Biological bases of Behavior

XIth The Lexicon School

Evolutionary Perspective ~Kush
The Humans(Homo-sapiens) have had 3 majorly advantageous
evolutions namely being:-
1)Opposable thumbs :- Allowing us to perform complex tasks with precision
and efficiently.
2)Walking in an upright manner:- Freeing two hands allowed more tasks to be
done at the same time, while also allowing us to reach previously inaccessible
places.
3)A larger skull and brain:- This enabled us to make use of our opposable thumbs
and also maintain our balance while walking upright, it also helped us process
other animals behaviour make traps for hunting.
Neurons - Isha shaikh
1. Neurons are the basic unit of the
nervous system.
2. They are specialised for conduction and 6. The conduction of information from one place
transmission of information in the form of to another in the nervous system is done through
electrochemical signals. nerves, which are bundles of axons.
3. The soma or cell body is the main body 7. There are two types of nerves:
of the nerve cell. 1. Sensory (central nervous system to
4. It contains the nucleus of the cell. muscle or glands)
5. Dendrites are specialised branch-like 2. Motor (neural commands which control

structures emanating from the soma. and regulate our movements and other
responses)
Nerve Impulse
Synapse- Vishakha

1. A single neuron can carry a neural up

to a distance covered by the axon.
2. The axon tip of the neuron make
synapse with other neurons.
3. The neural impulse is is transmitted
from one neuron by a synaptic.
4. It is a gap between two neurons.
5. It is also referred as to synaptic gap.
The Nervous System- Sania Ann
The human nervous system is the most complex and
developed of all living creatures.

Based off of location the nervous system can be divided into

two parts

i) Central Nervous System (CNS):The part of the nervous

system found inside the hard bony cases (cranium and
backbone) is classified as CNS.

ii)Peripheral Nervous System (PNS):The parts of the nervous

system other than the CNS are classified as part of PNS (any
neural tissue outside the brain and spinal cord)

PNS can further be divided into: i)Somatic Nervous System:

The somatic nervous system deals with voluntary actions
(contains cranial and spinal nerves)

ii)Autonomic Nervous System: The autonomic nervous system

deals with non-voluntary actions
 The Nervous System- Sania Ann
The Autonomic nervous system can be further divided into the
Sympathetic and Parasympathetic divisions.

Although both divisions have opposite effects, they work in unison to

maintain a state of equilibrium.

Sympathetic Division: The sympathetic division deals with

emergencies when the action must be quick and powerful (fight or
flight situations).

During this period the digestion stops, blood flows from internal
organs to muscles and breathing rate, heart rate, oxygen supply and
blood sugar level increases.

Parasympathetic Division: The parasympathetic division deals with

conservation of energy.

When the emergency is over the parasympathetic division takes over

to slow down the sympathetic activation and calms the body as a
result all body functions like heart beat, breathing and blood flow
return to their normal levels.
The Central Nervous System- Tusya.
1.)The Central Nervous System (CNS) is the centre of all neural
activity. It integrates all incoming sensory information, performs all
kinds of cognitive and issues motor commands to muscles and
glands.

2.) The Central Nervous System comprises of:-

a) Brain:- The brain consists of a 100 billion neurons. The brain
has the ability to guide the human behaviour and thought. The
brain is organised into structures and regions that perform specific
functions.

b) Spinal Cord:- The spinal cord is a long rope like collection of

nerve fibers. The spinal cord carries the sensory impulses from the
lower parts of the body to the brain. It performs some simple
reflexes that do not involve the brain.
 Brain
● The weight of the brain :-

1.36 kg

● The number of neurons in the brain

are:-

86 Billion neurons

● The brain is divided into 3 parts:-

● Hindbrain
● Midbrain
● Forebrain
 Forebrain - Tanisha Thakur.
The Forebrain performs the cognitive,motor and
emotional activities. Parts of Forebrain -
● Hypothalamus
● Thalamus
● The Limbic System
● Cerebral Cortex- It has been divided into -
1. Frontal Lobe- Concerned with attention, memory,
learning, thinking, etc.
2. Parietal Lobe- Concerned with visual and auditory
coordination.
3. Temporal Lobe- Concerned with processing
information and memory.
4. Occipital Lobe- Concerned with interpretation of
visual information
5. Brain Stem- Regulates involuntary actions of the
body.
6. concerned with coordination of timing and force of
different muscles.
Midbrain- Soumyaa Sharma
The midbrain is relatively small in size and it connects the hindbrain with the
forebrain. A few neural centres related to some special reflexes and visual
and auditory sensations are found here. An important part of midbrain,
known as Reticular Activating System (RAS), is responsible for our arousal.

