Review the Long Quiz!!

CHAPTER 1 OVERVIEW AND MAJOR ISSUES

BIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY- the study of the physiological, evolutionary, and developmental
mechanisms of behavior and experience.
- synonymous with the terms: biopsychology, psychobiology, physiological psychology,
and behavioral neuroscience
- emphasizes that the goal is to relate biology to issues of psychology

THREE MAIN POINTS TO REMEMBER

1. Perception occurs in your brain
Example: When something contacts your hand, the hand sends a message
to your brain.
2. Mental activity and certain types of brain activity are inseparable
a. Monism – the idea that the universe consists of only one type of being
(Thoughts or experiences are the same things as your brain activity)
b. Dualism – minds are one type of substance and matter is another.
3. We should be cautious about what is an explanation and what is not.
Example: People with depression have less than usual activity in certain
brain areas. Does that evidence tell us why people became depressed? No, it
does not.

BIOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS OF BEHAVIOR

● Commonsense Explanations- often refer to intentional goals
● Biological Explanations - opposite of common sense explanations
1. Physiological explanation - relates a behavior to the activity of the brain and other
organs
2. Ontogenetic explanation - comes from Greek roots meaning the origin (or genesis) of
being. It describes how a structure or behavior develops, including the influences of genes,
nutrition, experiences, and their interactions.
3. Evolutionary explanation - reconstructs the evolutionary history of a structure or
behavior
4. Functional explanation - describes why a structure or behavior evolved as it did

THE USE OF ANIMAL IN RESEARCH

● The underlying mechanisms of behavior are similar across species and sometimes
easier to study in a nonhuman species.
● We are interested in animals for their own sake.
● What we learn about animals sheds light on human evolution.
● Legal or ethical restrictions prevent certain kinds of research on humans.

WHAT ANIMALS ARE USED IN CORONAVIRUS RESEARCH?

 ● Mice - play an essential role in both vaccine and drug development for Covid-19.
Ordinary mice are not susceptible to the disease, so scientists breed genetically altered
mice to make them susceptible to Covid-19.
● Monkeys have a similar immune system to humans and are currently being used in
many coronavirus studies across the world. The most common type of monkey used is
the rhesus macaque
● Ferrets have been used to study Covid-19 because they show similar symptoms to the
disease as humans, their lung physiology is also similar to ours, and they can spread the
virus to other ferrets through the air. They are often used in studies of influenza for
similar reasons.
● Pigs are used in Covid-19 vaccine testing to help scientists better understand how safe
and effective a new vaccine is and therefore whether it is suitable for human trials.
These animals are also being used to test the effectiveness of new types of ventilators,
before they are tested on humans.
● Hamsters are being used to study the effects of the coronavirus as these animals are a
good model to study the effect of the virus on the lungs. Hamsters are being used to
study the effects of Covid-19 as they can display similar symptoms to humans when
infected. This similarity also makes them a good model for studying transmission, the
effects of the virus (particularly on the lungs), and suitable treatments.
THE DEGREES OF OPPOSITION
● Minimalist - tolerate certain types of animal research but wish to limit or prohibit others
depending on the probable value of the research, the amount of distress to the animal,
and the type of animal.
● Abolitionist - regard killing an animal as murder, regardless of whether the intention is to
eat it, use its fur, or gain scientific knowledge
Disagreement between abolitionists and animal researchers
● permitting research has the undeniable consequence of inflicting pain or distress
● banning all use of animals would mean a great setback in medical research as well as
the end of animal-to-human transplants (e.g., transplanting pig heart valves to prolong
lives of people with heart diseases)

CHAPTER 2 The Cells of the Nervous System

2 Kinds of Neurons
1. Neurons - receive information and transmit it to other cells; approximately 86 billion
neurons, on average
2. Glia - non-neuronal cell

CAMILIO GOLGI
- Italian investigator
- found a way to stain nerve cells with silver salts
- completely stains some cells without affecting others at all, enabled researchers to
examine the structure of a single cell
Santiago Ramon Y Cajal (1852-1934)
- Spanish investigator
- outstanding anatomical researcher and illustrator
- His detailed drawings of the nervous system are still considered definitive today
- used Golgi’s methods but applied them to infant brains, in which the cells are smaller
and therefore easier to examine on a single slide
- nerve cells remain separate instead of merging into one another

THE STRUCTURE OF AN ANIMAL CELL

● MEMBRANE/PLASMA- structure that separates the inside of the cell from the outside
environment
- Most chemicals cannot cross the membrane
- protein channels in the membrane permit a controlled flow of water, oxygen,
sodium, potassium, calcium, chloride, and other important chemicals
● NUCLEUS - the structure that contains the chromosomes
● MITOCHONDRION - the structure that performs metabolic activities, providing the
energy that the cell uses for all activities
- overactive mitochondria - tend to burn their fuel rapidly and overheat, even in a
cool environment.
- less active - predisposed to depression and pains
- mutated - a possible cause of autism
● RIBOSOMES - are the sites within a cell that synthesize new protein molecules
● ENDOPLASMIC RETICULUM - a network of thin tubes that transport newly synthesized
proteins to other location

THE STRUCTURE OF NEURON

● DENDRITES - are branching fibers that get narrower near their ends
- receives information from other neurons
- dendritic spines, short outgrowths that increase the surface area available for
synapse
● CELL BODY/SOMA - contains the nucleus, ribosomes, and mitochondria.
- diameter: from 0.005 millimeter (mm) to 0.1 mm in mammals and up to a
millimeter in certain invertebrates
● AXON - a thin fiber of constant diameter
- conveys an impulse toward other neurons, an organ, or a muscle
- can be more than a meter in length, as in the case of axons from your spinal cord
to your
● MYELIN SHEATH - an insulating material which cover axons
- Invertebrate axons do not have myelin sheaths
● PRESYNAPTIC TERMINAL - or end bulb or bouton
- axon releases chemicals that cross through the junction between that neuron and
another cell
● afferent axon - brings information into a structure
Example: sensory neuron
 ● efferent axon - carries information away from a structure
Example: motor neuron
● MOTOR NEURON - receives excitation through its dendrites and conducts impulses
along its axon to a muscle
● SENSORY NEURON - highly sensitive to a particular type of stimulation, such as light,
sound, or touch
● INTERNEURON OR INTRINSIC NEURON - If a cell’s dendrites and axons are entirely
contained within a single structure, the cell is an interneuron or intrinsic neuron of that
structure.

GLIA - or neuroglia "glue" outnumber neurons in the cerebral cortex, but neurons outnumber
glia in several other brain areas, especially in the cerebellum Below are the types of Glia:
● ASTROCYTES - star-shaped
- shields neurons from chemicals circulating in the surround
- helps synchronize closely related neurons, enabling their axons to send
messages in waves
- important for generating rhythms, such as your rhythm of breathing
- dilate the blood vessels to bring more nutrients into brain areas that have
heightened activity
● MICROGLIA - act as part of the immune system, removing viruses and fungi from the
brain
- proliferate after brain damage, removing dead or damaged neurons
- contribute to learning by removing the weakest synapse
● OLIGODENDROCYTES AND SCHWANN CELLS - Oligodendrocytes - brain and spinal
cord
- Schwann cells- periphery of the body
- both - build the myelin sheaths that surround and insulate certain vertebrate
axons
- supply an axon with nutrients necessary for proper functioning
● RADIAL GLIA - guide the migration of neurons and their axons and dendrites during
embryonic development
- When embryological development finishes, most radial glia differentiate into
neurons, and a smaller number differentiate into astrocytes and oligodendrocyte

WHY WE NEED A BLOOD BRAIN BARRIER?

● certain viruses do cross the blood-brain barrier
● rabies virus evades the blood–brain barrier, it infects the brain and leads to death
● spirochete responsible for syphilis - produce long-lasting and potentially fatal
consequences
● chicken pox virus enters spinal cord cells, virus particles remain there long after they
have been exterminated from the rest of the body
● emerge in the spinal cord decades later = a painful condition called shingles
● genital herpes hides in the nervous system, producing little harm there but periodically
emerging to cause new genital infections
HOW THE BLOOD BRAIN BARRIERS WORKS?
● barrier keeps out useful chemicals as well as harmful ones
● useful chemicals include all fuels and amino acids, the building blocks for proteins
● oxygen and carbon dioxide - cross through cell walls freely
● Vitamins A and D and all the drugs that affect the brain - from antidepressants and other
psychiatric drugs to illegal drugs such as heroin - cross easily
● Water crosses through special protein channels in the wall of the endothelial cells
● Chemicals that are actively transported into the brain include glucose (the brain’s main
fuel), amino acids (the building blocks of proteins), purines, choline, a few vitamins, and
iron
● Insulin and probably certain other hormones also cross the blood–brain barrier, at least
in small amounts
● The barrier poses a difficulty for treating brain cancers, because nearly all the drugs
used for chemotherapy fail to cross the blood–brain barrier.

NOURISHMENT OF VERTEBRATE NEURONS

● glucose - vertebrate neurons depend almost entirely
● human brain - uses 20% of its oxygen and 25% of its glucose
● glucose is the only nutrient that crosses the blood–brain barrier in large quantities.
● liver makes glucose from many kinds of carbohydrates and amino acids, as well as from
glycerol, a breakdown product from fats
● To use glucose, the body needs vitamin B1 , thiamine.
● Korsakoff’s syndrome - prolonged thiamine deficiency (chronic alcoholism) leads to
death of neurons marked by severe memory impairment

THE NERVE IMPULSE

● ACTION POTENTIAL - Any stimulation beyond the threshold, regardless of how far
beyond, produces a big response like the one
- shown, known as the action potential. The peak of the action potential, shown as 130
mV in this illustration, varies from one axon to another.
- Message send by axon
- All or nothing
- start with -70mV
- a stimulus causes the vaulted gated sodium channel to open until it reaches -55mV
- opening of lots of vaulted gated sodium channel
- depolarization occurs
- many sodium enter until it reaches the +30mV
- potassium channel and repolarization occur
- potassium rushes out of the cell
- voltage shoots down and reaches the -70mV before the potassium channel close
When an axon’s membrane is at rest, the recordings show a negative potential inside the axon.
If we now use a different electrode to apply a negative charge, we can further increase the
negative charge inside the neuron. The change is called hyperpolarization, which means
increased polarization. When the stimulation ends, the charge returns to its original resting level.
● RESTING POTENTIAL - When at rest, the membrane maintains an electrical gradient,
also known as polarization—a difference in electrical charge between the inside and
outside of the cell. The electrical potential inside the membrane is slightly negative with
respect to the outside, mainly because of negatively charged proteins inside the cell.
This difference in voltage is called the resting potential.
- K+ and NA+
- out of the cell because of the chemical gradient
- stay in the cell because of the electrical gradient
- light charges repel
- lot of NA+ in it because it has its own electrical chemical gradient
● GRADED POTENTIAL - When a local neuron receives information from other neurons, it
has a graded potential, a membrane potential that varies in magnitude in proportion to
the intensity of the stimulus. The change in membrane potential is conducted to adjacent
areas of the cell, in all directions, gradually decaying as it travels. Those various areas of
the cell contact other neurons, which they excite or inhibit.
- Depends on the intensity of the stimulus
● Summation of Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials (EPSPs) and inhibitory Postsynaptic
Potentials (IPSPs)
● when the summation results in a -55mV threshold in the action hillock, an action
potential occurs
● EPSPs make it more likely that an action potential will occur while IPSPs make it less
likely
● ALL OR NONE LAW - the principle that if a single nerve fiber is stimulated, it will always
give a maximal response and produce an electrical impulse of a single amplitude.
- If the intensity or duration of the stimulus is increased, the height of the impulse
will remain the same
● LOCAL NEURONS - Neurons without an axon exchange information with only their
closest neighbor
- do not follow the all-or-none law
- difficult to study because it is almost impossible to insert an electrode into a tiny
cell without damaging it
● ABSOLUTE REFRACTORY PERIOD - you cannot trigger another action potential
because the sodium channel is briefly inactivated
- the brain needs to be hyperpolarized
● RELATIVE REFRACTORY PERIOD - needs stronger EPSP to reach the threshold
● Saltatory Conduction - action potential occurs in the spaces between the myelin sheath
called the node of Ranvier
● neurons with larger diameters have faster transmission speed
● the action potential reaches the end of the action
● the depolarization triggers the opening of vaulted gate calcium channels on the
presynaptic membrane
● calcium rushes into the terminal button, which causes exocytosis of vesicles full of
neurotransmitter molecules
 ● neurotransmitters are released into the synaptic cleft where the neurotransmitters are
attached to the receptors of the postsynaptic neuron causing EPSPs or IPSPs and
potentially triggering another action potential

