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Brain & Behavior (Chapter 1 & 2)
- Instelling
- Tilburg University (UVT)
Elaborate notes on the first two chapters of "An Introduction to Brain and Behavior" (6th edition).
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BRAIN AND BEHAVIORCHAPTER 1
1. Clinical focus 1-1: Living with traumatic brain injury
۞ traumatic brain injury (TBI) – a wound to the brain that results from a blow to the head
or a concussion (damage to the brain caused by a blow to the head)
۞ “no diagnosis, no planning, no rehabilitation, no hope”
۞ neuroscience – the multidisciplinary study of the brain ; focuses on the disorders of the
brain
- looks at the anatomy of the brain as well as its chemistry, physics, computational
processes, influences on psychological functioning, influences on sociological and
economic factors, diseases
- improves diagnosis by imaging the anatomy, chemistry, and electrical activity of the
brain and rehabilitation through computer-assisted training and prosthetics
۞ the study of brain & behavior changes how we think about ourselves, how we structure
our social interactions and education and we aid people with brain injury, disorder and
disease
2. The brain in the 21st century
2.1 why study brain & behavior?
۞ brain – a physical object, a living tissue, a body organ
۞ behavior – action, momentarily observable but fleeting
۞ brain and behavior have evolved together
۞ three links between the studies of brain and behavior:
1) how the brain produces behavior is a major scientific question
- the brain is studied in order to understand humanity
- a better understanding of the brain function would improve other aspects of life such as
educational systems, economic systems, social systems
2) the brain is the most complex organ on Earth and it is found in many groups of animals
- the place of the brain in the biological order of our planet is a subject of research
3) a large number of behavioral disorders can be explained and treated as we increase our
understanding of the brain
- more than 200 disorders could be related to brain abnormalities
- relationships between brain disorders and behavioral disorders
2.2 what is the brain?
۞ in Anglo-Saxon, brain is the tissue found within the skull and it describes a part of the
human nervous system
۞ the human nervous system is composed of cells
- 87 billion brain cells are neurons – specialized nerve cells engaged in information
processing
- neurons interconnect with one another and with the muscles and organs of the body with
fibers that extend over long distances
- through interconnections the neurons send electrical and chemical signals to
communicate with one another, with sensory receptors in the skin, with muscles, with
internal body organs
- 86 billion brain cells are glial cells – brain cells that support the function of neurons
- most of the interconnections between the brain and the body are made through the spinal
cord – a tube of nervous tissue encased in our vertebrae
, - the spinal cord sends nerve fibers out to the muscles and internal body organs and
receives fibers from sensory receptors
۞ central nervous system (CNS) – comprised of the brain and the spinal cord which
together mediate behavior
- the part of the nervous system which is encased in bone (the brain is encased by the
skull; the spinal cord is encased by the vertebrae)
- it is the physical core of the nervous system
- it is the core structure which mediates behavior
۞ peripheral nervous system (PNS) – all the neurons in the body outside the brain and the
spinal cord
- it provides sensory and motor connections to and from the CNS
- all the nerve processes radiating out beyond the brain and spinal cord and all of the
neurons outside the CNS connect to sensory receptors in the skin, muscles (motor
connections), internal body organs and gut (motor and sensory connections) to form the
PNS
- through the PNS, the CNS communicates with sensory receptors, muscles, other tissues
and with the internal organs
- mediates sensations and movements
۞ the human brain comprises two major sets of structures/ brainstem structures:
1) cerebrum (forebrain) – consists of two mirror-image hemispheres (left and right) and
is responsible for most conscious behavior
- nearly symmetrical halves (hemispheres)
- enfolds the brainstem – central structure of the brain which is responsible for most
unconscious behavior
- the spinal cord emerges from the base of the brainstem (they are connected)
2) cerebellum – specialized major brainstem structure for learning and coordinating
movements
- assists the cerebrum in generating many behaviors
- conjoint evolution with the cerebrum
! both structures have undergone the most growth in large-brained animals
۞ brain – one’s “self ” ; consciousness ; language ; memory
- provides self-awareness
- allows us to interact with others
- the brain is the body organ which exerts control over behavior
- the term “brain” signifies both the organ itself and the fact that this organ produces
behavior
۞ could the brain remain awake and conscious without sensory information and without the
ability to move? = could the CNS operate separately from the PNS?
- embodied behavior – philosophical argument ; a theory that the movements we make
and the movements we perceive in others are central to our behavior and to the
communication with others
* we understand others by observing their body language and their gestures not by only
listening to their words
* we think not only with silent words but also with overt gestures and body language
the brain as an intelligent entity cannot be divorced from the body’s activity
- Edmond Jacobson – “what would happen if our muscles stopped working?”
