The Cerebral Symphony

2025-12-11

Rick Gilmore

Department of Psychology

Prelude

– Rlzee (2010)

Announcements

  • Exam 4 (Final), 4:40-6:30 pm in 114 Steidle
  • 40 questions + bonus

Today’s topics

  • Jore Adegboyo presentation
  • Exam 4 review
  • Frontiers in neuroscience
  • Careers in neuroscience
  • The Cerebral Symphony

Exam 4 Review

History

  • Descartes thought ____ about the ____
  • What fluid fills the cerebral ventricles? This fluid was once thought to ____

Methods

  • Single unit recordings have ____ spatial and ____ temporal resolution.
  • EEG has____ spatial and ____ temporal resolution.
  • Single unit recordings measure ____; EEG measures ____.

Anatomy

  • Directional terms, slices
    • In the human forebrain ____ and superior are analogous to one another.
  • Gross anatomy
    • The ____ means “little brain” in Latin; it’s located adjacent to _____.
    • The ____ and ____ in the midbrain release dopamine.
    • The ____ controls endocrine and ANS activity.

Anatomy

  • Gross anatomy
    • The insula is located deep inside the ____.
    • The amygdala is located in what lobe?
    • Primary auditory cortex is located where?

Cellular anatomy

  • Neurons receive most of their input on the ____ and ____.
  • Gray matter is made of ____; white matter is made of ____.

Neurophysiology

  • Resting potential
    • In neuron at rest, ____ inside is greater than outside; What force(s) ____ push Na+ inward?
  • Ca++ influx is involved in ____, ____, and ____.
  • When Na+ enters a postsynaptic terminal, it creates what kind of potential?
  • EPSP/IPSPs are ____ than action potentials.

Neurophysiology

  • Nodes of Ranvier contain lots of ____-gated channels
  • The absolute refractory period occurs when voltage-gated Na+ channels ____
  • Action potential phases, causes, components
  • Synaptic transmission
    • EPSPs, IPSPs
  • Synaptic plasticity, LTP, NMDA receptors

Neurochemistry

  • ‘Big Three’ – Glu, GABA, ACh
    • Which neurotransmitter is bound at the majority of synapses in the CNS?
  • What factors distinguish neuromodulators (DA, NE, 5-HT, etc.) from other NTs?

Neurochemistry

  • Hormones
    • Oxytocin, vasopressin are released from ____.
  • Can we readily measure neurotransmitter levels in the brain?
  • Midbrain structures that release dopamine are _______ and _______.

Evolution and development

  • There is a “mammalian” brain plan (True/False)

Disorder and disease

  • What are some structural changes in the brain associated with major depressive disorder and schizophrenia?
  • _____ are a relatively new, fast-acting treatment for depression.
  • True or False: There exist convenient tests for monoamine neurotransmitter levels equivalent to the blood test available for Lithium.

Disorder and disease

  • How strong is the evidence that serotonin deficits are common in MDD?

Emotion

  • The ____ lobe contains the amygdala.
  • What neurotransmitter is released when animals detect differences between anticipated and actual rewards?
  • Fear, stress in behavior and brain
    • Acute vs. chronic stress

Emotion

  • How does the threat conditioning task induce fear or stress in non-human animals?
  • Difference between homeostatic and allostatic mechanisms.
  • Steps in the cortisol release pathway.

Perception and Action

  • Sensory fibers enter the (dorsal/ventral) spinal cord. Motor fibers exit from the (dorsal/ventral) spinal cord.
  • Parietal lobe contains ____ cortex
  • Areas of cortex devoted to moving fingers, tongue or other areas of the body with high tactile acuity are (large/small)

Perception and Action

  • Minty flavors taste `cool’ because…
  • Topographic maps: somatosensation, audition, vision, action
  • Sensory fibers enter the ______ part of the spinal cord; motor fibers exit from the ______ part.

Perception and action

  • What does the vestibulo-ocular reflex do?
  • Receptive fields: how size varies with perceptual sensitivity.
  • Both Parkinson’s and Huntington’s Disease cause disruption in what forebrain structure.

Memory

  • Long-term Potentiation (LTP) involves neuron A’s connection to neuron B ____
  • NMDA receptor opens when sending cell ____ and receiving cell ____.
  • In anterograde amnesia
    • ____ is impaired; ____ is spared.
  • NMDA receptors and Hebbian learning

Frontiers in neuroscience

Beyond the connectome

Bargmann (2012) Figure 2

Brain dynamics

Breakspear (2017) Figure 3

Brain/behavior dynamics via AI

Mathis & Mathis (2025)

Mathis & Mathis (2025)

Brain/gut connection

Furness (2012)

Glia

De Pittà & Berry (2019)

Disorder & disease

GBD 2019 Dementia Forecasting Collaborators (2022) Figure 3. Percentage change between 2019 and 2050 in all-age number of individuals with dementia by country.

Careers in neuroscience

Job prospects

“Employment in healthcare occupations is projected to grow 15 percent from 2019 to 2029, much faster than the average for all occupations, adding about 2.4 million new jobs. Healthcare occupations are projected to add more jobs than any of the other occupational groups. This projected growth is mainly due to an aging population, leading to greater demand for healthcare services.”

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Kinds of jobs

Improve your prospects

  • College is only the end of the beginning
  • Acquire skills
  • B.A./B.S. vs. M.S. vs. Ph.D. vs. Psy.D. vs. M.D.
  • Post-bacc job experience
  • Keep networking, keep in touch
  • Don’t despair

“Pennsylvania population by year, county, race, & more” (2025)

Interviewing

  • Getting an interview
    • Show initiative & impact
  • During interview
    • Come prepared – why this job? why this organization?
    • Dress professionally
    • Be engaged, ask questions

The Cerebral Symphony

– smalin (2011)

References

Bargmann, C. I. (2012). Beyond the connectome: How neuromodulators shape neural circuits. BioEssays: News and Reviews in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, 34(6), 458–465. https://doi.org/10.1002/bies.201100185
Breakspear, M. (2017). Dynamic models of large-scale brain activity. Nature Neuroscience, 20, 340–352. https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.4497
De Pittà, M., & Berry, H. (2019). A Neuron–Glial perspective for computational neuroscience. In M. De Pittà & H. Berry (Eds.), Computational glioscience (pp. 3–35). Cham: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00817-8_1
Furness, J. B. (2012). The enteric nervous system and neurogastroenterology. Nature Reviews. Gastroenterology & Hepatology, 9(5), 286–294. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrgastro.2012.32
GBD 2019 Dementia Forecasting Collaborators. (2022). Estimation of the global prevalence of dementia in 2019 and forecasted prevalence in 2050: An analysis for the global burden of disease study 2019. The Lancet. Public Health, 7, e105–e125. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(21)00249-8
Mathis, M. W., & Mathis, A. (2025). Joint modelling of brain and behaviour dynamics with artificial intelligence. Nature Reviews. Neuroscience, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41583-025-00996-1
Pennsylvania population by year, county, race, & more. (2025, December 11). Retrieved December 11, 2025, from https://usafacts.org/data/topics/people-society/population-and-demographics/our-changing-population/state/pennsylvania/
Rlzee. (2010, October). Immortal Beloved   Ode to Joy Scene. YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qWbcosJdtU
smalin. (2011). Beethoven, symphony 9, 4th movement (complete) ode to joy, presto, philharmonia baroque. YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljGMhDSSGFU