Lecture 4 (September 20th, 2012)

Morad Moazami

One way to look at variability is to look at the range. Another way is through a measure of standard deviation. Standard deviation measures how far, on average, each sore is from the mean. A small standard deviation means that your data is clustered around the mean, while a larger standard deviation says that your scores are spread out. For example, if the class average on a test is 75%, and you got 85% on the test. You did better than the average student, but without standard deviation, it doesn't say when you fall among the class. Knowing that the standard deviation is 5, it shows that most of the scores are very clustered. If the mean is still 75, but the distribution has changed, then the standard deviation is lager. The majority of scores fall between 60% and 90%, and now youre doing better than average, but there are other students who have done better than you. So standard deviation shows whether your scores are close to each other or more scattered.

Correlations:
Scatterplots: Graphs that illustrate the relationship between two variables (e.g., beer sales and temperature). If there is no correlation, then our correlation cooffiecient is zero, which means that two things have no relationship between them. Positive correlations are given positive numbers up to the number 1.0. So its between 1 (a perfect negative correlation if two things were perfectly correlated with one another but as one increases the other decreases) and +1 (so perfect positive correlation: as one increases the other increases).

Evaluating Our Data:

Inferential statistics: A set of procedures used to make judgments about whether differences actually exist between sets of numbers.

We want to be able to make claims that go beyond the samples of data that weve collected and go beyond the population were interested in. Inferential statistics makes claims about whether scores in our experimental group is significantly different from scores in our controlled group. For example, for a Stroop Test, we want to know whether the observed different between the two types of trials is statistically significant or just due to chance. We have this difference of .79 milliseconds in the reaction time and we want to see if theres a legitimate difference. Inferential statistics is all about whether the results we get is due to chance or real difference from what were drawing our data.

Replicate, Revise, Report

Replication: May be an exact replication (run the exact same study again to see whether you get the same results) or a conceptual replication (where you operationalize your variables in a different way), for example, mood manipulation. In conceptual replication, you're not running the exact same study, but you're operationalizing your variables in a different way. In your first study you manipulate the mood by showing one half of your audience a happy movie clip before they learn something and a sad one for another group to find out that people in better moods can learn better, so in the latter experiment, I will get people to come in and tell me about their happiest memories to see if they learn the thing in a happy mood, so youre operationalizing mood in a slightly different way. What if our study doesn't work out? If your hypothesis was not supported by your data, think about what this means. What are the implications for the theory you are testing? Should you revise it? The report side of things is very important. You must write up or present your results to others.

The Brain

Biological Foundations: Part I

Genetics:
The most important thing out of this chapter is that nature and nurture are inextricably entwined. Nature (genes) and nurture (social context) interact to affect human behavior.

Todays Focus:
Neuron structure and communication: How is a neuron like a 14-year-old girl? Brain structures and their functions: How does synesthesia happen?

The Nervous System:

The nervous system is the body's electrochemical communication circuitry. It is estimated that the human brain has a hundred billion neurons. So in a 1 centimeter cube of cheese, there are 50 million nere sells. There is the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS). The peripheral nervous system has two parts: Somatic nervous system: outside Autonomic nervous system: inside (hey, Im hungry). o Sympathetic nervous system, o Parasympathetic nervous system.

Neurons:
They are the basic unit of the nervous system.

 They differ from other cells in the terms that they are excitable, and they communicate with other neurons through chmical signals. They operate through electrical impulses. There are three types of neurons: Sensory neurons (afferent neurons): what you feel. Motor neurons (efferent neurons): motor skills like moving your hands. Interneurons: neurons that send messages between sensory neurons and motor neurons.

A good hint for this is: SAME (sensory, afferent, motor efferent). Just like people, neurons come from different shapes and structures. And they seem to have the same nerve structures. The first part of the neuron is the dendrites these are these branch like extensions that receive messages from the cells surrounding it. The cell body takes all the information and integrates it and figures out what to do. The axon is this long narrow structure coming of the neuron and it is key to the electrical impulse, and they can vary dramatically. Axons are the ways in which neurons send messages to one another. Then at the end of the axon are the terminal buttons, who release the chemicals. Neurotransmitters are the chemical signals that get sent from neurons to neurons. The receiving neuron picks up these chemical signals and decides to transfer that down the line. How is a neuron like a 14 year old girl? She is getting a piece of gossip. The girl is a receiving neuron, and this girl has to see if she should get this gossip and tell it to see someone it depends on whether she gets excited or not.

When Do Neurons Fire?