CHAPTER 3 SYNAPSES
THE CONCEPT OF THE SYNAPSE
● Ramon Y Cajal - anatomically demonstrated a narrow gap separating one neuron from
another
● Charles Scott Sherrington - physiologically demonstrated that communication between
one neuron and the next differs from communication along a single axon
- he introduced the term synapse
PROPERTIES OF SYNAPSES
● Sherrington studied reflexes, automatic muscular responses to stimuli
● He used a dog in his experiment (pinched the dog's feet)
● Reflex arc - the circuit from sensory neuron to muscle response
● Properties of synapses
(1) Reflexes are slower than conduction along an axon.
(2) Several weak stimuli presented at nearby places or times produce a stronger reflex than one
stimulus alone does.
(3) When one set of muscles becomes excited, a different set becomes relaxed
SPEED OF A REFLEX AND DELAYED TRANSMISSION AT THE SYNAPSE
● Sherrington's experiment results on a dog's foot
- the speed of conduction through the reflex arc varied but was never more than
about 15 meters per second
- Sherrington concluded that some process must be slowing conduction through
the reflex, and he inferred that the delay occurs when one neuron communicates
with another
- delay -an impulse had to travel up an axon from the skin receptor to the spinal
cord, and then an impulse had to travel from the spinal cord back down the leg to
a muscle
TEMPORAL SUMMATION
● Sherrington found that repeated stimuli within a brief time have a cumulative effect -
temporal summation of summation over time
● The neuron that delivers transmission is the presynaptic neuron, and the one that
receives it is the postsynaptic neuron.
● John Eccles - Sherrington's former student, attached microelectrodes to stimulate axons
of presynaptic neurons while he recorded from the postsynaptic neuron
- recorded a slight depolarization of the membrane of the postsynaptic cell
- This partial depolarization is a graded potential - may be either depolarizations
(excitatory) or hyperpolarizations (inhibitory).
- A graded depolarization is known as an excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP).
It results from a flow of sodium ions into the neuron. If an EPSP does not cause
the cell to reach its threshold, the depolarization decays quickly
SPATIAL SUMMATION
● spatial summation of summation over time
● Sherrington pinched two points at once
● Sherrington concluded that pinching two points activated separate sensory neurons,
whose axons converged onto one neuron in the spinal cord
● Excitation from either sensory axon excited that spinal neuron, but not enough to reach
the threshold. A combination of excitations exceeded the threshold and produced an
action potential
● Spatial summation is critical to brain functioning. In most cases, sensory input at a single
synapse produces only a weak effect. However, if a neuron receives many incoming
axons with synchronized input, spatial summation excites the neuron enough to activate
it.
● Temporal summation and spatial summation ordinarily occur together. That is, a neuron
might receive input from several axons in close succession.
INHIBITORY SYNAPSES
● At these synapses, input from an axon hyperpolarizes the postsynaptic cell. That is, it
increases the negative charge within the cell, moving it farther from the threshold and
decreasing the probability of an action potential - inhibitory postsynaptic potential (IPSP)
● An IPSP occurs when synaptic input selectively opens the gates for potassium ions to
leave the cell (carrying a positive charge with them) or for chloride ions to enter the cell
(carrying a negative charge).
RELATIONSHIP AMONG EPSP, IPSP, AND ACTION POTENTIALS
● When neuron 1 excites neuron 3, it also excites neuron 2, which inhibits neuron 3.
● The excitatory message reaches neuron 3 faster because it goes through just one
synapse instead of two. The result is a burst of excitation (EPSP) in neuron 3, which
quickly slows or stops
RELATIONSHIP AMONG EPSP, IPSP, AND ACTION POTENTIALS
● Some synapses produce fast, brief effects, and others produce slow, long-lasting effects.
● In many cases, the effect of two synapses at the same time can be more than double the
effect of either one, or less than double
● Certain combinations of synapses summate with one another more strongly than others
do.
● Also, the strength of a synapse can vary from one time to another. The nervous system
is indeed complex.
● Most neurons have a spontaneous firing rate, a periodic production of action potentials
even without synaptic input.
CHEMICAL EVENTS AT THE SYNAPSE
● Otto Loewi, a German physiologist - used the heart of frogs in his experiment
● collected fluid from around that heart and transferred it to a second frog’s heart, and
found that the second heart also decreased its rate of beating.
● When he collected fluid from that heart and transferred it to the second frog’s heart, its
heart rate increased.
● Loewi concluded nerves send messages by releasing chemicals.
THE SEQUENCE OF CHEMICAL EVENTS AT A SYNAPSE
1. The neuron synthesizes chemicals that serve as neurotransmitters. It synthesizes the
smaller neurotransmitters in the axon terminals and synthesizes neuropeptides in the
cell body
2. Action potentials travel down the axon. At the presynaptic terminal, an action potential
enables calcium to enter the cell. Calcium releases neurotransmitters from the terminals
and into the synaptic cleft, the space between the presynaptic and postsynaptic neurons.
3. The released molecules diffuse across the narrow cleft, attach to receptors, and alter the
activity of the postsynaptic neuron. Mechanisms vary for altering that activity
4. The neurotransmitter molecules separate from their receptors.
5. The neurotransmitter molecules may be taken back into the presynaptic neuron for
recycling or they may diffuse away.
6. Some postsynaptic cells send reverse messages to control the further release of
neurotransmitters by presynaptic cells.
TYPES OF NEUROTRANSMITTERS
● neurotransmitters - chemicals released by neurons that affect another neuron
● nitric oxide (NO) - the oddest transmitter, a gas emitted by many small local neurons
- poisonous in large quantities and difficult to make in the laboratory
- many neurons release nitric oxide when they are stimulated
- it dilates the nearby blood vessels, therefore increasing the blood flow to the
brain area
SYNTHESIS OF TRANSMITTERS
● Acetylcholine - is synthesized from choline, which is abundant in milk, eggs, and
peanuts.
● Amino acids phenylalanine and tyrosine - present in proteins, are precursors of
dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine
- phenylketonuria lacks the enzyme that converts phenylalanine to tyrosine. They
can get tyrosine from their diet, but they need to minimize intake of
phenylalanine, because excessive phenylalanine would accumulate and damage
the brain
● tryptophan -the precursor to serotonin, crosses the blood–brain barrier by a special
transport system that it shares with other large amino acids.
- Your serotonin levels rise after you eat foods richer in tryptophan, such as soy,
and fall after something low in tryptophan, such as maize (American corn).
- However, tryptophan has to compete with other, more abundant large amino
acids, such as phenylalanine, that share the same transport system, so
increasing the intake of tryptophan is not the best way to increase serotonin
- One way to increase tryptophan entry into the brain is to decrease the
consumption of phenylalanine. Another is to eat carbohydrates
- Carbohydrates increase the release of the hormone insulin, which takes several
competing amino acids out of the bloodstream and into body cells, thus
decreasing the competition against tryptophan
● Several drugs act by altering the synthesis of transmitters.
 ● L-dopa, a precursor to dopamine, helps increase the supply of dopamine. It is a helpful
treatment for people with Parkinson’s disease.
● AMPT (alpha-methyl-para-tyrosine) temporarily blocks the production of dopamine. It
has no therapeutic use, but researchers sometimes use it to study the functions of
dopamine.
● Most neurotransmitters are synthesized in the presynaptic terminal, near the point of
release.
● Neurons that release serotonin, dopamine, or norepinephrine contain an enzyme, MAO
(monoamine oxidase), that breaks down these transmitters into inactive chemicals,
thereby preventing the transmitters from accumulating to harmful levels.
● The first antidepressant drugs that psychiatrists discovered were MAO inhibitors. By
blocking MAO, they increase the brain’s supply of serotonin, dopamine, and
norepinephrine.
RELEASE AND DIFFUSION OF TRANSMITTERS
● An action potential itself does not release the neurotransmitter.
● Rather, depolarization opens voltage-dependent calcium gates in the presynaptic
terminal
● Exocytosis - bursts of the release of neurotransmitters from the presynaptic neuron
● After its release from the presynaptic cell, the neurotransmitter diffuses across the
synaptic cleft to the postsynaptic membrane, where it attaches to a receptor
● Neurotransmitters - most, neurons release a combination of two or more transmitters at
a time
- some release one at first and another one slowly later
- In some cases, a neuron releases different transmitters from different branches
of its axon
- Sometimes a neuron changes its transmitter, for example, releasing one
transmitter in summer and a different one in winter
EFFECTS
● Inotropic Effect
Use the ff:
glutamate - most abundant in the nervous system
GABA - inhibitory , opens chloride gates, enabling chloride ions into the cell
glycine - inhibitory, spinal cord
acetylcholine - excitatory
● Metabotropic Effects
Use the ff:
dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin and sometimes glutamate and GABA too

IONOTROPIC AND METABOTROPIC SYNAPSES

● contribute to different aspects of behavior
● Ionotropic synapses - the brain needs rapid, up-to-date information
- exact timing is important
● metabotropic synapse - are better suited for more enduring effects such as taste, smell,
and pain
 - important for many aspects of arousal, attention, pleasure, and emotion—again,
functions that arise more slowly and last longer than a visual or auditory stimulus
- exact timing is not important

NEUROPEPTIDES
● e important for hunger, thirst, and other long-term changes in behavior and experience
● Neuropeptides
● neuron synthesizes neuropeptides in the cell body and then slowly transports them to
other parts of the cell
● neuropeptides are released mainly by dendrites, and also by the cell body and by the
sides of the axon
● neuropeptide release requires repeated stimulation
● neuropeptides diffuse widely, slowly affecting many neurons in their region of the brain
Neurons/ neurotransmitters
● synthesizes most other neurotransmitters in the presynaptic terminal
● A single action potential can release a neurotransmitter

DRUGS THAT ACT BY BINDING TO RECEPTORS

HALLUCINOGENIC DRUGS
● drugs that distort perception, such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)—chemically
resemble serotonin
● They attach to serotonin type 2A (5-HT2A) receptors and provide stimulation at
inappropriate times or for longer-than-usual durations.
● LSD increases the connections among brain areas that ordinarily do not communicate
much with one another.
NICOTINE
● a compound present in tobacco stimulates a family of acetylcholine receptors,
conveniently known as nicotinic receptors
● Because nicotinic receptors are abundant in neurons that release dopamine, nicotine
increases dopamine release
● Because dopamine release is associated with reward, nicotine stimulation is rewarding
also.
OPIATE DRUGS
● morphine, heroin, and methadone
● derived from, or chemically similar to those derived from the opium poppy
● opiates attach to specific receptors in the brain
● opiates relieve pain by acting on receptors in the brain as well as in the skin
● Endorphins - natural pain killer

INACTIVATION AND REUPTAKE OF NEUROTRANSMITTERS

● Inactivation - Various neurotransmitters are inactivated in different ways. The
neuropeptides, however, are not inactivated. They simply diffuse away.
REUPTAKE
● Serotonin and the catecholamines (dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine) do not
break down into inactive fragments at the postsynaptic membrane
● The presynaptic neuron takes up much or most of the released neurotransmitter
molecules intact and reuses them through special membrane proteins called
transporters
● Autoreceptors—receptors that respond to the released transmitter by inhibiting further
synthesis and release. That is, they provide negative feedback
SYNAPTIC TRANSMISSION
● Transmitter substances are synthesized, stored, released, and terminated
● susceptible to drug manipulation
● Agonist drug - a drug that binds to and activates receptor
- Agonist binds the receptor which produces a similar response to the receptor. It
mimics a neurotransmitter at the receptor site and thus strengthens its effect
● Antagonist drug - a drug that binds to but does not activate receptor
- It interferes with the normal action of a neurotransmitter without binding its
receptor site. This drug binds to receptors and blocks them from firing.

CHAPTER 4 ANATOMY AND RESEARCH

STRUCTURE OF THE VERTEBRATE
NERVOUS SYSTEM
● Central Nervous System - brain and spinal cord
● Peripheral Nervous System - connects the brain and the spinal cord
○ Somatic Nervous System - consists of the axons conveying messages from the
sense organs to the CNS and from the CNS to the muscles
○ Autonomic Nervous System - controls the heart, intestines, and other organs.
The autonomic nervous system has some of its cell bodies within the brain or
spinal cord and some in clusters along the sides of the spinal cord
SPINAL CORD
● part of the CNS within the spinal column
● communicates with all the sense organs and muscles except those of the head
● segmented structure, and each segment has on both the left and right sides a sensory
nerve and a motor nerve
● Dorsal root ganglia - clusters of neurons outside the spinal cord
● Ganglion - a neuron cluster outside the CNS
● Nucleus - a cluster inside the CNS
Gray matter - H-shaped in the center
- densely packed with cell bodies and dendrites
White matter - containing myelinated axons
- Many neurons from the gray matter of the spinal cord send axons to the brain or to other
parts of the spinal cord through this
● Each segment of the spinal cord sends sensory information to the brain and receives
motor commands from the brain.
 ● All that information passes through tracts of axons in the spinal cord. If the spinal cord is
cut at a given segment, the brain loses sensation from that segment and below.
● The brain also loses motor control over all parts of the body served by that segment and
the lower ones.

AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM

● consists of neurons that receive information from and send commands to the heart,
intestines, and other organs
● Sympathetic Nervous System
○ network of nerves that prepare the organs for a burst of vigorous activity, consists
of chains of ganglia just to the left and right of the spinal cord’s central regions
(the thoracic and lumbar areas)
○ fight or flight response - increasing breathing and heart rate and decreasing
digestive activity
○ Axon - release norepinephrine
● Parasympathetic Nervous System
○ “rest and digest” system, facilitates vegetative, non emergency responses
○ increases digestive activity, promotes sexual arousal, including erection in males
○ known as the craniosacral system because it consists of the cranial nerves and
nerves from the sacral spinal cord
○ Axon - release the neurotransmitter acetylcholine onto the organs
● Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous System
○ Cold remedies - blocking parasympathetic activity or increasing sympathetic
activity
○ flow of the sinus fluid is parasympathetic - drugs inhibit its flow
○ side effects - increased heart rate, blood pressure, and arousal and inhibit
salivation and digestion
PARTS OF THE HUMAN BRAIN
● 3 main divisions:
○ hindbrain (rhombencephalon)
- medulla oblongata - adjacent to 12 cranial nerves which is responsible for
breathing, heart rate, vomiting, salivation, coughing, and sneezing; opiate
receptors - suppress activity and abundant in the medulla, opiates can
produce a dangerous decrease in breathing and heart rate
- pons - contains nuclei for several cranial nerves "bridge”; axons from
each half of the brain cross to the opposite side of the spinal cord so that
the left hemisphere controls the muscles of the right side of the body and
the right hemisphere controls the left side
- Cerebellum - with many deep folds; control of movement, balance, and
coordination; shift attention back and forth between auditory and visual
stimuli; timing, learning, and conditioning
○ midbrain (mesencephalon)
 - Tectum - roof of the midbrain; superior colliculus and inferior colliculus -
the swelling on each side of the rectum; superior colliculus - vision;
inferior colliculus - hearing
- Tegmentum - under tectum; covers several other midbrain structures
- Substantia Negra - gives rise to a dopamine-containing pathway that
facilitates readiness for movement
○ forebrain (prosencephalon)
- The most prominent part of the mammalian brain consists of two cerebral
hemispheres, one on the left and one on the right
- cerebral cortex - thalamus and basal ganglia
- limbic system - olfactory bulb, hypothalamus, hippocampus, amygdala,
and cingulate gyrus of the cerebral cortex
- Hypothalamus - control of eating, drinking, temperature control, and
reproductive behavior; motivation and emotion
- Amygdala - evaluating emotional information - fear
- Thalamus - anteroom, "inner chamber" or bridal bed; Most sensory
information goes first to the thalamus, which processes it and sends
output to the cerebral cortex; The cerebral cortex sends information back
to the thalamus, prolonging and magnifying certain kinds of input and
focusing attention on particular stimuli
- Pituitary Gland - In response to messages from the hypothalamus, the
pituitary synthesizes hormones that the blood carries to organs
throughout the body.
- Basal Ganglia - 3 major structures: the caudate nucleus, the putamen,
and the globus pallidus; Damage - Parkinson's Disease and Huntington's
Disease; motivational and emotional behavior and memory
- Basal Forebrain - nucleus basalis - receives input from the hypothalamus
and basal ganglia and sends axons that release acetylcholine to
widespread areas in the cerebral cortex; arousal, wakefulness, and
attention; Parkinson's and Huntington's Disease - deterioration of their
nucleus basalis
- Hippocampus - "sea horse"; critical for certain types of memories,
especially memories of individual events.; It is also essential for
monitoring where you are and where you are going
● FRONTAL LOBE
○ Problem solving
○ Emotional Traits
○ Reasoning (Judgment)
○ Speaking
○ Voluntary motor activity
- containing the primary motor cortex and the prefrontal cortex
- precentral gyrus - or primary motor cortex, control of fine movements - finger
- prefrontal cortex - thoughts, actions, and emotions
● PARIETAL LOBE
○ Knowing right from left
○ Sensation
○ Reading
○ Body Orientation
- lies between the occipital lobe and the central sulcus, a deep groove in the surface of
the cortex
- postcentral gyrus - or primary somatosensory cortex, receives sensations from touch
receptors, muscle-stretch receptors, and joint receptors
- touch and body location
● TEMPORAL LOBE
○ Understanding language
○ Behavior
○ Memory
○ Hearing
- lateral portion of each hemisphere, near the temples
- left part - understanding spoken language
- vision, perception of movement, and face recognition
- tumor - auditory or visual hallucinations
- important for emotional and motivational behaviors
- Klüver-Bucy syndrome - a rare behavioral impairment that causes people to put objects
in their mouths and engage in inappropriate sexual behavior
● BRAIN STEM
○ Breathing
○ Body Temperature
○ Digestion
○ Alertness/sleep
○ Swallowing
● OCCIPITAL LOBE
○ Vision
○ Color Perception
- posterior end of the cerebral cortex
- visual information
- primary visual cortex, or striate cortex - posterior pole because of its striped appearance
in cross-section
- tumor - flashes of light
- cortical blindness - destruction of any part of the striate cortex,
- normal eyes and pupillary reflexes but no conscious visual perception and no visual
imagery
● CEREBELLUM
○ Balance
○ Coordination and control of voluntary movement
○ Fine muscle control
VENTRICLES
● Although the brain has no pain receptors, the meninges do, and
meningitis—inflammation of the meninges—is painful. Swollen blood vessels in the
meninges are responsible for the pain of a migraine headache
● CSF - more goes into the narrow spaces between the brain and the thin meninges
membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord
● four fluid-filled cavities within the brain
● produce and store cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)
● CSF - buoyancy, cushions the brain against mechanical shock when the head moves
● provides a reservoir of hormones and nutrition for the brain and spinal cord
● Hydrocephalus - CSF is obstructed, increase pressure on the brain, skull bones spread
which cause an overgrown of head

