Introduction

-The brain is an organ

-It consists of nervous tissue
-The cells within this tissue are called nerve cells (neurons and glial
cells).

Behavior consists of patterns in time

Examples: Movement, speech, attitude, blushing, thinking
More practical definition:Any form of observable action or reaction of a person or animal in response to external
or internal stimuli. Most behaviors consist of a mix of inherited and learned actions.

Examples: Sucking reflex in newborns = inherited

Eating later in life = strongly influenced by learning and culture

This mixture varies considerably from species to species:

●Smaller, simpler nervous system
narrower range of behaviors that depend mainly on heredity
●Larger, more complex nervous systems
more complex behavioral patterns that depend on learning

The mind-body problem

Dualistic versus monistic philosophical views
Spiritualistic versus materialistic views

The brain is an organ, a physical object, living tissue

Behavior is action, not physical, but observable
This course is about the relationship between brain and behavior
based on evidence from:
1.Evolution of brain and behavior in diverse animal species
2.Brain-behavior relationship in typical people
3.How brain changes in people with brain damage/dysfunction
Brief history of humankind
We do not descend from chimpanzees!
Men and chimpanzees do share a common Hominin
ancestor

Hominins
● common ancestor originated ~ 5 million years ago
● primates who walked upright
● all hominins evolved from this ancestor
● humans only surviving hominin species

Australopithecus “southern ape”

●originated ~ 4 million years ago in Africa (particularly south and east)
●brain size ~400 cm3 (0.4 kg)
●e.g.: australopithecus afarensis (Afar, Ethiopia): “Lucy”

Homo habilis “handy man”

●~2.5 – 1.5 million years ago, Africa
●larger brain volume than australopithecus: ~800 cm3 (0.8 kg)
●used simple stone tools
●ate animal food

Homo erectus “upright man”

●~1.5 million years ago
●larger brain (900-1200 cm3 – 0.89-1.18 kg), better tools than homo habilis
●migrated to Europe (Neanderthal) and Asia

Homo sapiens “knowing man”

●~120,000 years ago, originated in Africa
●~100.000 years ago, migrated to Europe (Cro-Magnon,
SW France)
●perhaps responsible for extinction of Neanderthal
●cave art, the oldest are aged ~30,000 years
●brain volume about 1500 cm3 (1.48 kg)
Encephalization quotient (EQ) = actual brain size / expected brain size (relative to body weight)
cat = average domestic animal EQ 1
Australopithecus EQ 2.5
Homo sapiens EQ 7.0
Our brain weight ~tripled in 4 million years time!

Modern humans have the largest brain size relative to

body weight !!!

How did our brain get so big?

●Lifestyle adjustments
social group size (~150)
eating fruit (more difficult than e.g. grass)
use of fire (cooking) more time for social interaction
●Efficient brain cooling
circulating blood functions as a radiator (like in a car engine) enabled homo sapiens to maintain high
metabolism (= more horsepower) 2% weight, 25% oxygen, 70% glucose
●Neoteny
retention of juvenile features in the adult animal- adult humans closely resemble the infants of gorillas and
chimpanzees (e.g. large head relative to body size)

Is a larger brain also a better brain (within species)?

Answer: no
●Einstein's brain weighed only 1.2 kg, which is
less than the average adult male brain (~1.4 kg)
●Men have ~10% more brain volume than women,
but are not more intelligent
●Perhaps it is the (number of) connections
between brain cells that matters?

NB: Most behavior is not innate but acquired during life and culturally determined!
What is the nervous system’s functional anatomy?

Although the brain has structure, the brain is not a static organ; we are not born with a brain that remains
unchanged for the rest of our lives. The brain is a plastic organ; neural tissue has the ability to adapt to the
world neural plasticity—>learning

1. Brain-Body Orientation

From Latin: “aimed towards or located”

Dorsal: dorsum back
Ventral: venter belly
Medial: mediālis middle
Lateral: laterālis side
Anterior: anterior before / in front of
Posterior: posterior after / behind

2. Spatial Orientation

illustrates brain structure location in relation to other

body parts and body orientation
Rostral: rostrum beak
Superior: superior above
Caudal: caudum tail
Inferior: inferior below

