How Does Biology Influence Our Behavior?

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Chapter Two

How Does Biology Influence Our Behavior?

Outline of Resources

I. Learning Objective and Learning Grid

II. Lecture Outline

III. How Does the Brain Communicate?

Class Activity: Creating a Neuron

Class Activity: What Does Mylination Do?

Student Project: Eating Away Your Myelin Sheath: What Is Adrenoleukodystrophy?

Student Project: Labeling Neurons (Handout 2.1)

Student Project: CengageNOW 2.2: Neural Transmission

Lecture Topic: Do Neurons Fire at the Speed of Light?

Lecture Topic: Periods of Neuronal Inactivity

Journal Prompt: Doubting Your Messages

Journal Prompt: Voltage

IV. How Do Neurotransmitters, The Brain's Chemical Messengers, Work?

Class Activity: The Amazing Brain

Class Activity: Guest Speaker: Substance Abuse Counselor

Student Project: Effects of Cocaine, Alcohol, Opiates, and Ecstasy (Handout 2.2)

Student Project: CengageNOW 2.2: Synaptic Transmission

Lecture Topic: Acetylcholine & Nicotine

Lecture Topic: Human versus Machine

Journal Prompt: Behavior & Drugs

Journal Prompt: Food for Thought

V. Is the Nervous System a Single System?

Student Project: The Three Components of the Autonomic Nervous System

Lecture Prompt: How They Work Together: Spinal Reflex

Journal Prompt: The Alarm Response

VI. How Is the Brain Organized?

Class Activity: Primary Motor Cortex

Class Activity: Mad Scientists and the Media (Handout 2.3)

Student Project: Research Phineas Gage and Other Head Injuries

Student Project: CengageNOW 2.5: Split-Brain

Lecture Topic: Parietal Lobe: Beyond Sensation

Lecture Topic: How to Assist Stroke Victims

Journal Prompt: Brain Injury

Journal Prompt: Brain Damage

Journal Prompt/Diversity: Societal Impact

VII. How Do We Study the Brain?

Class Activity: Can You Label the Brain? (Handout 2.4)

Class Activity: What's in the Box?

Student Project: Cognitive Neuroscience

Student Project: The Origins of Computerized Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

Lecture Topic: Bring in the Experts!

Lecture Topic: Imaging Techniques: Why Are There so Many?

Journal Prompt: Do We Want to Know Everything about the Mind?

Journal Prompt: What Is Next?

VIII. How Does the Endocrine System Influence Our Behavior?

Class Activity: Testing Their Knowledge

Student Project: Understanding Steroids

Lecture Topic: Stress

Lecture Topic: Psychological Well-Being & Growth

Journal Prompt: Hormones in Action

IX. What Makes Us Who We Are: Our Biology or the Environment?

Class Activity: Nature versus Nurture

Class activity: What Type of Organization Is This?

Student Project: Family Tree (Handout 2.5)

Student Project: Tracking Royalty

Lecture Topic: Phenotype & Genotype

Lecture Topic: Interaction of Genetics and the Environment

Journal Prompt: My Own Personal Geneticist

Journal Prompt: Free Will

X. Other Resources

Web Links

Movies & Films

Critical Thinking Answers from the Text

Tips

I. Learning Objectives & Learning Grid

A. Learning Objectives

1. Describe the basic structure of a neuron, including the axon, dendrites, and synapse.

2. Explain what an action potential is, and describe how it moves down the axon and across the synapse.

3. Explain what excitation and inhibition are, and how they occur at the synapse.

4. List the major neurotransmitter, and describe the functions it may influence.

5. Describe the major parts of the nervous system and what types of information they process.

6. Be able to locate the hindbrain, midbrain, and forebrain, list their parts, and explain what they do.

7. Describe brain-imaging techniques and other ways we can study the brain, and explain their advantages and limitations.

8. Explain how the endocrine system works and list the endocrine glands.

9. Give an overview of the nature versus nurture debate, and describe genetic and environmental factors in human development.

10. Give an overview of the theory of evolution, and explain how the human nervous system may have developed through natural selection.