THE CEREBRAL CORTEX

● cerebral cortex - the most prominent part of the mammalian brain
● gray matter - cells on the outer surface
● white matter- axons extending inward
● Neurons in each hemisphere communicate with neurons in the corresponding part of the
other hemisphere through two bundles of axons, the corpus callosum, and the smaller
anterior commissure

BRAIN SIZE
PRIMATES
● have a larger cerebral cortex, more folding, and more neurons per unit of volume
LARGER ANIMALS’
● have larger brain size but also larger neurons and fewer neurons per unit of volume
HUMANS
● have almost three times as many neurons in the cerebral cortex as elephants have,
although the elephant brain is more than twice as large

❖ cerebellum occupies a nearly constant percentage—about 10 to 14 percent of the brain

in most species
❖ Most species have about four (mostly tiny) neurons in the cerebellum for everyone in the
cerebral cortex

ORGANIZATION OF THE CEREBRAL CORTEX

In humans and most other mammals, the cerebral cortex contains up to six distinct laminae,
layers of cell bodies that are parallel to the surface of the cortex and separated from each other
by layers of fibers

LAMINAE - vary in thickness and prominence from one part of the cortex to another, and a
given lamina may be absent from certain areas
LAMINAE V - which sends long axons to the spinal cord and other distant areas, is thickest in
the motor cortex, which has the greatest control of the muscles

LAMINAE VI - which receives axons from the sensory nuclei of the thalamus, is prominent in the
sensory areas of the cortex (visual, auditory, and somatosensory) but absent from the motor
cortex

COLUMNS
● The cells of the cortex are also organized into columns of cells perpendicular to the
laminae.
● The cells within a given column have similar properties to one another.
● For example, if one cell in a column responds to touch on the palm of the left hand, then
the other cells in that column do, too

PREFRONTAL LOBOTOMY
● the late 1940s and early 1950s in US by Walter Freeman, a medical doctor untrained in
surgery
● severe schizophrenia, less serious disorders
● mid-1950s -lobotomies quickly dropped when drug therapies became available
● Consequences
○ loss of the ability to plan and take initiative, memory disorders, distractibility, and
a loss of emotional expressions
○ lost their social inhibitions, ignoring the rules of polite, civilized conduct
○ often acted impulsively because they failed to calculate adequately the probable
outcomes of their behaviors
● posterior portion - associated mostly with movement
● middle zone - working memory, cognitive control, and emotional reactions
○ damage to the prefrontal cortex - trouble on the delayed-response task, in which
they see or hear something, and then have to respond to it after a delay
● anterior zone - for making decisions, evaluating which of several courses of action is
likely to achieve the best outcome
○ prefrontal cortical damage often make decisions that seem impulsive, because
they failed to weigh all the likely pros and cons

HOW DO THE PARTS WORK TOGETHER?

Binding Problem
● or large-scale integration problem
● Various brain areas produce a perception of a single object is known as a binding
problem,
● It is the question of how we connect activities in different brain areas, such as sights and
sounds. Binding requires perceiving that two aspects of a stimulus (such as sight and
sound) occurred at the same place at the same time
RESEARCH METHOD
EFFECTS OF BRAIN DAMAGE
ABLATION
● removal of a brain area, generally with a surgical knife
LESION
● damage, by means of a stereotaxic instrument, a device for the precise placement of
electrodes in the brain
● By consulting a stereotaxic atlas (map) of a species’ brain, a researcher aims an
electrode at the desired position relative to landmarks on the skull
● gene-knockout approach - done by introducing an artificial piece of DNA that shares
identical, or homologous, sequence to the gene
TRANSCRANIAL MAGNETIC STIMULATION
● application of magnetic stimulation to a portion of the scalp, can stimulate neurons in the
area below the magnet if the stimulation is sufficiently brief and mild

EFFECTS OF BRAIN STIMULATION

● old-fashioned way - to insert an electrode into an animal’s brain and deliver brief, mild
currents to stimulate one area or another
○ The electrical current stimulates all of them, as well as passing axons.
● Optogenetics - uses light to control a limited population of neurons
○ required three steps, each of which would be useless without the others
○ 2009 - ready for wide
● Steps
1. discover or invent a protein that responds to light by producing an electrical current
2. develop viruses that insert one of these proteins into a certain type of neuron, or even to just
one part of the neuron, such as the axon or the dendrites
3, develop very thin optical fibers that can shine just the right amount of light onto neurons in a
narrowly targeted brain area

RECORDING BRAIN ACTIVITY

● Electroencephalograph (EEG) - records the electrical activity of the brain through
electrodes— ranging from just a few to more than a hundred—attached to the scalp
- wakefulness and various stages of sleep
- diagnosis of epilepsy
● Magnetoencephalography (MEG) - measures the faint magnetic fields generated by
brain activity
- Researchers using an MEG can identify the times at which various brain areas
respond and thereby trace a wave of brain activity from its point of origin to the
other areas that process it
● Positron-emission tomography (PET) - provides a high-resolution image of activity in a
living brain by recording the emission of radioactivity from injected chemicals
● Steps
1. receives an injection of glucose or some other chemical containing radioactive atoms
2. When a radioactive atom decays, it releases a positron that immediately collides with a
nearby electron, emitting two gamma rays in opposite directions
3. When two detectors record gamma rays at the same time, they identify a spot halfway
between those detectors as the point of origin of the gamma rays
- The areas with the most radioactivity are presumably the ones with the most
active neurons
● Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) - less expensive and less risky
- modified version of MRI based on hemoglobin (the blood protein that binds
oxygen) instead of water
- Hemoglobin with oxygen reacts to a magnetic field differently from hemoglobin
without oxygen
● computerized axial tomography, better known as a CT or CAT scan
- A physician injects a dye into the blood to increase contrast in the image, and
then places the person’s head into a CT scanner
● magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) - applies a powerful magnetic field (about 25,000
times the magnetic field of the Earth) to align all the axes of rotation, and then tilts them
with a brief radio frequency field.
- When the radio frequency field is turned off, the atomic nuclei release
electromagnetic energy as they relax and return to their original axis. By
measuring that energy, MRI devices form an image of the brain

Chapter 5 GENETICS, EVOLUTION, DEVELOPMENT, AND PLASTICITY

Genetics and Evolution of Behavior

● Gregor Mendel - late 19th-century monk and scientist
● Genes - comes in pairs and aligned along chromosomes
● Chromosomes - strands of genes that also come in pairs
● Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) - double-stranded molecule which composed the
chromosome
● Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) - molecules, a single-strand chemical
● DNA serves as a template (model) for the synthesis of RNA
● Messenger RNA - serves as a template for the synthesis of protein molecules
● 4 Bases of DNA - adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine
● The order of those bases determines the order of corresponding bases along an RNA
molecule—adenine, guanine, cytosine, and uracil.
● The order of bases along an RNA molecule in turn determines the order of amino acids
that compose a protein.
Example:
If 3 RNA bases are in the order cytosine, adenine, and guanine, then the protein adds
the amino acid glutamine. If the next 3 RNA bases are uracil, guanine, and guanine, the next
amino acid on the protein is tryptophan.
● Protein - form part of the structure of the body; other serves as enzymes -biological
catalysts that regulate chemical reactions in the body
 ● Not all RNA molecules code for proteins. Many RNA molecules perform regulatory
functions.
● Genes - units of heredity
● Homozygous - same genes on your two copies of some chromosome
● Heterozygous - unmatched pair of genes for the gene
● gene for blue eyes on one chromosome and a gene for brown eyes on the other
● Dominant genes - shows a strong effect in either the homozygous or heterozygous
condition
● Recessive gene - shows its effects only in the homozygous condition.
● Sex-limited genes - present in both sexes but active mainly in one sex (chest hair in
men, breast size in women)
● Autosomal Genes - autosomal chromosomes

Genetic Changes
● Mutation - change in a DNA molecule
● Duplication or deletion - During the process of reproduction, part of a chromosome that
ordinarily appears once might instead appear twice or not at all.
● Microduplications and microdeletions of brain-relevant genes are responsible for several
psychological or neurological disorders, probably including some cases of schizophrenia.
● Epigenetics - changes in gene expression
- The genes that are most active in your brain are not the same as those active in
your lungs or kidneys, and those most active in one part of your brain are not the
most active in another part.
- Many genes that are essential to a developing fetus become less active after
birth, and others that did little for the fetus become important after birth
Example:
If a mother rat is malnourished during pregnancy, her offspring alter the expression of
certain genes to conserve energy and adjust to a world in which food will presumably be hard to
find = obesity and heart disease
- Epigenetics can be inherited, at least for a generation or two.
- Epigenetic changes are necessary for typical development and health, but they
can also cause disease.
- drug addiction (brain) and nourishment
- cancer, cardiovascular, respiratory, and neurodegenerative diseases
- The result of an experience—maternal deprivation, cocaine exposure, new
learning, or whatever—in some way alters the chemical environment within a cell.
● Histones - proteins bind DNA into a shape that is more like string wound around a ball
1. acetyl groups (COCH3 ) = histone loses grip on the DNA and facilitates the
expression of that gene. Removal of acetyl group = histones tighten their grip on the
DNA and turn the gene off.
2. Adding methyl groups (CH3) to a promoter turns off a gene, and removing them turns
on a gene
● Severe trauma - decreased methylation of many brain genes, and increases the risk of
depression and PTSD
Heredity and Environment (Mother’s Health and Brain Development of the Child)
Twin Studies and Adoption Studies
● significant heritability of almost every behavior they have tested, including loneliness,
neuroticism, television watching, childhood misbehavior, social attitudes, cognitive
performance, educational attainment, and speed of learning a second language.
Specific Population
● Alcohol abuse - moderate heritability in the US
Approaches to Study Genes and Behavior
1. Candidate gene approach -“a gene that increases the activity of the serotonin transporter
may be linked to an increased risk of depression.”
- identified one gene with a significant influence on the risk of alcohol abuse, and a few
other genes with moderate effects, but many studies have yielded small or uncertain
effects
2. Genome-wide association study - examines all the genes while comparing two groups, such
as people with and without schizophrenia.
● x - tests thousands of hypotheses at once (one for each gene) and therefore has a risk
of seeing an apparent effect by accident
● x - can have misleading results when applied to an ethnically diverse sample.
● researchers cannot locate a gene with a strong link to a behavior
- huge number of genes
- microduplications or microdeletions
- mutations
- epigenetic effects

Environmental Modification
PHENYLKETONURIA (PKU)
● a genetic inability to metabolize the amino acid phenylalanine
● if not treated - phenylalanine accumulates to toxic levels, impairing brain development
and leaving a child mentally retarded, restless, and irritable
● can be inherited but environmental interventions can modify it
● avoid meats, eggs, dairy products, grains, and especially aspartame (Nutrasweet)
● Pregnant woman may pass this through the placenta

Genes and Behavior

● A gene could influence your behavior even without being expressed in your brain.
● If your appearance influences your personality, then the genes alter your behavior by
altering your environment.

Process of Evolution
1. Because of genetic influences- offspring generally resemble their parents. That is, “like
begets like.
2. Mutations, recombinations, and microduplications of genes introduce new heritable
variations that help or harm an individual’s chance of surviving and reproducing.
 3. Certain individuals reproduce more than others do, thus passing on their genes to the
next generation
● Artificial selection - choosing individuals with a desired trait and making them the parents
of the next generation
- exceptional racehorses, chickens that lay huge numbers of eggs, and hundreds
of kinds of dogs.

