ITP MIDTERM REVIEWER

Sunday, 9 October 2022 12:17 pm

SCOPE AND MEANING OF PSYCHOLOGY

• Young science
• Etiologically came from greek word
○ Psyche- "soul"
○ Logos-"study"
• Deals with actual behavior
• Makes "hypotheses" about behavior
• Reasons why men behave the way they did
"A SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND MENTAL PROCESS"

EARLY PROPONENTS OF PSYCHOLOGY

• Saint Augustine
○ precursor of modern psychology
○ introspection
○ Behavior of infants and of crowds on chariot races
• Aristotle
○ Peri Psyches
○ We are govern by laws and rules
• Democritus
○ Free will or choice
○ External stimulation (tell me who your friends are and I'll tell you who you are)
• Socrates
○ "Know thyself"
○ We are creating something out of reality (illusions)
• Descartes
○ Animals are machines
○ Reflect actions ---> external/internal factors
○ Ready your body so your mind can focus
• Philip Melanchton
○ First to use the term psychology (Psychologia)
• Charles Bonnet
○ We think we are sick

ROOTS OF PSYCHOLOGY
• Philosophy - how we describe ourselves/situations
• Medicine
• Biology
• Zoology

WHY PSYCHOLOGY IS SCIENCE?

• Belongs to behavioral sciences
• Scientific because it is research based/ systematic observation
• Touches every aspects of our lives
• The science of psychology deals with actual behavior. It is different from common-sense hunches because
it is systematic in observations.
• It makes guesses, or hypotheses about behavior, then experimentally checks out the hypotheses.

MODERN PSYCHOLOGY
• Study of behavior of an organism and the way it adjusts, socially and biologically to the world around it.
• WILHELM WUNDT - Father of Modern Psychology
- established the first laboratory of experimental psychology

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SCIENTIFIC METHODOLOGY
• Objectivity - not subjective
• Explicit Behavior - right procedure
• Recording - changes that happens

BEHAVIOR
• Activities that can be observed objectively
• Pattern of responses
• Includes internal process that can be inferred as external behaviors

• TWO GENERAL CLASSIFICATIONS OF BEHAVIOR

○ Overt/Extrinsic behavior - what we show society
○ Covert/Intrinsic Behavior - what we keep ourselves

PHILIPPINE PSYCHOLOGY
• Psychology is born on 1880's
• Science of consciousness
• Process are not observable
• An American established psychology in the Philippines (1900's)
○ DR. VIRGILIO G. ERIQUEZ - Father of Filipino Psychology
• 1961
○ Was the founding of the Philippine Psychological corporation
• 1963
○ The first association exclusively for psychologist, was founded
○ Psychological Association of the Philippines (PAP)
• 1974
○ University of the Philippines began its Ph.D. (experimental, social, or clinical psychology)
• 2013
○ First Psychology Board Exam

2 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE OF PSYCHOLOGY

FACULTY PSYCHOLOGY
• The mind has few distinct independent faculties or mental agencies ---> thinking, feeling, willing
Sub- Faculties ---> memory, imagination
• Inherited aspects of behavior

ASSOCIATION PSYCHOLOGY
• Ideas that enter by the way of senses
○ 7 Senses
▪ Smell
▪ Sight
▪ Hearing
▪ Touch
▪ Taste
▪ Kinetic/ movement
▪ Distributor/ balance
• Explained all mental activity through the association of ideas
• Environment is the determine of behavior

HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
• Physiological needs
• Safety needs
• Love and belonging needs
• Esteem needs
• Self- actualization needs

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ID - Pleasure Principle
EGO - Reality Principle
SUPEREGO - Moralistic/ Idealistic Principle

TABULA RASA
• Blank tablet

FOUR BETTER-KNOWN PSYCHOLOGIST (20TH CENTURY)

• Willian James
• G. Stanley Hall
• James Cattell
• Edward Titchener

6 SCHOOL OF THOUGHT IN PSYCHOLOGY

• STRUCTURALISM
○ Our brain is equivalent to different kind of thinking
○ Discovery of structures of mind
○ Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Titchener