Excitatory signals: these increase the likelihood that the neuron will fire. Inhibitory signals decrease the likelihood that the neurons will fire. They do this by affecting the polarization of the cell.

Neurons fire when they get so excited that they cant keep it in longer and they need to tell someone else. All-or-none principle: A neuron fires with the same potency each time (it either fires or does not fire); but how frequently the neuron fires can vary. It could differ in the frequency by which it fires. Action potential: The neural impulse that passes along the axon and subsequently causes the release of chemicals from the terminal buttons. Neurons have this thrusting memory potential and they are polarized their electrical charge is different from the inside than the outside. This thrusting memory potentially shows that there's potential to change.

Neurotransmitters:
How neurons send information from one neuron to another is through neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are chemical substances that carry signals from one neuron to another. They are stored in vesicles (small packages) inside the terminal buttons. A neurotransmitter combined only with its particular kind of receptor could be transmitted. Action potentials carry the vesicles (small packages that hold these different substances), and when they reach the end of the neuron, they release these chemicals into the synapse. There is a whole host of different types of neurotransmitters. The most common ones are: Acetylcholine: responsible for the motor control and the junction between nerves and muscles. What Botox does is that it stops acetylcholine from working. It paralyzes the muscles. Epinephrine: Better known as adrenaline. Think of Pulp Fictions scene with Uma Thurmans overdose. Norepinephrine Serotonin Dopamine: very important for the reward system of the brain. Dopamine makes what you think is rewarding such a pleasurable experience. GABA:

Etc.:

How Drugs Work:

They affect how neurotransmitters work. Agonists enhance a neurotransmitters actions by: Increasing the release of neurotransmitters, Blocking the re-uptake of neurotransmitters Mimicking a neurotransmitter (and activating a postsynaptic receptor). Putting on a costume, pretending to be a neurotransmitter, and it lets it in and it activates the synapses by mimicking a neurotransmitter. Drugs that are agonists are cocaine and methamphetamine. They work by increasing the release of dopamine. Thats why these drugs are so rewarding and addictive, because they activate these dopamine receptors.

Antagonists work in a different way. They inhibit neurotransmitter's actions by: Blocking the release of neurotransmitters, Destroying neurotransmitters in the synapse, Mimicking a neurotransmitter (and blocking neurotransmitter binding). Examples are like beta-blockers, Botox (butolinum toxin).

Brains:
Actual brain size isn't important. The size of the cerebral cortex is important though. What is important isnt the absolute mass of the brain but the ratio of brain weight to body weight, which is usually 1 to 50. For other mammals it tends to be 1-80. Humans tend to have this really large cerebral cortex. Another big misconception about the brain is that humans only use 10% of their brain. Nobody knows how this started. Some say it goes back to a quote by William James where he never even mentioned a number. This is absolutely false, and is a complete misconception.

 There is this practice that was really popular in the 1930s, where they find bumps on peoples heads, and it would analyze the bumps on your skull, and assumed that corresponded to different characteristics. So if you had a bump in ap articular place it would mean a particular thing. This is bogus, of course. Weve come a long way since the 1930s.

The Brain: From the Bottom Up

We're going to start wit the Brain Stem, and we find out that the brain stem is essential for survival. Our cerebellum is key to movement. Our subcortical structures are involved a lot in emotion and basic drives such as hunger, thirst, sex. Also our cortical structures are responsible for complex mental activity.

The Brainstem:
The Brainstem controls life sustaining autonomic functions, including breathing, digestion, heart rate, etc. There are three parts to the brain stem: Medulla oblongata, Pons, Midbrain

It also includes reticular formation, which has to do with alertness and sleep.

The Cerebellum:
Then we have our cerebellum which is a mini-brain in the back of our brains. What it does is that its really important for coordinated movement and balance. Our ability to close our eyes and touch our nose is thanks to our cerebellum. Coordinated movements are thanks to the cerebellum.

 When alcohol reaches the cerebellum, it has unfortunate consequence, because it makes you lose your balance. Think belly dancing to think of the cerebellum.

Subcortical Structures: The Hypothalamus

It is tiny but powerful it is the brains master regulatory structure. It connects the nervous system to the endocrine system. It is vital to: Fighting Fleeing Feeding Mating (Fucking).

Subcortical Structures: The Thalamus

It is the gateway to the brain. It is the gatekeeper of higher cognitive functioning. It receives all these sensory functions and decides where to direct all of these sensory functions except for smell. You can think of Hal & Amos two traffic cops getting a bunch of information and guiding traffic. Associate thalamus with relay stations. Tatiana and Krista Hogan are conjoined twins and part of the brain structure that they share is the thalamus. The way these two girls are conjoined is that they have different visual fields, but one will reach out and grab something that she cant reach in her visual field but the other can. This is really cool.