Common Misunderstanding about Evolution

LAMARCKIAN EVOLUTION
● Jean-Baptiste Lamarck’s theory
● if you exercise your arm muscles, your children will be born with bigger arm muscles
SLOWED OR STOPPED
● Human evolution has slowed or stopped
● Humans are no longer subject to the principle of “survival of the fittest.”
EVOLUTION = IMPROVEMENT
● genes that increase fitness at one time and place might be disadvantageous after a
change in the environment
INDIVIDUAL OR SPECIES
● Evolution benefits the genes
● Your genes use you to reproduce themselves

EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY
● how our genes reflect those of our ancestors and why natural selection might have
favored the genes that promote certain behaviors
ANIMALS
● Some animal species have better color vision than others, and some have better
peripheral vision
● Animals that are in danger of being attacked while they sleep get by with little sleep per
night, as compared to seldom-attacked species like lions, bats, and armadillos, which
sleep many hours
● Bears eat all the food they can find, storing fat to help them survive when food is scarce.
Small birds eat only enough to satisfy their immediate needs because any extra weight
would interfere with their ability to fly away from predators. Eating habits relate to the
needs of each species
HUMANS
● people get “goose bumps”—erections of the hairs, especially on their arms and
shoulders—when they are cold or frightened
● animals - larger and more intimidating
INFANT GRASP REFLEX
● human - a finger, pencil, or similar object placed in the palm of the hand (little or no
accomplishment)
● monkey - critical, would jeopardize its life
Controversial proposed evolutionary explanations
● More men than women enjoy the prospect of casual sex with multiple partners.
 ● a man can spread his genes by impregnating many women, whereas a woman cannot
multiply her children by having more sexual partners
● People grow old and die, with an average survival time of 70 to 80 years under favorable
circumstances but they vary (telomere)

ALTRUISTIC BEHAVIOR
● an action that benefits someone other than the actor.
● A gene that encourages altruistic behavior would help other individuals survive and
spread their genes, at a possible cost to the altruistic individual.
● hunt together
● share foods

KIN SELECTION
● selection for a gene that benefits the individual’s relatives
● risking your life to protect your children, because they share many of your genes
● helpful behavior is more common toward relatives than toward unrelated individuals

RECIPROCAL ALTRUISM
● individuals help those who will return the favor
● people are prone to help not only those who helped them but also people whom they
observed helping someone else
● requires an ability to identify individuals and remember them later

GROUP SELECTION
● altruistic groups thrive better than less cooperative ones
● Group selection works especially well for humans, because of our ability to punish or
expel uncooperative people

DEVELOPMENT OF THE BRAIN

Maturation of Vertebrate Brain
● earliest stages of development -similar across species
● homeobox genes - a series of genes, (vertebrates, insects, plants, fungi, and yeast)
● regulate the expression of other genes and control the start of anatomical development,
including such matters as which end is the front and which is the rear
● All these genes share a large sequence of DNA bases
● mutation in one homeobox genes
● insects - form legs where their antennas should be
● human - many brain disorders including mental retardation, as well as physical
deformities
● Human Central NS - embryo - about 2 weeks
● The dorsal surface thickens and then long thin lips rise, curl, and merge, forming a
neural tube that surrounds a fluid-filled cavity
 ● As the tube sinks under the surface of the skin, the forward end enlarges and
differentiates into the hindbrain, midbrain, and forebrain
● The rest becomes the spinal cord.
● The fluid-filled cavity within the neural tube becomes the central canal of the spinal cord
and the four ventricles of the brain, containing the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)
● 7 1/2 weeks - 1st muscle movement, stretch the muscles
● spontaneous activity in the spinal cord drives all the muscle movements, as the sensory
organs are not yet functional
● Human brain
- about 350 grams - average human brain at birth
- 1,000 g - by the end of the 1st year
- 1,200 to 1,400 g - adult weight
● early infancy -primary sensory areas of the cortex—responsible for registering vision,
hearing, and other senses—are more mature than the rest of the cortex.
- gyri and sulci are mostly formed, and their connections with the thalamus are
fairly well established, and continue to develop
- The greatest changes over the first couple of years happen in the prefrontal
cortex and other cortical areas responsible for attention, working memory, and
decision-making
● Teenage years and beyond- human prefrontal cortex continues slowly maturing in this
stage
● Prefrontal cortex - the slowest to develop is the one most likely to deteriorate in
conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF NEURONS

PROLIFERATION
● production of new cells
● Early development - cells lining the ventricles of the brain divide
STEM CELLS
● constant location of the cell which continues dividing, where others migrate to other parts
of the nervous system
CELL MIGRATION
● occurs before birth, but a small number continue to migrate for the first few months after
birth
● primitive cells - early development
● Chemicals known as immunoglobulins and chemokines guide neuron migration
CELL FORMATION
● Nearly all neurons form within the first 28 weeks of gestation, and premature birth before
that time inhibits neuron formation
SYNAPTOGENESIS
● for formation of synapses, begins long before birth, but it continues throughout life, as
neurons form new synapses and discard old ones.
● older people - a slow process of synaptogenesis and dendritic branches
MYELINATION
 ● later and slower stage of neuronal development
● process by which glia produce the insulating fatty sheaths that accelerate transmission in
many vertebrate axons.
● Myelin forms first in the spinal cord and then in the hindbrain, midbrain, and forebrain
● continues gradually for decades and increases as a result of learning a new motor skill

NEW NEURONS IN LATER LIFE

OLFACTORY RECEPTORS
● exposed to the outside world and its toxic chemicals
● stem cells - remain immature throughout life
- divide, with one cell remaining immature while the other differentiates to replace
a dying olfactory receptor
● olfactory receptors send axons to the olfactory bulb = formation of new neurons
● Humans - new neurons do not form in this area for humans, at least after the first year or
so of life
● Songbirds -one brain area that is necessary for singing loses neurons in fall and winter
and regains them the next spring (mating season)
HIPPOCAMPUS
● an important area for memory formation
● A supply of new neurons keeps the hippocampus “young” for learning new task
● radioactive isotope of carbon, 14C - replace almost 2 percent of neurons in that area per
year
● make new small interneurons throughout life
BASAL GANGLIA
● striatum, including the caudate nucleus, putamen, and nucleus accumbens
● make new small interneurons throughout life

PATHFINDING BY THE AXONS

CHEMICAL PATHFINDING
● Paul Weiss - grafted an extra leg to a salamander and then waited for axons to grow into
it
- After the axons reached the muscles, the extra leg moved in synchrony with the
normal leg next to it
- nerves attached to muscles at random and then sent a variety of messages, each
one tuned to a different muscle - just like radio stations
SPECIFICITY OF AXONS CONNECTIONS
● Roger Sperry - a former student of Weiss
● 1st set of newts - cut the optic nerves
- The damaged optic nerve grew back and connected with the tectum, which is the
amphibians’ main visual area
● 2nd batch -cut the optic nerve and rotate the eye by 180 degrees
- axons from what had originally been the dorsal portion of the retina grew back to
the area responsible for vision in the dorsal retina.
- Axons from other parts of the retina also grew back to their original targets
 - newt now saw the world upside down and backward
● Results: showed how sensory axons find their way to their correct targets
CHEMICAL GRADIENTS
● How does an axon find its target?
● genes - fewer than 20,0000
● growing axon - follows a path of cell surface molecules, attracted by certain chemicals
and repelled by others, in a process that steers the axon in the correct direction
- sort themselves over the surface of their target area by following a gradient of
chemicals
● Axons from the Retina
- grow toward the tectum, the retinal axons with the greatest concentration of this
chemical connect to the tectal cells with the highest concentration
- lowest concentration (connect to the tectal cells with the lowest concentration)
- A similar gradient of another protein aligns the axons along the anterior-posterior axis
● like men lining up from tallest to shortest, pairing up with women who lined up from
tallest to shortest
COMPETITION AMONG AXONS AS A GENERAL PRINCIPLE
● each axon forms synapses onto many cells in approximately the correct location, and
each target cell receives synapses from many axons
● Over time, each postsynaptic cell strengthens the most appropriate synapses and
eliminates others
- depends on the pattern of input from incoming axons
NEURAL DARWINISM
- in the development of the nervous system, we start with more neurons and synapses
than we can keep, and then a selection process keeps some of the synapses and rejects
others.
- most successful combinations survive, and the others fail.
● Mutations in the genes are random events, but neurotrophins steer new axonal branches
and synapses in approximately the right direction
DETERMINANTS OF NEURONAL SURVIVAL
● Getting the right number of neurons for each area of the nervous system is more
complicated than it might seem
● Levi-Montalcini - Italian Jewish woman during the Nazi era
● Sympathetic NS
- forms far more neurons than it needs
- When one of its neurons forms a synapse onto a muscle, that muscle delivers a
protein called nerve growth factor (NGF) that promotes the survival and growth of
the axon
- An axon that does not receive NGF degenerates, and its cell body dies.
- Apoptosis - suicide program/ cell death
- NGF cancels the program for apoptosis; it is the postsynaptic cell’s way of telling
the incoming axon, “I’ll be your partner. Don’t kill yourself.
- overproducing neurons and then applying apoptosis enables the CNS to match
the number of axons to the number of receiving cells
 - Each brain area has a period of massive cell death, becoming littered with dead
and dying cells
- natural part of the development
- often indicate maturation
● NEUROTROPHIN
- a chemical that promotes the survival and activity of the neuron
- essential for the growth of axons and dendrites, the formation of new synapses,
learning, and motor neurons
- do not control the survival of neurons within the brain
THE VULNERABLE DEVELOPING BRAIN
● Gastrulation - one of the early stages of embryological development
- the most important time of your life
● Brain - highly vulnerable to malnutrition, toxic chemicals, and infections that would
produce milder problems at later ages
● Fever - is a mere annoyance to an adult, but it impairs neuron proliferation in a fetus
● Fetal alcohol syndrome - condition marked by hyperactivity, impulsiveness, difficulty
maintaining attention, varying degrees of mental retardation, motor problems, heart
defects, and facial abnormalities
- thinning of the cerebral cortex that persists to adulthood
● Damages of alcohol to the brain
● earliest stage of pregnancy interferes with neuron proliferation
● little later - impairs neuron migration and differentiation
● Alcohol inhibits receptors for glutamate, the brain’s main excitatory transmitter, and
enhances receptors for GABA, the main inhibitory transmitter
● apoptosis
● many neurons compensated by quickly building more glutamate receptors
● when alcohol leaves, glutamate overexcited its receptors, bringing excess sodium and
calcium into the cell and poisoning the mitochondria
● increased cell death in several brain areas
DIFFERENTIATION OF THE CORTEX
● Immature neurons experimentally transplanted from one part of the developing cortex to
another develop the properties characteristic of their new location
● However, neurons transplanted at a slightly later stage develop some new properties
while retaining some old ones
● the sensory input instructs the cortex about how to develop

FINE TUNING BY EXPERIENCE

● DENDRITES
- central structure- becomes stable by adolescence
- peripheral branches - flexible throughout life
● RATS
- in the more stimulating environment developed a thicker cortex, more dendritic
branching, and improved learning
● HUMANS
 - normal environment do better intellectually than children in orphanages where
the staff provides little more than minimum care
- training children to do something difficult will enhance their intellect in general -
far transfer

EFFECTS OF SPECIAL EXPERIENCES

BRAIN ADAPTATIONS IN PEOPLE BLIND SINCE INFANCY
● BLIND PEOPLE
- improve their attention to touch and sound, based on practice
- greater than average touch sensitivity in their fingers, especially blind people who
read Braille and therefore practice their finger sensitivity extensively
- use the occipital cortex to help identify what they feel
● BLIND SINCE BIRTH
- The occipital cortex also responds to auditory information especially language
● DEAF PEOPLE FROM EARLY AGE
- become more responsive to touch and vision
- touch and vision come to activate what would be the auditory cortex in deaf
people

MUSIC TRAINING
● MRI
- gray matter of several cortical areas was thicker in professional musicians than in
amateurs and thicker in amateurs than in nonmusicians
- The area devoted to the left fingers was largest in those who began their music
practice early and therefore also continued for more years
- These results suggest that practicing a skill reorganizes the brain to maximize the
performance of that skill
- Whether music training produces bigger effects if it begins early in life, while the
brain is more easily modified
- Those who started younger showed greater changes in sensory discrimination
and brain anatomy

BRAIN DEVELOPMENT AND BEHAVIORAL DEVELOPMENT

● ADOLESCENCE
- impulsive
- risky driving, drinking, sex, spending sprees
- prone to seek immediate pleasure
- seek excitement, especially when they are trying to impress their peer
- immature prefrontal cortex which is responsible for inhibiting behavior
● ADULTS
- not impulsive
- financially secure
- able to wait for a higher reward
- maturity and connections of prefrontal cortex
 ● OLD AGE
- memory and reasoning- begin to fade
- neurons - many of them lose some of their synapses, and the remaining
synapses change more slowly than before in response to experiences
- temporal cortex - its thickness shrinks by about half a percent per year, on
average
- frontal cortex - begins thinning at age 30
- hippocampus - its volume gradually declines
- Old people are apt to decline rapidly after an injury or illness because of brain
inflammation
- physically fit retain their cognitive abilities

PLASTICITY AFTER DAMAGE

BRAIN DAMAGE AND SHORT TERM RECOVERY
● Possible Causes: tumors, infections, exposure to radiation or toxic substances, and
degenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease
● CLOSE HEAD INJURY
- young people, the most common
- bicycle or automobile accident, or a sports injury
- rotational forces that drive brain tissue against the inside of the skull
- blood clots that interrupt blood flow
● STROKE
- “cerebrovascular accident”
- temporary interruption of normal blood flow to a brain area
- Types: ischemia - results of a blood clot or other obstruction in an artery
- neurons deprived of blood lose much of their oxygen and glucose supplies
- Types: hemorrhage - a result of a ruptured artery
- flooded with blood and excess oxygen, calcium, and other chemicals
ISCHEMIA AND HEMORRHAGE
● edema - (the accumulation of fluid), which increases pressure on the brain and the
probability of additional strokes
● both ischemia and hemorrhage impair the sodium-potassium pump = accumulation of
sodium inside neurons
● Edema + excess sodium = provokes the excess release of the transmitter glutamate
which over stimulates neurons, damaging both neurons and synapses
IMMEDIATE TREATMENTS
1. tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) - patient should receive tPA quickly, at least within 4.5
hours after a stroke
- tPA is useful for ischemia but could only make matters worse in a hemorrhage
- An MRI scan distinguishes between the two kinds of stroke, but MRIs take time, and
time is limited.
- The usual decision is to give the tPA because hemorrhage is less common
2. Decrease stimulation by blocking glutamate synapses or blocking calcium entry
3. Other approaches applicable only to lab animals
 - cooling the brain, antioxidants, antibiotics, albumin, and treatments affecting the immune
system
4. Exposure to cannabinoids - decrease the release of glutamate
- anti-inflammatory effects and alter brain chemistry in several ways that might protect
against damage
- helpful only if administered within the first hours after a stroke.
LATER MECHANISMS OF RECOVERY
INCREASED BRAIN STIMULATION
● Diaschisis - decreased activity of surviving neurons after damage to other neurons
- increased stimulation
- inject amphetamine - useful to animals
- administer drugs that increase dopamine release
REGROWTH OF AXONS
● Scar tissue - a collection of cells and collagen that covers the site of the injury
- a cut in the nervous system causes astrocytes to form scar tissue
● The astrocytes release chemicals that keep nearby neurons alive, and procedures that
remove the scar lead to tissue degeneration
● A damaged axon does not automatically start growing back. Several chemicals can
stimulate regrowth, and research with laboratory rats has shown that such chemicals
sometimes enable axons to return to their normal targets
AXON SPROUTING
● After a cell loses input from an axon, it secretes neurotrophins that induce other axons to
form new branches, or collateral sprouts, that take over the vacant synapses
● In the area near the damage, new synapses form at a high rate, especially for the first
two weeks
DENERVATION SUPERSENSITIVITY
● f a certain set of synapses becomes inactive—perhaps because of damage elsewhere in
the brain—the remaining synapses become more responsive, more easily stimulated
● denervation supersensitivity or receptor supersensitivity, has been demonstrated mostly
with dopamine synapses
“when either collateral sprouting or denervation supersensitivity occurs, it can strengthen not
only the desirable connections but also undesirable ones, such as those responsible for pain -
chronic pain”

