• To understand, treat and prevent behavioral disorders
• To understand the role of the brain/behavior and consciousness
• To understand brain/behavior evolution
• Changes in Behavior are reflected in functional change in brain function
• These goals are complimentary and function best when all are functioning together

• Exposure to anxiety producing situations in a controlled environment in an attempt to unlearn your current association and relearn an association with that situation that does not produce anxiety- Used to help reduce anxiety in situations such as Public Speaking

Small doses of Cycloserine helps improve associative learning. This drug is often given in small doses (only) pre-therapy session in attempt to increase amount of associations with anxiety inducing event to help patient relearn a new association. Results from graph suggest that the drug improved the effectiveness of therapy sessions.

Brain

- Is bilaterally symmetrical

-Lateralization of function exists between both sides of the brain

-Brain has a lot of sulci and gyri, these 2 characteristics are often species typical (Ex: Humans have these cracks and bump patterns consitentebtly but not necessarily exact)

Forebrain (Pink) 

• prominent in mammals and birds, responsible for most conscious behaviors
• Basically your cerebellum
• Has two nearly symmetrical Halves called hemispheres (one on left and one on right)

Brainstem- (Red)

• responsible for most of our unconscious behaviors
•    Sensorimotor parts are located here

What is the Cerebral Cortex?

• The entire outer layer of the forebrain
• Consists of a thin, folded layer of nerve tissue
• We have alot of cerbral cortex b/c it has a large surface area & due to the folds/folding in the brain
• Cortex is latin for bark of a tree, considering the cortex's heavily folded surface and location (covers most of the rest of the brain)
• These brain folds are not random

Suclis- a groove in the brain taht usually is found in the neo-cortex or the cerebellum

Gyri- bump in the brain that is formed by foldings of the cerebral cortex

1. Frontal Lobe
2. Parietal Lobe
3. Occipital Love
4. Temporal Lobe

What is the Function of the Frontal Lobe?

• Cerebral Cortex located on top of the skull, behind the frontal love and above the temporal lobe
• Lies posterior to the central sulcus (blue divider) and beneath the parietal bone at the top of the skull
• Helps direct our movements toward a goal or to perform a task (Ex: Grasping an Object)

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• Area at the back of each hemisphere beneath the occipital bone
• Cerebral Cortex where visual processes begin

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• Located on the side of the brain
• Lies below the lateral fissure, beneath temporal bone at the side of the skull 
• (approximately same place where thumb on your upraised fist)
• Cortex that functions with hearing, language and musical abilities

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What are the two main structures of the Central Nervous System (CNS) ?

Briefly: CNS 

-The brain and spinal cord that together mediate behavior

-Considered "central" both b/c it is physically located to be the core of the nervous sytem and it is the core structure mediating behavior

1) Brain

-Encased in bone (skull)

-Neurons or nerve cells most directly control behavior

2) Spinal Cord

• Part of CNS encased within the vertebrae (spinal column) 
• Provides most of the connections between the brain and rest of the body
• Descends from the brain sem through a canal in the backbone

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What is the Peripheral Nervous System Functionality? (Both Divisions) 

PNS

• All the neurons with projections outside the brain and spinal cord

1) Somatic Division

• Conveys sensory information to the CNS and motor info from the CNS to the skeletal muscles
• Soma means "body"

2) Autonomic Nerous System

• Enables the CNS to govern the workings of the internal organs (Ex: heartbeat, respiration, digestion)

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• You need input and output with the brain to function properly
• Sensory input is crucial to proper thinking
• Much crucial sensory input comes from sensing ones own motions 
• Lack of sensory input (Ex: Floating in water experiment) can lead to many issues and disturbia/hallucinations

• These patterns include movements, vocalizations, thinking that involve behaviors such as smiling
• Question arose: How can you measure thinking?
• Electrical brain monitoring and biochemical processes can bet measured 

Mentalism 

-an explanation of behavior as a function of the non-material mind

-influenced modern behavioral scientific terms including: sensation, perception, attention, imagination, emotion, motivation etc.

