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Ark Verma
Roots of Behaviour
Various actions of the brain, the nerves, muscles & glands act in
consonance with each other to bring about our thoughts, emotions,
feelings & the sense of self.
the nervous system of more than 100 billion cells known as neurons.
a neuron is the cell in the human nervous system whose function is to receive and
transmit information.
a cell body or soma, which contains the nucleus of the cell and keeps the cell alive.
a branching tree-like fiber known as the dendrites, which collects information from
other cells and sends the information to the soma.
& a long, segmented fiber known as the axon, which transmits information from the
cell body towards other neurons or to the other muscles and glands.
the axons are surrounded by a myelin sheath, i.e. a layer of fatty tissue surrounding
the axon of a neuron that both acts as a insulator & allows for faster transmission of
the electrical signal.
Communication of Neurons
messages arriving from other neurons raise & lower the resting
potential.
if the electrical charge rises to about -50 mV, the neuron will
reach its threshold or trigger point for firing.
these tiny channels act like gates, which opens to allow the
sodium ions to rush into the axon.
the channels open first near the soma, & then throughout the
length of the axon as the action potential zips along.
after each nerve impulse, the cell briefly dips below its resting level
and becomes less willing or ready to fire. This negative afterpotential occurs because potassium (K+) ions flow out of the neuron
while the membrane gates are open.
instead of passing down the entire length of the axon, the action
potential jumps from gap to gap, a process called saltatory
conduction.
the dendrites will admit the neurotransmitters only if they are the
right shape to fit in the receptor sites on the receiving neuron, the
mechanism resembling that of a lock & key.
based on location:
based on function:
The Hindbrain sits on the top of the spinal cord, & it is crucial for
basic life functions.
Pons: above the medulla is the pons, important for the control of
attentiveness, as well as the timing of sleep. At this point, the
major nerve tracts coming up from the spinal cord cross over so
that the right side of the brain is connected to the left side of the
body and the left side of the brain is connected to the left side of
the body.
all of the sense receptors have nerve fibres that feed into the
reticular system, which appears to act as a filter. it allows some
sensory messages to pass to the cerebral cortex while blocking
others.
Cerebellum: attached to the rear of the brain stem slightly above the
medulla is a convoluted structure called the cerebellum.
The Forebrain:
the outer layer of the cerebrum is called the cerebral cortex (or
simply cortex), from the Latin word for bark.
Limbic System: around the central core of the brain and closely
interconnected with the hypothalamus is the limbic system, a set of
structures that impose additional control over some of the
instinctive behaviours regulated by the central core.
the rest of the cortex, which is neither sensory nor motor consists
of association areas.
these areas occupy the largest portion of the huma cortex and
are concerned with memory, thought & language.
the cortex is composed of two hemispheres on the left & the right
sides of the brain that are connected by a the corpus callosum.
the frontal
the parietal
the left side of the brain mainly controls the right side of the
body, while the right side mainly controls the left side of the
body.
after the right & left brain are separated, each hemisphere wil
have its own separate perceptions, concepts & impulses to act.
Interesting scenarios get created with split brain patients: for e.g. when
one split brain patient dressed himself, he sometimes pulled his pants up
with one hand (theat side of his brain wanted to get dressed) & pulled
down with the other (while this side did not).
Split brain patients are easiest to see in specialised testing. e.g. we flash
a $ sign to the right brain & a ? mark to the left brain of a patient name
Tom.
Next, Tom is asked to draw what he saw, using his left hand, out of
sight.
If Tom, is then asked to point with his right hand t a picture of what his
hidden left hand drew, he will point to a question mark (Sperry, 1968).
The Right Brain or the Left: both the hemispheres of the brain are
capable of performing most cognitive functions, however, one
might be more adept than the other at particular cognitive
functions.
the right hemisphere also helps one express emotions & detect the
emotions that the other people are feeling.
Why do the two halves of the brain differ with respect to different
cognitive functions?
The Frontal Lobes: the frontal lobes are associated with higher
mental abilities and play a role in your sense of self.
the homunculus map represents the dexterity of the body areas, not
their size.
the motor cortex is one brain area that contains mirror neurons,
those neurons which become active when we perform an action
and when we merely observe someone else carrying out the
same action.
the rest of the frontal lobes are often referred to as frontal association
areas. i.e. only a small portion of the cerebral cortex directly controls
the body or receives information from the senses;
The Temporal Lobes: the temporal lobes are located on each side of
the brain.
The Occipital Lobes: the occipital lobes are situated at the back of
the brain & are concerned with vision.
images from the retina are mapped onto the cortex, but the
map is greatly stretched & distorted (Carlson, 2010). visual
information creates complex patterns of activity in neurons, &
does not make a television like image.
for e.g. if we show Alice, an agnosia patient, a candle, she can see
it & describe it as a long narrow object, that tapers at the top.
Alice may also be able to draw the candle, but not name it.
In short, Alice can still see color, size, shape etc. but cant form
the associations necessary to perceive the meanings of objects.
Why?
Evolution of behaviour
e.g. When nerve genes are active, a cell develops a neuron because
the genes are directing the cell to make products that allow it to
perform neural functions.
genes, like chromosomes, exist in pairs. one gene of each pair comes
from the father & mother.
that is why, two human beings, even siblings are extremely unlikely
to inherit exactly the same set of genes.
when one gene is dominant & the other recessive, the dominant
gene determines the form of the trait.
then a blue - eyed child may have two blue eyed parents, one
blue eyed parent & one brown eyed parent (who carries a
recessive gene for blue eyes), or two brown eyed parents (each of
whom carries a recessive gene for blue eyes).
a brown eyed child, in contrast, never has two blue eyed parents.
PKU results from the action of a recessive gene inherited from bothe
parents.
children with PKU are severely retarded & usually die before
reaching the age of 30 years.
Now, that the HD gene has been isolated, geneticists can test
individuals at risk for HD & determine whether they carry the gene.
Twin Studies
monozygotic or identical
dizygotic or fraternal
studies that compare identical & fraternal twins help sort out the
influences of environment & heredity.
identical twins are also more similar than fraternal twins in some
personality characteristics and in susceptibility to schizophrenia.
a recent study shows that the amount of gray matter in the barin is
more correlated in identical than in fraternal twins & it is also
correlated with intelligence.
but people who carry the genetic potential for diabetes do not
always develop the disease. also, if one the identical twins has
diabetes, the other twin develops diabetes in only about half the
cases.
Why?