Biopsychology

What are the 4 humors? Who proposed them?

black bile, yellow bile, blood, phlegm
Hippocrates

What are the four personality types associated with the 4 humors?

1. melancholic-gloomy/thoughtful
2. choleric- irritable/easily angered
3. sanguine-cheerfully optimistic/confident
4. phlegmatic-unemotional, calm, sluggish

Who was Rene Descartes?

~man who said, "I think, therefore I am",
~wrote about the pineal gland--he thought that because it was the only one on the midline, it must be where the soul is attached to the body because everywhere else had a symmetrical half on the other side of the

biopsychology

the scientific study of the biology of behavior

What are some of the advantages of doing research on nonhuman animals?

1. brains and behavior are simpler
2. comparative approach
3. can conduct research that would be unethical in humans

pure research

research motivated by the curiosity of the researcher for acquiring knowledge

applied research

research that intends to bring about some benefit to mankind

What are the 6 major divisions of biopsych?

1. physiological
2. psychopharmacology
3. neuropsychology
4. psychophysiology
5. cognitive neuroscience
6. comparative psychology

physiological psych

neural mechanisms of behavior through the direct manipulation of the brain in controlled experiments
~uses mostly lab animals, pure research

psychopharmacology

manipulation of neural activity and behavior with drugs
~applied research to develop therapeutic drugs or decrease drug abuse, mostly work with lab animals and sometimes humans

neuropsychology

the study of the psychological effects of brain damage in humans
~applied research, heavy focus on cerebral cortex, mostly case studies

psychophysiology

studies the relation between physiological activity and psychological processes
~EEG, autonomic nervous system

cognitive neuroscience

neural bases of cognition
~human subjects, non-invasive
~functional brain imaging while subject is engaged in a cognitive activity

comparative psychology

compare the behavior of different species to understand the evolution, genetics, and adaptiveness of behavior

phrenology/Franz Gall (1790)

~different parts of the brain have different functions, which is the only body part with this
~sites of brain regions relate to different abilities (ex: large 'empathy' regions would be very empathetic)
~sites of brain regions are reflected on the skull

Who was Paul Broca (1861)?

~he did post-mortem studies of speech/language aphasia patients who experience traumatic brain injury (TBI)
~"Tan"- case study who could only say the word 'tan', the rest of his brain was intact though and he would get frustrated when he was unable to say

Korbinian Brodmann (1900s)

~classified cortical neurons by cytoarchitecture, several areas overlap with functional areas but most do not

What are the current hypotheses related to segregation of function?

~observable output is result of interactions among many brain regions and not usually single cells or regions (ex: bull with caudate simulator)
~regions may or may not form functionally distinct "structures"
~behavior is complex but predictable (within a

superior

above

inferior

below

rostral

toward the beak/nose

caudal

toward the tail

dorsal

toward the back

ventral

toward the chest

medial

toward the middle

lateral

toward the side

What are the two sets of orientation nomenclature?

neuraxis (subjective)
brain/neuroimaging (objective)

What terms does the neuraxis orientation contain?

rostral/caudal, dorsal/ventral, medial/lateral

What terms does the brain orientation contain?

superior/inferior, anterior/posterior

coronal slice

crown", looking head-on

axial/horizontal slice

parallel to feet, looking down on the head

sagittal

upright, most common is right down the middle (Sagittarius would hold his bow upright)

Talk about the phrase, "Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny

~the development of a single organism looks a lot like evolution as a whole
~system develops from the most basic to the most complex
~develops from caudal to rostral end (spinal cord=caudal, just sends and transmits messages)

spinal cord

caudal end of the CNS, receives sensory info from and sends motor info to limbs and trunk

spinal nerves

31 pairs that attach to the spinal cord: 1 coccygeal, 5 sacral, 5 lumbar, 12 thoracic, 8 cervical
~composed of dorsal (sensory) and ventral (motor) horns
~gray matter on the inside, white matter on the outside

coccygeal spinal nerve (1)

tail bone

sacral spinal nerves (5)

Foot, penile erection, and bowel and bladder

lumbar spinal nerves (5)

abdominals, hips, ejaculation, quadriceps, hamstrings-knee, foot

thoracic spinal nerves (12)

hand, intercostals (trunk), abdominals, ejaculation,

cervical spinal nerves (8)

neck muscles, diaphragm, deltoid (shoulder), wrist, triceps, fingers

What are the three divisions of the CNS?

1. hindbrain
2. midbrain
3. forebrain

What main areas does the hindbrain contain?

myelencephalon and metencephalon

What main area does the midbrain contain?

mesencephalon

What main areas does the forebrain contain?

