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Behavioral
Neuroscience
PSY 525
Lesson 1
Neuroscience
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Scientific study of the nervous system
 Development
 Organization
 Function  behavior
Goals are to understand…
 Normal NS structure & function
 Development, maturation & maintenance
 Prevention/cure of neurological &
psychological disorders ~
Neuroscience is Interdisciplinary
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@ University of Iowa
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Molecular mechanisms of cardiac sensation
Neural regulation of the circulation
Mechanisms contributing to glaucomatous
neurodegeneration
Neuronal control of gene expression
Brain imaging in the major psychoses
Behavioral genetics
Neurological Birth Defects
The genetics of neural tube defects & human
epilepsy.
Anesthesia, Pharmacology
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Psychology and Marketing
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Decision Neuroscience
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Ion channels, activity-dependent neural plasticity,
and learning behavior in Drosophila
Pharmacology
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Understanding persistent pain mechanisms
Theoretical issues in neuroscience and philosophy
of mind
Biological Sciences
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Memory, communication and social interaction
Philosophy
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Control of posture and movement
Somatosensory system;
neuropharmacology of pain
Communication Sciences & Disorders
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microcircuitry of brain systems involved in
emotion
Physical Therapy, Exercise Science
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role of sleep in the development of the
nervous system
Neurobiology of learning and memory
Neurobiology of stress
Anatomy, Cell Biology
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Pediatrics, Neurology
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Psychiatry
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Physiology of electrical stimulation of the
auditory nerve
Physiology, Biophysics
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Internal Medicine, Cardiology
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Speech Pathology & Audiology
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Psychology
Protein phosphatase 2A in neuronal signal
transduction
AND….more!
The Mind/Brain Problem
DUALISM
 mind & brain
fundamentally
different
 mind (soul?) is
extra corporeal
 Rene Descartes
 interactionism
 pineal gland ~
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The Mind/Brain Problem
MONISM
 operations of brain  mental events
 Fundamental problem
 How can a physical system produce
mental states? ~
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The Mind/Brain Problem: Dualism
Sir John Eccles
 Nobel Prize (1963)
 Neuroscientist
 supplemental motor
area
 Fundamental problem...
 How do physical and
nonphysical systems
interact? ~
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The Mind/Brain Problem
Consciousness
 unique property of brains?
 Or could it exist in other entities?
 Livers?
 Computers? ~
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Studying Functional Organization
Controlled manipulation of nervous
system
 Human and nonhuman animals
 Levels of behavior
 Individual
 Systems
 Tissue
 Molecules/ions
 Generalization vs. reductionism ~
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Regulation of Behavior
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Behavior: function of specialized cells
 sensory
transduction
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neurons
info processing
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effectors
muscles
glands ~
A model of behavior
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feedback
 Positive - excitatory (+)
 Negative - inhibitory (-) ~
SYSTEM ACTIVITY
REGULATION
Maximum
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normal range
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Minimum
Neurons & Behavior
Neural activity  behavior
 Alter neural communication
 Within & between
 Alter behavior
 including...
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consciousness, emotions, perceptions
Behavioral Neuroscience
 Neural mechanisms controlling behavior ~
Relationship Between Brain & Behavior
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Descartes
 Mechanical statues
 Reflexes
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Luigi Galvani
 electrically stimulated
frog leg ~
Relationship Between Brain & Behavior
Golgi & Ramon y Cajal
 Synctium vs. Neuron Doctrine
 Aggregate field view
 brain acts a single unit
 Cellular connectionism
 individual neurons organized in
functional groups ~
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Relationship Between Brain & Behavior
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Francis Gall
 phrenology
 localized functions
Pierre Flourens
 brain ablation
 studied effects on behavior
 aggregate field view
Karl Lashley
 Early-mid 1900s
 Search for engram ~
Relationship Between Brain & Behavior
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Broca’s Aphasia
 Left frontal lobe damage
 Fluency deficits
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Wernicke’s Aphasia
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left temporal lobe damage
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impaired comprehension
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Distributed processing
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Clinical neuropsychology ~
Relationship Between Brain & Behavior
Fritsch & Hitzig
 Electrical stim.  muscle contracts
 Hermann von Helmholtz
 speed of conduction of nerve impulse
 Otto Loewi
 Chemical transmitters at synapse ~
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IF THE HUMAN BRAIN
WERE SO SIMPLE THAT WE
COULD UNDERSTAND IT,
WE WOULD BE SO SIMPLE
THAT WE COULDN’T.
Emerson N. Pugh