PSYC1000A

General Psychology
2024-25 Term 1 (Fall Term)
Lecture 6: Brain and Behavior
Lecturer: Vince NGAN

Teaching Assistants:
RUAN, Jingchi
FAN, Zhiyu
YANG, Yaqi
 True or False?
1) We in fact use 10% of our brain False!

2) People are either “right-brained” or “left-

brained” False!

3) Brain damage is always permanent False!

4) The human brain is larger than any other animal

brain False!
Brain–body mass ratio
Brain and Behavior
What are the basic structures of human brain?
What is the relationship between brain and behavior?
From L1

Biological Perspective of Psychology

Biologicalpsychology: Focuses on the relationship
between mind and behavior
Underlying biological processes, including genetics,
biochemistry, anatomy, and physiology
Evolutionary psychology: How our physical structure
and behavior have been shaped by the need for
survival

Focuses: Neuroscience, sensation, consciousness

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Mind-Body Relationship
Dualism (‘twoness’): the mind and body both exist as
separate entities e.g. Cartesian dualism
Monism (‘oneness’): the mind is what the brain does
 Behaviorists and biologists focus onobservable, physical
structures and events that can be directly studied
 Dualism was seen as outdated and unfalsifiable
 But: View of mind as ‘software’ on the brain ‘hardware’

Behavior neuroscience studies the reciprocal

connections between the structure and activity of the
nervous system and behavior and mental processes

Biological changes often influence behavior and

cognition
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9
Objectives
1. Appreciate the delicate design of the brain
2. How its complex design makes different mental
abilities possible
3. How problems in any single element of the design can
lead to life-changing issues
4. Appreciate how much we can do to change our brain
and life
5. Begin to appreciate the amazing discovery of scientists
about the brain, the techniques used, and their
limitations

Overview
 The neuron
 The brain
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Early Attempts to Understand Where
the Mind is and What the Brain does
The nervous system
Clinical observation of injured or mentally
ill individuals
Examining bodies after death

Phrenology: Patterns of bumps on the skull

correlated with personality traits and
abilities
Behavioral functions are localized to
certain areas of the brain
Pseudoscientific with no validity
 12
Courtesy of William S.-Y. Wang
 13
Courtesy of William S.-Y. Wang
Camillo Golgi &
Santiago Ramón y Cajal

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Courtesy of William S.-Y. Wang
 How do modern scientists study the brain?

Looking at brain structures

Histology: Microscopic examination

of the nervous system
 How does the structure of nervous
system cells correlate with behavior?

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): Creating an image of

the macro-structures of the brain by creating a strong but
temporary magnetic field through the head
 How do the larger structures of nervous system correlate with
behavior?
 How do modern scientists study the brain?

Measuring electromagnetic signals from the

brain

 Electroencephalogram (EEG): Measurement of

the brain’s electrical activity using electrodes
placed on the scalp
 Event-related potential (ERP): Measurement formed by
averaging EEG responses to a stimulus, such as a light or
tone
 Did the person receive the stimulus?

 Single-cell recording: Measurement of a single

neuron’s activity obtained through a surgically
implanted electrode
 What types of stimulation make this neuron respond?
 How do modern scientists study the brain?

Measuring electromagnetic signals from

the brain

Magnetoencephalography (MEG):
Recording of the tiny amounts of magnetic
output of the brain
 What part of the brain react to this stimulus?

 Betterspatial resolution (2-3 mm) compared

to EEG (7-10 mm)
 But much more expensive (10-100 times more
expensive) and hard to set up (huge
equipment and specially shielded room)
 How do modern scientists study the brain?

Measuring other correlates to electrical neural

activities in the brain

 Positron emission tomography (PET): Measurement

that uses the accumulation of radioactively tagged
glucose or oxygen to identify activity levels in parts of
the brain
 What parts of the brain are active during a particular task?

 Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI):

Identification of active parts of the brain using
magnetism to track the flow of oxygen
 What parts of the brain are active during a particular task?
 How do modern scientists study the brain?

Observing the effects of damages to

parts of the brain

Lesions: Naturally occurring or

deliberate damage to the brain
 What behavioral changes are correlated
with brain damage?

