Serotonin

  • Responsible for regulation of emotional states, impulse control, and dreaming
  • Low levels associated with
    • ooAnxiety
    • ooFood cravings
    • ooAggressive behavior
  • Drugs that block serotonin reuptake treat depression, ocd, and eating disorders

GABA

  • Gamma-aminobutyric acid
  • Primary inhibitory neurotransmitter in the nervous system
    • ooQuiets the central nervous system
  • GABA agonists:
    • ooAlcohol
    • ooBenzodiazepines
      • Xanax
      • Valium
  • What happens when we deplete dopamine?

Mouse party (interactive look at how drugs affect the brain) - http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/addiction/mouse/

Chapter 4 - section 2

First attempts to understand the brain

  • Broca
    • ooPatient in 1861 who could understand and write language, but couldn’t speak it (even though they weren’t mute
    • ooLarge lesions on front left side of the brain

Gall & Spurzheim

  • Based on the idea that the brain operates through functional localization (I.E. different areas were entirely responsible for brain function)
    • ooCompletely false

Evolutionary Perspective

  • Reptilian brain
    • ooInvolved in survival process
    • ooBrainstem and cerebellum
      • Areas responsible for survival
      • Fight or flight
        • Predator appears
          • This part of the brain tells us that
  • Mammalian brain
    • ooInvolved in providing more memory and wider range of emotions
    • ooLimbic system, basal ganglia, thalamus
  • The human brain
    • ooInvolved in problem solving, imagination, and social behavior
      • Newest part of brain
      • Cerebral cortex
  • Spinal cord
    • ooCoordinates reflexes
    • ooCarries sensory information to the brain and motor signals away from the brain
      • If you encounter pain the spinal cord will immediately react without even consulting the brain
  • Brain stem
    • oofunctions
      • Survival
      • Heart rate
      • Breathing
      • Swallowing
      • Orgasm
      • Vomiting
      • Urination
    • ooYou can’t tell your body not to perform these functions
    • ooAutomatic functions
  • Cerebellum
    • ooMeans little brain
    • ooImportant for motor function, learning, and motor memory
    • ooAlso believed to be involved in empathy
      • If you see someone performing an action, you may find the desire to perform the same action

Subcortical Structures

Hypothalamus

Hippocampus

Amygdala

(Limbic system)

  • Hypothalamus
    • Responsible for regulation
  • Hippocampus

    • Plays important role in storing new memories.

    • Can grow larger with increased use
      • If you have a job which encourages you to use it, you get better at using it.
  • Amygdala

    • Responsible for emotion

    • Serves a vital role in our learning to associate things in the world with negative and positive emotional responses
  • Thalamus
    • Receives and processes sensory information
      • Smell and what not

    • During sleep, the thalamus partially shuts the gate on incoming sensations

  • Basal ganglia
    • Crucial for planning and producing movement
      • Contains the nucleus accumbens

        • Important for experiencing reward

Cerebral Cortex

  • Site of all thoughts
  • Detailed perceptions and complex behaviors
  • Underlies all complex mental activity
  • Comprised of four lobes

Fusiform face area

  • Completely responsible for facial recognition and memory

Homunculus

  • Top area of the brain
    • These parts of the brain are mirrors of each other and control these different parts of the body

The brain is lateralized

  • Each hemisphere controls opposite side of the body’s motor skills
  • Right side is verbal, analytical, math / science, logic, etc
  • Left side is emotional, impulse, art, intuition, imagination, etc

Vocab

Serotonin Chemical responsible for regulating emotional states and impulse control
GABA Chemical which quiets the central nervous system (Xanax, valium, alcohol)
Broca’s area Refers to an area on the left side of the brain responsible for language functions
Phrenology Assessed personality traits and mental abilities by measuring bumps on people’s heads
Spinal cord Responsible for reflexes. Carries sensory information to the brain and motor signals away from the brain
Cerebellum Important for proper motor function, learning, and motor memory (means ‘little brain’)
Subcortical structures Lie below the cerebral cortex and responsible for more basic processes (limbic system)
Hypothalamus Brains regulatory structure (body rhythms, blood pressure, temperature)
Hippocampus Stores new memories
Amygdala Responsible for emotion
Thalamus Processes sensory information (and can block it out when necessary)
Basal ganglia Crucial for planning and producing movement
Nucleus accumbens Important for experiencing reward and motivating behavior
Cerebral cortex Handles all complex mental activity. Comprised of four lobes
Frontal lobe Lobe in cerebral cortex responsible for thought, planning, and movement
Parietal lobe Lobe in cerebral cortex responsible for touch and spatial relations
Occipital lobe Lobe in cerebral cortex responsible for vision
Temporal lobe Lobe in cerebral cortex responsible for hearing and memory