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“Learning is the only thing the mind never exhausts,

never fears, and never regrets.”
- Leonardo da Vinci -
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Learning Competencies
5.1 discuss that understanding the different parts
of the brain, processes and functions may help in
improving thoughts, behavior and feelings.
5.2 explore ways on how to improve brain
functions for personal development
5.3 develop a personal plan to enhance brain
functions
Overview of the Human Nervous

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System
Central Nervous System (CNS) Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)
▪ Division of the nervous ▪ Division of the nervous
system located within system outside the CNS
– the skull (brain) and ▪ Consists of the neurons and
– the spine (spinal cord) parts of neurons found
▪ Where all of the outside of the CNS
analysis of information
takes place
Overview of the Human Nervous

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System
NERVOUS SYSTEM

Central Nervous System Peripheral Nervous System

(CNS) (PNS)

Brain Sensory Motor neuron/nerve

neuron/nerve
Spinal Somatic Autonomic
cord N.S. N.S.

Sympathetic N.S.

Parasympathetic
N.S.
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In Real Life
Christopher Reeve suffered a C-2 level
spinal cord injury in an equestrian
competition in 1995. More than five years
after his injury, Chris was able to voluntarily
move one of his fingers. Due to his
experience, he and his wife established The
Reeve Foundation dedicated to curing
spinal cord injury by funding innovative
research, and improving quality of life for
people living with paralysis. He died in
2004.
*The segments in the neck, or cervical
region, referred to as C1 through C8,
control signals to the neck, arms, hands, and,
in some cases, the diaphragm. Injury above
the C3 level may require a ventilator for
the person to breathe.
 Don’t You Know? During prenatal

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Neuron development, the brain produces 250,000
neurons per minute.

▪ Also called or
▪ Basic functional units of the nervous system
▪ Specialized cells that transmit and receive
electrical signals in the body
▪ At birth, there is about
▪ Each neuron may be linked with another 5000
to 10000 neurons →
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Functions of a Neuron
1. Receive signals or information (sensory
neuron)
2. Integrate incoming signals to determine
whether or not the information should be
passed along (interneuron)
3. Communicate signals to target cells such as
other neurons or muscles or glands (motor
neuron)
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Anatomy of a Neuron
Also known as the soma, this contains the
nucleus; provides fuel, manufactures chemicals, and
maintains the entire neuron in working order
Carries signals away from the cell
body to neighbouring neurons, organs or
muscles
Receive signals from
other neurons, muscles, or sense
organs and pass the signals Fatty material
towards the cell body that insulates an axon; prevents
interference from electrical
signals from adjacent axons
Small gap between the Region where
terminal button and its adjacent neurotransmitters are stored
organ, muscle, or cell body
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Anatomy of a Neuron

Spherical membrane packages

that store neurotransmitter
molecules ready for releases near
synapses

Molecules that are released from

active neurons and influence the
activity of other cells
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Neural Communication
▪ Neural
communication is

▪ 2 processes of
neural
communication:
– Via electrical
transmission
[dendrites to axon]
– Via chemical
transmission [terminal
button to synapse]
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Neural Communication
▪ Also known as
▪ Mechanism that involves the communication of
the cell body with its own terminals via the
axon ( or communication
within the cell)
▪ Involves electrical signals ( )
along axons to achieve long distance and
rapid communication
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Exercise

First, the information is received by the ___________dendrites

then passes through the ____________

cell body then through
the ____________
axon to the ___________
terminal buttons

and finally into the ___________.

synapse
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Neural Communication
▪ Communication between neurons (
) that occurs in the synapses by the
process of
Chemical

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Transmission in
5 Steps:
NT Synthesis > NT
Packaging > NT
Release > NT
Binding > Stopping
the Chemical signal

www.interactive-biology.com
www.interactive-biology.com
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Lock-and-key model
Although there are many different NTs, each has a unique
chemical key that fits and open certain locks or receptors.
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Homework
What is the role of specific neurotransmitters to
different brain functions? [See Learning Packet]
Overview of Neuron

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Growth Cycle
Overview of Neuron

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Growth Cycle
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Neurogenesis (Prenatal)
▪ process by which neurons are generated from
neural stem cells and progenitor cells
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Neurogenesis (Adult)
▪ Regeneration of new adult neurons in the
dentate gyrus of the hippocampus
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Illustration of different resolution
memories
All events that are remembered have
a number of features that are not
encoded. In a “high-resolution”
memory, more details about the event
are remembered; while the memory
may not be perfect, it is much higher
fidelity. In a “low-resolution” memory,
less about the original event is
encoded within memory, perhaps
focusing on a lower number of
features or coarse representations
(“tree” instead of “maple tree”).