• FUNCTIONALISM
○ Regardless of what the brain thinks it depends on the action or behavior
○ Purpose of human consciousness and behavior

• BEHAVIORISM
○ Turned away from looking at internal influences on behavior
○ Sought to make psychology the study of observable behaviors

• PSYCHOANALYSIS
○ How unconscious mind impacted human behavior
○ Shadow of the real conscious mind
○ SIGMUN FREUD THEORY
▪ Conscious - we are aware
▪ Pre conscious- we are aware at the same time we are not
▪ Unconscious - we are not aware

• HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY
○ Importance of personal growth and self actualization

• COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
○ Investigation of internal mental processes
○ Memory or thinking

5 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES
• PSYCHODYNAMIC PERSPECTIVE
○ All mental process and behavior reflect constant and often unconscious struggles within a person
• BEHAVIORAL PERSPECTIVE
○ Role of external environment
○ Pattern for rewards and punishment
• COGNITIVE PERSPECTIVE
○ Humans as rational problem-solvers
○ Actions are governed by conscious thought and planning
• HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIVES
○ Humans are motivated by the tendency of growth and development of their potential and "self-
actualization"
• BIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
○ Attempts to understand human thought and emotion in terms of physical processes which takes
place in the body

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 ○
place in the body

GOALS OF PSYCHOLOGY
• TO DESCRIBE
○ Enable researchers to develop general laws of human behavior

• TO EXPLAIN
○ How or why this trend occurs
○ Propose theories which can explain the behavior

• TO PREDICT
○ Be able to predict future behavior from the findings of empirical research
○ If the prediction is not confirmed, then the explanation it is based on should be revised

• TO CHANGE
○ Changing or controlling a behavior can be attempted

TYPES OF PSYCHOLOGY
• ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY
○ Study of abnormal behavior and psychopathology
○ Research and treatment of a variety of mental disorder
○ Linked to psychotherapy and clinical psychology

• BIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY
○ How biological processes influence the mind and behavior
○ Linked to neuroscience and utilizes tools to look at brain injury or brain abnormalities

• CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY
○ Assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of mental disorders

• COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
○ Study of human thought processes
○ Attention, memory, perception

• COMPARATIVE PSYCHOLOGY
○ Study of animal behavior

• DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
○ Area that looks at human growth and development over the lifespan
○ Morality abilities, identity

• FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY
○ Psychological research and principles in the legal and criminal justice systems

• INDUSTRIAL-ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
○ Enhance work performance and select employees

• PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY
○ How personality develops
○ Patterns of thoughts, behaviors, and characteristics that make each individual unique

• SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
○ Focuses on group behavior

USES
• The most obvious application for psychology is in the field of mental health where psychologists use

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 • The most obvious application for psychology is in the field of mental health where psychologists use
principles, research, and clinical findings to help clients manage and overcome symptoms of mental
distress and psychological illness

○ • Developing educational programs

○ • Ergonomics
○ • Informing public policy
○ • Mental health treatment
○ • Performance enhancement
○ • Personal health and well-being
○ • Psychological research
○ • Self-help
○ • Social program design
○ • Understanding child development

IMPACT OF PSYCHOLOGY
• Psychology is both an applied and academic field that benefits both individuals and society as a whole.
• A large part of psychology is devoted to the diagnosis and treatment of mental health issues, but that's just
the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the impact of psychology.