It makes us alert and active by regulating sensory inputs.

It also helps us in selecting information from the environment.

 Hind brain- Sanjana Srivastava
The HindBrain coordinates functions that are
fundamental to survival including respiratory rhythm,
motor activity, sleep and wakefulness. It consists of the
following structures:
● Medulla Oblongata- It regulates the basic life
supporting activities like breathing, heart rate, blood
pressure.
● Pons- It receives auditory signals relayed by our ears.
It is invo;ved in the sleep mechanism characterised
by dreaming.
● Cerebellum- Maintains and controls body posture
and equilibrium of the body. It’s main function is
coordination of muscular movements. It also stores
the memory of movement pattern
 Spinal Cord -Haripriya Thatte
● The spinal cord is a long rope like collection of
nerve fibres, which along the full length inside
spine.
● One end is connected to the brain and another is
free at tail end.
● The grey matter present in the centre contains
association neurons and other cells.
● The white matter surrounding the grey matter is
composed of ascending and descending neural
tracts.
● The two main functions of spinal cord are:-
● Firstly, it carries sensory impulses from lower
parts of body to brain, and motor impulses from
brain to all parts of the body.
● Secondly, it carries out simple reflexes that
involve sensory, motor and association neurons
of the grey matter of spinal cord.
The Peripheral Nervous System- Jishnu Chakraborty
● Composed of neurons and nerve fibres that connects the central nervous
system (CNS) to the rest of the body.
● The PNS is divided into 2 parts:
1.Somatic Nervous System
2. Autonomic Nervous System
● The Autonomic nervous system is further divided into 2 parts:
1.Sympathetic system
2.Parasympathetic system
● The PNS sends information to the CNS from sensory receptors (eyes,
ears,skin,etc.) and relays back motor commands from the brain to the
muscles and glands.
 The Somatic Nervous System- Hari krishnan.M
The somatic nervous system (SNS), or voluntary nervous system is the part of the peripheral nervous
system associated with the voluntary control of body movements via skeletal muscles

The somatic nervous system consists of sensory nerves carrying afferent nerve fibers that relay sensation
from the body to the central nervous system (CNS).

The other nerves in the SNS are motor nerves carrying efferent nerve fibers that relay motor commands from the CNS
to stimulate muscle contraction.

There are 43 segments of nerves in the human body.[3] With each segment, there is a pair of sensory and motor
nerves. In the body, 31 segments of nerves are in the spinal cord and 12 are in the brain stem.

Thus the somatic nervous system consists of two parts:

[4]
● Spinal nerves: They are mixed nerves that carry sensory information into and motor commands out of the spinal cord.
● Cranial nerves: They are the nerve fibers that carry information into and out of the brain stem. [3] They include smell, vision, eye,
eye muscles, mouth, taste, ear, neck, shoulders, and tongue.[4]
The Autonomic Nervous System - Vrishab
Autonomic nervous system is the part of the nervous system that controls and
regulates the internal organs.

There two sets of nerves in this system-

● The sympathetic nervous system:- This connects the internal organs to

the brain by the spinal nerves. When stimulated this system prepares the
organism for stress by increasing the heart rate, blood flow to the muscles
and decrease the blood flow to the skin.
● Parasympathetic nervous system:- The nerve fibres of this system are
the cranial nerves, primarily the vagus nerve and The lumbar spinal
nerves. When stimulated these nerves increase the digestive secretion and
reduce the heart rate.

An autonomic nerve pathway involves two nerve cells. One cell is located in the
brain stem or spinal cord. It is connected by nerve fibers to the other cell, which
is located in a cluster of nerve cells.
Endocrine System - Vaidehi Landge
● The endocrine glands play important role in
our body.
● They secrete special chemical substances
called hormones which are responsible for our
development and behavior.
● As the name suggests, endocrine glands are
ductless glands .
● They pour hormones directly into the
bloodstream unlike other exocrine glands.
● The endocrine system works in conjunction
with different parts if nervous system , thus it
is also known as neuroendocrine system.
Name of the Gland Location Function Hormone Hormone
Secreted triggering the
gland

PITUITARY GLAND Within the cranium just below It controls all other endocrine glands. ACTH: GH (Growth
the hypothalamus. Adrenocorticotrophic Hormone )
hormone

THYROID GLAND Front of the neck , just below It plays a major role in the metabolism, growth and Thyroxin Thyroid Stimulating
development of the human body by secreting
the larynx. Hormone (TSH)
thyroxin.

