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Chapter 2: Neuroscience and
Biological Foundations
1
Lecture Overview

Neural Bases of Behavior

Nervous System Organization

A Tour Through the Brain

Our Genetic Inheritance
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Neural Bases of Psychology

Neuroscience:
interdisciplinary
field studying how
biological
processes relate to
behavioral and
mental processes
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Neural Bases of Psychology

The nervous
system consists of
neurons (cells
responsible for
receiving and
transmitting
electrochemical
information).
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Figure 2.2 A motor neuron
Myers: Psychology, Eighth Edition
5
Copyright © 2007 by Worth Publishers
Neural Bases of Psychology:
The Structure of a Neuron
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Neural Bases of Psychology:
Neural Communication

Within a neuron, communication occurs
through an action potential (neural impulse
that carries information along the axon of a
neuron).
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Neural Bases of Psychology:
Neural Communication (Continued)

Between neurons,
communication occurs
through transmission of
neural information
across a synapse by
neurotransmitters
(chemicals released by
neurons that alter
activity in other neurons).
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Neural Bases of Psychology:
Neural Communication (Continued)

Receiving neurons
receive multiple
messages from
other neurons, and
these messages
determine if an
action potential
occurs or not.
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Neural Bases of Psychology:
Neural Communication (Continued)

Note how the
axon terminals
of sending
neurons almost
completely cover
the cell body of
the receiving
neuron.
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Neural Bases of Psychology:
Applying Psychology to Everyday Life

Major Neurotransmitters:
•
Serotonin
Acetylcholine (ACh)
Dopamine (DA)
Norepinephrine (NE)
Epinephrine (adrenaline)
GABA (gamma aminobutyric
acid)
Endorphins
•
•
•
•
•
•
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Table 2.1
Myers: Psychology, Eighth Edition
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Copyright © 2007 by Worth Publishers
Neural Bases of Psychology:
Receptor Sites

normal message

blocked message (wrong shape)

agonistic drugs mimic shape
and enhance neurotransmitter

antagonistic drugs fill the site
and block neurotransmitter
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Neural Bases of Psychology:
How Hormones Affect Us

Endocrine System:
collection of glands
that manufacture and
secrete hormones
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Nervous System Organization


Central Nervous System
(CNS): includes the brain and
spinal cord
Peripheral Nervous System
(PNS): includes all nerves and
neurons connecting CNS to the
rest of the body (subdivided into
the somatic and autonomic
nervous systems)
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Nervous System Organization
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Nervous System Organization:
Central Nervous System (CNS)


Brain
Spinal Cord
(transmits
information into
and out of the
brain )
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Nervous System Organization:
Central Nervous System (CNS)

The spinal cord is
also responsible
for involuntary,
automatic
behaviors called
reflexes.
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Nervous System Organization:
Subdivisions of the
Peripheral Nervous System



Somatic Nervous System (SNS): connects
to sensory receptors and controls skeletal
muscles.
Autonomic Nervous System (ANS):
controls involuntary bodily functions
ANS is subdivided into: Sympathetic
Nervous System (arouses) and the
Parasympathetic Nervous System (calms)
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Nervous System Organization:
 Parasympathetic and
Sympathetic Nervous
Systems
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A Tour Through the Brain
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A Tour Through The Brain: Hindbrain

Three key structures of the hindbrain:
 Medulla: life survival functions
 Pons: respiration, movement, waking,
sleeping, and dreaming
 Cerebellum: coordination of fine
muscular movements, balance, and
some aspects of perception and
cognition
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A Tour Through The Brain (Continued)

Midbrain: collection of brain structures in
the middle of the brain that coordinates
movement patterns, sleep, and arousal

(Reticular formation: runs through the
hindbrain, midbrain, and brainstem and
screens incoming information and
controls arousal
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A Tour Through The Brain (Continued)

Forebrain: collection of upper-level brain
structu24res, including the thalamus,
hypothalamus, and limbic system
 Thalamus: relays sensory messages to
the cerebral cortex
 Hypothalamus: responsible for
emotions, drives, and regulating the
body’s internal environment
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Figure 2.18 The limbic system
Myers: Psychology, Eighth Edition
25
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A Tour Through The Brain (Continued)

Limbic System:
interconnected
group of forebrain
structures involved
with emotions,
drives, and
memory
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A Tour Through The Brain:
Cerebral Cortex

Cerebral Cortex: thin
surface layer on the
left and right cerebral
hemispheres regulating
most complex behavior,
including sensations,
motor control, and
higher mental processes
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A Tour Through The Brain:
Lobes of the Cerebral Cortex (Cont.)
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A Tour Through The Brain:
Lobes of the Cerebral Cortex

The frontal Lobesreceive and coordinate
messages from other
lobes and are responsible
for motor control, speech
production, and higher
functions, such as
thinking, personality,
emotion, and memory.
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A Tour Through the Brain:
The Importance of the Frontal Lobes

Phineas Gage’s mining
accident sent a 13pound tamping iron
through his frontal
lobes. How did this
affect his short- and
long-term behavior and
mental processes?
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A Tour Through The Brain:
Lobes of the Cerebral Cortex (Cont.)