Almone, J.B., Li, Y., Lee, S.W., Clemenson, G.D., Deng, W., & Gage, F.H. (2014). Regulation and function
of adult neurogenesis: From genes to cognition. Physiological Reviews, 94(4),991-1026
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Mechanism for increasing memory
resolution by neurogenesis
Mature neurons and young neurons
encode different types of information;
mature neurons are powerful at
representing what they have encoded
in the past, whereas young neurons
are capable of encoding novel
events. The combination of both
populations facilitates the encoding of
more features robustly within
memories.

Almone, J.B., Li, Y., Lee, S.W., Clemenson, G.D., Deng, W., & Gage, F.H. (2014). Regulation and function
of adult neurogenesis: From genes to cognition. Physiological Reviews, 94(4),991-1026
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Neuroplasticity
▪ Brain’s ability to grow and
change
▪ The brain is plastic
throughout our lives
▪ The brain can be ‘re-wired’
in many ways:
– Mental activity (thought,
feeling, or action
– Creation of neural structures
– Repetition of mental activity
– Strengthening neural
connections
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From a neurobiological standpoint,
what is learning?
or
How does learning occurs in the
brain?
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Learning and Neural Communication
▪ Learning occurs when two neurons communicate
with each other (i.e. neurons have “learned”
when one neuron sends a message to another
neuron) (Hannaford, 1995)
This animal is called a quokka

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(pronounced as kwok-uh).
Say ‘quokka’.
Quokka
The quokka might remind you of the

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more familiar koala bear
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Long Term Potentiation (LTP)
The more neurons “fire”, the more the axons and dendrites
grow accustomed to each other, thereby, making
connections easier to make. Practice and repetition makes
permanent!
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Practice and repetition build double connections.
Faster, stronger, double connections last a very long time; hence, we
remember what we learn better.
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Effects of practice on myelination.
Practice causes the dendrites grow thicker with a fatty coating of myelin.
A study by Bengtsson et al (2005) reveals that training can induce myelination if
it is in a period wherein the fiber tracts are still under maturation.

Bengtsson, S.L., Nagy, Z., Skare, S., Forsman, L., Forssberg, H. & Ullen, F. (2005). Extensive piano practiving has
regionally specific effects on white matter development. Nature Neuroscience, 8(9), 1148-1150.
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The thicker the dendrites, the faster the signals travel. The myelin coating
also reduces interference.

Hartline, D.K. & Colman, D.R. (2007). Rapid Conduction and the Evolution of Giant Axons and Myelinated Fibers.
Current Biology, 17(1), R29-35.
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Practice and repetition builds stronger synaptic connections.
Practice enables signals to cross the synapse because the contact area
becomes wider and more neurotransmitters are stored there.
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Neural Pruning
▪ Process that involves synapse, axon and
dendrite elimination that occurs between early
childhood and the onset of puberty to increase
the efficiency of neuronal transmissions
▪ Neurons may lose their connecting powers
especially if neurons are not used at
appropriate times during brain development
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Neural Pruning.
A normal "pruning" process for removing dendrites in need of pruning.

Stahl, S.M. (2000). Essential Psychopharmacology. NY; Cambridge University Press.

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Apoptosis
▪ Programmed cell death that occurs through a series of
events termed apoptosis and is an appropriate and
essential event during brain development
– Neurons that are extra
– Neurons that have fulfilled their functions,
– Neurons that have lose their connecting powers and
– Neurons that fail to obtain life-preserving chemicals
(neutrotrophic factors)
▪ Later in life, inappropriate neuronal cell death may
result from pathological causes such as traumatic injury,
environmental toxins, cardiovascular disorders, infectious
agents, or genetic diseases
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An MRI Comparison Between a ‘Normal’ 3-Year-Old Child
and ‘Extremely Neglected’ 3-Year-Old Child.
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Neuronal Death:
Apoptosis vs. Necrosis
Neuronal death can occur by
either necrosis or apoptosis.
is analogous to
neuronal assassination, in
which neurons explode and
cause an inflammatory
reaction after being destroyed
by poisons, suffocation, or
toxins such as glutamate.
On the other hand,
is akin to neuronal suicide and
results when the genetic
machinery is activated to
cause the neuron to literally
"fade away" without causing
the molecular mess of necrosis.

