Biological Bases of Behavior

The Brain (part II)

 Electrical activity in the brains billions of neurons sweeps in regular waves across its surface
Measure with an electroencephalogram (EEG)

How do neuroscientists study the brains connections to behavior and mind?

Neuroimaging Techniques
CT (computed tomography) scan
X-ray photo to reveal brain damage

PET (positron emission tomography) scan

Depicts brain activity by showing each brain areas consumption of its chemical fuel, the sugar glucose hot spots show which brain areas are most active as a person performs math, looks at images of faces, or daydreams

Neuroimaging Techniques (cont.)

MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)
Head put in a strong magnetic field, which aligns the spinning atoms of brain molecules The radio-wave pulse momentarily disorients the atoms When atoms return to their normal spin, they release signals that provide a detailed picture of the brains soft tissues

Neuroimaging Techniques (cont.)

fMRI (function MRI)
Special application of MRI Reveal the brains functioning as well as its structure Where the brain is especially active, blood goes

Neuroimaging Techniques (cont.)

These scans are used to gain knowledge about most of the theories we discuss
Diagnosing psychological disorders Determining how drugs affect the brain and body Assessing the usefulness of hypnosis Examining whether unconscious processes affect behavior Exploring the interaction of sensation and perception

Older Brain Structures

Older refers to the parts that are shared in common with other mammals and are therefore the earliest parts of the brain to evolve

Brain Stem
Oldest and innermost region Begins where the spinal cord swells slightly after entering the skull
Slight swelling is the medulla (controls heartbeat and breathing)
Just above medulla sits the pons (helps coordinate movements)

Crossover point where most nerves to and from each side of the brain connect with the bodys opposite side Manages life-sustaining functions

Brain Stem
Reticular formation
Inside the brainstem and between your ears Finger-shaped network of neurons that extend from the spinal cord right up to the thalamus May be responsible for our ability to attend to new stimuli in the environment May play a role in dreaming
Dream signals may originate here and then the cortex takes those signals and reorganizes them into the dream story as best as it can

Special Note
The right side of the brain controls the left side of the body and the left side of brain controls the right side of the body

Thalamus
Sits at the top of the brainstem Joined pair of egg-shaped structures Act as the brains sensory switchboard Receives info from all the sense (except smell) and routes it to the higher brain regions that deal with seeing, hearing, tasting, and touching A hub through traffic passes en route to various destinations

Thalamus
Also receives some of the higher brains replies, which it then directs to the medulla nd to the cerebellum

Smell
An old sense Travels to the olfactory cortex and then to the thalamus for processing Seems that our brains adapted other senses after smell, causing them to be processed differently

Cerebellum
Extending from the rear of the brainstem Baseball sized little brain Two wrinkled halves Enables one type of nonverbal learning and memory Helps us judge time, modulate our emotions, and discriminate sounds and textures

Cerebellum
Coordinates voluntary movement
With assistance from the pons

Tells the brain what to expect form the bodys own movements Damage:
Have difficulty walking, keeping your balance, or shaking hands Movements would be jerky and exaggerated

Note:
These older brain functions (brainstem, Thalamus, Cerebellum) all occur with any conscious effort Our brain processes most information outside of our awareness
We are aware of the results of our brains labor but not of how we construct the visual image

The midbrain
Thalamus Cerebellum Limbic System Governs hormones, memory processing, and sensory input
Less vital than brainstem functions, but no less important

The Limbic System

At the border between the brains older parts and the cerebral hemispheres Links to emotions (such as fear and anger) and to basic motives (such as those for food and sex)

Amygdala
In the limbic system 2 lima bean sized neural clusters Influence aggression and fear Works the frontal lobe to regulate emotional responses
Supplies the emotional feelings while the frontal lobe makes the judgment regarding the appropriate expression of the emotion

Hypothalamus
Just below (hypo) the thalamus Important link in the chain of command governing bodily maintenance
Hunger, thirst, body temperature, sexual behavior

Monitors blood chemistry and takes orders from other parts of the brain Helps keep the bodys internal environment in a steady state

Hypothalamus
Divided into 2 sections
Lateral side (LH)
Controls hunger

Ventromedial side (VMH)

