PSYCH 260.001 2023 Spring Lecture Notes
About
1
Course intro
Prelude
Today’s topics
People
Teaching Assistant
Professor
Structure of the course
What is this course about?
Genes
Neurotransmitters
Neurons
Networks
Brains
Behavior
Keys for success
Why is biology essential for the science of behavior?
What is science?
Science vs. other ways of thinking
Similarities among sciences
Examples
Differences among sciences
What is neuroscience?
Spatial and temporal scales in neuroscience
Why neuroscience is harder than physics
2
Systems
Related ideas
Non-biological examples
Systems have
May be thought of as networks
Why is studying systems so hard?
Extra credit assignment
3
History of neuroscience
Powers of Ten
Announcement
Warm-up
Neuroscience is harder than physics because…
Systems have all of the following components EXCEPT:
Why study history?
Pre/Early history
Trephining
(trepanning)
Egyptians (1,500-3,000 BCE)
Beer-making (~5,000 BCE)
Greek and Roman era
Galen
(~177 CE)
What did early humans know about the mind and brain?
Why didn’t they know more?
The “dark” ages (in Europe, not elsewhere)
Renaissance and the Enlightenment: New technologies, new ideas
Leonardo da Vinci
(~1508)
Andreas Vesalius
(1543)
René Descartes – mid 1600’s
Pineal gland
Other milestones
Some lessons from early history
4
Levels of analysis
Spatial resolution
Spatial and Temporal Resolution
Why does this matter?
Spatial Resolution in Detail
Temporal Resolution in Detail
5
Methods
Evaluating methods
Types of methods
Structural methods
Cellular methods
Whole-brain imaging
Functional methods
Types of functional methods
Recording from the brain
Single/multi-unit Recording
Single/multi-unit recording
Electrocorticography (ECoG)
Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
Electroencephalography (EEG)
Brain Computer Interface (BCI)
Magneto-encephalography (MEG)
Manipulating the brain
Stimulating the brain
Sim
ulating the brain
Spatial and Temporal Resolution revisited
6
Neuroanatomy
Finding our way around
Brain anatomy through dance
Directional terms
Planar (slice) terms
Supporting structures
Meninges
Ventricular system or Cerebral Ventricles
Blood Supply
Organization of the Nervous System
Central Nervous System (CNS) vs. Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)
Interactive brain atlas
Organization of the brain
Components of the brain
Hindbrain
Midbrain
Forebrain
Diencephalon (“between” brain)
Telencephalon
Spinal cord
Organization of the PNS
Cranial nerves
Autonomic nervous system (ANS)
7
Cells of the nervous system
How many cells in the nervous system?
Human vs. non-human cells
How many neurons and glia?
Mass of neurons and non-neurons
Glia (neuroglia)
Astrocytes
Myelinating cells
Oligodendrocytes
Schwann cells
Microglia
Neurons
Fun facts about neurons
Macrostructure of neurons
Dendrites
Soma (cell body)
Axons
Synaptic bouton (terminal button)
Classifying neurons
How do neurons communicate?
Two communication ‘modes’
Types of neural electrical potentials
Resting potential
Ion channels
Neuron at rest permeable to
\(K^+\)
Force of diffusion
The resting potential
Summary of forces in neuron at rest
What happens if something changes?
Action potential
Phases of the action potential
What’s a
\(Na^+\)
/
\(K^+\)
pump?
Refractory phases (periods)
Generating action potentials
Nodes of Ranvier
How action potentials propagate
Axon is like an electrical cable
Propagation in unmyelinated axon
Propagation in myelinated axon
Conduction velocities
Information processing
8
Neural communication
Why nervous systems?