Diencephalon and telencephalon

myelencephalon

~the most posterior division of the brain composed of tracts that carry signals between the rest of the brain and the body
~medulla-vital functions
~reticular formation- 100 tiny nuclei involved in sleep, attention, movement, and maintenance of muscle ton

metencephalon

~pons-ventral portion that has bands of nuclei, some RF, conducts information from cerebellum to cerebrum, still though, not a lot really going on here
~cerebellum-sensorimotor learning/coordination, connected by peduncles ,without it we wouldn't be able

pons

ventral portion of the metencephalon that has bands of nuclei, some RF, conducts information from cerebellum to cerebrum

cerebellum

sensorimotor learning/coordination, connected by peduncles, without it we wouldn't be able to coordinate movement

mesencephalon

~integrates sensory and motor information
~tectum (dorsal)
~tegmentum (ventral)

tectum (ventral)

inferior (auditory) and superior (visual) colliculi

tegmentum (dorsal)

~substantia nigra-black substance associated with dopamine production
~red nucleus- sensorimotor
~periaqueductal gray-gray matter around cerebral aqueduct(connects the 3rd and 4th ventricles), mediates the pain-relieving effect of opiates

diencephalon

~thalamus
~hypothalamus
~optic chiasm-crossover of visual information
~pituitary gland-hormone release

thalamus

~sensory relay, "office worker" involved in the organizing but not the processing or understanding
~one lobe on each side of the 3rd ventricle and joined by the massa intermedia

hypothalamus

autonomic, endocrine, visceral functions, regulates many motivated behaviors

telencephalon

~mediates most complex functions
~cerebral cortex
~corpus callosum
~basal ganglia
~limbic system

the 4 F's of midbrain and diencephalon--why do we need the telencephalon?

~feeding, fleeing, fighting, and fornication
~the telencephalon allows us to be social beings, planning (guide future actions), language, emotions

cerebral cortex

~mainly composed of small, unmyelinated neurons
~fissures- large furrows
~sulci- small furrows
~gyri- ridges between fissures and sulci
~longitudinal fissure- separates the hemispheres, the corpus callosum joins the two hemispheres

4 lobes of the brain

occipital, parietal, frontal, temporal
~the lobes are separated by sulci and fissues

occipital lobe

~analysis of visual input

temporal lobe

~hearing, language, complex visual patterns, memory (hippocampus)

parietal lobe

~sensorymotor integration, allows us to walk in a 3D world
~"where

frontal lobe

~motor, complex cognitive functions

gyrus, sulcus, and fissure

gyrus-bump/ridge
sulcus-valley/groove
fissure-physical divider, deeper than sulcus

longitudinal fissure

divides hemispheres

central sulcus

~separates frontal from parietal
~precentral gyrus-primary motor
~postcentral gyrus- primary somatosensory

Sylvian (lateral) fissure

separates frontal/parietal from temporal

Calcarine fissure

~on medial surface, separates occipital from parietal

corpus callosum

~main point of decussation (crossing over between hemispheres)
~runs the entire length of the border between diencephalon and telencephalon
~points n the same side are ipsliateral, points on opposite sides are contralateral

limbic system

~"border", ring of structures involved in memory and emotion
~THINK EMOTION
~mammilary bodies, hippocampus, amygdala, fornix, cingulate gyrus, septum

basal ganglia

~motor planning, coordination, inhibition
~dopaminergenic system
~caudate, putamen, blobus pallidus
~receives projections from substantia nigra-- involved in Parkinson's

Which structure is involved with Parkinsons?

substantia nigra

cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)

~surrounds, cushions, and supports the CNS
~adds buoyancy to the brain so it weighs less
~separated into 4 ventricles that are connected by canals

What are the four ventricles of the CSF?

(~central canal)
~4th ventricle
~cerebral aqueduct
~3rd ventricle
~lateral ventricles

Central canal

spinal cord

choroid plexus

~networks of capillaries that protrude into the ventricles from the pia mater that continuously produce CSF
~the excess from this is absorbed from subarachnoid space to dural sinuses

4th ventricle

metencephalon

cerebral aqueduct

mesencephalon

3rd ventricle

diencephalon

lateral ventricles

telencephalon
~anterior horn, body, trigone, posterior horn

barrow receptors

keep track of BP and will constrict if the BP drops too low so that blood will keep flowing in the brain

Circle of Willis

~3 major arteries that serve the brain
~if one is blocked, there are still two other ways for blood to flow

cranial nerves

~12 nerves (bundles of axons)
~only nerves that don't project from spinal cord
~sensory/motor of head/neck/face
~assessed by neurologists by simple tests

Give an example of a crainal nerve

VI- involved in pulling the eye down (used a lot in going down stairs)
XII-stick out tongue