Stahl, S.M. (2000). Essential Psychopharmacology. NY; Cambridge University Press.

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The Effects of Neurotrophic Factors (NFs)
The process of making dendritic connections on an undeveloped neuron
may be controlled by various growth factors, which act to promote the
branching process and thus the formation of synapses on the dendritic tree.

Stahl, S.M. (2000). Essential Psychopharmacology. NY; Cambridge University Press.

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The Effects of BDNF
The Brain-Derived
Neurotrophic Factor
(BDNF) is a protein
that increases the
growth of the axons
and dendrites.

Sanchez, A.L., Matthews, B.J., Meynard, M.M., Hu, B., Javed, S., Cohen-Cory S. (2006). BDDNF increases synapse
density in dendrites of developing tectal neurons in vivo. Development, 133, 2477-2486.
Overview of the Comparative

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Anatomy of the Brain
 HUMAN BRAIN (Neocortex)

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Anatomy of the Brain Evolved during the Eocene and Oligocene Epochs
55 – 24 million years ago; Regulates: logic and
thought required for complex social situations etc.;

TRIUNE MODEL (Paul Mclean)

monkeys, chimpanzees
FOREBRAIN
MIDBRAIN MAMMAL BRAIN (Limbic System)
Highest center; perceives sensations,
Reward or pleasure initiates voluntary movement, provide Evolved during the Jurassic Period 206 – 144
center (stimulated awareness of emotions, memory, million years ago; Regulates: mood, memory, and
by food, sex, thinking, planning, language abilities hormone control; Older mammals
money, music, and other higher mental functions
attractive faces, REPTILLIAN BRAIN (Instinctive Brain)
and some drugs);
Brainstem + Cerebellum; Evolved during the
visual and auditory
Triassic Period 248 – 206 million years ago;
reflexes,
Regulates: hunger, temperature control, fight-or-
reticular formation
flight response; reptiles, fish
(arouses the
forebrain so
that it is ready to
process information
from the senses) CEREBELLUM
HINDBRAIN Coordination of movement,
equilibrium, procedural
memory
PONS MEDULLA
Sleep and arousal Respiration, heart rate, blood
pressure
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Lobes of the Cortex
Body sensory (touch, pain, pressure,
Emotions, judgements, voluntary temperature); spatial reasoning
movement, guide to the degree of
complexity and motor capabilities

Sense of vision

Sense of hearing

Don’t You Know? Einstein’s enlarged parietal

lobe is attributed to the absence of parietal
operculum.
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Comparison Between a Typical Brain and Einstein’s Brain
A study by Wittelson et al. (1999) concluded that Einstein’s visuospatial and
mathematical cognition may have been influenced by relatively expanded
parietal regions.
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Research Focus
Recent neuroanatomical and functional imaging studies
suggest that the unusually pronounced right primary
somatosensory and motor cortices of Einstein may have
been related to Einstein’s self-reported preference for
thinking in sensory impressions including visual images
rather than words. He emphasized that concepts became
meaningful for him ‘only through their connection with
sense-experiences’.
He is a synthetic learner.

Falk, D. (2009). New information about Albert Einstein’s brain. Evolutionary Neuroscience, 1(3), 1-6.
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Research Focus
Falk attribute it to Einstein’s liason with
‘Lina’ – his violin. Somatosensation for
the left digits of right-handed violinists
are larger than those of controls
(especially if they began training
before the age of 12), presumably
because their performances engage
their left digits more than the right ones
that manipulate the bow. Einstein’s
differentially enlarged knob (K) on the
surface of his right hemisphere is
consistent with the fact that he was a
right-handed string-player who took
violin lessons from age 6 to 14 years.