B. Learning Grid

APA Undergraduate Learning Goals and Outcomes / Text Learning Objectives / Instructor’s Resource Manual Assessments & Activities
Goal 1: Knowledge Base of Psychology / LO 1-10 / Class Activity: Creating a Neuron
Class Activity: What Does Mylination Do?
Student Project: Labeling Neurons (Handout 2.1)
Class Activity: Primary Motor Cortex
Class Activity: What Type of Organization Is This?
Student Project: Cognitive Neuroscience
Student Project: Understanding Steroids
Goal 2: Research Methods in Psychology / Student Project: CengageNOW 2.5: Split-Brain
Goal 3: Critical Thinking Skills in Psychology / LO 10 / Student Project: CengageNOW 2.2: Neural Transmission
Class Activity: The Amazing Brain
Student Project: CengageNOW 2.2: Synaptic Transmission
Class Activity: Can You Label the Brain? (Handout 2.4)
Class Activity: Testing Their Knowledge
Class Activity: What's in the Box?
Goal 4: Application of Psychology / LO 7 / Class Activity: Guest Speaker: Substance Abuse Counselor
Student Project: Family Tree (Handout 2.5)
Goal 5: Values in Psychology / Class Activity: Mad Scientists and the Media (Handout 2.3)
Goal 6: Information and Technological Literacy / Student Project: Eating Away Your Myelin Sheath: What Is Adrenoleukodystrophy?
Student Project: Effects of Cocaine, Alcohol, Opiates, and Ecstasy (Handout 2.2)
Student Project: The Three Components of the Autonomic Nervous System
Student Project: Research Phineas Gage and Other Head Injuries
Student Project: The Origins of Computerized Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
Goal 7: Communication Skills / All class activities, journal prompts, & student projects
Goal 8: Sociocultural and International Awareness / Journal Prompt/Diversity: Societal Impact
Class Activity: Nature versus Nurture
Student Project: Tracking Royalty
Goal 9: Personal Development / Journal Prompts
Goal 10: Career Planning

II. Lecture Outline

A. How Does the Brain Communicate?

1. Neurons: Specialized Cells that Convey Information Throughout

the Body

a. Adult male brain contains approximately 86 billion neurons

2. Glia Cells Provide Support Functions for the Neurons

a. Latin word for “glue”
b. May influence neural communication between neurons

c. Produce a white fatty substance called myelin, which increases the speed of neuronal communication

d. Multiple sclerosis is a disease that attacks myelin insulation

3. The What Does a Neuron Look Like?

a. Cell body: contains the nucleus, which in turn houses DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and directs the development of the neuron

b. Dendrites: (Greek word for tree branch) branch-like structures extending out from the cell body; receive signals from other neurons

c. Axon: long tail-like structure protruding from the other side of the cell body; carries signals away from the cell body

d. Neurotransmitters: chemical messengers that carry messages to neighboring neurons; created in the axon bulbs located at the end of each axon

e. Synapse: the junction between two neurons when the axon bulb of one neuron is near the receptor cites located on the dendrites of the adjacent neuron

4. How Do Neurons Send Signals?

a. Charged particles

i. Sodium (Na+): ions outside of the neurons

ii. Potassium (K+): ions inside of the neurons

iii. Chlorine (Cl-): ions inside of the neurons

iv. Anions: negatively charged proteins

b. Resting potential

i. NA+ outside the neuron and a lot of negative anions and K+ inside the cell; causes the cell to be polarized

ii. This polarization causes the cell, when at rest, to be about –70 millivolts

c. The action potential and the threshold of excitation

i. Threshold of excitation: when incoming messages make the cell more positive (about –55 mv in mammals), the threshold is reached and the axon will open and allow Na+ ions to enter the cell

ii. Action potentials: the process of a neuron creating an electrical impulse via sodium, potassium, and chlorine

1. Action potentials are all-or-none, meaning that once they reach the threshold of excitation, they will fire

d. Refractory period: the period of time immediately following an action potential when it cannot create another action potential; first must restore its resting potential before it can fire again

5. How Do Signals Jump the Synapse?

a. When the action potentials reach the axon bulbs the cause the vesicles in the bulbs to open up and dump neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft; each neurotransmitter has a specific shape and will only attach, or bind, to specific dendritic receptor sites on the adjacent neurons

b. Excitation: sometimes the neurotransmitter causes excitation in the cell, thus making the cell more likely to fire

c. Inhibition: sometimes the neurotransmitter makes the cell less likely to fire an action potential

d. How do excitation and inhibition interact?

i. When multiple signals converge on the dendrite, it “adds” the excitatory (+) and inhibitory (-) signals and only fires when it threshold has been reached

6. Cleaning up the Synapse: Reuptake

a. When the vesicles in an axon bulb release neurotransmitters into the synapse, not all of them attach to receptor sites

b. Reuptake: the process of recycling neurotransmitters back into the axon bulb that released them

i. Process resupplies the axon bulb with neurotransmitters

ii. Cleans up the synapse to insure the appropriate amount of neurotransmitters is present

B. How Do Neurotransmitters, The Brain's Chemical Messengers, Work?

1. The First Neurotransmitter: Acetylcholine (Ach)

a. Involved with awareness and memory

b. Alzheimer's patients have lower levels of Ach

2. Parkinson’s Disease and Schizophrenia: Dopamine

a. Involved with movement, learning, and attention

b. Low amounts of dopamine are associated with Parkinson's disease and high amounts are associated with schizophrenia.