Aristotle

• Proposed that the psyche (synonym for mind) was an entity that was the source of human behavior/intellectualemotional functions
• Believed the brain cooled the blood, no role in producing behavior
• Referred to as the mind (anglo-Saxon word for memory derived from psyche) and cannot be studied with scientific methods 

Materialism- Behavior can be fully explained by the workings of the nervous system

Natural Selection:

-Explanation for how new species evolve and existing species change over time

-Differential success in reproduction by organisms with different characteristics (phenotypes) results from the interaction of organisms with their environment

Sidenotes:

Important Implications of Natural Selection:

1) B/c all animal species are related, so too must their brains

2)B/c all animal species are related, so to is their behavior

3)Both brain and behavior changed bit by bit in animals that evolved to greater complexity, as humans obviously did

1. Appearance of New trait (ex: through mutation)
2. Adaptive Trait
3. Increases chances of survival
4. Trai passed on to offspring

*These steps increase cahnce of survival but more importantly reproduction*

Common Ancestor

-A forebarearer from which two or more lineages or family groups arise (Ex: Humans and apes are thought to share a common ancestor)

-We can trace our lineage by comparing the genes, brains and behaviors of different animals

-Def: Branch of biology concerned with naming and classifying species

• Groups organism with common characteristics
• Useful for helping us trace the evolution of brain cells and the brain
• Even a simple network of neurons can produce seemingly complex behavior (EX Sea anemone video)
• King Phillip Cuts Open Five Green Snakes (Kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species)

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Def: Displays groups of related organisms as branches on a tree

-Nerve Net: extremely simple organisms have this. It has no structure that resembles a brain or spinal cord but consists entirely of neurons that receive sensory info and connect directly to other neurons that move muscles

• If we look at just animals, we look at the similarities of the nervous system and behaviors
  •Various aspects of the nervous system exist among taxonomy
  •In segmented nerve trunk, segmented sections of the nervous system exist that can perform tasks individual of the other sections
  •The further you move down the line, ganglia exist that begin to represent something similar to brains
  
  
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Def: a phylum that consiss of frogs, humans, fish and birds

-Chordates display the greatest degree of variation in encephalization (meaning in the head)

-Behavioral complexity among chordates is related to the evolution of cerebral hemispheres and cerbellum

-Cerebellum increases in sizes/folds/surface area as the brain gets larger and more complex in species

Features that Distinguish Chordates:

1) All have a brainstem

2) Nervous system is "crossed"

3) Spinal cord lies behind heart and gut

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-Major structure of the brainstem specialized for coordinating and learning skilled movement

-In large brained animals, it may also have a role in the coordination of other mental processes

1. Excellent color vision
2. Eyes in front of face
3. Females usually have only one infant per pregnancy (infants require more care)
4. Large brains for skilled movements and social behavior

Note: Primates are not typically well developed at birth (altricial)

Encephalization Quotient (EQ): Measure of brain size obtained from the ratio of actual brain size to the expected brain size for an animal of a particular body           

•quotient is a measure of brainsize obtained from the ratio of actual brain size over expected brain size

• Three fold increase in brain size over last 5 million years
• *Evidence suggests each new himinid species appeared after new environments appeared due to climate changes*
• Central Africa was giant jungle and eventually the great rift valley formed. This major tectonic geographic shift separated into two land masses
• This rift created a jungle on one side and a grassland on the other that forced animals to adapt
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Radiator Hypothesis- (Falk) 

(a view that changes in hominid physiology drove increased brain size)

- The more active and larger the brain is, the more heat it generates

-The Homo (human) species' skulls have more widely dispersed blood flow, which allowed for increased brain size

Def:Retention of juvenile characteristics of ancestral species as adults of the descendant species

-Rate of maturation is slowed

-Allows more brain cells to be produced

-Bigger head relative to body

-Juvenile characteristics are allowed to be developed at an earlier time in the organisms life therefore allowing for a longer maturation period for that organsim than their ancestors

2 Views that Promote Neotony

1) At times of abundant resources, less physiologically and behaviorally mature individual organisms can successfully reproduce, yielding offspring that have this trait in common

2)At times of food insufficiency, maturation and reproduction are slowed, allowing a longer time for development

1. Human brain varies from 1000-2000 grams varying on body mass
2. Age and Health affect brain mass including people who suffer brain injuries early in life
3. If larger brain indicates intelligence, how can this be measured?

Species-Typical Behavior- behavior displayed by all members of a species

Making these comparisons for humans presents two problems:

1)Individual performance on a task is influenced by many factors unrelated to inherent ability, such as opportunity, interest level, training, motivation and health

2)People vary in individual abilities depending on the task so it is difficult to say which is inherent to intelligence specifically