RECOGNIZED SENSORY REPRESENTATIONS AND THE PHANTOM LIMB

● If a brain area loses some of its incoming axons, we can expect denervation
supersensitivity, collateral sprouting, or both.
● increased response to a synapse that previously produced little effect
● response to an axon that previously did not attach at all
● Monkey with 1 forelimb had been cut 12 years ago - had reorganized cortex
● stretch of cortex previously responsive to that limb was now responsive to the face
● axons representing the forelimb degenerated, leaving vacant synaptic sites at several
levels of the CNS
 ● axons representing the face sprouted into those sites in the spinal cord, brainstem, and
thalamus
● phantom limb - continuing sensation of an amputated body part
- tingling to intense pain, occasionally or constantly
- last for days, weeks, or a lifetime
- it develops when the relevant portion of the somatosensory cortex reorganizes
and becomes responsive to alternative input
- use an artificial arm/leg to relieve the pain

LEARNED ADJUSTMENT IN BEHAVIOR

● Sometimes, a person or animal with brain damage appears unable to do something but
is in fact not trying.
● We say the limb is deafferented because it has lost its afferent (sensory) input
- one treatment for people recovering from a stroke is to force them to use the
weaker limb by preventing them from using the normal limb
● Therapy for brain damage
- careful evaluation of a patient’s abilities and disabilities
- physical therapist or occupational therapist
CHAPTER 6
GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF PERCEPTION
● You see an object when it emits or reflects light that stimulates receptors that transmit
information to your brain
● The brain codes information largely in terms of which neurons are active, and how active
they are at any moment.
● Law of Specific Nerve Energies - Johannes Müller
- whatever excites a particular nerve establishes a special kind of energy unique to
that nerve
● The brain interprets the action potentials from the auditory nerves as sound and so on
THE EYE AND ITS CONNECTION TO THE BRAIN
1. Light enters to pupil and retina
- left side strikes the right half of the retina, and vice versa
- Light from above strikes the bottom half of the retina, and light from below strikes the top
half
● Pupil - opening in the center of the iris
● Retina - the rear surface of the eye, which is lined with visual receptors
2. receptors (back of the eye) to bipolar cells (located closer to the center of the eye) to ganglion
cells (located still closer to the center of the eye)
3. ganglion cells’ axons join together and travel back to the brain
4. amacrine cells get information from bipolar cells and send it to other bipolar, amacrine, and
ganglion cells
- refine the input to ganglion cells, enabling certain ones to respond mainly to particular
shapes, directions of movement, changes in lighting, color, and other visual features
5. light passes through the ganglion, amacrine, and bipolar cells en route to the receptors
- these cells are transparent = light passes through them without distortion = blindspot
6. Ganglion cells axons - join to form the optic nerve that exits through the back of the eye
- back of the eye - blind spot (no receptors)
- you never notice your blind spot
- your brain fills in the gap, as you just experienced
- anything in the blind spot of one eye is visible to the other eye
● Fovea - tiny area specialized for acute, detailed vision
- has nearly unimpeded vision because blood vessels and ganglion cell axons are
almost absent near the fovea
- perception of detail - tight packing of receptors
● Each receptor in the fovea connects to a single bipolar cell, which in turn connects to a
single ganglion cell that has an axon to the brain
- midget ganglion cells - ganglion cells of humans and other primates
● small and responds to just a single cone
● each cone in the fovea has a direct route to the brain
● provides the 70% of the brain’s input
● Birds - many have 2 foveas per eye one pointing ahead and one pointing to the side
● The extra foveas enable perception of detail in the periphery
● Hawks and other predatory birds - greater density of visual receptors on the top half of
their retinas (looking down) than on the bottom half (looking up)
● Rats - most of their receptors on the bottom half of the retina, to see up better than they
see down
● Foveal vision - sensitivity to detail
● Peripheral vision - sensitivity to dim light
VISUAL RECEPTORS: RODS AND CONES
● Types of Receptors
- Rods - abundant in the periphery of the human retina, dim light
- 20:1 rodes vs cones
- Cones - abundant in and near the fovea, bright light - color vision
● provide about 90 % of the brain’s input
● you have good color vision in the fovea but not in the periphery
● Fovea - each cone has its own line to the brain
● Periphery - each receptor shares a line with tens or hundreds of others
● Overall, 120 million rods and 6 million cones converge onto 1 million axons in the optic
nerve, on average.
● People vary substantially in the number of axons in their optic nerve and the size of the
visual cortex, largely for genetic reasons
- two or three times as many axons from the eyes to the brain as others do
- more cells in their visual cortex
- greater ability to detect brief, faint, or rapidly changing visual stimulI
● Photopigments - chemicals that release energy when struck by light
- consist of 11-cis-retinal (a derivative of vitamin A) bound to proteins called
opsins, which modify the photopigments’ sensitivity to different wavelengths of
light
 - Light converts 11-cis-retinal to all-trans-retinal, thus releasing energy that
activates second messengers within the cell
- The light is absorbed in this process. It does not continue to bounce around the
eye

COLOR VISION
● Shortest wavelength - violet
● Longer wavelengths - blue, green, yellow, orange, and red
● ultraviolet radiation - birds, fish, and insects; type of light
- male birds - reflect more ultraviolet light

THEORIES OF COLOR VISION

1. The Trichromatic (Young-Helmholtz) Theory - Thomas Young and Hermann von Helmholtz
- we perceive color through the relative rates of response by three kinds of cones, each
one maximally sensitive to a different set of wavelengths
- we discriminate among wavelengths by the ratio of activity across the three types of
cones
2. The Opponent-Process Theory - Ewald Hering
- We perceive color in terms of opposites; red to green, yellow to blue, white to black
3. The Retinex Theory - Edwin Land
- color constancy - the ability to recognize colors despite changes in lighting

COLOR VISION DEFICIENCY

● Color blindness or color vision deficiency
- certain genes fail to develop one type of cone or develop an abnormal type of cone
- red-green color deficiency - their long- and medium-wavelength cones have the same
photopigment instead of different ones
- X chromosome - this gene causes the deficiency
- 8% of northern European men
● 4th type of cone - some women do
- The long-wavelength cone shows genetic variation
- At one point in the protein, most genes code for the amino acid serine but 16 to 38
percent of the genes (depending on people’s ethnic background) produce instead the
amino acid alanine.
- finer distinctions between one color

AN OVERVIEW OF THE MAMMALIAN VISUAL SYSTEM

● The rods and cones of the retina make synapses with horizontal cells and bipolar cells
● horizontal cells - make inhibitory contact with bipolar cells, which in turn make synapses
with amacrine cells and ganglion cells. All these cells are within the eyeball.
● The axons of the ganglion cells form the optic nerve, which leaves the retina and travels
along the lower surface of the brain.
● The optic nerves from the two eyes meet at the optic chiasm where, in humans, half of
the axons from each eye cross to the opposite side of the brain.
 ● lateral geniculate nucleus - part of the thalamus, most ganglion cell axons go here
● A smaller number of axons go to the superior colliculus and other areas, including part of
the hypothalamus that controls the waking–sleeping schedule.
● The lateral geniculate, in turn, sends axons to other parts of the thalamus and the visual
cortex.
● Axons returning from the cortex to the thalamus modify thalamic activity

PROCESSING IN THE RETINA

● 2 eyes - about a quarter of a billion receptors
● Lateral inhibition is the retina’s way of sharpening contrasts to emphasize the borders of
objects
● green arrow - represents excitation
● width of an arrow - amount of excitation
● Receptor 8 - excites bipolar cell 8
- also excites a horizontal cell, which inhibits a group of bipolar cells, as shown by
red arrows.
● Because the horizontal cell spreads widely, excitation of any receptor inhibits the
surrounding bipolar cells
● However, because the horizontal cell is a local cell, with no axon and no action
potentials, its depolarization decays with distance.
● horizontal cell inhibits bipolar cells 7 through 9 strongly, bipolars 6 and 10 a bit less, and
so on
● Bipolar cell 8 shows net excitation, because the excitatory synapse outweighs the effect
of the horizontal cell’s inhibition.
● However, the bipolar cells to the sides (laterally) get no excitation but some inhibition by
the horizontal cell.
● Bipolars 7 and 9 - strongly inhibited
● Bipolars 6 and 10 - inhibited less
● thickness of arrow - amount of excitation or inhibition
● lightness of blue - net amount of excitation in each bipolar cell
● lateral inhibition - the reduction of activity in one neuron by activity in neighboring
neurons
- olfaction - a strong stimulus can suppress the response to another one that
follows slightly after it
- touch - stimulation of one spot on the skin weakens the response to stimulation of
a neighboring spot
FURTHER PROCESSING
● Receptive field - an area in visual space that excites or inhibits it
- each cell in visual system of the brain has a receptive field
- receptive field of a rod or cone - light strikes the cell
- A rod or cone has a tiny receptive field in space to which it is sensitive.
- One or more receptors connect to a bipolar cell, with a receptive field that is the
sum of the receptive fields of all those rods or cones connected to it
 - Several bipolar cells report to a ganglion cell which therefore has a still larger
receptive field,
- The receptive fields of several ganglion cells converge to form the receptive field
at the next level, and so on.
● Primate Ganglion cells
- parvocellular neurons - small cell bodies and small receptive fields, are mostly in
or near the fovea; detect visual details and colors
- magnocellular neurons - with larger cell bodies and receptive fields, are
distributed evenly throughout the retina; movement and large overall patterns, but
they do not respond to color or fine details
- koniocellular neurons - have small cell bodies, similar to the parvocellular
neurons, but they occur throughout the retina; response to varied and some are
sensitive to color

HOW THE BRAIN PROCESSES VISUAL INFORMATION

● If light from a particular spot excites the neuron, then that location is part of the neuron’s
excitatory receptive field.
● If it inhibits activity, the location is in the inhibitory receptive field.
● Ganglion cell - has a receptive field consisting of a circular center and an antagonistic
doughnut-shaped surround
- the receptive field might be excited by light in the center and inhibited by light in
the surrounding, or the opposite.
● Axons - from the ganglion cells form the optic nerve, which proceeds to the optic chiasm,
where half of the axons cross to the opposite hemisphere
- most of them go to the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus
● Cells - of the lateral geniculate have receptive fields that resemble those of the ganglion
cells—an excitatory or inhibitory central portion and a surrounding ring with the opposite
effect.
● After the information reaches the cerebral cortex, the receptive fields become more
complicated

THE PRIMARY VISUAL CORTEX

● Information - from the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus goes to the primary
visual cortex in the occipital cortex, also known as area V1 or the striate cortex because
of its striped appearance
- damage - no conscious vision, no visual imagery, and no visual images in their
dreams
- adults who lose vision because of eye damage continue to have visual imagery
and visual dreams
- blindsight - the ability to respond in limited ways to visual information without
perceiving it consciously; unaware of visual input, unable even to distinguish
between bright sunshine and utter darkness; reach for an object they cannot
consciously see; with practice, blindsight can improve
EXPLANATIONS FOR BLINDSIGHT
1. small islands of healthy tissue remain within an otherwise damaged visual cortex, not large
enough to provide conscious perception but enough to support limited visual functions
2. the thalamus sends visual input to several other brain areas, including parts of the temporal
cortex
Even if your brain is intact, you can experience something like blindsight under certain
circumstances

SIMPLE AND COMPLEX RECEPTIVE FIELDS

● David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel (1959) inserted thin electrodes to record activity from
cells in cats’ and monkey’s occipital cortex while they shined light patterns on the retina.
- they noticed a big response while they were moving a slide into place.
- They quickly realized that the cell was responding to the edge of the slide
- It had a bar-shaped receptive field, rather than a circular receptive field like cells
in the retina and lateral geniculate
- received a Nobel Prize - “the research that launched a thousand microelectrodes”
- inspired so much future microelectrodes
● Hubel and Wiesel distinguished several types of cells in the visual cortex
● Simple cell - has a receptive field with fixed excitatory and inhibitory zones
- The more light shines in the excitatory zone, the more the cell responds. The
more light shines in the inhibitory zone, the less the cell responds.
- cell that responds to a stimulus in only one location
● Complex cell - located in areas V1 and V2
- do not respond to the exact location of a stimulus
- responds to a pattern of light in a particular orientation (e.g., a vertical bar)
anywhere within its large receptive field
- Most complex cells respond most strongly to a stimulus moving in a particular
direction
● End-stopped, or hypercomplex cells - resemble complex cells with one exception:
- An end-stopped cell has a strong inhibitory area at one end of its bar-shaped
receptive field
- The cell responds to a bar-shaped pattern of light anywhere in its broad receptive
field, provided the bar does not extend beyond a certain point

THE COLUMNAR ORGANIZATION OF THE VISUAL CORTEX

● Cells - with similar properties group together in the visual cortex in columns
perpendicular to the surface
- the cells within a given column process similar information.
● cells within a given column might respond to only the left eye, only the right eye, or both
eyes about equally
● cells within a given column respond best to lines of a single orientation

ARE VISUAL CORTEX CELLS FEATURE DETECTORS?