8.0.1
From 0 to 37%
Escherichia Coli (E. Coli)
Paramecium
Caenorhabditis Elegans (C. Elegans)
Nervous systems are communication systems
Synaptic communication
Action potential propagates from soma
Action potential arrival at synapse triggersneurotransmitter (NT) release
NTs diffuse across synaptic cleft & bind to next neuron
Postsynaptic receptor types
Two types of postsynaptic potentials
NT inactivated by multiple mechanisms
Types of synapses
Neurotransmitters
Amino acids
Acetylcholine (ACh)
Monoamines
Other NTs
Non-chemical communication between neurons
Ways to think about synaptic communication
Agonists vs. Antagonists
9
Hormones and the brain
Background
Hormones are…
Substances that are both hormones and neurotransmitters
Physiological responses and behaviors under hormonal influence
Commonalities
Differences: Neural vs. hormonal communication
Similarities: Neural vs. hormonal communication
Biology
Two hypothalamus/pituitary release systems
Case studies
Case 1: Responses to threat or challenge
Case 2: Reproductive behavior – the milk letdown reflex
10
Evolution and development
Evolution
Public attitudes toward…
Principles of evolution
Evidence for evolution
Why Gilmore thinks evolution is controversial (in the U.S.)
Evolution of the human brain
Take homes
Development
What must develop
Timeline of milestones
Human infancy & early childhood
Summary of developmental milestones
11
Psychopathology
Background
Serious Mental Illness among Adults in the Past Year
Neuroscience of psychiatric disorders
Depression
Major Depressive Disorder
Neurobiology of
Treatments for depression
Depression’s impact
Bipolar disorder
Background
(Neuro)biology of
BP summed-up
Schizophrenia
Background
Biological bases
Schizophrenia summed up
12
Emotion
Biology of Emotion
What is emotion?
What is cause? What is effect?
What are the different types of emotions?
Is emotion distinct from cognition?
Where
in the brain is emotion processed?
“Locationist” account
Constructionist account
Happiness and reward
Components of happiness
“Computing” pleasure
Brain mechanisms
Rewards
Psychopharmacology of ‘happiness’
Generalizations about happiness/pleasure
Fear and stress
Inducing “fear-like” behavior in non-human animals
Amygdala
Cerebral cortex
Amygdala as processing hub
Stress
Main points
13
Sensory and motor systems
Sensory systems
My smartphone and me…
My turn…
Dimensions of sensory processing
Mrs. Potraz was wrong…there aren’t 5 senses
Somatosensation
Types of somatosensation
Internal senses
External senses
Combined thermo (heat/cold) and chemo-receptors
Size/speed trade-off
From skin to brain
Summing up…somatosensory exteroception
Somatosensory interoception
Pain
The neuroscience of pain
Action
The neuroscience of action
Disorders of movement
Summing up: Action
Vision
Background
On cameras and eyes
Parts of the eye
Photoreceptors
From eye to brain
Beyond V1
What is vision for?
Computer vision inspired by biological vision
14
Learning & memory
Background
What is learning?
What is memory?
Memory capacity of the human brain?
Computer memory vs. brain memory
Biological bases of memory
Types
Mechanism(s)
Hebbian learning
‘Hebbian’ learning via NMDA receptor
Learning “causal chains”
Summary
Disorders of memory
Amnesia
Alzheimer’s Disease (AD)
Summing up
15
Speed lab
Background
Question
Prediction
Method
Results
Discussion
Limitations
How to replicate/extend/modify
16
The Cerebral Symphony
Exam 4 Review
History
Methods
Anatomy
Cellular anatomy
Neurophysiology
Neurochemistry
Evolution and development
Disorder and disease
Emotion
Perception and Action
Memory
Frontiers in neuroscience
Beyond the connectome
Brain dynamics
Brain/gut connection
Glia
Careers in neuroscience
Job prospects
Interviewing
The Cerebral Symphony
References
17
Exam study guides
Exam 1
Neuroanatomy
Methods
Cells
Exam 2
Methods
Neuroanatomy
Resting & action potentials
Neurotransmitters
Hormones
Evolution
Exam 3
Methods
Neuroanatomy
Neurochemistry
Evolution & Development
Psychopathology
Emotion
Sensory systems
Exam 4
18
Supplemental
2023-01-12
Neuroscience is harder than physics because…
Systems have all of the following components EXCEPT:
2023-01-17
Leonardo da Vinci created wax casts of which fluid-filled structure in the forebrain?
Decartes was a philosophical
dualist
. This means he believed that…
This cell stain fills entire neurons, but only a small fraction of the total number
Structural methods have high/low
temporal
resolution
2023-01-19
What kind of structural brain imaging technique does this image represent?
Which of the following functional methods has
temporal
resolution on the order of seconds?
Which of the following methods has high/fine
spatial
resolution?
Which measure(s) would you use to map connections between brain areas?
2023-01-24
Announcements
What substance is generated in and flows through the cerebral ventricles and the central canal of the spinal cord?
Which of the cerebral ventricles is adjacent to the hindbrain (cerebellum, pons, and medulla)?
The brain and spinal cord are both part of the _____ nervous system; unlike the ______ nervous system, they are ______ in bone.
2023-01-26
Announcements
What hindbrain area’s name means ‘little brain’?
What part of the midbrain is especially activated when a cat chases a laser pointer?
2023-01-31
The somatosensory cortex (S-I) is located in which lobe of the cerebral cortex?
If sympathetic nervous system activation is like the accelerator pedal in a car, parasympathetic activation is like the _______?
The cauda equina is the region in the spine where…
Some good examples of systems
2023-02-02
2023-02-06
The neuron’s
resting potential
is approximately what voltage?
If only potassium ions
\(K^+\)
and organic anions
\(A^-\)
were in a neuron, what would the voltage across the neuron (its membrane potential) be?
At the
peak
of the action potential, the force of diffusion pushes
\(K^+\)
_______ and the electrostatic force pushes
\(K^+\)
______.
2023-02-14
Announcements
EyeWire extra credit opportunity
2023-02-16
Monoamine Song
These images are examples of what structural imaging technique?
What maintains the intracellular (inside)/extracellular (outside) concentration differences of K+ and Na+ ions?
Which ventral midbrain region is one of the main sites for neurons that release neuromodulators (e.g., dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin)?
Which of the following marks the medial boundary of the frontal lobe(s)?
Nodes of Ranvier, or gaps in the myelination of an axon, serve which purpose?
The
presynaptic influx
of which ion triggers the release of neurotransmitters from the axon terminal?
This type of postsynaptic receptor does
NOT
contain its own ion channel.
2023-02-21
Announcements
Black widow spider venom causes paralysis by impeding the normal function of which neurotransmitter system?
With one exception, the monoamine neurotransmitters bind to what type of receptors?
The
outward
flow of this ion across the neural membrane creates what kind of PSP?
2023-02-23
The SAM axis consists of all of the following components except:
The HPA axis consists of all of the following components except:
Oxytocin is often called the ‘love’ hormone because:
Announcements
2023-03-02
2023-03-14
2023-03-19
2023-03-21
Announcements
2023-03-23
2023-03-28
18.0.1
Announcements
2023-04-04
2023-04-08
2023-04-11
Prelude
Announcements
Which type of muscle fiber is also a sensory organ?
How many synapses are involved in the circuit connecting the Ia (stretch receptor) sensory afferent in a muscle to the
\(\alpha\)
motor neuron activating the
same
muscle?
Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease are similar in that both affect this part of the brain.
2023-04-13
Announcements
Lasik surgery reshapes this part of the eye that accounts for 2/3 of the eye’s total refractive power.
The fovea provides high acuity information about a ______ deg portion of the visual field.
The rod photoreceptors are ______ numerous than cones in the human retina.
2023-04-18
Announcements
Why does Gilmore say the retina is anatomically ‘inside-out’?
Visual information from the retina projects to the ______ which controls circadian rhythms.
Hubel and Wiesel did not find many cells in V1 that had center-surround receptive fields because…
2023-04-20
Announcements
What neurotransmiter is the main chemical trigger for the NMDA receptor?
All of the following are types of associative learning EXCEPT
The idea that memories are stored by physical changes in the brain is a relatively recent idea, TRUE or FALSE?
2023-04-25
Announcements
2023-04-28
Announcements
References
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PSYCH 260/BBH 203 Spring 2023 notes
PSYCH 260/BBH 203 Spring 2023 notes
Rick O. Gilmore, Ph.D.
2023-04-26
About
These lecture notes are for your use as a student in PSYCH 260.