Controls satiety

Controls all aspects of behavior that are regulated by hormones

Controls the function of the pituitary gland (master gland)

**Controls the body!!**

Reward centers in the brain

Researchers believe that addictive disorders may stem from a reward deficiency syndrome
A genetically disposed deficiency in the natural brain systems for pleasure and well-being that leads people to crave whatever provides that missing pleasure or relieves negative feelings

NTs that work in the reward centers are similar to drugs like cocaine and LSD
These drugs activate the reward centers

Cerebrum
Two large hemispheres that contribute 85% of the brains weight Specialized work teams that enable our perceiving, thinking, and speaking

Cerebral Cortex
A thin surface layer of interconnected neural cells Brains thinking crown Bodys ultimate control and informationprocessing center Covers the cerebrum like bark on a tree

Structure of the Cortex

Each hemisphere is divided into 4 lobes
Subdivisions are separated by prominent fissures (folds) Frontal lobe Parietal lobes Occipital lobes Temporal lobes

Each carry our many functions and many functions require the interplay of several lobes

The lobes and their main functions

Frontal
Controls thinking and judgment

Temporal
Controls hearing

Occipital
Controls vision
Visual information goes to other areas that specialize in tasks such as identifying words, detecting emotions, and recognizing faces

Parietal
Controls touch and sensory processing

Structure of the Cortex

The brains ballooning left and right hemispheres are filled mainly with axons connecting the cortex to the brains other regions The cortex contains some 20-23 billion nerve cells and 300 trillion synaptic connections

Structure of the Cortex

Glial cells
Supports the billions of nerve cells 9xs as many glial cells Provide nutrients and insulating myelin Guide neural connections Mop up ions and NTs They are the worker bees if the neurons are the Queen bee

Structure of the Cortex

Neuroglia
Provide support network of cells surrounding the neurons and blood vessels 3 types
Oligodendroglia Schwann Cells Astrocytes

Oligodendroglia
Found in the CNS Produce myelin

Schwann Cells
Found in PNS Provide myelin

Astrocytes
Star shaped Form most of the matrix in which neural cells are embedded and envelop blood vessels in the brain Absorb dead neural cells

Gyri and Sulci

Wrinkles in the brain are made by fissures (gyri) and folds (sulci) Gyrus plural Sulcus plural So deeply wrinkled, only about 1/3 is visible on the surface

The lobes of the brain are separated by major gyri on the cortex
Frontal lobe
Bordered in the rear by the central fissure
A long gyrus going vertically down the center of the cortex
More prominent on the left side

Temporal lobes
Bordered on the top by the lateral fissure
a long gyrus running horizontally from front to back

Two hemispheres
Separated by the longitudinal fissure
Largest of the gyri Almost completely down to the corpus callosum

Demo
The left and right limbs are controlled by opposite sides of the brain
Right hand/ right foot Right hand/ left foot

Opposed activities interfere less with each other

Point to remember
There are 2 of each lobe One for each hemisphere!!

Important tid bit

The amount of cortex devoted to a body part is not proportional to that parts size The brain devotes more tissue to sensitive areas and to areas requiring precise control
Thus, the fingers have a greater reorientation in the cortex than does the upper arm

More on lobes
The motor cortex is in the frontal lobes
Frontal lobes decision making function works with the motor cortex to create purposeful movement

Sensory cortex is in the parietal lobes

Association areas work with the sensory cortex to process sensory signals for accurate perception

Sensory Cortex
The cortical area that specializes in receiving information from the skin senses and from the movement of body parts In the front of the parietal lobes Parallel to and just behind the motor cortex

Association Areas
Neurons here integrate information Link sensory inputs with stores memories
a very important part of thinking

More intelligent animals have increased association areas

The vast areas of the brain are responsible for integrating and acting on info received and processed by sensory areas

Association Areas
Found in all 4 lobes

Association Areas
In frontal lobes
Enable judgment, planning, and processing of new memories Damage to frontal lobes
Have intact memories, high scores on intelligence tests, and great cake-baking skills Would NOT be able to plan ahead to begin baking a cake Alter personality, removing ones inhibitions Phineas Gage

Association Areas
Parietal lobes
Enable mathematical and spatial reasoning Area on the underside of the right temporal lobe enables us to recognize faces
Damage
Would be able to describe facial features and to recognize someone's gender and age, yet be strangely unable to identify the person as, say, your grandmother.