● feature detectors—neurons whose responses indicate the presence of a particular
feature
 - prolonged exposure to a given visual feature decreases sensitivity to that feature,
as if it fatigued the relevant detect - optical illusion
- top-down” processes in which other brain areas interpret the visual stimulus and
send messages back to reorganize the activity in the primary visual cortex
- excitation of feature detectors is not sufficient to explain all of vision
● Cortical cells - respond well to a single bar or line
● Many cortical neurons respond best to a particular spatial frequency and hardly at all to
other frequencies
● neurons in area V1 detect spatial frequencies rather than bars or edges
- some sensitive to horizontal patterns and others to vertical patterns
● Still, we perceive the world as objects, not sine waves.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE VISUAL CORTEX

● newborn mammal - many of the normal properties of the visual system develop normally
at first, before birth
● Waves of spontaneous activity sweep over the developing retina, synchronizing the
activity of neighboring receptors and enabling appropriate combinations of receptors to
establish connections with cells in the brain
● first opens its eyes - cells of the visual system show patterns of activity that are little
more than random noise. Watching a visual stimulus quickly reduces the noise
● connections beyond the primary visual cortex - more or less normal (people who were
born without eyes)
● certain axon paths develop automatically, without any need for guidance by experience.
● Nevertheless, visual experience after birth modifies and fine-tunes many of the
connection

DEPRIVED EXPERIENCE IN ONE EYE

● synapses in the visual cortex gradually become unresponsive to input from the deprived
eye
- the synapses from the open eye inhibit the synapses from the closed eye
● After an eye deprived of vision in adults is reopened, cells gradually return to their
previous levels of responsiveness
● experience is necessary for fine-tuning

DEPRIVED EXPERIENCE IN BOTH EYES

● If neither eye is active, no axon outcompetes any other.
● for at least weeks - cortex remains responsive to visual input, although most cells
become responsive to just one eye or the other and not both
● If the eyes remain shut still longer, the cortical responses start to become sluggish and
lose their well-defined receptive fields
- visual cortex starts responding to auditory and touch stimuli instead.
● Sensitive period - when experiences have a particularly strong and enduring influence
- depends on inhibitory neurons
UNCORRELATED STIMULATION IN THE TWO EYES
● Retinal disparity - discrepancy between what the left and right eyes see
- poor depth perception.
- left and right fields of vision provide slightly different visual images when focusing
on a single object
- type of binocular visual cue that allows people to perceive depth and distance
● Strabismus - “lazy eye,” a condition in which the eyes do not point in the same direction
- attend to one eye and not the other
- put a patch over the active eye, forcing attention to the other one
- play three-dimensional action video games

EARLY EXPOSURE TO A LIMITED ARRAY OF PATTERNS

● Astigmatism - a blurring of vision for lines in one direction (e.g., horizontal, vertical, or
one of the diagonals), caused by an asymmetric curvature of the eyes.
● Normal growth reduces the prevalence of astigmatism to about 10 percent in 4-year-old
children

IMPAIRED INFANT VISION AND LONG-TERM CONSEQUENCES

● A newborn with dense cataracts (cloudy spots on the lenses that prevent the perception
of anything other than bright versus dark) may have to wait years for surgery to enable
vision.
- need the practice to develop hand-eye coordination
- some aspects of vision are never fully recovered. Their acuity (ability to see
detail) remained poor, and their motion perception and depth perception never
reached normal levels
● Chemical explosion at the age of 3 1/2- destroyed one eye and damaged the cornea of
his other eye so badly that he could see nothing more than light versus dark.
- even 10 years later - he could not identify whether a face was male or female,
happy or sad
- Various other aspects of vision remained impaired
- close his eyes while skiing - frightened

PARALLEL PROCESSING IN THE VISUAL CORTEX

THE VENTRAL AND DORSAL PATHS
● primary visual cortex (V1) sends information to the secondary visual cortex (area V2),
which processes the information further and transmits it to additional areas
● connections in the visual cortex are reciprocal
- V1 sends information to V2, and V2 returns information to V1
- From V2, the information branches out in several directions for specialized
processing
● ventral stream - “what pathway”
- for identifying and recognizing the object
- cannot name the objects they see
 ● dorsal stream - “how pathway”
- importance for visually guided movement
- they see objects but they don’t integrate their vision well with their arm and leg
movements

DETAILED ANALYSIS OF SHAPE

● V1 - primary visual cortex
- visual information to simple cells to the complex cells and then to other brain
areas, the receptive fields become larger and more specialized
● V2 - secondary visual cortex
- anterior to V1 in the occipital cortex
- most cells are similar to V1 cells in responding to lines, edges, or sine wave
gratings, except that V2 receptive fields are more elongated
● some respond to corners, textures, or complex shapes
● V2 and V3 - have some cells highly responsive to color, and other cells highly responsive
to the disparity between what the left and right eyes see— critical information for
stereoscopic depth perception

THE INFERIOR TEMPORAL CORTEX

● Cells in the inferior temporal cortex learn to recognize meaningful objects
● A cell that responds to the sight of some object initially responds mainly when it sees
that object from the same angle, but after a bit of experience it learns to respond almost
equally to that object from other viewpoints
● Visual agnosia - (meaning “visual lack of knowledge”) is an inability to recognize
objects despite otherwise satisfactory vision.
- damage in the temporal cortex
● One part of the parahippocampal cortex (next to the hippocampus) responds strongly to
pictures of places, and not so strongly to anything else
● Part of the fusiform gyrus of the inferior temporal cortex (right hemisphere) - responds
more of the inferior temporal cortex
● The brain is amazingly adept at detecting biological motion—the kinds of motion
produced by people and animals.

RECOGNIZING FACES
● Human newborns come into the world predisposed to pay more attention to faces than
other stationary displays
- built-in face recognition module
● young children activate more of their brain than adults do, when trying to recognize a
face
● childhood to early teenage years - connections strengthen between the fusiform gyrus,
especially in the right hemisphere, and part of the inferior occipital cortex known as the
occipital face are
- occipital face area - parts of a face (eyes, mouth)
- fusiform gyrus - face viewed from any angle
 ● prosopagnosia - impaired ability to recognize faces
- damage to the fusiform gyrus
- failure of the gyrus to develop
- they can describe each element of a face, such as brown eyes, big ears, a small
nose, and so forth, but they do not recognize the face as a whole

MOTION PERCEPTION
● The brain is set up to make calculations quickly and efficiently what the object is, where
it is going, and how fast
● Areas for motion perception - which receive input mostly from the magnocellular path
(color insensitive)
- 1. MT (middle temporal cortex)/ V5 - color insensitive
- 2. MST (medial superior temporal cortex)
● MT - most cells respond selectively when something moves at a particular speed in a
particular direction
- detect acceleration or deceleration as well as the absolute speed
- respond to motion in all dimensions
- responds to photographs that imply movement
● MST - cells respond best to more complex stimuli, such as the expansion, contraction, or
rotation of a large visual scene
- riding in a swing

MOTION BLINDNESS
● able to see objects but unable to see whether they are moving or, if so, which direction
and how fast
- they are better at reaching for a moving object than at describing its motion
● Types
- 1. inconspicuous akinetopsia - perceive motion as a series of still images or a
movie reel (slow motion, visual trailing)
- 2. gross akinetopsia - don’t see moving objects as a movie reel, no visual motion
perception at all
● Causes - stroke, brain lesion, traumatic brain injury, side effects of medications,
neurodegenerative conditions

CHAPTER 7: OTHER SENSORY SYSTEMS

SOUND AND THE EAR
● Sound waves - periodic compressions of air, water, or other media
● Amplitude - intensity; sounds of greater amplitude seem louder
● Frequency - number of compressions per second, measured in hertz
● Timbre - tone quality or tone complexity
● Pitch - related aspect of perception
- sounds higher in frequency are higher in pitch
- most adults - 15 to 20 Hz and ranging up to almost 20,000 Hz, decreases
perceive high frequencies
 - children - perceive high frequencies

STRUCTURES OF THE EAR

Outer Ear
● pinna - structure of flesh and cartilage attached to each side of the head - locate the
source of sound
Middle Ear
● tympanic membrane, or eardrum
- connects to three tiny bones that transmit the vibration to the oval window
- hammer, anvil, and stirrup/ malleus, incus, and stapes
- The vibrations of the tympanic membrane amplify into more forceful vibrations of the
smaller stirrup
- The net effect converts the sound waves into waves of greater pressure on the small
oval window
● oval window - membrane of the inner ear
Inner Ear
- When the stirrup vibrates the oval window, it sets into motion the fluid in the cochlea
(KOCK-lee-uh), the snail-shaped structure of the inner ear

● hair cells - auditory receptors

- lie between the basilar membrane of the cochlea on one side and the tectorial
membrane on the other
Vibrations in the fluid of the cochlea displace the hair cells, thereby opening ion channels in its
membrane.

PITCH PERCEPTION
PLACE THEORY
● the basilar membrane resembles the strings of a piano, with each area along the
membrane tuned to a specific frequency
● each frequency activates the hair cells at only one place along the basilar membrane,
and the nervous system distinguishes among frequencies based on which neurons
respond
● downfall - various parts of the basilar membrane are bound together too tightly for any
part to resonate like a piano string
FREQUENCY THEORY
● the entire basilar membrane vibrates in synchrony with a sound, causing auditory nerve
axons to produce action potentials at the same frequency
● downfall - the refractory period of a neuron, though variable among neurons, is typically
about 1 /1,000 second, so the maximum firing rate of a neuron is about 1000 Hz, far
short of the highest frequencies we hear
VOLLEY PRINCIPLE
 ● the auditory nerve as a whole produces volleys of impulses for sounds up to about 4000
per second, even though no individual axon approaches that frequency
● however, human hearing takes place below 4000 Hz
● highest frequency sounds - vibrate hair cells near the base
● lower frequency sounds - vibrate hair cells farther along the membrane

THE AUDITORY CORTEX

● As information from the auditory system passes through subcortical areas, axons cross
over in the midbrain to enable each hemisphere of the forebrain to get most of its input
from the opposite ear
● The information ultimately reaches the primary auditory cortex (area 1) in the superior
temporal cortex
● Area 1 - responds to imagined sounds as well as real ones
● damage - trouble with speech and music, but they can identify and localize single
sounds
● Auditory cortex - important for thinking about concepts related to hearing
- secondary auditory cortex and additional areas that respond best to relevant
natural sounds, such as animal calls, birdsong, machinery noises, music, and
speech
SOUND LOCALIZATION
1. time of arrival - useful for localizing sounds with a sudden onset
2. difference in intensity between the ears
- sound shadow - make the sound louder for the closer ear
3. phase difference - provide information that is useful for localizing sounds with frequencies up
to about 1500 Hz in humans
- speech sound and music

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
● Amusia - “tone deafness”
- do not detect a change less than about the difference
- trouble recognizing tunes -off-key or wrong note
- auditory cortex appears to be normal - fewer than average connections to the
frontal cortex
- Transcranial alternating current is applied to the scalp
- ability to remember pitch improved to almost normal levels
- poor memory for pitch and poor attention to pitch
- implication is that amusia results from either an impairment of the prefrontal
cortex, or input to it from the auditory cortex.
● Absolute pitch- “perfect pitch”
- ability to hear a note and identify it
- early musical training
- more common among people who speak tonal languages, such as Vietnamese
and Mandarin-Chinese
DEAFNESS
 ● 1. conductive deafness/middle-ear deafness - diseases, infections, or tumorous bone
growth
- with normal cochlea and auditory nerve, they readily hear their own voices
- surgery or by hearing aids
● 2. nerve deafness/ inner-ear deafness - damage to the cochlea, the hair cells, or the
auditory nerve
- can be inherited, result from disease, or it can result from exposure to loud
noises.
● Tinnitus - frequent or constant ringing in the ears
- may be due to a phenomenon similar to phantom limb
- Damage to part of the cochlea is like an amputation: If the brain no longer gets its
normal input, axons representing other parts of the body may invade part of the
brain area that usually responds to sounds
● Older people
- use hearing aids but people still have trouble understanding speech, especially in
a noisy room or if someone speaks rapidly
- brain areas responsible for language comprehension have become less active
- natural deterioration
- reaction to prolonged degradation of auditory input
- attention
- loss of inhibitory neurotransmitters in the auditory portions of the brain
- trouble suppressing irrelevant sounds
- response to one sound partly overlaps the response to another
- use lip-reading

MECHANICAL SENSES
VESTIBULAR SENSATION
● Vestibular Organ
- nearly the same size for all mammalian species
- adjacent to the cochlea
- monitors movements and directs compensatory movements of your eyes
● sensation - detect the direction of tilt and the amount of acceleration of the head
● vestibular receptors - modified touch receptors
● otoliths - tells the brain which direction you are moving, but they also record which
direction the head tilts when you are at rest
● semicircular canals - filled with a fluid and lined with hair cells
- acceleration of the head causes the fluid in one of these canals to move
- fluid against the hair cells in the semicircular canals, setting up action potentials
- record only the amount of acceleration, not the position of the head at rest
- insensitive to sustained motion
SOMATOSENSATION
● somatosensory system - the sensation of the body and its movements
- touch, deep pressure, cold, warmth, pain, itch, tickle, and the position and
movement of joints
 ● Pacinian corpuscle - detects vibrations or sudden displacements on the skin
- center - neuron membrane
- onion-like structure - provides mechanical support that resists gradual or constant
pressure
- insulates the neuron against most touch stimuli
- sudden or vibrating stimulus - bends the membrane, enabling sodium ions to
enter, depolarizing the membrane
● Merkels’ disks - respond to light touch or static touch
● Capsaicin - a chemical found in hot peppers such as jalapeños, stimulates the receptors
for painful heat
● Specialized Receptors - spinal cord
1. Cold-sensitive neurons
- respond to a drop in temperature
- adapt quickly, and show little response to a constant low temperature
- a cell that responds to a drop from 39° C to 33° C would also respond to a drop from 33°
C to 27° C
2. Heat-sensitive neurons
- respond to the absolute temperature, and they do not adapt
- A cell that responds to 44° C will respond the same way regardless of whether the skin
was hotter, cooler, or the same temperature a minute or two ago