○ Improving our understanding of why people behave as they do as well

○ Understanding the different factors that can impact the human mind and behavior
○ Understanding issues that impact health, daily life, and well-being
○ Improving ergonomics to improve product design
○ Creating safer and more efficient workspaces
○ Helping motivate people to achieve their goals
○ Improving productivity

Oliver Sacks - a neurologist that inspired many students of human brain

Stephen D. - a young medical student who experience a dramatical change on his sense of smell

• Melancholia
○ a desire to go to a long-forgotten place
• Olfaction
○ sense of smell
• Hyperosmia
○ increased ability smell
• Anosmia
○ inability to smell

OLFACTORY INFORMATION
• is transmitted to different places of the brain through different pathways.

a. Areas that are responsible for perception and discrimination of odors, if damage can cause inability
to smell.
b. Areas that are responsible for motivational and emotional aspects of the behavior

THE STUDY OF THE BIOLOGICAL BASES OF PSYCHOLOGY

Our perception, experience and behaviors are based on the activation of our nervous system.

Rene Descartes
• proposed that all animals and human action was a mechanical response to an external stimulus.
• It is our soul that chooses a particular response from a set of pattern of responses.
• MIND BODY DUALISM - the mind exist separately from the physical body, yet it can influence each other.
• Charles Darwin
○ he mentioned already the “disgust face”
○ who described the gape, the tongue extension, the nose wrinkle, and the dropping of the mouth
corners as a response that would prevent food from entering the mouth, or encourage its discharge.
Nausea

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 Nausea
○ the physiological state that might accompany disgust.

Neurons - communicate with one another biochemically

Study of biological basis of behavior- involves consideration about evolution

Evolutionary Biology: PRE ADAPTATION (Mayr)

□ It allows for the development of a new function
Evolution of the voicing system- mouth, teeth and tongue gained function in producing sounds.

2 COMPELLING EXAMPLES
1. Development of Moral Disgust
2. Development of our response to social exclusion

DISGUST FACE
• Mentioned already by Darwin
• Described gape, the tongue extension, nose wrinkle, and the dropping of the mouth prevents us from
ingesting poisonous food

PAUL ROZIN (Dr. Disgust)

• Proposes that moral disgust could develop because of existence of a disaster and disgust system is
created by evolution to protect us from digesting poisonous food.

NAUSEA
• physiological state that might accompany disgust

Disgust response
• is associated with brain activation (as well as basal ganglia)

Moral Offenses
• elicit an emotional response that is similar to the basic disgust response.

*Learning what is morally offensive and disgusting is part of an individuals socialization.

Pre Adaptation model

• our response to be socially excluded

Social Exclusion
• poses a threat to an individuals physical and emotional health
• Influence how an individual response to physical pain.

Increase the pain threshold

• A healthy reaction to a painful stimulus
• meaning that pain sensitivity is reduced.

DeWall & Baumeister, 2006

• Human beings respond to social exclusion by becoming indifferent and numb to emotional pain.
Evolutionary older system
• The system that allowed for responses to physical pain
Pain Threshold
• Pain sensitivity is reduced

Pre Adaptation model

• according to this the physiological system that respond to physical pain evolved to accrete the function of
responding to social pain.

Pain tolerance
• the ability to withstand pain
Human behavior

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Human behavior
• the response to be morally offensive behavior and to social exclusion

NERVOUS SYSTEM
○ all neural tissue

• CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM - brain and spinal cord

○ Afferent Nerves - body to the CNS
○ Efferent Nerves - CNS to the body
• PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM - remainder of all neural tissue
○ Somatic system- carries messages to and from the sensory receptors
- for conscious sensory and voluntary motor function
○ Autonomic System- connects internal organs and glands
- Autonomic and involuntary function

Sensory Nerves
• transmit information about external stimulation from the skin muscle to central nervous system
Motor Nerves
• Carry impulses from the central nervous system to the muscle

Researchers have proposed that some human functions (such as moral disgust and our response to social
exclusion) could develop through a process of pre-adaptation, by co-opting (‘hijacking’) existing systems (in
these cases, the systems for physical disgust and physical pain).

5 TIPS TO KEEP YOUR BRAIN HEALTHY

• there are some things you can do to help slow any decline in memory and lower your risk of developing
Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias.

1. EXERCISE REGULARLY
○ people who are physically active are less likely to experience a decline in their mental function and
have a lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
○ Increased blood flow to our brain during exercise
○ Aim to exercise several times per week for 30–60 minutes

2. GET PLENTY OF SLEEP

○ helps clear abnormal proteins in your brain and consolidates memories, which boosts your overall
memory and brain health.
○ try to get seven to eight consecutive hours of sleep per night

3. EAT A MEDITERRANEAN DIET

○ determine which parts of the diet have the biggest impact on your brain function
○ omega fatty acids found in
○ extra-virgin olive oil and other healthy fats are vital for your cells to function correctly

4. STAY MENTALLY ACTIVE

○ Your brain is similar to a muscle — you need to use it or you
lose it.

5. REMAIN SOCIALLY INVOLVED

○ Social interaction helps ward off depression and stress, both of which can contribute to memory
loss.
○ There is research that links solitary confinement to brain atrophy, so remaining socially active may
have the opposite effect and strengthen the health of your brain.

NEURONS, THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

NEURON
• Basic unit of the nervous system
• Specialized cell that transmits neural impulses to other neurons, glands and muscles

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 • Specialized cell that transmits neural impulses to other neurons, glands and muscles
• Holds the secret of how the brain works

SOMA - cell body

DENDRITES
• Number of short branches from the cell body
• Receive neural impulses from the other neuron

AXON
• Slender tube that extends from the soma
• Transmits these messages to other neurons

SYNAPTIC TERMINALS OR TERMINAL BUTTONS

• The axon is divided into number of tiny branches that end in small swelling
• Do not actually touch the adjacent neuron

SYNAPSE
• The junction of the slight gab between the terminal button and the cell body or dendrites of the receiving
neuron

SYNAPTIC GAP
• Gap between the terminal button and cell body or dendrites

► When a neural impulse travels down the axon and arrives at the terminal buttons, it triggers the secretion of a
neurotransmitter
► |---> a chemical that diffuses across the synaptic gap and stimulates the next
neuron.
► |---> transmitting the impulse from one neuron to the next

► The axons from a great many neurons form synapses on the dendrites and cell body of a single neuron.

3 CLASSIFICATION OF NEURONS BASED ON FUNCTION

SENSORY NEURONS
• Transmits impulses received by receptors to the CNS
○ Receptors
- A specialized cell in a sense organs , muscles etc that detect physical or chemical change
and translates this events into impulses that travels to sensory neurons

MOTOR NEURONS
• Carry outgoing signals from the CNS to the muscles and glands

INTERNEURONS
• Connect sensory (afferent) and motor (efferent) neurons
• Found only in the CNS and the eyes

NUCLEI/NUCLEUS
• A group of cell bodies of neurons IN the brain and spinal cord

GANGLIA
• Group of cell bodies from OUTSIDE the brain and spinal cord

THE ANATOMY OF NUERON

Neuron structure
• Cell body, dendrites, axon, synaptic cleft

Neurotransmitters
• Chemicals released from axon of one nerve cell that transmit the impulse to the receptors of another

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 • Chemicals released from axon of one nerve cell that transmit the impulse to the receptors of another
nerve cell

• There are multiple neurotransmitter currents (brain circuits) in the brain

• Drugs can influence neurotransmitters as:

○ Agonists
▪ Increase the activity of a neurotransmitter
○ Antagonists
▪ Decrease or block
○ Inverse Agonists
▪ Effects opposite to effects of a neurotransmitter

HOW NEUROTRANSMITTERS WORK

NEUROTRANSMITTERS
Are stored tiny sacs at the end of the neuron

A. An electric jolt makes the sacs merge with the outer membrane, and the neurotransmitter is released into
the synapse.
B. The molecules diffuse across the synaptic gap and bind receptors (specialized protein) on the adjacent
neuron.
C. When sufficient neurotransmitter has been absorbed, the receptors release molecules, which are then
broken down or reabsorbed by the first neuron and stored for later use.

HOW SEROTONIN DRUG WORKS

A. Prozac enhances serotonin's effect by preventing it from being absorbed
B. Redux and fenfluramine (antiobesity drugs) cause the release of extra serotonin into the synapse

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 B. Redux and fenfluramine (antiobesity drugs) cause the release of extra serotonin into the synapse

RECEPTOR VARIATION
• There are at least 15 different serotonin receptors, each is associated with different function

ACETYLCHOLINE
• Is particularly prevalent in an area of the forebrain called the hippocampus (prevents Alzheimer's Disease)
• Plays a key role in the formation of new memories (Eichenbaum, 2000)
• Plays a prominent role in Alzheimer's Disease
▪ a devastating disorder that affects many older people by causing impairment of memory and
other cognitive functions.

GLUTAMATE
• Excitatory transmitter that "turns on" many different neurons, leading to action.
• Present in more neurons of the central nervous system than any other transmitter.
• It depolarizes neurons upon which it is released.

○ NMDA receptor - is thought to affect learning and memory. It is named for the chemical (N-methyl-
D-aspartate) that is used to detect it.

• Neurons in the hippocampus are particularly rich in NMDA receptors, and this area seems to be critical in
the formation of new memories
• Disruptions in glutamate neurotransmission have been implicated in schizophrenia (caused by too much
dopamine in some areas of the brain)

SEROTONIN
• Mainly inhibitory

• Regulated moods, thought processes, regulation of eating, sexual and aggressive behavior

• Extremely low activity levels of serotonin are associated with less inhibition and with instability,
impulsivity, and the tendency to overreact to situations.

• Redux (anti-obesity)and Prozac (antidepressant)

GAMMA - AMINOBUTYRIC ACID (GABA)

• Inhibit or regulate the transmission of formation and action potentials
• Reduces anxiety, overall arousal and emotion responses

NOREPINEPHRINE
• Controls heat rate, blood pressure and respiration
• Triggers your fight or flight responses
• Contributes to the panic attacks, anxiety and mood disorders (beta - blockers)
• Influence the emergency reaction or alarm responses

DOPAMINE
• Makes you feel awsome
• Activates other neurotransmitters
• Aids in exploratory and pleasure - seeking behaviors
• Release of dopamine in certain areas of the brain produces intense feelings of pleasure, and current
research is investigating the role of dopamine in the development of addictions.
• Depression and Addiction

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 IMPLICATIONS FOR PSYCHOPATHOLOGY
• genetic contributions may lead to patterns of neurotransmitter activity that influence personality

• psychological treatment can influence neural circuits directly (e.g. OCD)

• extreme abuse severely impedes intellectual, emotional, and social growth

• psychosocial factors changes activity levels of neurotransmitters (e.g. sense of control and reaction to
GABA antagonist)

SYNAPSE (LECTURE VIDEO 2)

SYNAPSE
• The meeting point between two neurons
• Came form the greek word "to clasp or join"
• Able to change and adapt in response to neuron firing patterns
• Allows you to learn and remember
• IN THEIR NATURAL, HEALTHY STATE, YOUR SYNAPSES KNOW WHEN TO EXCITE, WHEN TO INHIBIT, WHEN
TO USE ELECTRICITY AND WHEN TO DISPATCH THE CHEMICAL MESSENGERS.

► If your neurons form the structure of your nervous system, then your synapses - the tiny communication links
between them - are what turn that structure into an actual system

ACTION POTENTIALS
• an electrochemical impulse that travels from the cell body down to the end of the axon.

► The message from the action potential hits a synapse that then translates, or converts it, into a different type of
signal and flings it over to other neuron

TWO MAIN SETTINGS FOR COMMUNICATING OF NEURONS

ELECTRICAL
• The immediate group-text
• Send and Ion current flowing directly from the cytoplasm of one nerve cell to another, through small
windows called gap junctions
□ They are super fast and the signal is never converted from its pure electrical state to
other kind of signal

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 CHEMICAL
• Controlled, slower and more personal text
• Precise and selective in the messages they sent where
• An action potential in one neuron will generate an action potential in the other cells across the synapse
• Convert signals to steps (chemical<-->electrical<-->chemical)
• At the synapse that signal can be modifies, amplified, inhibited, or split

• 2 PRINCIPLE PARTS:
○ PRESYNAPTIC NEURON
▪ The cell that's sending the signal
○ PRESYNAPTIC TERMINAL( Axon Terminal)
▪ Where the signal transmits through
▪ A knoblike structure
▪ Holds a whole bunch of tiny synaptic sacs

► The receiving cell POST SYNAPTIC NEURON accepts the neurotransmitters in its receptor region, which is usually
on the DENDRITE or just on the cell body itself
► These two neuron never actually touch but still communicates
SYNAPTIC CLEFT
• A gap between the pre synaptic terminal and the post synaptic neuron

HOW NEUROTRANSMITTERS WORKS

• When an action potential races along the axon of a neuron, activating sodium and potassium channels in a
wave, it eventually comes down to the presynaptic terminal and activates the voltage- gated calcium (Ca2
+) channels there to open and release the calcium into the neuron cytoplasm.

• This flow of positively-charged ions causes all those tiny synaptic vesicles to fuse with the cell membrane.
And it's there neurotransmitters that act like couriers diffusing across the synaptic gap and binding to
receptor sites on the post synaptic neuron.

• The first neuron has managed to convert the electrical signal into a chemical one, but in order for it to
become an action potential again in the receiving neuron it has to be converted back to electrical. And that
happens once a neurotransmitter bind to a receptor. Because that's what causes the ion channels to open.

• And depending on which particular neurotransmitter binds to which receptor, the neuron might either get
exited or inhibited.

EXCITATORY NEUROTRANSMITTERS
• Post synaptic potentials, graded potentials that push the neuron closer to the threshold, and make an
action potential more likely.
• Depolarize the postsynaptic neuron by making the inside of it more positive and bringing it closer to its
action potential, making it more likely to fire that message to the next neuron

INHIBITORY NEUROTRANSMITTERS

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 INHIBITORY NEUROTRANSMITTERS
• Hyperpolarizes the postsynaptic neuron by making the inside more negative

► Any region of a single neuron may have hundreds of synapses, each with different inhibitory or excitatory
neurotransmitter.
► The likelihood of that post synaptic neuron depends on the sum of all excitations and inhibitions in that area

• REUPTAKE
○ After they deliver their message, they just sort of pop back out and then either degrade or get
recycled
○ Some kinds diffuse back across the synapse and are immediately re absorbed by sending the
neuron
HOW COCAINE WORKS
• Cocaine blocks the reuptake, especially the dopamine
• These allows these powerful chemicals to float around and accumulate- making the user feel euphoric for
a time but also paranoid and jittery
• And because you have limited supply of these neurotransmitters, and your body needs time to brew more,
flooding your synapses like this eventually deletes your supply, making you feel terrible in a number of
ways.
• Cocaine and other drugs that target neurotransmitters trick the brain and prolonged use may cause it to
adapt, as all those synapses remember how great those extra chemical feels

THE CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT (CPU) OF THE BODY

BRAIN
• Magnificent and complex
• Made up of many parts, each with specific and important function.
• Controls our ability to balance, walk, talk and eat.
• Coordinates and regulates our breathing, blood circulation, and the heart rate
• Responsible for our ability to speak, to process and remember information, make decisions, and feel
emotions.
• Every brain is unique, ever-changing, extremely sensitive to its environment.

