UNIT 3: BIOLOGICAL LEVEL OF ANALYSIS Day 2

Outcome(s):  Explain, using examples, the effects of neurotransmission on human behavior  Discuss the use of brain-imaging technologies in investigating the relationship between biological factors and behavior

Agenda: 1. Psych 1 – Reading Quiz 2. More on Neurotransmitters – Mouse Party 3. Coloring Activities – What’s In Your Brain? & What’s Your Brain Doing? 4. Ethics in Brain Research – animals and humans  Reading & Discussion 5. Technology in Brain Research 6. Closure – Current Event

Neurotransmitters  Neurotransmitters: chemical messengers that relay neural messages across the synapse (many are also hormones)  There are several types of neurotransmitters, and each of them is responsible for some specific function.  Mouse Party – Drugs & Neurotransmitters  ugs/mouse.html ugs/mouse.html

What’s in Your Brain? 1. Cerebral Cortex 2. Thalamus 3. Corpus callosum 4. Hypothalamus 5. Hippocampus 6. Pituitary gland 7. Midbrain 8. Pons 9. Medulla 10. Brainstem 11. Spinal Cord 12. Cerebellum

What’s Your Brain Doing? 1.Frontal Lobe Body movement Personality Concentration, problem solving Meaning of words Emotional reactions Speech Smell 2. Parietal lobe Touch and pressure Taste Body awareness 3. Occipital Lobe sight 4. Cerebellum (Latin – “little brain”) Fine motor (muscle) control Balance and coordination (avoid objects and keep from falling) 5. Temporal Lobe Receive and process sound Recognizing faces Emotion Long term memory 6. Limbic Lobe Located inside the brain Controls emotions like happiness, sadness, and love

Ethics in Brain Research  Animals  Reading: More Experience = Bigger Brain  Humans  _brain_project _brain_project

Technology in Brain Research  EEG – records brain waves  Electroencephalograph: a device for recording brain waves, typically by electrodes placed on the scalp. The record produced is known as an electroencephalogram (EEG)  Senses which parts of the brain are most active  EEG is not a very precise instrument  Mapping the Brain with Electric Probes:  Wilder Penfield: during brain surgery, stimulated patients’ exposed brains with an electrode and recorded responses Helped identify boundaries of diseased brain areas (to avoid removing healthy tissue) Demonstrated brain’s surface is divided into regions with different functions

EEG

Technology cont.  CT scan (computerized tomography): computerized imaging technique that uses X rays passed through the brain at various angles and then combined into an image  PET Scan (positron emission tomography): an imaging technique that relies on the detection of radioactive sugar consumed by active brain cells  MRI (magnetic resonance imaging): imaging technique that relies on cells’ responses in a high-intensity magnetic field  fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging): a type of MRI that reveals which parts of the brain are most active during various mental activities

CT Scan

PET Scan

MRI

fMRI

Closure: Current Event  videos/425103/april /francis-collins (8 min) videos/425103/april /francis-collins  What device is Dr. Collins using?