, * even if we think we are entirely motionless, we still make subliminal movements related
to our thoughts
ex. the muscles of the larynx subliminally move when we think in words
ex. we make subliminal eye movements when we imagine/visualize some action/ person/
place
* in Jacobson’s experiment people practiced “total relaxation” and they later reported a
state of mental emptiness, as if the brain had gone blank
- Woodburn Heron – “how would the brain cope without sensory input?”
* experiments on sensory deprivation (a form of torture used in the Korean war)
* an unpleasant experience as reported by participants due to the social isolation and the
loss of focus ; some hallucinated while trying to create the sensory experiences they
lacked in the situation
۞ relationship between overt behavior and consciousness:
- evidence from people who have suffered nervous system injury
case 1:
- locked-in syndrome – a condition in which a patient is aware and awake but cannot
move or communicate verbally because of complete paralysis of nearly all voluntary
muscles except for the eyes
* conscious of one’s surroundings but remaining paralyzed and unable to communicate
* a condition in which the brain is intact, functioning and sensitive to the external world
but with its nerve fiber pathways that produce movement inactivated
* Martin Pistorius – used a voice synthesizer ; made small facial movements ; years of
enduring locked-in syndrome ; his story shows that consciousness can persist in the
absence of most overt movement
case 2:
- consciousness is important (inference from the relationship between behavior and the
brain)
* minimally conscious state (MCS) – a condition in which a person can display some
rudimentary behaviors such as smiling or uttering a few words but is otherwise not
conscious
* the patient could follow simple commands
* could make a few movements but could not feed himself despite rehabilitation
* by administering a small electrical current Nickolas Schiff believed he could stimulate
the MCS patient’s brain and thus improve his behavioral abilities
* clinical trial – consensual experiment directed towards developing a treatment
* as a part of the clinical trial, Schiff implanted thin wire electrodes in the brainstem of the
patient to administer a small electrical current (they could be seen on an X-ray)
* deep brain stimulation (DBS) – neurosurgery in which electrodes implanted in the brain
stimulate a targeted area with a low-voltage electrical current to facilitate behavior
* DBS can treat Parkinson disease, depression and aid recovery from TBI
* the electrodes were implanted in the thalamus – a structure deep in the brain near the tip
of the brainstem
* dramatic improvement thanks to DBS – progress in rehabilitation, could feed himself,
watched TV and communicated with his caregivers
* his wakefulness got improved as well as his behavior
case 3:
- consciousness can be present in the absence of all voluntary movement
, * persistent vegetative state (PVS) – a condition in which a person is alive but unaware,
unable to communicate or to function independently at even the most basic level ; the
result of severe brain injury
* patients do not show any signs of cognitive function
* magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) – measures brain function in terms of oxygen use
* with the help of MRI it was found that some comatose patients are conscious and can
communicate when given the opportunity (Adrian Owen)
* the investigators devised ways to communicate with their patients by using the signals in
their brains’ activity patterns
* brain activity changes in association with the imaginary act (showed understanding of
the instructions)
! participants = healthy people who take part in research
! subjects/ patients = individuals with brain/behavioral impairments
CONCLUSION FROM THE 3 CASES:
- the brain can be conscious to a great extent in the absence of much overt behavior
- the brain can communicate through the signals generated by its activity in the absence of
overt behavior
- whether the brain can maintain consciousness with the absence of all sensory experience
and movement still remains unanswered
- some of the future research may come from Artificial Intelligence
- whether a computer can be conscious in the absence of embodied behavior remains a
question
- the brain needs ongoing sensory and motor stimulation to maintain its intelligent
activity
2.3 what is behavior?
۞ “behavior consists of patterns in time” (Irenaus Eibl, “Ethology: The Biology of
Behavior”)
- the patterns can be vocalizations, movements, changes in appearance (facial movements)
- “patterns in time” includes thinking and imagining because of the changes in the brain’s
electrical and biochemical activity that are associated with thought
- behavioral variations among animals indicate the diverse functions of the brain
- animals can perform inherited behaviors (with little or no previous experience) ; their
brains come with the requisite organization to produce those behaviors
- in animals behavior is caused by nervous system activity
- animals also produce learned behaviors (require experience and practice)
- learned behaviors depend on the brain’s plasticity – its ability to change in response to a
learning experience
- most behaviors are a mixture of learned and inherited actions which involve a pre-
organized brain that is modifiable through experience
ex. the crossbill’s beak is designed to eat pinecones this behavior is innate (no required
modification through learning)
ex. a baby roof rat must learn from its mother how to eat pinecones this behavior is
learned
- some animal behaviors are largely innate/fixed
- learning is a form of cultural transmission
۞ animals with smaller and simpler nervous systems exhibit a narrow range of behaviors
which depend on heredity
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