PANCREAS Behind the stomach , in the Regulates blood sugar level. Insulin Beta cells of islets
duodanal loop. of Langerhans.

ADRENAL GLANDS Top of each kidney. It regulates our metabolism, immune Adrenaline Adrenocorticotrophi
system, blood pressure, response to Adrenal Cortex- c Hormone (ACTH)
stress and other essential functions. corticoids .
Adrenal Medulla-
epinephrine and
norepinephrine .

GONAD - MALE testes they produce gametes, or sperm, and testosterone Gonadotrophic
they secrete hormones, primarily hormone (GTH)
testosterone

GONAD- FEMALE ovaries They produce eggs and female Estrogens and Gonadotrophic
hormones. progesterone hormone (GTH)
Heredity: Genes & Behavior- Soumya Sharma
The study of inheritance of physical and psychological characteristics from ancestors is referred to as genetics.

Chromosomes are the hereditary elements of the body. They are threadlike-paired structures in the nucleus of
each cell. The organism inherits 46 chromosomes from parents, 23 from the mother and 23 from the father.

Chromosomes are composed mainly of a substance called Deoxyribonucleic Acid i.e., DNA.

Every chromosome stores thousands of genetic commands in the form of genes.They contain instructions for
the production of specific proteins, which regulate the body’s physiological processes and the expression of
phenotypic traits.The observable traits of an organism are called phenotype. The traits, which can be passed on
to the offspring through genetic material are called its genotype.

Change of a gene from one form to another is called mutation.

Culture
Define Culture-

Cultural Transmission
Enculturation
Socialization Agents - Isha Shaikh
● A number of people who relate to us possess power to socialise us.
● The types social agents are:

1. Parents -
➔ They have the most direct & significant influence on children's development.
➔ Parents encourage certain behaviour by rewarding them verbally or other tangible ways.
➔ Interacting with children they learn different strategies.

2. School -
➔ School is another important socialising agent. These days school as being viewed as a more
important socialising agent.
➔ It provides a fairly organized set up for interaction with teachers and peers.
➔ Children don’t only learn cognitive skills but also social skills, they also learn internalising the norms
and rules of society
➔ They teach kids to be more self-reliant.
Socialization Agents - Isha Shaikh
3. Peer groups -

➔ It’s one of the chief characteristics of the middle childhood stage is the extension of social network
beyond home.
➔ Friendship require great significance in this respect.
➔ It doesn't only give children a good opportunity to be in company of others but also organising various
activities

4. Media influences -
➔ In the recent years media has acquired the property of a socialisation agent.
➔ Adolescents and young adults often derive their models from them particularly from television and
cinema
➔ There is a need to use this agent of socialisation in a better way in order to prevent children from
developing undesirable behaviours.
Acculturation - Haripriya Thatte
Acculturation refers to cultural and psychological chnages resulting
from contact with other cultures.

● The contact maybe:-

● Direct or indirect
● Voluntary or Involuntary
● For acculturation to take place, re-learning of norms, values,
dispositions and behavior is required. In turn, a change in these
can occur if re-socialistion is done.
● Changes due to acculturation can be studied by objective and
subjective levles.
○ Objective level: At this level changes are reflected in
people's day to fay behavior and activities. These are called
acculturation strategies.
○ Subjective level: At this level, changes are oftwn seen in
people's attitude towards chnages. There are referred to
as acculturation attitudes.
Acculturation Strategies

There have been 4 acculturation strategies derived:-

1. Integration- Interest in both maintaining and identity while maintaining daily

interaction with social groups. Some degree of cultural integrity is maintained.
2. Assimilation- People don't wish to maintain their cultural identity and move and
become apart of other culture. One’s own culture and identity is lost.
3. Separation- People hold on to their own culture and avoid interacting with other
cultural groups.
4. Marginalization- People don't show interest in their own culture and don't
interact less witn other cultures.