Falk, D. (2009). New information about Albert Einstein’s brain. Evolutionary Neuroscience, 1(3), 1-6.
 Exercise

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 Exercise

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Research Focus
Based on the study by Gregory and colleagues (2015), MRI scans suggest that
psychopaths don’t grasp punishment the same way as other people due to the
reduction in gray matter volumes bilaterally in the anterior rostral prefrontal
cortex and temporal poles (which are involved in empathy, processing of pro-
social emotions such as guilt and embarrassment, and moral reasoning) as well
as abnormalities in the white matter in the dorsal cingulum.. Hence, psychopaths
do not benefit from rehabilitation programs, as other violent criminals often do.
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Research Focus
Some studies suggest that there is bilateral volume reductions in the amygdala
of those with psychopathy (Yang et al., 2009; Pardini, Raine, Erickson, &
Loeber, 2014). Some studies suggest that there is bilateral volume reductions in
the amygdala of those with psychopathy (Yang et al., 2009; Pardini, Raine,
Erickson, & Loeber, 2014).
Using the functional magnetic resonance imaging
(fMRI), a study by Blair (2006) shows that there is a
lack of normal activity in the amygdala as mirrored
in the prefrontal cortex which led him to believe that
the amygdala forwards wrong signals to the frontal
cortex.

Don’t You Know? Dr. Robert Hare’s Psychopathy

Checklist – revised (PCL-R) is the gold standard in US
criminal courts for determining psychopathy.
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Case Sample
In a small town of Cavendish, Vermont at about
4:30 pm of September 13, 1848, railroad
crewmen were about to blast a rock that
blocked their way so a 25-year-old foreman
named Phineas Gage filled a deep narrow hole
in rock with powder and rammed in the 3 feet
and 7 inches tamping iron. However, the
massive rod shot from the hole under the force
of explosion struck Phineas just beneath his left
eye and through his skull only to shot out the
top of his head and landed some 50 yards
away.
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Case Sample
Gage survived but his personality changed from
being thoughtful and friendly to being rude and
antisocial. "Gage," his friends said, was "no longer
Gage."

Don’t You Know? Brain defects and injuries have long been
held as important links to violent behavior. Serial killers Arthur
Shawcross, Richard Ramirez, and Charles Whitman are case
examples.
The APA’s DSM-5 defines antisocial personality disorder

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(ASPD) *may be referred to as psychopathy or sociopathy
[* as:
A. A pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the
rights of others, occurring since age 15 years, as
indicated by 3 or more of the following:
1. Failure to conform to social norms with respect to
lawful behaviors as indicated by repeatedly
performing acts that are grounds for arrest;
2. Deception, as indicated by repeatedly lying, use
of aliases, or conning others for personal profit or
pleasure;
3. Impulsivity or failure to plan ahead;
4. Irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by
repeated physical fights or assaults;
5. Reckless disregard for safety of self or others;
6. Consistent irresponsibility, as indicated by being
indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt,
mistreated, or stolen from another
B. The individual is at least age 18 years.
C. There is evidence of conduct disorder with onset
before age 15 years.
D. The occurrence of antisocial behavior is not exclusively
during the course of schizophrenia or a manic episode.
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In Real Life
Frances Farmer (picture
left), a notorious
Hollywood actress in the
1930s, is rumored to
have undergone.
Considered as
psychologically unstable
by her famous family,
Rosemary Kennedy
(picture center)
underwent lobotomy in
her 20s that left her
permanently
incapacitated.
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Lobotomy
Before the pills, lobotomy was
a common surgical procedure
for mentally ill patients in the
1940s and 1950s. It initially
involves drilling hole in the
skull and “melting” brain fibers
through alcohol. The procedure
later developed in getting the
brain matter through the eye
sockets.
Don’t You Know? Egas Moniz and Walter
Rudolf Hess shared a Nobel Prize in 1949
for developing lobotomy.
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[See Learning Packet]
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References
[See Learning Packet]
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Weblinks
▪ University of Washington. (n.d.). The Stroop
Test. Retrieved from
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/java/re
ady.html
▪ [See Learning Packet]
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Extended Readings
See Learning Packet
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Exercise
We have learned that we learn best by
associating familiar with the unfamiliar. One memory
technique is known as the peg system.
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Exercise
You'll find that if you just go through the list once, making
mental pictures for each number, you'll be able to recite
the list by memory. If you get stuck, just start thinking of
words that rhyme with the number.
Once you have that list down, it's easy to associate the
new images with new lists to instantly commit them to
memory.
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Exercise
Take this excerpt from a list:
Teapot
Pencil
Book
For number one, imagine a cinnamon bun with a teapot
smooshed on top of it. For number two imagine pencils
acting like legs with big red converse sneakers covering
the points. For three imagine a tree with books hanging
from every branch. http://tynan.com/pegsystem
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Exercise
Can you remember these words?