curare – paralyzes animals)
• Blood-brain barrier enables brain to fence out unwanted chemicals circulating in blood
(L-dopa vs. dopamine in Parkinson’s disease)

The Nervous System

• Nervous system – electrochemical information network
• Central nervous system (CNS) – brain & spinal cord
• Peripheral nervous system (PNS) – links CNS w/ sense receptors, muscles, & glands
• Nerves: neural “cables” containing axons, a part of the PNS, connecting the CNS w/
muscles, glands, & sense organs
• Sensory neurons: carry incoming information from sense receptors to CNS
• Motor neurons: carry outgoing information from CNS to muscles & glands
• Interneurons: CNS neurons that internally communicate & intervene between sensory &
motor outputs
The Peripheral Nervous System
• Somatic nervous system: controls skeletal muscles (voluntary control)
• Autonomic nervous system: controls glands & muscles of internal organs (influences
internal functioning – heartbeat, digestion, glandular activity)
• Sympathetic nervous system: arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful
situations (accelerates heartbeat, raise blood pressure, slow digestion, raise blood sugar,
cool w/ perspiration)
 • Parasympathetic nervous system: calms the body, conserves senergy (decrease
heartbeat, lower blood sugar)
The Central Nervous System
The Spinal Cord & Reflexes
• Ascending neural fibers on spine send up sensory information, & descending fibers send
back motor-control information
• Spinal reflex pathway = sensory neuron + motor neuron communicating through
interneuron; pain reflex – finger on flame -> neural activity excited by heat travels via
sensory neurons to interneurons in spinal cord, which activate motor neurons in arm, all
before the brain receives information to send pain signal
• Paraplegics cannot feel pain or pleasure b/c sensory information cannot reach the brain
(spinal cord severed)
The Brain & Neural Networks
• Neural networks: interconnected neural cells; w/ experience, networks can learn w/
strengthening or inhibiting feedback
• Neurons network w/ nearby neurons w/ which they can have short, fast connections
• Learning occurs as feedback strengthens connections that produce results

The Endocrine System

• Endocrine system: the body’s “slow” chemical communication system; a set of glands
that secrete hormones into the bloodstream
• Hormones may be chemically identical to neurotransmitters, but are slower (seconds
from gland through the blood to destination instead of milliseconds), though effects are
longer than those of neural messages
• Adrenal glands: endocrine glands above the kidneys, which secrete epinephrine
(adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline) to arouse the body in times of stress
(increase heart rate, blood pressure, blood sugar)
• Pituitary gland: in the brain, controlled by the hypothalamus, & regulates growth &
controls other endocrine glands
• Feedback system: brain  pituitary  other glands  hormones  brain