3. Anatomic Orientation- illustrates the direction of a cut or

section through the human brain from the perspective of a
viewer
Brain protection – meninges & cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)

Blood supply of the brain

Two major types of stroke

1. Ischemic Blockage of blood vessel by clot. 2. Hemorrhagic (more severe) Burst of vessel bleeding
The brain from the outside
Main structures visible from the outside:
1.Cerebrum
2.Cerebellum (‘little cerebrum’)
3.Brainstem

inside the brain

Gray matter: nerve cells (no insulating layer)
White matter: nerve fibers (insulating layer, fatty
myelin)

https://youtu.be/UkffBv4sh4U
https://youtu.be/zqQ6iKw5DjY

Ventricle System

The human nervous system – organization

Cells and Fibers – wiring up the brain 🧠
Brain tissue consists of 2 types of nerve cells
●neurons, major brain functions
●glia, support cells (lit. glue)

Cells are connected through nerve fibers (axons)

A bundle of nerve fibers is called:
●tract (within the CNS)
●nerve (outside of the CNS)

The spinal cord (part of CNS)

Spinal nerves - segments and dermatomes

Five spinal cord segments:
1.Cervical
2.Thoracic
3.Lumbar
4.Sacral
5.Coccygeal

Each dermatome (body segment) has two spinal (peripheral) nerves:

a sensory nerve (afferent)
to send information from the skin, joints, and muscles to the spinal cord
a motor nerve (efferent)
to control the muscle movements in that particular body segment.
Directional flow of neural information

Afferent: toward a structure (“input”)

Sensory pathways are afferent (incoming)

Efferent: away from a structure (“output”)

Motor pathways are efferent (outgoing)

Mnemonics: First input, then output

First afferent, then efferent
First a then e (alphabetically)
a = arriving = afferent
e = exit = efferent

Spinal nerves – Law of Bell and Magendie

dorsal / posterior root

●sensory (afferent)
●pain, temperature, touch

ventral / anterior root

●motor (efferent)
●muscle movement, reflexes

Cranial nerves
12 pairs of cranial nerves one set controls the left side; the other set controls the right side of the head
Cranial nerves - Bell’s Palsy

Inflammation of the facial nerve (7th cranial nerve)

swelling compression (partial) loss of nerve function
●Symptoms unilateral weakness or paralysis of facial muscles
●Primary cause = viral infection
●Treatment anti-inflammatory drugs and antiviral agents
●Most patients fully recover (temporary loss of function)

Autonomic nervous system (ANS)

Sympathetic division
●stimulation: activation, arousal (fight or flight)
●connected to thoracic and lumbar spinal cord segments
●ganglia (‘minibrains’) near spinal cord
●preganglionic fibers short, postganglionic fibers long
●acetylcholine (preganglionic) + norepinephrine (postganglionic)

Parasympathetic division
●inhibition: relaxation, digestion (rest and digest)
●connected to sacral spinal cord segments, but mostly to three cranial nerves (vagus, facial, and
oculomotor)
●ganglia (‘minibrains’) near target organs
●preganglionic fibers long, postganglionic fibers short
●acetylcholine (preganglionic + postganglionic)

The brainstem

Hindbrain = rhombencephalon (metencephalon+ myelencephalon) mainly motor

functions
Midbrain = mesencephalon sensory functions
Between brain = diencephalon integrative sensorimotor tasks
1) Hindbrain (rhombencephalon)

2) Midbrain (mesencephalon)
 3) Between brain (diencephalon)

Thalamus (θάλαμος) = chamber

integrates sensory input and relays it to appropriate areas of cerebral cortex (see chapter 9, 10)
Hypothalamus = below the thalamus
•controls hormone production via pituitary gland (see chapter 12)
•takes part in nearly all aspects of behavior (e.g. feeding, sleeping, temperature regulation,
sexual and emotional behavior, hormone function, movement)

4) Forebrain – Basal ganglia

Ganglion (γαγγλίον) = cluster of neurons

control and coordinate voluntary movement act as “volume control” by

controlling the force of movements (see also Ch.11)
Hypoactivity Parkinson (Dopamine -)
Hyperactivity Tourette (Dopamine +)

5) Forebrain – Cerebral cortex (outer layer of cerebrum)