Summary
Complete summary of Brain & Behavior
- Course
- Institution
- Book
Includes class notes and book chapters. Does not include practical notes.
[Show more]
Connected book
Book Title:
Author(s):
- Edition:
- ISBN:
- Edition:
More summaries for
-
Test Bank for An Introduction to Brain and Behavior 6th Bryan Kolb , Ian Q. Whishaw , G. Campbell Teskey A+ 2024
-
Brain & Behavior (Chapter 1 & 2)
-
Begrippen / Terminology An Introduction to Brain and Behavior, ISBN: 9781319243562 Neuropsychology (SOW-PWB2240)
Seller
Follow
flaviastoia
Reviews received
Content preview
1Chapter 1 - What are the origins of brain and
Behavior?
1.1 21st century - Why study brain and behavior links?
1. How does the brain produce behavior? → improvements in world
2. Brain is complex - function and evolution
3. Increasing understanding of the brain helps explain behavioral disorders
What is the brain?
- ½ neurons, ½ glial cells (support neuron function)
- Spinal cord - communication between brain and body
- CNS = brain and spinal cord; encased in bone, core structure mediating behavior
- PNS = rest of processes
Cerebrum → conscious behavior
Brain stem → unconscious behavior
Cerebellum → learning, coordinating
movement; conjoint evolution with
cerebrum
Embodied behavior:
- Research and philosophical
argument
- Movements we make and
movements we perceive are central to
behavior → brain can’t be separated
from body (PNS), it needs stimulation
- Heron 1957 - effects of sensory deprivation → it is highly disturbing (for ex locked-in
syndrome = can sense but can move)
- AI - can a computer be conscious in the absence of embodied behavior? (Harvey)
What is Behavior
- Behavior = “patterns in time”
- Animals → inherited behavior (can be performed with no previous experience, “built in”
the brain; brain is preorganized but modifiable through experience)
- Cultural learning = parents teach to offspring
- Smaller brains more dependent on heredity
- More complex NS ⇒ more complex behavior, more dependent on learning
, 2
1.2 Perspectives on Brain and Behavior
- Mentalism = philosophical position that mind is responsible for behavior (dates back to
aristotle)
- Descartes - mechanical principles for behavior, but also a nonmaterial mind ⇒ dualism
- ⇒ mind-body problem = how do the body and nonmaterial mind interact
- Darwin - materialism = the workings of brain and nervous system explain behavior
- Mendel - inheritance principles
- Epigenetic influences can be long lasting - experience can deeply influence brain
- Animals are all related → brains are similar, so our understanding of the
brain can expand through animal studies
- Animals are related → behavior is related - Darwin’s “The expression of
emotions in man and animals) → heritable traits
- Brains evolved to be increasingly complex, from species to species
- Hebb: learning is neabled by small groups of neurons forming new connections with one
another to form a cell assembly, which is the substrate for a memory; assemblies
interact, connect with each other, linking memories → complex behavior, consciousness
- Materialistic argument
- Materialism may be seen as reductionist, denying religion, whereas it is actually
neutral
1.3 - Evolution of brains and Behavior
- Can be studied using the brains of other species
- Brains and brain cells evolved relatively recently
- Taxonomy: kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species
- Only animal kingdom has muscles and nervous systems (which co-evolved to
produce the behavior of movement)
- Evolution of nervous system:
- 1. Neuron and muscles - enabling movement
- 2. Nerve net - present in evolutionarily older phyla, no structure, only connections
between sensory and motor neurons
- 3. Bilateral symmetry - NS is more organized
- 4. Segmentation - muscular segments correspond to nervous segments; present
in spinal cord and brain: repeating NS segments
- 5. Ganglia = clusters of neurons, primitive brains (command centers); in some
phyla (for ex insects), encephalization (ganglia in the head) happens
- 6. Spinal cord - in chordates (Brain + Spinal cord) connects the brain with
sensory receptors and muscles
- 7. Brain = greatest degree of encephalization; the brains of chordates share
similarities but also distinctive specializations specific to the species
- Chordate Nervous System
, 3
- Increasing size and complexity of brain is to accommodate new behaviors
(movement, improved learning, social behaviors)
- Folding and size increase in mammals (folding to fit more brain and surface area
into smaller recipient
1.4 Evolution of Human Brain and Behavior
Humans: Members of Primate Order
- Monkeys, apes; great vision is used to guide very precise movements → use of tools
- Primates have long gestation periods and long childhoods
- Primates have larger brains, higher intelligence
- Apes (humans and others) have flexible shoulders that free the arms (for climbing trees)
- Hominids = primates that walk upright; there used to be lots of species of hominids
coexisting, but we are the only remaining one.
Australopitecus = hominid ancestor; walked up right, but had smaller brain than us, used tools
and retained the ability to climb trees
The First Humans
- Homo erectus (standing
upright; had a large brain, like
homo sapiens, which is probly why
he migrated and survived for 2 mil
years
- Note homo florensis was
around up to 13 000 years ago - it
is recent that homo sapiens is the
only species left
- Neanderthals in europe
interbred with homo sapiens until
they died out (they had culture,
tools, music, religion, rites and
language)
- No particular reason for
why humans are so prevalent
other than large brain; mixing with
neanderthals made them more
physically resilient
Brain size and behavior
, 4
- Brain size is the only brain measure available through fossils
- Encephalization quotient (EQ)
- = actual brain size/expected brain size (relative to body weight)
- Brain size vs. brain size to body weight
- Australopithecus → EQ 2.5
- Homo sapiens → EQ 7.0
- Brain weight tripled
- Causes:
- Climate change causes environmental pressures
- Lifestyle adjustments (social groups → more communication, eating fruit is more difficult,
use of fire (cooking → more caloric gain) → more time for social interaction
- Efficient brain cooling - circulating blood like a radiator, enabled the brain to maintain
high metabolism → physiological changes
- Neoteny - retention of juvenile features in adult animal (humans resemble baby gorillaz);
dogs are neotenic wolves; heterochrony = processes that regulate the onset and
end-of-life stages and their developmental speed and duration; neotenic process in
humans - learning
- Prolonged gestation and childhood
- However, among humans it is the number of connections between brain cells that
matters
- Location of number of cells:
more cells in cerebrum → more
complex behavior, more cognitive
versatility; more cells in cerebellum →
more motor functions - topographic
maps for diff functional areas
- Connections: in small brains,
neurons with diff functions are spread
out evenly (mostly sensory and motor
functions); bigger brains - neurons
aggregate by function to reduce
distance, and new functions for more tasks require new regions and new connections;
connectome maps represent connections through which each of these regions influence
each other
Acquisition of Culture
- = learned behaviors passed from generation to generation through teaching and
experience
- Cultural elements = memes (ideas behaviors, styles that spread from person to person
- Indiv diff in brain structure → dev of specific memes → further selective pressure in brain
dev
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller flaviastoia. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $7.51. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
71498 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now
Recently viewed by you