THE ORGANIZATION OF THE BRAIN

THREE MAIN REGIONS BASED ON LOCATION
• Hindbrain
○ Includes all the structures located in the hind (posterior) part of the brain
• Midbrain
○ Closest to the spinal cord
○ Located in the middle of the brain
• Forebrain
○ Includes all structures located in the front (anterior) part of the brain

THREE CONCENTRIC LAYERS (Paul MacLean, 1973)

• CENTRAL CORE(Brain stem)

○ Regulates our most primitive behaviors
▪ Which are under voluntary control such as breathing, vomiting, sleeping, etc.
Controls involuntary behaviors such as coughing, sneezing and gagging

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 ○ Controls involuntary behaviors such as coughing, sneezing and gagging
○ Also includes all the structures of the midbrain and hindbrain, and the two structures of the
forebrain; hypothalamus and the thalamus.
• LIMBIC SYSTEM
○ Controls our emotions
• CEREBRUM
○ Regulated our higher intellectual processes

DIVISION BASED ON LOCATION

Hindbrain
○ Sits on top of the spinal cord, and it is crucial for basic life functions
• Medulla
○ First slight enlargement of the spinal cord as it enters the skull
○ A narrow structure that controls breathing and some reflexes that help maintain upright posture
• Pons
○ Above medulla
○ Control of attentiveness and timing of sleep

► The major nerve tracts coming up from the spinal cord cross over so that the right side of the brain is
connected to the left side of the body, and the left side of the brain is connected to the right side of the
body.

• Reticular Formation
○ Network of neural circuits that extends from the lower brainstem up to the thalamus in the
forebrain, and traversing some of the other central core structures.
○ Control arousal

► When an electric current of a certain voltage is sent through electrodes implanted in the reticular formation of a
cat or dog, the animal goes to sleep; stimulation by a current with a more rapidly changing waveform awakens
the sleeping animal.

○ The reticular formation also plays a role in our ability to focus attention on stimuli
○ All the sense receptors have nerve fibers feed into the reticular system which act as a filter
○ Allows some sensory messages to pass to the cerebral cortex (that is to conscious awareness)
while blocking others.

CEREBELLUM
• Slightly above the medulla
• Concerned primarily with the coordination of movements
• Damage to it might result to uncoordinated movements
• Important for learning new motor responses

► Direct neural connection between the cerebellum and frontal parts of the brain are involved in language,
planning and reasoning (Middleton& Strick, 1994)
• This connecting circuits are much larger in human beings than in monkeys and other animals.

• Cerebellum may play a role in the control and coordination of higher mental functions as well as in the
coordination of movements

MIDBRAIN
• Found just above the pons and surrounded by the forebrain

SUPERIOR AND INFERIOR COLLICULUS

• Two small structures of the midbrain
• Important for relaying sensory information to the brain and for movement control( eye movements)

SUBSTANTIA NIGRA
• A crucial part of the dopamine- containing pathway (also referred as the 'reward-pathway').
• Deteriorates in Parkinson's disease

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THE FOREBRAIN
• CEREBRUM
○ Large part of the forebrain
○ Especially more highly developed in humans than in any other organism

• CORTEX/CEREBRAL CORTEX
○ Outer layer of the cerebrum
○ Most important region of the brain for many psychological functions

• OTHER STRUCTURES IN THE FOREBRAIN/ SUBCORTICAL STRUCTURES:

○ Hypothalamus
▪ Centers in the hypothalamus regulate eating, drinking and sexual behavior
▪ Involved maintaining homeostasis by exerting control over the autonomic nervous system
▪ Has also an important role in the sensation of our emotions and in response to stress
producing situations.
▪ Mild electrical stimulation produces feeling of pleasure: stimulation of adjacent regions
produces unpleasant sensations
○ Thalamus
▪ Two egg-shaped groups of nerve cell nuclei
▪ Acts as a sensory relay station, directing incoming information information from the sense
receptors(such as vision and hearing) to the cerebrum
○ Areas comprising the limbic system

• HOMEOSTASIS
○ Refers to the level of functioning that is characteristic of a healthy organism
▪ Body temperature, heart rate and blood pressure.
○ When an organism is under stress, homeostasis is disturbs, and the processes are set into motion to
correct this lack of equilibrium.
○ Bothe process tend to restore normal temperature and are controlled by the hypothalamus
• PITUITARY GLAND
○ Most important part of a system of glands( Endocrine system)
○ The hypothalamus controls the endocrine system and thus the production of hormones