SOMATOSENSATION IN THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM

● Information from touch receptors in the head enters the central nervous system (CNS)
through the cranial nerves
● Information from receptors below the head enters the spinal cord and passes toward the
brain through any of the 31 spinal nerves
- each spinal nerve has a sensory component and a motor component
● Each spinal nerve innervates (connects to) a limited area of the body called a
dermatome
- third thoracic nerve (T3) innervates a strip of skin just above the nipples as well
as the underarm area
- dermatome borders - less distinct and overlaps
● Various types of somatosensory information—such as touch, pressure, and pain—travel
through the spinal cord in separate pathways toward the thalamus, which then sends
impulses to different areas of the primary somatosensory cortex, located in the parietal
lobe.
● 2 parallel strips - respond mostly to deep pressure and movement of the joints and
muscles
● primary somatosensory cortex - touch experiences
- damage - impairs body perceptions
- trouble putting her clothes on correctly

PAIN
● always evokes unpleasant emotion
 ● pain and depression - closely linked, become depressed and unmotivated
● People who are depressed - more sensitive to pain
(Process)
● 1. begin - bare nerve ending (least specialized of all receptors)
● 2. Axons - little or no myelin, they conduct impulses relatively slowly, in the range of 2 to
20 meters per second
- thicker and faster axons - convey sharp pain
- thinner ones - convey duller pain, such as postsurgical pain
- mild pain - release glutamate
- strong pain - release glutamate, certain neuropeptides (substance P and CGRP/
calcitonin gene-related peptide (cardiovascular system and wound healing)
● 3. pain-sensitive cells (spinal cord) - relay information to several sites in the brain
- one path - ventral posterior nucleus of the thalamus and then to the
somatosensory cortex
- pain pathway crosses immediately from receptors on one side of the body to a
tract ascending the contralateral side of the spinal cord
● 4. Touch information travels up the ipsilateral side of the spinal cord to the medulla, and
then crosses to the contralateral side
EMOTIONAL PAIN
● painful stimuli also activate a path that goes through the medulla, and then to the
thalamus, and then to the amygdala, hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, and anterior
cingulate cortex
● sympathetic pain - activity in your cingulate cortex and other cortical areas
● hypnosis - decreases the responses in the cingulate cortex without much effect on the
somatosensory cortex
● feels the painful sensation almost normally but reacts with emotional indifference
● damage in circulate gyrus - still feel pain, but it no longer distresses theM
WAYS OF RELIEVING PAIN
● opioid mechanisms - systems that respond to opiate drugs and similar chemicals
● opiates - bind to receptors found mostly in the spinal cord and the periaqueductal gray
area of the midbrain
● opiates act mainly on the nervous system rather than the injured tissue
● nervous system has its own opiate-type chemicals
● Endorphins - contraction of endogenous morphine
- brain produces several types of endorphins, which relieve different types of pain
- released during intense pleasures, such as orgasm and when you listen to
thrilling music that sends a chill down your spine
- decrease pain
- enjoyable meal - decreases pain - dopamine
● Gate Theory - Ronald Melzack and P. D. Wall
- explain why some people withstand pain better than others and why the same
injury hurts worse at some times than others
- spinal cord neurons that receive messages from pain receptors also receive input
from touch receptors and from axons descending from the brain
 - These other inputs can close the “gates” for the pain messages—and they do so
at least partly by releasing endorphins
- rub the skin
● Morphine - ineffective against the sharp pain of a surgeon’s knife
- block messages from thinner axons that convey slower, duller pain such as
postsurgical pain
● Cannabinoids —block certain kinds of pain
- can produce problems of their own (memory impairment)
- act mainly in the periphery of the body
PROS
- Reduce anxiety.
- Reduce inflammation and relieve pain.
- Control nausea and vomiting caused by cancer chemotherapy.
- Kill cancer cells and slow tumor growth.
- Relax tight muscles in people with MS.
- Stimulate appetite and improve weight gain in people with cancer and AIDS.
CONS
- dizziness, fatigue, dry mouth, light-headedness, drowsiness, and nausea.
● Medical Marijuana
- Alzheimer's disease
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
- HIV/AIDS
- Crohn's disease - inflammatory bowel disease
- Epilepsy and seizures
- Glaucoma
- Multiple sclerosis and muscle spasms
- Severe and chronic pain
- Severe nausea or vomiting caused by cancer treatment
● Capsaicin - a chemical in jalapeños and similar peppers that stimulates receptors for
heat
PLACEBOS
● placebo - a drug or other procedure with no pharmacological effects
- little influence on most conditions, but they often relieve pain, depression, and
anxiety
- reduce pain but they produce an even greater effect on the emotional response
to pain, as recorded in the cingulate cortex
SENSATION OF PAIN
● Damaged or inflamed tissue, such as sunburned skin, releases histamine, nerve growth
factor, and other chemicals that help repair the damage but also magnify the responses
of nearby heat and pain receptors
ITCH
● special receptors for itch
● two spinal cord paths conveying itch
Kinds of itch
 - 1. heal after cut- skin releases histamines that dilate blood vessels and produce
an itching sensation
- 2. contact with certain plants - cowhage (a tropical plant with barbed hairs)
● Antihistamines block the itch that histamines cause but not the itch that cowhage cause
CHEMICAL SENSE
TASTE
● 1. Stimulation of the taste buds (receptors of the tongue)
● 2. taste and smell axons converge onto many of the same cells in an area called the
endopiriform cortex
● convergence enables taste and smell to combine their influences on food selection
TASTE RECEPTORS
● modified skin cells - located in papillae on the surface of the tongue
● Papilla - 10 or more taste buds
- each taste bud contains about 50 receptor cells
● excitable membranes and release neurotransmitters to excite neighboring neurons -
transmit information to the brain
● taste receptors are gradually sloughed off and replaced, each one lasting about 10 to 14
days
● Miracle berries contain a protein—miraculin—that modifies sweet receptors, enabling
acids to stimulate them
● toothpastes - contain sodium lauryl sulfate, a chemical that intensifies bitter tastes and
weakens sweet ones
● Gymnema sylvestre - plant - sugar becomes tasteless
● Adaptation - reflects the fatigue of receptors sensitive to sour tastes
- unsweetened lemon + dilute vinegar
● Cross-adaptation - reduced response to one taste after exposure to another
Kinds of receptors
- sweet
- salty
- sour bitter
- glutamate (5th) - MSG/ umami (Japanese)
- glutamate receptor -that resembles the receptors for glutamate as a
neurotransmitter
- fats (6th) - Oleogustus
● Jalapenos and hot peppers - birds’ heat receptor does not respond to capsaicin - birds
eat them

MECHANISM OF TASTE RECEPTORS

● Saltiness receptors - detect the presence of sodium
- permits sodium ions on the tongue to cross its membrane
- Chemicals that prevent sodium from crossing the membrane weaken salty tastes
● Sour receptors - detect the presence of acids
● Sweetness, bitterness, and umami receptors - resemble the metabotropic synapses
 - After a molecule binds to one of these receptors, it activates a G protein that
releases a second messenger within the cell
- people have 2 types of sweetness receptors and 2 types of umami receptors -
each with somewhat different sensitivities
● Bitter receptors - a family of 30 or more
- detect a great variety of dangerous chemicals
- each type of bitter receptor is present in small numbers = don’t detect very low
concentrations of bitter substances
- many bitter chemicals also trigger receptors in the nose = cough and sneeze
(toxic chemicals that the body wants to expel)
TASTE CODING IN THE BRAIN
● nucleus of the tractus solitarius (NTS) - a structure in the medulla
- information from here branches out, reaching the pons, the lateral hypothalamus,
the amygdala, the ventral-posterior thalamus, and two areas of the cerebral
cortex
Areas
● somatosensory cortex- responds to the touch aspects of tongue stimulation
● insula - insula in each hemisphere of the cortex receives input from both sides of the
tongue
● areas - dominated by cells responding mainly to sweet and bitter tastes

VARIATION IN TASTE SENSITIVITY

● fungiform papillae -near the tip of the tongue
- some people have three times as many taste buds in this part
- genes, age, hormones, and other influences
- women - taste sensitivity varies with their hormones and reaches its maximum
during early pregnancy when estradiol levels are high
● Supertasters - with more taste buds
- dislike strongly flavored foods, especially foods that taste very bitter to them, but
only mildly bitter to other people
- One gene controls most of the variance, although other genes contribute as well
● Nontasters - common in India and Britain
- spicy food

OLFACTION
● sense of smell
● the response to chemicals that contact the membranes inside the nose
● Animals - to find food, mates, and avoid dangers
- rats and mice - release stress hormones when there is a predator
● People - with certain diseases have a characteristic, unpleasant odor, and people who
avoid that odor decrease the risk of contagion
- food selection
- social behavior - “smell of fear”
- mate selection - prefer smell a little different from themselves and their family
 - contraceptive pills - preference for a different-smelling mate decreases

OLFACTORY RECEPTORS
● People can distinguish among more than a trillion olfactory stimuli
● olfactory cells - neurons responsible for smell
- that line the olfactory epithelium in the rear of the nasal air passages
- located on the cilia
- Mammal - each of these has cilia (threadlike dendrites) that extend from the cell
body into the mucous surface of the nasal passage
Kinds
● family of proteins - each protein traverses the cell membrane seven times and responds
to a chemical outside the cell by triggering changes in a G protein inside the cell
● G protein - provokes chemical activities that lead to an action potential
● Each olfactory neuron has only one of the possible olfactory receptor proteins

IMPLICATION FOR CODING

● Researchers found out that we have many kinds of olfactory receptors; each olfactory
receptor responds to only a few stimuli
● The combined activity of those two receptors identifies a chemical precisely
MESSAGE TO THE BRAIN
● Olfactory receptors - stimulates its axon carries an impulse to the olfactory bulb
- Although the receptors sensitive to a particular chemical are scattered
haphazardly in the nose, their axons find their way to the same target cells in the
olfactory bulb
● chemicals of similar smell excite neighboring areas
● chemicals of different smells excite more separated areas
● Olfactory bulb - sends axons to the olfactory area of the cerebral cortex
- food activates a scattered population of cells
- Many cells respond strongly to a particular kind of food, such as berries or
melons
- chemicals that smell similar to us evoke activity in neighboring cells
● Olfactory receptors - vulnerable to damage because they are exposed to the air
- average survival time of just over a month
- stem cell matures into a new olfactory cell in the same location as the first and
expresses the same receptor protein
- its axon finds its way to the correct target in the olfactory bulb
● each olfactory neuron axon contains copies of its olfactory receptor protein, which it uses
like an identification card to find its correct partner
● if the entire olfactory surface is damaged at once by a blast of toxic fume = many of them
fail to make the correct connections, and olfactory experience does not fully recover

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCE
Reasons
- people vary in their olfactory receptor genes
 - odor sensitivity declines with age
● sharp decline - early symptom of Alzheimer’s disease or Parkinson’s disease
Sex differences
● women detect odors more readily than men, at all ages and in all cultures
● young adult women gradually become more and more sensitive to a faint odor they
repeatedly attend to - female hormones

PHEROMONES
● vomeronasal organ (VNO) - is a set of receptors located near, but separate from, the
olfactory receptors.
- its receptors respond only to pheromones, chemicals released by an animal
- each receptor responds to just one pheromone and does not adapt to a repeated
stimulus
- VNO receptors continue responding even after prolonged stimulation
● Adult Humans - the VNO is tiny and has no receptors
- It is vestigial—that is, a leftover from our evolutionary past
- part of the human olfactory mucosa contains receptors that resemble other
species’ pheromone receptors
Effects of pheromones
- occur unconsciously
- people react to certain chemicals in human skin
● The smell of a sweaty woman - increases a man’s testosterone secretions, especially if
the woman is near her time of ovulation (14 days before the start of ovulation)
- stronger than heterosexual men
- woman as a sex signal
● The smell of a sweaty man - does not increase sexual arousal in women
- it increases the release of cortisol, a stress hormone
- potential danger signal
● effect of a human pheromone
- 1. timing of women’s menstrual cycles- women who spend much time together
find that their menstrual cycles become more synchronized
- 2. a woman in an intimate relationship with a man tends to have more regular
menstrual periods than women not in an intimate relationship
● the man’s pheromones promote this regularity

SYNESTHESIA
● Synesthesia is the experience some people have in which stimulation of one sense
evokes a perception of that sense and another one also
- perceive the letter J as green or say that each taste feels like a particular shape
on the tongue
● Patients - increased amounts of gray matter in certain brain areas and altered
connections to other areas
Causes
 - genetic predisposition
- phenomenon occurs in the cerebral cortex
- axons from one cortical area branch into another cortical area

CHAPTER 8 MOVEMENT
MUSCLES AND THEIR MOVEMENTS
VERTEBRATE MUSCLES
● smooth muscles - control the digestive system and other organs
● skeletal or striated muscles - control movement of the body in relation to the environment
● cardiac muscles - control the heart
Fibers = muscles
● each muscle fiber receives information from only one axon, a given axon may innervate
more than one muscle fiber
● eye muscles have a ratio of about one axon per three muscle fibers = allows the eye to
move more precisely
Neuromuscular junction - a synapse between a motor neuron axon and a muscle fiber.

Skeletal muscles
- every axon releases acetylcholine at the neuromuscular junction, and acetylcholine
always excites the muscle to contract
- deficit of acetylcholine or its receptors impairs movement
● Contraction - one movement of each muscle
- There is no message to cause relaxation; the muscle relaxes when it receives no
message to contract
- There is also no message to move a muscle in the opposite direction
Antagonistic muscles - useful for moving a leg or arm back and forth
Flexor muscles - bring your hand toward your shoulder
Extensor muscle - straightens the arm

MUSCLE TYPES
● fast-twitch fibers with fast contractions and rapid fatigue
- prolong use of this results in fatigue because the process is anaerobic - using
reactions that do not require oxygen at the time but need oxygen for recovery
- = builds up an oxygen debt
- muscle use glucose = glucose supplies begin to dwindle = low glucose =
activates a gene that inhibits the muscles from using glucose, to save glucose for
the brain’s use.
- this muscle uses fatty acids
● slow-twitch fibers with less vigorous contractions and no fatigue
- they are aerobic - they use oxygen during their movements

MUSCLE CONTROLS BY PROPRIOCEPTORS

Proprioceptor - a receptor that detects the position or movement of a part of the body - muscle
 - detect the stretch and tension of a muscle and send messages that enable the spinal
cord to adjust its signals.
When a muscle is stretched, the spinal cord sends a signal to contract it reflexively. This stretch
reflex is caused by a stretch; it does not produce one.

