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2 main parts of the brain
- Central Nervous System (brain and spinal cord)
- Peripheral Nervous System (neurons outside brain and spinal cord)
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brain
- signifies both the organ itself and the fact that the organ produces behaviour. it communicates by producing movements and observing others' movements.
- generates behaviour
- creates reality
- generates knowledge
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nervous system is composed of_____. There are 86 billion _____ in the brain. more ____ = more complex behaviour. ______ communicate with one another through ____________, _______, and ________.
- neurons
- sensory receptors, muscles and internal body organs
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Central nervous system
- needs on-going sensory stimulation
- mediates behaviour when the brain and spinal cord work together
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Cerebral cortex
- heavily folded outer layer of the forebrain
- aka neocortex
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Forebrain
- prominent in mammals and birds
- responsible for conscious behaviour
- coordinates advanced cognitive functions (ie thinking, planning and language)
- contains: limbic system, basal ganglia and neocortex
- left and right hemisphere connected by corpus callosum
- 4 lobes: frontal, temporal, parietal, occipital
- grooves on the cortex are sulci and the bumps are gyri
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brainstem
- responsible for most of our unconscious behaviour
- central structure of the brain
- source of behaviour in simpler animals
- connects the forebrain and spinal cord
- cerebellum/little brain is prominent
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Behaviour
- Eibesfeldt says that behaviour consists of patterns in time; movements, vocalizations and thinking
- innate behaviour - hereditary
- flexible behaviour - learned
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simple vs complex
- simple is narrow
- complex is wide
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Aristotle
- Mentalism
- believed that the brain was used for cooling blood; had no role in the production of behaviour
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Descartes
- dualism; mind and body
- mind acts through the pineal gland
- pineal gland directs fluid using vesicles to the muscles
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Darwin
- materialism
- behaviour can be explained as a function of the nervous system
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Natural Selection in Traits
- 1. appearance of new traits
- 2. trait increases
- 3. increase in chance of survival
- 4. passed on to offspring b/c it's beneficial
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Gregor Mendel
discovered that heritable factors/genes govern various physical traits displayed by the species
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Epigenetics
- differences in gene expression derived from environment and experience
- do not change genes, changes how they are expressed... it can cumulate
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Harvey
sensory deprivation is unpleasant
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Spinal cord
- connects with the muscles
- connects with sensory receptors on the body
- is segmented
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Behaviour
- pattern in time
- can be innate, relatively fixed, and genetically determined
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Mental abilities of the psyche
- Reason
- Emotion
- Attention
- Language
- Memory
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Thomas Aquinas
- all knowledge is derived from the senses yet the human intellect is not dependent on a corporeal organ
- human soul in incorruptible
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Washoe
- first talking chimp
- Beatrice and Alan Gardner taught Washoe American Sign Language in 1971
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Natural Selection
- Darwin's theory for explaining how new species evolve and how existing species change over time
- Finches
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Artificial Selection
- man-made selection
- pigeons
- idea that the brain also evolved and there is no need of a separate mind
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Brain Theory
- Donald O. Hebb - cell assembly
- materialistic theory that states that all behaviour can be explained by the function of the brain
- applies to all animals that have a nervous system
- a hypothesis of the brain theory is that every brain derives from a first brain
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Basic vs. Applied Research
- basic research intends to gather information and build upon our knowledge-base. can lead to understanding of applied problems
- purpose of applied research is to solve problems facing mankind or make new inventions
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