3. Playing a Part in Depression: Serotonin and Norepinephrine

a. Both are known for their influence on mood, sleep, and arousal; Prozac (antidepressant) inhibits the reuptake of serotonin whereas Cymbalta inhibits reuptake of both neurotransmitters

4. Inhibiting and Exciting the Brain: GABA and Glutamate

a. Influence our general level of arousal

b. Gamma Amino Butyric Acid (GABA) is involved with inhibiting neurons and reducing stress

c. Glutamate is the primary excitatory neurotransmitter

5. Pain in the Brain: Endorphins and Substance P

a. Endorphins block the functioning of Substance P (pain messenger)

C. Is the Nervous System a Single System?

1. The nervous system is divided into two sections, the central nervous system (CNS, brain and spinal cord) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS, everything else)

2. Messages from the Body: Peripheral Nervous System

a. Sensory (afferent) neurons send information to the CNS

b. Motor (efferent) neurons carry signals from the CNS to our muscles

3. Reaching Out: The Somatic Nervous System

a. Concerned with voluntary actions of our bodies

4. Looking Inside: Organ Function and the Autonomic Nervous System

a. Controls the smooth muscles of internal organs

i. Sympathetic: prepares the body for action during periods of stress (fight or flight)

ii. Parasympathetic: operates when we are calm and relaxed

D. How Is the Brain Organized?

1. The Hindbrain

a. Consists of medulla (heart & lungs), pons (consciousness & hemispheric communication), cerebellum (motor coordination)

2. The Midbrain

a. Primary structure of interest is the reticular activating system (RAS)

i. Regulates arousal level

3. The Forebrain

a. Duplicated in both hemispheres

b. Consists of

i. Limbic system

1. Amygdala: emotions of fear & aggression

2. Septum: pleasure center

3. Hippocampus: formation of new memories (size is impacted by specific memory use and stress)

ii. The thalamus and hypothalamus

1. Thalamus: sensory relay station

2. Hypothalamus: maintains internal homeostasis of the body (temperature, hunger, etc…)

4. The Cortex

a. Lateralization and the lobes of the cortex

i. Divided into four distinct lobes

ii. Structurally similar in both hemispheres, but functions somewhat different

iii. Wired contralaterally, right side of the brain controls the left side of the body and the left side of the brain controls the right side of the body

b. The left and right hemispheres

i. Wernike’s area, located in the left temporal lobe, is concerned with comprehending spoken language

ii. Broca’s area, located in the left frontal lobe, focuses on producing spoken language

iii. Right hemisphere plays a role in spatial abilities (memory for location) and detecting subtleties of language (e.g., tone and novel word use)

c. Corpus callosum: band of axons connecting to the two hemispheres

d. Sex differences in the corpus callosum and brain lateralization

i. Female hemispheres seem to be more connected than males

e. The split-brain

i. Occurs when the corpus callosum is severed for people suffering from severe cases of epilepsy

ii. This procedure allowed researchers to study the hemispheres of the brain

5. The Specialization of Function in the Lobes of the Cortex

a. Association cortex are the areas primarily dedicated to thinking, planning, and cognition

b. Frontal lobe: higher-order cognitions, social skills, and planning

i. Motor cortex: execution of muscle movements

c. Parietal lobe: spatial skills, reading ability

i. Somatosensory cortex: involved with perception of touch, pressure, & pain

d. Occipital lobe: primary vision center

e. Temporal lobe: audition and memory

E. How Do We Study the Brain?

1.  Computerized Axial Tomography (CAT) Scans

a.  X-rays passed through the brain

b.  Computer then analyzes X-rays

c.  Greater brain density results in fewer rays passing through

2.  Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

a.  Reveals detail down to 1 to 2 millimeters

3.  Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI)

a.  MRI technology that reveals diffusion of water in the brain; provides detail images of neural networks

4.  Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Scans and Single Photon Emission Computerized Tomography (SPECT) Scans

a.  Images of the brain in action; measures amount of injected radioactive substance in blood

5.  Single Photon Emission Computerized Tomography (SPECT)

a.  Radioactive isotopes are injected and tracked throughout the system

6.  Functional MRI (fMRI)

a.  Provides great detail as from an MRI and ongoing activity like a PET scan

7.  Angiograms

a.  Injected dye is X-rayed; useful for diagnosing blood-flow problems

6. Electroencephalogram (EEG)

a. View gross patterns of neural activity

7. Evoked Response Potentials (ERPs)

a. Similar to EEG

8. Brain Lesions

a. Brain tissue surgically destroyed for therapeutic value; able to examine what cognitive abilities have been harmed

9. Brain Stimulation

a. Inserting fine electrode to stimulate a brain region

10. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)

a. Magnetic fields can target specific locations in the brain and evoke action potentials; noninvasive way to study the functioning of the brain.

11. Single Cell Recording

a. Typically performed on animals