Behavioral Neuroscience

PSB 3340 - Fall 2019

Week 1 -
Introduction

Marek Schwendt, PhD

▪ Overview

▪ Course information – objectives, syllabus, exams

▪ What is (Behavioral) Neuroscience?

▪ What do we study in Behavioral Neuroscience?
▪ How to study the relationship between brain & behavior?
▪ Is it Nature or Nurture ?
(genes, environment, experience & neuroplasticity)

▪ Who are ‘Neuroscientists’? Careers in Neuroscience.

▪ What Is Behavioral Neuroscience?

Neuroscience is the study of the nervous

system.

Behavioral neuroscience is the study of

biological bases of psychological processes
and behavior.
(Biological Psychology)
▪ What Is Behavioral
Neuroscience?
▪ What Is Behavioral Neuroscience?

Biological mechanisms (neuronal activity)

underlie all behavior.

Brain regions (organization, connectivity)

Neurons, or nerve cells, are the basic unit of the nervous
system (axons, dendrites). 86 billion
Synapses are areas where billions of neurons make
contacts with each other. 10 trillion
(Genes) Proteins (receptors, enzymes, transporters)
Chemicals (neurotransmitters, neuromodulators)
▪ What do we study in Behavioral Neuroscience?

Areas of study…
perception, movement, sleep and waking, reproductive
behaviors, emotions, learning and language
▪ What do we study in Behavioral Neuroscience?

5 major perspectives are used to study the biology of

behavior:
1. Describing behavior
2. Studying evolution of behavior
3. Observing the development of behavior and its
biological characteristics over the life span
4. Studying biological mechanisms of behavior
5. Studying applications of behavioral neuroscience -
for example, its applications to dysfunctions of
human behavior (1/5 people has a neurological or psychiatric disorder)
▪ How to study the relationship between brain & behavior?

1) Somatic intervention: Alteration of a structure or

function to see how behavior is altered.

Independent variable - factor that is being manipulated.

Dependent variable - what is measured in response to changes in the ind.v.
▪ How to study the relationship between brain & behavior?

2) Behavioral intervention: Intervention in a behavior to

see how structure or function is altered.
.

Behavior is then the independent variable and body changes are dependent
variables
▪ How to study the relationship between brain & behavior?

3) Correlation measures how much a body measure

varies with a behavioral measure
(correlation does not imply causation!)
Figure 1.6 Levels of Analysis in Behavioral Neuroscience

“reductionism”
▪ Is it Nature or Nurture ?
(genes, environment, experience & neuroplasticity)

Almost every behavior has some heritability

Compare differences between monozygotic (identical) vs.

dizygotic (fraternal) twins; between adopted kids and adopted
parents vs. biological parents

Neuroplasticity, or neural plasticity, describes the

ability of the brain to be changed by environment and
by experience.
This can occur during development as well as in adulthood.
▪ Is it Nature or Nurture ?
(genes, environment, experience & neuroplasticity)

Example (rat study):

• In rats, social isolation leads to changes in the brain.
• A brain region involved with processing odors, the
posterodorsal amygdala, is affected by play.
▪ Is it Nature or Nurture ?
(genes, environment, experience & neuroplasticity)

Example (human study):

• psychological expectation can affect the magnitude of
a response.
• A brain region involved with processing emotion (including pain) in
humans, the cingulate cortex, is affected by the expectation of stimulus
intensity (e.g., subjects led to believe that hot water was very hot).
▪ Careers in neuroscience?

People who study neuroscience can go on to have careers in:

• Academia – research and teaching

• Clinical sciences
• Biotechnology and contract research
• Pharmaceutical industry
• Neuropsychology and psychiatry
• Regulatory affairs, policy and research administration
• Academic organization and administration
• Science communication, museum work and public engagement
• Teaching
• Business
• Publishing
• The media

…many other specialist fields, for example: neuroethics - the social, legal and ethical
consequences of advances in brain research; neuroeconomics - risk-taking and decision
making that influence business and the economy; and neurotechnology - combining
engineering and IT with neuroscience.
▪ Careers in neuroscience?