Subcortical Structures: The Hippocampus

The Hippocampus is the Greek name for seahorse because it looks like a seahorse. It is vital to the storage of new memories. It is vital to memory. "A hippo on campus? I'll never forget seeing that."

Subcortical Structures: The Amygdala:

Amygdala is essential to our ability to associate things with emotional responses. It is located in front of the hippocampus. It intensifies memorys function during times of emotional arousal. Among the many things the amygdala does is recognize the emotion conveyed in music. It intensifies memories during times of emotional arousal. We have a type of memory called the Flashbulb memory which are extremely vivid. These happen in times of extreme emotional arousal. Remember Queen Amidala and the fact that she's very emotional either fighting or fleeing or dying of fucking heartbreak.

Subcortical Structures: The Basal Ganglia

It is a system of subcortical nuclei (similarly structured neurons). For the most part these components are responsible for producing and planning movement: Caudate nucleus Putamen Globus pallidus Nucleus accumbens: It is important for the reward system of the brain a bunch of dopamine systems get activated when you do something pleasurable.

The Cerebral Cortex

Cortex means bark in Latin meaning like tree bark. It is the outer layer of the brain and it is divided into four different lobes.

The corpus callosum is a massive bridge of axons that connects the hemispheres and allows information to flow between them. The cerebral cortex is the wrinkled part of the brain we know the brain as - it's like that because it is so big that it has to be crumbled up to be in our skulls. The brain is actually the size of an open umbrella. These are the different lobes: Occipital lobes: right at the back of the head and it is important for vision. It is a primary visual cortex. (Ocee-peetal, vital for see-ing). Parietal lobes: the mid-top part of the brain and it is responsible for touch. Houses the primary somatosensory cortex. Temporal lobes: responsible for hearing. It houses the primary auditory cortex. Side of the brain, It has specialized vision centers as well which is responsible for seeing and recognizing faces. It is also home to the hippocampus and the amigdala, so it is important for memory. Frontal lobes: at the front of the brain, and important for planning and movement. It homes the primary motor cortex and the prefrontal cortex that makes you human and makes you who you are. In humans, the prefrontal cortex makes 30% of your brain.

The left side of the body receives signals from the right side of the body and vice versa.

Prefrontal Cortex:
Approximately 30% of the human brain belongs to the prefrontal cortex. The complexity of this structure may be even more important than its size. It is important for attention, working memory, decision making, social behavior, personality. In many ways, your prefrontal cortex is the part of your brain that makes you you. Phineas Gage was a railroad worker who had a rod go straight through his brain after an explosion, that he carried around and showed it to people as a souvenir. The biggest part of the brain that it damaged was the prefrontal cortex, and so he survived. He went to a coma for a couple of weeks and then came out of it and was a functioning human being who could walk

and talk and behave in normal ways except that there was extreme changes in his personality. He couldn't understand social norms for example. He was no longer him so a lot of his friends and his family left him because his behavior changed dramatically. There is controversial on how detrimental this all was but there is little information we have of him because it happened many years ago. He did die young. He only lived for 12 years after that. His wife left him, and his friends said that he no longer behaved in the same way, but it is not clear whether these persisted for the rest of his life or if it was just a period of time that he had these problems and he had to relearn these after a few years. The prefrontal cortex, therefore, is a very important part of the brain.

The Somatosensory and Motor Homunculus:

It is a little man (homunculus) in our brain. Connected parts of the body tend to be represented beside each other, like hands and thumbs. More sensitive regions tend to have more cortical area devoted to them, like lips and fingers.

Synesthesia:
It is unclear how common it is and researchers dont know why it happens. Ir has a genetic component to it. We have these different sensation areas in our brains that seem to be connected to one another neatly and what happens with synesthesia is that there is all this cross-talk with these different modules of the brain, so taste and touch and smell and hearing could be just overlapping with one another. Someone may taste bad because of their name for example. One hypothesis is that we have these connections in our brains to begin with and what happens is that these connections go away so we end up with these tightly-knit modules, and for those people with synesthesia, those connections don't go away like they usually do. It is not exactly clear if theres a gene responsible for this or how synesthesia occurs.

There is also the phantom limb syndrome, where someone loses a limb and they still feel their limb is there, and so people feel a touching on their cheek and their feel like somebodys touching their arm again you get a cross-talk between these different channels.

2012-10-10 2:19 AM

2012-10-10 2:19 AM