KIND OF PROPRIOCEPTORS
Muscle spindle - a receptor parallel to the muscle that responds to a stretch
- sends a message to a motor neuron in the spinal cord, which in turn sends a message
back to the muscle, causing a contraction
This reflex provides for negative feedback: When a muscle and its spindle are stretched, the
spindle sends a message that results in a muscle contraction that opposes the stretch.

When you set your foot down on a bump on the road:

The sensory nerves of the spindles send action potentials to the motor neuron in the spinal
cord, and the motor neuron sends action potentials to the extensor muscle. Contracting the
extensor muscle straightens the leg, adjusting for the bump on the road.

Physician - asks you to cross your legs and then taps just below the knee test your stretch
reflexes
- tap stretches the extensor muscles and their spindles, resulting in a message that jerks
the lower leg upward.
- A leg that jerks excessively or not at all may indicate a neurological problem

Golgi tendon organs - also proprioceptors, respond to increases in muscle tension

- located in the tendons at opposite ends of a muscle,
- they act as a brake against an excessively vigorous contraction
- detect the tension that results during a muscle contraction.
- impulses travel to the spinal cord, where they excite interneurons that inhibit the motor
neurons

UNITS OF MOVEMENT
Reflexes - are consistent automatic responses to stimuli
- voluntary movements
Ballistic movement - executed as a whole, once initiated, it cannot be altered
- most behaviors can be corrected
Central pattern generators - neural mechanisms in the spinal cord that generate rhythmic
patterns of motor output
- birds - wing flapping
Motor program - fixed sequence of movements
- cat’s grooming
- human’s yawning - 6 seconds

THE CEREBRAL CORTEX

Primary motor cortex - the precentral gyrus of the frontal cortex, just anterior to the central
sulcus —elicits movements
- active when you imagine movements, remember movements or understand verbs
related to movement
Axons of the motor cortex - extend to the brainstem and spinal cord, which generate the
impulses that control the muscles
- mammals - axons from the cerebral cortex connect only to interneurons of the brainstem
or spinal cord, which in turn control motor neurons.
- humans and primates - some axons go directly from the cerebral cortex to motor
neurons, presumably giving us greater dexterity
Cerebral cortex - complex actions such as talking or writing
Somatosensory cortex - feels which parts of the body
Motor cortex - controls muscles in which parts of the body
Posterior parietal cortex - active in planning a movement which monitors the position of the body
relative to the world
damage - trouble finding objects in space, even after describing their appearance accurately
- When walking, they frequently bump into obstacles brain surgery patients are awake and
alert
- brief stimulation - intention to move—such as an intention to move the left hand
- more intense stimulation - they believe they did make the movement
Prefrontal + supplementary cortex - important for planning and organizing a rapid sequence of
movements
Prefrontal cortex - also active during a delay before a movement, stores sensory information
relevant to a movement.
- important for considering the probable outcomes of possible movements
- inactive during dreams
- Absentminded first thing in the morning - your prefrontal cortex is not fully awake
- damage - many of your movements would be disorganized, such as showering with your
clothes on or pouring water on the tube of toothpaste instead of the toothbrush
Supplementary cortex - inhibits habitual movements when you need to do something else
Premotor cortex - most active immediately before a movement.
- receives information about the target to which the body is directing its movement, as well
as information about the body’s current position and posture
Antisaccade task - saccade is a voluntary eye movement from one target to another
- not a particularly important behavior for its own sake
- you are supposed to look in the opposite direction
● Ability to perform this task gradually improves as the prefrontal cortex slowly matures,
reaching peak levels in young adulthood
● Performance deteriorates in old age because the prefrontal cortex is highly vulnerable to
damage
● Performing the antisaccade task requires sustained activity in parts of the prefrontal
cortex and basal ganglia before seeing the wiggling finger
- ADHD - have difficulty with the antisaccade task
Mirror neurons - which are active both during preparation for a movement and while watching
someone else perform the same or a similar movement
- mirror neurons in part of the frontal cortex
- smiling
- yawning
lack of mirror neurons = autism or schizophrenia, disorders associated with deficient social
relationships
several studies = normal mirror neurons in both of these conditions
Active - reminder of the action
- many mirror neurons modify their properties by learning, and probably developed their
original properties by learning also

CONNECTIONS FROM THE BRAIN TO THE SPINAL CHORD

● Messages from the brain - medulla - spinal cord = control the muscles
● Diseases of the spinal cord = impair the control of movement in various ways
● corticospinal tracts - Paths from the cerebral cortex to the spinal cord
● lateral corticospinal tract - a pathway of axons from the primary motor cortex,
surrounding areas of the cortex, and from the red nucleus, a midbrain area that controls
certain aspects of movement
● axons - extend directly from the motor cortex to their target neurons in the spinal cord
● pyramids - (bulges of the medulla) extend directly from the motor cortex to their target
neurons in the spinal cord
● controls movements in peripheral areas, especially the hands and feet
● functions - controls muscles in the lateral parts of the body, such as hands and feet

DISORDER: Paralysis
DESCRIPTION: Inability for voluntary movement in part of the body
CAUSE: Damage to motor neurons or their axons in the spinal cord

DISORDER: Paraplegia
DESCRIPTION: Loss of sensation and voluntary muscle control in the legs (Despite the lack of
sensations from the genitals, stimulation of the genitals can produce orgasm.)
CAUSE: A cut through the spinal cord in the thoracic region or lower

DISORDER: Quadriplegia (or tetraplegia)

DESCRIPTION: Loss of sensation and voluntary muscle control in both arms and legs
CAUSE: Cut through the spinal cord in the cervical (neck) region (or cortical damage)

DISORDER: Hemiplegia
DESCRIPTION: Loss of sensation and voluntary muscle control in the arm and leg of either the
right or left side
CAUSE: Cut halfway through the spinal cord or damage to one hemisphere of the cerebral
cortex
DISORDER: Tabes dorsalis
DESCRIPTION: Impaired sensations and muscle control in the legs and pelvic region, including
bowel and bladder control
CAUSE: Damage to the dorsal roots of the spinal cord from the late stage of syphilis

DISORDER: Poliomyelitis
DESCRIPTION: Paralysis
CAUSE: A virus that damages motor neurons in the spinal cord

DISORDER: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

DESCRIPTION: Gradual weakness and paralysis, starting with the arms and spreading to the
legs
CAUSE: Unknown. Traced to genetic mutations in some cases, and to exposure to toxins in
other cases

Medial corticospinal tract - includes axons from many parts of the cerebral cortex, axons from
the midbrain tectum, the reticular formation, and the vestibular nucleus (a brain area that
receives input from the vestibular system)
- axons - go to both sides of the spinal cord, not just to the contralateral side
- this track controls mainly the muscles of the neck, shoulders, and trunk and therefore
bilateral movements such as walking, turning, bending, standing up, and sitting down
- functions - controls muscles in the medial parts of the body, including the trunk and neck

Stroke patient - damages the primary motor cortex of the left hemisphere = loss of the lateral
tract from that hemisphere and a loss of movement control on the right side of the body
- may regain some muscle control from spared axons in the lateral tract
- if not - using the medial tract can approximate the intended movement = might move the
shoulders, trunk, and hips in a way that repositions the hand

THE CEREBELLUM
- little brain
- balance and coordination
- contains more neurons than the rest of the brain combined
- contributes to many aspects of brain functioning
- damage - aim and timing
- loss of balance and coordination
- trouble tapping a rhythm, clapping hands, pointing at a moving object, speaking, writing,
typing, or playing a musical instrument
- does not impair continuous motor activity - drawing circles
- has difficulty programming the angle and distance of eye movements
- has trouble with the initial rapid movement
- trouble timing a moving object
- has a problem with the hold segment
 - resemble those of alcohol intoxication: clumsiness, slurred speech, and inaccurate eye
movements. A police officer testing someone for drunkenness may use the
finger-to-nose test or similar tests because the cerebellum is one of the first brain areas
that alcohol affects
Functions
- responds to sensory stimuli even in the absence of movement
- responds to violations of sensory expectations
- If you reach out your hand expecting to feel something and then don’t feel it, or feel
something when you didn’t expect to, your cerebellum reacts strongly
- precise timing of short intervals
- critical for certain aspects of attention

CELLULAR ORGANIZATION
- cerebellum receives information from the spinal cord, sensory systems, and cranial
nerves
- the information will go to the cerebellar cortex (surface of the cerebellum)
Types and arrangement of neurons in the cerebellar cortex
- The neurons are arranged in a precise geometrical pattern, with multiple repetitions of
the same units.
- The Purkinje (pur-KIN-jee) cells are flat (two-dimensional) cells in sequential planes,
parallel to one another
- The parallel fibers are axons parallel to one another and perpendicular to the planes of
the Purkinje cells.
- Action potentials in parallel fibers excite one Purkinje cell after another.
- Each Purkinje cell then transmits an inhibitory message to cells in the nuclei of the
cerebellum (clusters of cell bodies in the interior of the cerebellum) and the vestibular
nuclei in the brainstem, which in turn send information to the midbrain and the thalamus
- Depending on which and how many parallel fibers are active, they might stimulate only
the first few Purkinje cells or a long series of them.
- Because the parallel fibers’ messages reach Purkinje cells one after another, the greater
the number of excited Purkinje cells, the greater their collective duration of response.
- That is, if the parallel fibers stimulate only the first few Purkinje cells, the result is a brief
message to the target cells; if they stimulate more Purkinje cells, the message lasts
longer.
- The sequence of Purkinje cells controls the timing of the output, including both its onset
and offset

THE BASAL GANGLIA

Parts of the Basal Ganglia
Caudate nucleus + the putamen = striatum or dorsal striatum
- striatum - receives input from the cerebral cortex and substantia nigra and sends its
output to the globus pallidus, which then sends output to the thalamus and frontal cortex
- direct pathway - inhibits the globus pallidus, which inhibits part of the thalamus = net
effects is excitation; enhances the selected movement
 - indirect pathway - inhibits movements; inhibits inappropriate competing movements
- both pathways - are active before a movement and neither is active when the animal is
at rest
Globus pallidus Functions
- important for spontaneous, self-initiated behaviors
- to regulate the vigor of the movement
- Parkinson's disease; They are capable of strong movements, and sometimes they do
move strongly, in response to immediate signals. However, their spontaneous
movements are slow and weak as if they felt little motivation to move.
- Depression - When the dopamine pathway to the striatum becomes less active, the
result is a depressed mood and a lack of motivation.

CONSCIOUS DECISIONS AND MOVEMENT

- your motor cortex produces a kind of activity called a readiness potential before any
voluntary movement, and on average, the readiness potential begins at least 500 ms
before the movement
- the brain activity responsible for the movement apparently began before the person’s
conscious decision!

PARKINSON’S DISEASE
- strikes 1 to 2 percent of people over age 65
- gradual loss of dopamine-releasing axons from the substantia nigra to the striatum (part
of the basal ganglia)
- the striatum decreases its inhibition of the globus pallidus, which therefore increases its
inhibitory input to the thalamus
- results = rigidity, muscle tremors, slow movements, and difficulty initiating voluntary
activity
- still capable of movement, and sometimes they move normally in response to signals or
instructions
Symptoms:
- their spontaneous movements are slow and weak
- movement problems - both a difficulty activating a movement and a difficulty inhibiting
inappropriate movements
- a lack of motivation and pleasure
- may have cognitive deficits, which may include problems with attention, language, or
memory
Causes:
- damage to substantia nigra due to at least 28 gene variants that increase the risk
- several of them produce a cumulative effect
- exposure to toxins - a drug similar to heroin, MPTP
- a chemical that the body converts to MPP+, which accumulates in, and then destroys,
neurons that release dopamine, partly by impairing the transport of mitochondria from
the cell body to the synapse
 - exposed to hazardous environmental chemicals that damage cells of the substantia
nigra
- increase the risk, especially among people with any of the genes that predispose to
Parkinson’s
- traumatic head injury
- less consumption of cigarettes and coffee
- People who smoke cigarettes or drink coffee have less chance
Treatment
- L-Dopa - a precursor to dopamine that does cross the barrier
- Taken as a daily pill, L-dopa reaches the brain, where neurons convert it to dopamine
- side-effects - increases dopamine release in all axons, including those that had
deteriorated and those that were still functioning normally
Even if it adequately replaces lost dopamine, it does not replace other transmitters that are also
depleted
- does not slow the continuing loss of neurons
- nausea, restlessness, sleep problems, low blood pressure, repetitive movements, and
sometimes hallucinations and delusion
Treatment - other therapies
- drugs that directly stimulate dopamine receptors and drugs that block the metabolic
breakdown of dopamine
- physicians sometimes implant electrodes to stimulate areas deep in the brain
- transplant brain tissue from aborted fetuses
- take stem cells—immature cells that are capable of differentiating into other cell
types—guide their development so that they produce large quantities of L-dopa, and
then transplant them into the brain

HUNTINGTON’S DISEASE
- severe neurological disorder
- affects about 17 per 100,000 Americans of European ancestry
- gradual, extensive brain damage, especially in the basal ganglia but also in the cerebral
cortex
- can occur at any age - 30 to 50 years old
Causes:
- Gene - an autosomal dominant gene
- 50% chance of getting this disease if either mother or father has it
- chromosome #4
- a sequence of bases C-A-G (cytosine, adenine, guanine), which is repeated 11 to 24
times in most people
- That repetition produces a string of 11 to 24 glutamines in the resulting protein.
- People with up to 35 C-A-G repetitions are considered safe from Huntington’s disease.
- Those with 36 to 38, possibly even 39 or 40, might not get the disease, and if they do, it
probably will not manifest until old age
- The more C-A-G repetitions someone has, the earlier the probable onset of the disease
- stressful experiences, drug or alcohol abuse, and perhaps diet and exercise
Symptoms:
- begin with arm jerks and facial twitches
- tremors spread to other parts of the body and develop into writhing (body twisting)
- tremors interfere more and more with walking, speech, and other voluntary movement
- lose the ability to develop motor skills
- Psychological disorder - apathy (10 years before the motor symptoms), depression,
sleeplessness, memory impairment, anxiety, hallucinations and delusions, poor
judgment, alcoholism, drug abuse, and sexual disorders ranging from complete
unresponsiveness to indiscriminate promiscuity
- Huntingtin - a protein that occurs throughout the human body
- mutant form - impairs neurons and glia in several ways, including effects on
mitochondria and potassium channels
- early stages of the disease, it increases neurotransmitter release, sometimes causing
overstimulation of the target cells
- protein forms clusters that impair the neuron’s mitochondria and impair the transport of
chemicals down the axon

Treatment
- develop drugs that partially suppress the expression of the gene for huntington