Parietal Lobes: located at the top of the brain
directly behind the frontal lobes and responsible for
interpreting bodily sensations
Temporal Lobes: located on each side of the
brain above the ears and responsible for audition,
language comprehension, memory, and some
emotional control
Occipital Lobes: located at the back of the
brain responsible for vision and visual perception
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Figure 2.32 Specialization and integration in language
Myers: Psychology, Eighth Edition
32
Copyright © 2007 by Worth Publishers
Figure 2.33 Brain activity when hearing, seeing, and speaking words
Myers: Psychology, Eighth Edition
33
Copyright © 2007 by Worth Publishers
Figure 2.23 Brain structures and their functions
Myers: Psychology, Eighth Edition
34
Copyright © 2007 by Worth Publishers
The Motor Cortex and The Sensory
Cortex

The motor cortex, an arch-shaped region at the
rear of the frontal lobes, controls voluntary muscle
movements on the opposite side of the body. Body
parts requiring the most precise control occupy the
greatest amount of cortical space. In an effort to find
the source of motor control, researchers have
recorded messages from brain areas involved in
planning and intention, leading to the testing of
neural prosthetics for paralyzed patients.
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The Motor Cortex and The Sensory
Cortex

The sensory cortex, a region at the front of
the parietal lobes, registers and processes
body sensations. The most sensitive body
parts require the largest amount of space in
the sensory cortex.
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


The association areas are not involved in
primary motor or sensory functions.
Rather, they interpret, integrate, and act
on information processed by the
sensory areas.
They are involved in higher mental
functions, such as learning, remembering,
thinking, and speaking.
Association areas are found in all four
lobes. Complex human abilities, such as
memory and language, result from the
intricate coordination of many brain areas.
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Describe the five brain areas that would be involved
if you read this sentence aloud.

Language depends on a chain of events in
several brain regions. When we read the
sentence aloud, the words





(1) register in the visual area
(2) are relayed to the angular gyrus which
transforms the words into an auditory code,
which is
(3) received and understood in the nearby
Wernicke’s area and
(4) sent to Broca’s area, which
(5) controls the motor cortex as it creates the
pronounced word.
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



Depending on which link in this chain is
damaged, a different form of aphasia
occurs.
For example, damage to the angular
gyrus leaves the person able to speak
and understand but unable to read.
Damage to Wernicke’s area disrupts
understanding.
Damage to Broca’s area disrupts
speaking
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The Brain’s Plasticity


Research indicates that some neural tissue
can reorganize in response to injury or
damage.
When one brain area is damaged, others
may in time take over some of its function.
For example, if you lose a finger, the sensory
cortex that received its input will begin to
receive input from the adjacent fingers, which
become more sensitive.
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

New evidence reveals that adult humans can
also generate new brain cells.
Our brains are most plastic when we are
young children. In fact, children who have
had an entire hemisphere removed still lead
normal lives.
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A Tour Through The Brain:
The Motor Cortex and
Somatosensory
Cortex
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A Tour Through The Brain: Motor
and Somatosensory Cortex (Cont.)

Why are the hands
and face on this
drawing so large?
What do they
represent?
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A Tour Through The Brain:
Split-Brain Research

Severing the
corpus
callosum
provides data
regarding the
functions of the
brain’s two
hemispheres.
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Figure 2.35 The corpus callosum
Myers: Psychology, Eighth Edition
45
Copyright © 2007 by Worth Publishers
A Tour Through The Brain:
Split-Brain Research (Continued)
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A Tour Through The Brain:
Lateralization

The left and right
hemispheres of the
brain each specialize
in particular operations.
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Our Genetic Inheritance

To answer questions about the influence of
nature versus nurture, psychologists use
behavioral genetics research.

Behavioral Genetics: studies the relative
effects of nature (heredity, genes, and
chromosomes) and nurture
(environment) on
behavior and
mental processes.
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Our Genetic Inheritance: Genes & DNA

The nucleus of every
cell in our body contains
genes, which carry the
code for hereditary
transmission. These
genes are arranged
along chromosomes
(strands of paired DNA).
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Our Genetic Inheritance: Genes & DNA

Tongue-curling is one of the only traits that
depends on a specific dominant gene.
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Our Genetic Inheritance: Twin Research
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Our Genetic Inheritance

Evolutionary Psychology:
studies how natural
selection and adaptation
help explain behavior and
mental processes
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Our Genetic Inheritance

Sex differences
in lateralization. Note how
activation is confined to
only one hemisphere in
the male brain on the left,
and how it occurs on both
hemispheres in the
female brain on the right.
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Our Genetic Inheritance:
Better Living Through Neuroscience



Neuroplasticity: brain’s lifelong ability to
reorganize and change its structure
and function
Neurogenesis: the division and
differentiation of non-neuronal cells
to produce neurons
Stem cells: Precursor (immature) cells that
give birth to new specialized cells
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