BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR

HYACINTH C . MANOOD , MD , FPPA

 FRONTAL LOBE:
 Voluntary movement
 Language production (left)
 Motor prosody (right)
 Comportment
 Executive function
 Motivation
 TEMPORAL LOBES
 Audition
 Language comprehension (left)
 Sensory prosody (right)
 Memory Emotion
 PARIETAL LOBES:
 Tactile sensation
 Visuospatial function (right)
 Reading (left)
Calculation (L)
 OCCIPITAL LOBES:
 Vision
 Visual perception

THE BASAL GANGLIA
l Mediate postural tone
l PARTS:
1. Corpus striatum – caudate and putamen
 Caudate acts as gatekeeper to allow the
motor system to perform only those acts that
are goal-directed. Studies correlated
decreased activation of caudate with OC
behavior, Tics and Tourette’s disorder.
2. Globus pallidus - receives input from the
corpus striatum and projects fibers to the
thalamus. This is damaged in Wilson’s
disease and carbon monoxide poisoning,
resulting in dystonic posturing and flapping
movements of arms and legs.
3. Substantia nigra – degenerates in Parkinson’s
disease
4. Subthalamic nucleus – yield ballistic
movements, sudden limb jerks.
5.
6.
6.

 THE AUTONOMIC MOTOR SYSTEM

l
l PARASYMPATHETIC – slows heart rate and begins
the process of digestion.
l
l SYMPATHETIC – mediates flight or fight response,
with increased heart rate, shunting of blood away
from the viscera, and increased respiration.

 Limbic System
The limbic system is comprised


of
 Hippocampus: involved in

learning and memory

 Amygdala: involved in

emotion; may mediate

anxiety and panic
 Mammillary Bodies

 The fornix is a fiber

bundle that
The limbic system had been implicated in
interconnects the neuropathological studies of schizophrenia.
hippocampus with The 4 A’s of Eugen Bleuler refer to brain
the mammillary functions served in part by the limbic
structures.
bodies
NEUROTRANSMITTERS
DOPAMINE
DA Tract Origin Innervation Function
Nigrostriatal Substantia nigra Caudate nucleus Extrapyradimal
movement

Mesolimbic Ventral tegmental Limbic areas Arousal, memory,

area stimulus
processing,
behavior
Mesocortical Ventral tegmental Frontal and pre- Cognition,
area frontal cortex communication,
social function
Stress response
Tubero- Hypothalamus Pituitary gland Regulates prolactin
infundibular release
area
 SEROTONIN
• Serotonin is synthesized from the amino acid Tryptophan.
• The synthesis of serotonin involve two reactions:
l 1) 1) Hydroxylation:
l Tryptophan 5- Hydroxytryptophan
• The enzyme catalyzes this reaction is Tryptophan Hydroxylase.
l The Co- factor is Tetrahydrobiopterin, which converted in this reaction to
Dihydrobiopterin.
l 2) 2) Decarboxylation:
l 5- hydroxytryptophan Serotonin
l The enzyme is hydroxytryptophan decarboxylase.
• Serotonin is synthesized in CNS, & Chromaffin cells.
l
l
 Break down of serotonin:

lSerotonin is degraded in two reactions

l
l
1) Oxidation: Monoamine oxidase
5-hydroxytryptoamine + O2 + H2O 5- Hydroxyinodole-3-acetaldehyde

2) Dehydrogenation
Aldehyde
5- Hydroxyinodole-3-acetaldehyde dehydrogenase
5-hydroxindole-3-acetate
(Anion of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid)
l

10
 The serotonergic pathway
showing the effects of
schizophrenia

The two key serotonergic pathways in

schizophrenia are the projections
from the dorsal raphe nuclei into the
substantia nigra and the projections
from the rostral raphe nuclei
ascending into the cerebral cortex,
limbic regions and basal ganglia. The
up-regulation of these pathways leads
to hypofunction of the dopaminergic
system, and this effect may be
responsible for the negative
symptoms of schizophrenia. The
serotonergic nuclei in the brainstem
that give rise to descending
serotonergic axons remain unaffected
in schizophrenia.
 AMINO ACIDS

lAmino acids are the most abundant

neurotransmitters in the brain. Nichols
suggested: “amino acids synapses
exceed those of all the other
neurotransmitters combined…amino
acids are responsible for almost all the
fast signaling between neurons, leaving
predominantly modulatory roles for the
other transmitters.”
l Glutamate is the major excitatory neurotransmitter and is
distributed in all regions of the brain. The major conditions
associated with this NT are EXCITOTOXICITY and
SCHIZOPHRENIA.


l GABA is the major inhibitory NT. The major conditions associated

with this are ANXIETY and SEIZURE DISORDER.


l Glycine does double duty as a mandatory adjunctive NT for

glutamate activity and as independent inhibitory NT at its own
receptors. Improvement of NMDA receptor activity by occupancy
of the glycine-binding site has been hypothesized to present an
adjunctive mode for the treatment of shizophrenia.
l
 Neuropeptides

Function of Neuropeptides:

There are cells in the brain that produce various neuropeptides, and
these neuropeptides do just about everything.

They can be either pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory, with anti-

inflammatory being preferred. They are responsible for many functions:

They control our mood, energy levels, pain and pleasure reception, body
weight, and ability to solve problems; they also form memories and
regulate our immune system.

These active little messengers in the brain actually turn on cellular

function in the skin.
l Substance P – Huntingtons dse., dementia of the Alzheimer’s type,
and mood disorders.
l
l Neurotensin – involved in pathophysiology of schizophrenia.
l
l Cholecystokinin – causes anxiety and triggers panic attacks in
people with panic disorder.
l
l Somatostatin – Huntington’s disease and dementia of the
Alzheimer’s type.
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l Vasopressin and Oxytocin - involved in regulation of mood.
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l Neuropeptide Y – stimulates appetite.
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THANK YOU & GOOD DAY