Behavioral Neuroscience UMB

Sensory sorting and relay center

specialized tissues that detect only a specific stimulus

within sensory receptor organs, convert stimulus into an electrical signal that neurons can make sense of

They "drive" on different highways! ("labeled lines")

The pattern of action potentials that determines what you're actually sensing!

Whenever a relayed stimulus crosses over to the other side of the spinal cord to reach the opposite side of the brain than where the stimulus occurred (hit left foot, travels to right brain)

sound waves! air moving! vibrations!

Three parts! The pinna (outer ear), the middle ear (like a drum head, responds to vibration), and the inner ear (translated from stimulus into action potential)

malleus, incus, stapes

through passing vibrations from part to part! from ear drum to bones to oval window

The location on the basilar membrane that is vibrated (snail thing cochlear)

the first part of processing a stimulus, usually named after the sense in some way

covered in little hairs, called the Organ of Corti

Location of what happens on basilar membrane + coding (pattern of action potentials) specifically referred to as volley theory

receives information from the primary cortex for further processing

where information from 2+ senses come together

these cells physically move with vibration (like seaweed) when the tips move, they pull open (+) ion channels and send signals to a neuron

No! you get patterns of activation or numbers of neurons that determine strength

The loss of response to a stimulus that is constantly occurring (seeing your nose, feeling clothes)

Cranial nerve 8

higher brain centers make stimulus more or less intense (pain)

state of awareness of inputs

The primary auditory cortex

A map of where tones / frequencies are heard in the brain (processed further later)

The "hairs" on the cells are ripped off by the soundwaves

sounds cannot reach the cochlea, problems with ear prevent sound from reaching it

problems w/ cochlea or the pathway from the ear to the brain (nerve lesion)

hearing loss caused by brain lesion

They only help sensorineural deafness have transmitters under skin that act as microphone / electric current to bypass the cohclea or hair cells

3 fluid filled tubes attached to the cochlea (not part of it)

fluid filled sacs that respond to static head positions

bony crystals within the utricle and saccule

feeling of nausea caused by passive movements (conflict btween visual and vetsibular system)

Smell and taste

Special form of learning i.e stomach flu and avoiding the triggering food, uses different pathways for learning

contains specialized receptor neurons which span from the top of sinus to brain

NO! different cells have different receptors

G protein coupled receptors

no! It can go directly to olfactory cortex sometimes, or to the amygdala

inability to smell (caused by blow to the head, or congenital)

secondary olfactory system that can detect pheromones (vestigial in humans)

Five - salty, sour, sweet, bitter, umami

sensory structures of the tongue, each one has multiple taste buds

10-14 days

The chemicals coming in! Salty = na + ions, sour = hydrogen ions, sweet = usually high calorie foods, bitter = very sensitive bc most poisons are bitter, umami: metabotropic gultamate receptor

Movement

reflex, movement, acts, motor program

simple, stereotyped response to a stimulus

brief activity of a muscle or body part

more complex movements (putting on your shoe)

the plan for movement that takes place in the nervous system

Usually an EMG (electromyography) or a visual guided reaching task (doesnt measure muscle but accuracy)

The skeleton + joints

muscle fibers that contract in groups, made of mysosin and actin

The myosin heads velcro onto actin fulaments and pull in

Smooth muscle (controlled by autonomic nervous system) & striated musce (under voluntary control)

Fast twitch (rapid, fatigue easily) and slow twitch (slower, resistant to fatigue)

They are innervated by motor neurons (directly synapse onto)

Acetylcholine is at the nueromuscular junction

information sent up to the brain about where your body is in space, uses receptory cells embedded in muscle fibers

A spindle wrapped around muscle that stretches with the muscle and causes an action potential

gamma motoneurons

That sensory feedback is overridden temporarily

Its a function, but not a physical thing, thousands of motor neuons that generate rhythmic behavior

primary motor cortex --> Brainstem --> Spinal cord --> Muscles

They are made prenatally in the womb

There are cranial nerves that also have motor control

Well its always both, but some neurons are dedicated to specific muscles but also some active during both (more for movement not muscle)

NO! its plastic, synapses change

No! the supplementary motor area (SMA), Premotor cortex, Cerebellum, and basal ganglia

It initiates sequences of movement

This tracks movements of others and responding to external stimuli

Muscular dystrophy (muscle itself degenerates), Myasthenia gravis (develops antibodies to your own acetylcholine receptors), Polio (virus destroys spinal motoneurons), Luo Gehrig's disease - amyotrophic lateral scelrosis: motoneurons die, degenerates posterior to anterior, Stroke - damage to the brain caused dfficulty with motor if damage is in motor area, spinal cord injuries,

Parkinson's and Huntington's

causes tremors, loss of muscle tone and difficulty in movement esp in initating movement. Thought to be caused by death of dopamine containing neurons in substantia nigra (which connects to basal ganglia) and Lewy Bodies are made (gunk)

Also caused by damamge to neurons in basal ganglia, patients usually show execssive movemnt, is inherited, gene on chromsome 4

Your body being in proper "balance" [in the proper window]

A sensor, a responding mechanism and regulation (via negative feedback)

Via physiological and behavioral components!