 Examples:
 Lesion to primary visual cortex: Loss of
conscious sight
 Lesion to primary auditory cortex:
Impairment to speech and hearing
 Phineas Gage – famous patient
The Neuron

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Distribution of neurons in the adult human central nervous system.
(Based on data of R. W. Williams & Herrup, 1988) 22
Parts of a neuron

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24
How neurons communicate
(1) Action potentials
 Electrical signal arising in
a neuron’s axon
 Along the axons of each neuron
 A combination of chemical and electrical processes

(2) Synaptic transmission

 Across the gap of neurons

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 Action Potential in Graph
 Resting potential: The measure of
the electrical charge across a neural
membrane when the neuron is not
processing information

 The initiation of an action potential

needs a stimulus that pushes the
voltage across the membrane above
a certain threshold (threshold
potential)

 Ion
channels then open and
depolarization occurs, leading to
exchange of ions, spiking of voltage
and propagation of electric signal
Propagation of Action Potential
An action potential travels down the axon, the
stimulation at point X stimulates the action at point X+1

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Action potential in cats

Hubel and Wiesel’s cat experiment

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The role of myelin sheaths
Allows signal to travel faster and less interrupted.

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30
 When it went wrong…
 Multiple Sclerosis is a disease where
myelin is destructively removed from
around the axon which slows down
nerve impulses in a process known as
demyelination.

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Sir Charles Kuen Kao

高錕中大「腦智同護」服務

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 33
Image from the J. David Gladstone Institutes
Neural conduction
Between 1 and 120 meters per second
Speed depends on diameter of neuron,
temperature, presence of myelin

How fast are YOUR neurons?

 Nerve conduction velocity test
 Or something simpler...

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How neurons communicate
(1) Action potentials
 Electrical signal arising in
a neuron’s axon
 Along the axons of each neuron
 A combination of chemical and electrical processes

(2) Synaptic transmission

 Across the gap of neurons

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Synapse - Point of communication
between two neurons
What gets transmitted:
- Excitatory message
- Inhibitory message

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Synapse and Neurotransmitters
Neurotransmitters
 Chemicalmessenger that communicates across a synapse
 Why so many?

Some are very widespread and have general actions

through the brain:
 Most frequent:glutamate (excitatory); learning and memory
 2nd most frequent: GABA (inhibitory); gating information
transmission

But most are used in specific brain regions only and by

subsets of neurons
 Thespecific role of neurotransmitters is the reason why we
can target different brain functions using different chemicals 38
Neurotransmitters
Acetylcholine (Ach)
 Muscle movement
 Memory
 Autonomic nervous system
function
 Cognitive functioning

Deficiency
 Memory issues
 Alzheimer’s disease

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Neurotransmitters
Epinephrine (adrenaline):
 Influencesarousal
 Prepare your body for extreme efforts, ‘alarm’ behaviours

Norepinephrine (noradrenaline):
 Influences arousal and vigilance
 Mobilises the brain and body for actions
 Correlates with wakefulness, attention and memory recall

Hormones behind your “fight-or-flight” response

Increase heart rate, blood oxygen level, blood pressure
Neurotransmitters
Dopamine
 Movement
 Planning
 Reward
 Pleasure
 Attention
 Learning

Deficiency
 Parkinson’s disease

Overproduction
 Schizophrenia

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Neurotransmitters
Endorphins
 Endogenous morphines
 Pain suppression
 Pleasurable feelings
 Appetites

E.g. getting “high” with drugs

 Morphine
 Heroine

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Neurotransmitters
Glutamate
 Influences excitation of brain activity
 Learning
 Memory formation

Deficiency
 Exhaustion, Insomnia, lack of mental
energy
Overproduction
 Overexcitation and death of neurons
 Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease,
Multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, etc.

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Neurotransmitters
GABA (Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid)
 Inhibitory
 Calming
 Control anxiety, stress and fear

Push-pull with glutamate

Deficiency
 Anxiety, schizophrenia, autism spectrum
disorder, depression, etc.
Overproduction
 Drowsiness and daytime sleepiness

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Neurotransmitters
Adenosine
 Influences inhibition of brain activity
 Promote sleep
 Suppress arousal

Caffeine and adenosine (from L4)

 Caffeine is similar to adenosine in structure and compete with
adenosine for adenosine receptors
 Intake of caffeine leads to reduction of inhibition = excitation
 Chronic caffeine intake leads to increased density of
adenosine receptor as the body compensates. Also adenosine
sensitivity increases. (tolerance)
 Abrupt cessation of caffeine intake leads to more receptors
for adenosine to bind to than baseline condition, leading to
exhaustion and headache (withdrawal)
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Neurotransmitters
Serotonin
 Sleeping
 Eating
 Mood
 Impulse control
 Depression

E.g.Prozac increases serotonin and helps cure

depression
Deficiency: Impulsivity, OCD-like symptoms

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Nootropics (‘smart drugs’) and
neurotransmitters
Nootropics
 Drugs that seek to enhance cognitive abilities
 Target neural mechanisms involving neurotransmitters
 Enhance neurotransmitter synthesis
 Suppress breakdown of neurotransmitter
 Increase neurotransmitter receptor density
 Facilitate release of neurotransmitter

 Examples:
 Choline: Increase Ach and improve memory
 Ritalin: Increase dopamine and norepinephrine

 Note: These drugs impact the delicate neurochemical balance

in your nervous system and should only be taken with
professional medical opinions
 Misuse can lead to neurotransmitter deficiency and overproduction
Summary
Neurons serve to transmit and process information

Neuralinformation travels by two main

mechanisms: the action potential and synaptic
transmission

Different neurotransmitters control different

aspects of behavior, allowing us to create drugs
that affect different functions

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 The Brain

Live brain
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHxyP-nUhUY 50
Localization of Brain Functions
Clinical Observation
Dr. Paul Broca had a patient who due to some
accident could not say anything other than the word
“tan,” although the patient could still understand
language. When Dr. Broca examined the patient’s
brain after his death, he found that substantial
damage to the front left side. This observation led
him to conclude that this particular region was
important for speech. This area of brain is called
Broca’s area and his theory has survived to this day.

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Brain and evolution

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Brain and development

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The Brain Stem
The Cerebellum
The Subcortical Structures
Cerebral Cortex
Mapping the Somatosensory and
Motor Cortices
Forebrain, Midbrain and Hindbrain
Forebrain is NOT the front of
the brain!

Forebrain:
• Cerebrum
• Thalamus
• Hypothalamus
Midbrain:
• Connects the thalamus of
the forebrain and pons of
the hindbrain
Hindbrain:
• Pons
• Cerebellum
• Medulla

Hindbrain is evolutionarily
oldest, while forebrain the
newest
Prefrontal Cortex
Clinical Observation
Phineas Gage was a railway construction worker. On 13th. September 1848, an
accidental explosion of a dynamite blew an iron through his head. The iron
went in first under his left cheek bone and completely out through the top of
his head. most of the front part of the left side of his brain was
destroyed. Amazingly, he was able to walk and remained conscious. 10 weeks
later he returned home, and he even returned to work some more months
later.

However, Phineas was not the same person after the accident. Before the
accident, he was their most capable and efficient worker. After the accident, he
was very hard to get along, and he could not hold the job that he once had. He
returned home, lived with his mother before his death about 10 years after the
accident. (Other records said he went to Chile and worked as a
stagecoach driver, and the personality change was
not as drastic as suggested by many)
After his death, his skull was studied carefully so we now know which area of
the brain was damaged exactly, and the function of that area of the brain.

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Prefrontal Cortex
fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging): a technique for
revealing blood flow and therefore brain activity by comparing
successive MRI scans, MRI shows brain anatomy, fMRI shows
brain function.
When participants lied about a playing card they held in their
hand, fMRI revealed increased activity in two brain areas.

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Peripheral nervous system
The nerves exiting the CNS
that carry sensory and
motor information into
and from the body

Spinal cord: A long

cylinder of neural tissue
extending from the
medulla of the brain to the
middle of the back
Summary
Correspondence between your brain & behavior
 e.g. skin sensitivity / motor skills and somatosensory / motor
cortex organization

The brain practices division of labor

 Different neurotransmitters
 Functions of different brain regions

The brain can change. So can us.

Does the understanding of the brain make us less

amazing?

Don’t take a normal brain for granted!

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Readings
Required
 Chapter 4

Optional readings
 Neuroscience information on APS website
http://www.psychologicalscience.org/?s=neuroscience

Navigating in the brain

 Atlas of the Human Brain: interactive demos and brain
sections http://www.thehumanbrain.info/
 Harvard University Human Brain Atlas: normal and
diseased brain scans http://www.med.harvard.edu/aanlib/home.html
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 See you next time!
And good luck with the mid-term!
Questions welcome