The Brain
The Tools of Discovery
o Scientists can lesion brain cells (destroy clusters of brain tissue)
Clinical Observation
o Observing the effects of brain diseases on body functions reveals functions of its different
parts (right side wired to left side, left-front part of the brain involves speech)
Manipulating the Brain
o Scientists can stimulate parts or selectively lesion parts of the brain
Recording the Brain’s Electrical Activity
o Electroencephalogram (EEG) – amplified recording of waves of electrical activity
sweeping across brain’s surface, measured by electrodes on scalp
Neuroimaging Techniques
o PET (positron emission tomography) scan: shows brain activity by showing brain
areas’ consumption of temporarily radioactive glucose
 o MRI (magnetic resonance imaging): strong magnetic field aligns spinning atoms, then
brief pulse of radio waves disorients atoms momentarily, and when atoms return to spin,
release signals that provide images of concentrations
o fMRI (functional MRI): reveals functioning & structure; scientists watch the brain light
up w/ different amounts of blood
• Can detect lies
Older Brain Structures
o Primitive vertebrate animals (sharks) – brain regulates basic survival functions
(breathing, resting, feeding)
o Lower mammals (rodents) – brain enables emotion, memory
The Brainstem
o Brainstem: oldest & central core of brain, beginning where spinal cord swells as it enters
the skull – is responsible for automatic survival functions; the crossover point where
nerves from each side of the brain connect w/ body’s other side
o Medulla: base of the brainstem; controls heartbeat & breathing
o Pons is above medulla, which helps coordinate movement
o Reticular formation: nerve network in brainstem from spinal cord to thalamus, which
filters incoming stimuli & relays important information to other parts of the brain;
controls arousal
o Moruzzi & Magoun (1949) discovered stimulating reticular formation aroused cat
immediately, whereas severing it put the cat in a permanent coma
The Thalamus
o thalamus: sits atop the brainstem, receives info from all senses except smell & routes it
to regions that deal with these things
o also receives higher brain’s replies & directs to medulla & cerebellum
The Cerebellum
o Cerebellum: enables nonverbal learning & memory; helps judge time, modulate
emotions, discriminate sounds & textures; coordinates voluntary movement
The Limbic System
o border of brain’s older parts & cerebral hemispheres is limbic system
The Amygdala
o Amygdala influences aggression & fear; stimulating it can cause ferocious or fearful
responses in animals, lesioning it causes a lack of response to stimuli
The Hypothalamus
o Hypothalamus: lies just below the thalamus – influences hunger, regulate thirst, body
temperature & sexual behavior; involved in providing a pleasurable reward
o Monitors blood chemistry & takes orders from other parts of the brain; controls the
pituitary gland
o Olds (1958) located pleasure centers, which rats were way eager to trigger stimulation of,
and found he could control their actions through stimulating their limbic system
(climbing trees, navigating natural environments, etc.)
o Addictive disorders may stem from reward deficiency syndrome – genetically disposed
deficiency in natural brain systems for pleasure & well-being that leads people to crave
whatever provides that missing pleasure or relieves negative feeling
The Cerebral Cortex
 o
The Brain’s Plasticity
o Plasticity: the brain’s capacity for modification (brain reorganization following damage)
o Neurons will not regenerate, but neural tissues can reorganize
o Neural areas usually dedicated to one thing will expand to compensate for others whose
usage is more frequent or more necessary (blind people’s sense of touch will be stronger,
deaf people’s vision will be enhanced)
o Adult mice & humans can also generate new brain cells
o Neural stem cells may eventually be able to replace lost brain cells
Our Divided Brain
• 1960: left hemisphere was called dominant/major hemisphere, while right hemisphere
was called subordinate/minor hemisphere
Splitting the Brain
• Vogel & Bogen severed the corpus callosum to eliminate epileptic seizures and created
split brain patients, who were able to perceive information in only one hemisphere
• Split brain – both hemispheres can comprehend & follow different instructions for each
hand
• Left hemisphere rationalizes reactions it does not understand when the right hemisphere
is receiving signals the mind is not conscious of (left hemisphere as “interpreter”)
• Left hemisphere is more active when a person deliberates over decisions; right
hemisphere understands simple requests, easily perceives objects, engaged during quick,
intuitive responses; better at copying drawings & recognizing faces, perceiving &
expressing emotion
Studying Hemispheric Differences in the Intact Brain
• Right hemisphere – perceptual tasks (visual); left hemisphere – speaking & calculating
(verbal)
• Left hemisphere – quick, literal interpretations; right hemisphere – subtle inferences,
modulate speech (ahead vs. a head)
Brain Organization and Handedness
• Right-handers (90%) tend to process info through the left hemisphere, whereas >50%
left-handers process speech in the right hemisphere or both hemispheres
• Genes or prenatal factors influence handedness; right-handedness appears in all cultures
and primates most like us
• Left-handers are more numerous than usual among those w/ reading disabilities, allergies,
migraines; Iran = lefties outperform righties; left-handedness is more common among
musicians, mathematicians, baseball & cricket players, architects, artists
• Left-handedness decreases with age, because lefties die younger (b/c of birth stress,
headaches, accidents b/c of right-handed equipment, knee & joint problems)