The passive movement of molecules from one place to another in fluids

There is too much fluid outside of cells, the cells become dehydrated and the person is signaled to drink

"low volume" thirst, aka you're thirsty because you dont have enough fluid in you

Vasopressin (antidiuretic hormone) (made in posterior pituitary) & Aldosterone (causes kidney to retain sodium)

Much more easily stored

The amount of glucose in your blood, maintained by insulin (pancreas)

Type 1 - pancreas does not make insulin, Type 2 - body no longer responds to insulin (insulin resistance is a precusor) (diet is a contributor but also genetics + comorbidity)

NO!!! its much more complex

Neuropeptide Y (NPY) - increases motivation to eat and lowers metabolism, Agouti-related Peptide (AgRP)- stimulates apeptides by suppressing effects of MSH, Ghrelin - made in gut stimulates appetite (levels fall after meal except in obese populations) + Endorphins

Melanocortins - inhibits orexigenic neurons in lateral hypothalamus, CART (cocaine and amphetamine regulated transcript) - inhibit appetite and raise metabolism, Cholecystokinin (CCK) - hormones relased by the gut and acts on receptors on the vagus nerve to inhibit appetite, PYY - is cereted by cells in intestines and acts in opposition to ghrelin

A hormone produced by only fat cells, mutations in leptin signallingeceptor false reports not enough body fat and organism overeats

The hypothalamus (+ vagus nerve has direct input)

Hormones come into the arcuate nucleus, communicates to second order neurons orexigneic and anorgexigenicnucleus, which then communicate tp brainstem (nucleus of the solitary tract),

not seen commonly in wild animals, Anorexia nervosa - hormones normal to high, but do not feel hunger (mismatch in physiology and cognition), Bullimia - another cognition disorder both can be fatal, Obesity - body fat tends to remain stable (even removal is transient) BMI is not informative

"approximately a day" - most animals show 24 hour rhythms in everything from activity to hormone levels

Active during light

Active during night

An "internal clock", cells removed from body still show patterns, usually entrained by external cues like light

Your body is "expecting" a cue that it doesnt get at the right time

An external cue, if there are no you get a free running circadian rhythms

clock and cycle (forms dimer), Crypotchrome (cry), Period (per), Tau

Clock and cycle

Glutamate release in the SCN when special rential cells detect light

Eating, mating,

You cant interfere or youll wake your subject! So we use EEG

Slow wave and REM (rapid eye movement)

stage 1 - irregular and small (a few minutes), Stage 2 - defined by specific types of EEG activity, stage 3: very slow waves (delta), stage 4: delta waves present about half the time (3 and 4 hard to seperate)

most vivid dreams occur during this (but not exclusively), paralyzed from neck down

About 90 minutes

Affects 1-2% of the population, key symptom is dissociative thinking

Positive - adds something new that you wouldnt have, Negative - takes away "normal" behaviors

Enlarged ventricles, especially in males, and smaller hippocampus (w/ disorganized neurons) and amygdala

Dopamine and Glutamate

Well blocking dopamine receptors helps alleviate symptoms but patients have normal levels, it seems to matter where it is (frontal cortex)

Blocking NMDA helps both positive and negative symptoms, but its very complex (many players)

Some basis of genetics, seen more often in women than men (may be an equity issue),

Post partum (obv woman only), and maybe a psychosocial cause

Unipolar - "clinical depression" alternates w/ normal states, Bipolar - "bipolar disorder" depression alternates w/ mania

Increased activity in preforntal cortex + amygdala + portions involved in attention + connections to reward pathway

reduced norepinephrine and especially serotonin (monoamines)

Electro shock therapy - ECT because it induces release of monoamines or transcraminal magnetic stimulation (same concept, more subtle)

Long lag time between treatment and alieviation of symptoms, ssris increase suicide risk in children + adolescents, talk therapy + meds best treatment

depression may be caused by HPA dsyfunction and have high levels of glucocorticoids

Phobic disorders, panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder

"stuck in the taumatic memory" deficits in short term memory, amnesia, projections to amygdala are altered (cannot suppress),

Fear conditioning - unpleasant stimulus + NMDA antagonist

Obsessive intrusive thoughts and compulsive acts that reduce anxiety caused by thoughts, hereditary component and may be triggered by infections

Serotontin function specficially in parts of the prefrontal cortex

Benzodiazepines (enhance GABA action), not actually a great treatment, SSRI's sometimes help

gamma motoneurons