Language
Aphasia
An impaired use of language Result from damage to any one of the several cortical areas

Aphasia
Brocas area
Disrupts speaking
Remember Tan?

Wernickes area
Disrupts understanding Can speak only meaningless words

Angular gyrus
Able to speak and understand but unable to read aloud

Norman Geschwinds findings

When you read aloud, the words
Register in the visual area Then relayed to the angular gyrus
Transforms the words into an auditory code that

Then received and understood in the nearby Werkickes area Then sent to Brocas area Which controls the motor cortex as it creates the pronounced word

Aphasia
Depending on which link in the chain is damaged, a different form of aphasia occurs The brain operates by dividing mental functions

Language
The majority of left-handed people process language in the left hemisphere The other lefties fall into 2 categories
Some have all language abilities in the right hemisphere Some have a mixed pattern

To sum it up
Specialization and Integration
Describe the brains functioning

The Brains Plasticity

Our brains are sculpted not only by our genes, but also by our experience Severed neurons usually do not regenerate Although brain modification often takes the form of reorganization, evidence suggests that humans can also regenerate new brain cells
Contrary to a long held belief

The Brains Plasticity

The brain is very resilient
Figures out ways to compensate for injury The younger the better

Evidence that when one sense is lost, the others compensate and become more acute
Certain functions can take over a damaged part to repurpose that part for a new function
New function typically is related to its original purpose but now used with another sense that has taken over that process
Like touch taking over the reading function from vision that has been lost

Our divided brain

Hemispheric specialization (or lateralization) is apparent after brain damage
Accidents, strokes, and tumors in left
Impair reading, writing, speaking, arithmetic reasoning, and understanding

In right
Effects are less visibly dramatic

***no activity to which only one hemisphere makes a contribution

A few tid bits for you

Logic not confined to the left hemisphere There is no evidence that either creativity or intuition is an exclusive property of the right hemisphere It is impossible to educate one hemisphere at a time There is no evidence that people are purely left brained or right brained

The visual field

Visual information directed to each side of the brain comes from visual fields, not from each eye The left eye doesnt send info to the right hemisphere and vice versa- the right halves of each eye send info to the right hemisphere and vice versa

Split Brain
The conscious left hemisphere is the interpreter or press agent that instantly constructs theories to explain our behavior The left is more active when a person deliberates over decisions When the rational left brain is active, people more often discount disagreeable info

Split Brain
The right hemisphere understands simple requests, easily perceives objects, and is more engaged when quick, intuitive responses are needed. Right surpasses the left at copying drawings and at recognizing faces. Right is skilled at perceiving emotion and at portraying emotions through the more expressive left side of the face Right hemisphere damage more greatly disrupts emotion processing and social conduct

Split Brain
The brains 2 halves can simultaneously carry out different functions with minimal duplication of effort It is a biologically odd but smart couple, each seemingly with a mind of its own

Split Brain Surgery

Split brain surgery leaves people with 2 separate minds Both hemispheres can comprehend and follow an instruction to copy- simultaneouslydifferent figures with the left and right hands

Split Brain Surgery

Patients only experience difficulty in the first months after surgery As time passes, the 2 separate minds begin to figure out how to work together
Optic chiasm is not severed in the surgery
Place where the nerves connecting the eyes and the brain cross, leading to cross-hemispheric processing. They receive visual info from both visual fields

Point to ponder
Results of split brain research may be due in part to the condition of the patients brains after experiencing years of debilitating epilepsy Could the brains organization in these patients be due to epilepsy? Or is the specialization of the brain the same in all people?

The Brain and Consciousness

Upper brainstem contributes to consciousness Even in a motionless body, the researchers concluded, the brain, and the mind, may still be active

Dual Processing
When the brain operates on 2 levels during perception, memory, thinking, language, and attitudes
Conscious, deliberate high road Unconscious, automatic low road

Much of our everyday thinking, feeling, and acting operates outside our conscious awareness Foot and hand demo