LIMBIC SYSTEM
• Around the central core of the brain and closely interconnected with the hypothalamus
• A set of structures that impose additional control over some of the instinctive behaviors regulated by the
central core
• IN FISH AND REPTILES
○ Carry out activities such as feeding, attacking, fleeing and mating by means of stereotyped behaviors.
• IN MAMMALS
○ Inhibit some of these instinctive patterns and allow the organism to be more flexible and better able
to adapt to changes in the environment
• Involves emotional behavior

HIPPOCAMPUS
• Has a special role in memory
• This was discovered during the 1950s when people who had the structure surgically removed to treat their
epilepsy , readily recognize old friends and recall earlier experiences, however cannot recall memories
that happened a year before the incident

AMYGDALA
• An almond shaped structure deep within the brain
• Critical in emotion such as fear (Maren, 2001)
○ If damaged in animals, they exhibit marked reduction in fear; in Humans, they will be unable to
recognize facial expressions of fear or learn new fear responses (Bechara et al., 1995)

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 CEREBRAL CORTEX
• Each sensory systems send information to specific areas of the cerebral cortex
• Motor responses, or movements of the body parts, are controlled by specific areas of the cortex
• Gray matter
○ The cortex of a preserved brain appears gray because it is largely nerve cell bodies and unmyelinated
fibers.
• White matter
○ The inside of the cerebrum, beneath the cortex, is mostly myelinated axons and appears white

• ASSOCIATION AREAS
○ Consists the rest of the cortex which is neither motor nor sensory
○ Occupy the largest portion of the human cortex and are concerned with memory, thought, and
language

► Cortex is composed of two hemispheres on the left and right sides of the brain that are connected by the corpus
callosum. They are basically symmetrical, with a deep division (the longitudinal fissure) between them. We
therefore refer to the left and right hemispheres. Each hemisphere is divided into four lobes: the frontal, parietal,
occipital, and temporal lobes. These are large regions of the cerebral cortex that perform diverse functions.

FRONTAL LOBE

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 FRONTAL LOBE
• Separated from the parietal lobe by the central fissure, a groove that runs from near the top of the head
sideways to the ears.
• The division between the parietal lobe and the occipital lobe is less clear-cut.

• PRIMARY MOTOR AREA

○ Just in front of the central fissure
○ Controls voluntary movements of the body

► Electrical stimulation at certain spots on the motor cortex causes specific parts of the body to move.
○ When these spots on the motor cortex are injured, movement is impaired
○ The body is represented on the motor cortex in approximately upside-down form

For example, movements of the toes are controlled from an area near the top of the head, but tongue and
mouth movements are controlled from near the bottom of the motor area.

✓ Movements on the right side of the body are governed by the motor cortex of the left hemisphere; the right
hemisphere governs movements on the left side.

PARIETAL LOBE is at the top of the brain behind the central fissure and that the occipital lobe is at the rear of the
brain.

• PRIMARY SOMATOSENSORY AREA

○ Separated from the motor area by the central fissure
○ An area that is responsible for sensory experience
► When this area is stimulated electrically, it produces a sensory experience somewhere on the opposite side of
the body
► Heat, cold, touch, pain and the sense of body movement are presented here
► The amount of somatosensory area associated with a particular part of the body is related to its sensitivity and
use.

For example, among four-footed mammals, the dog has only a small amount of cortical tissue
representing its forepaws, whereas the raccoon – which makes extensive use of its forepaws in exploring
and manipulating its environment – has a much larger cortical area to control its forepaws, including
regions for separate fingers. The rat, which learns a great deal about its environment by means of its
sensitive whiskers, has a separate cortical area for each whisker.

• PRIMARY VISUAL AREA

○ Located at the back of each occipital lobe in the cortex
○ The optic nerve fibers and neural pathways leading from each eye to the visual cortex.

► Notice that some of the optic fibers from the right eye go to the right cerebral hemisphere, whereas others cross
over at a junction called the optic chiasm and go to the opposite hemisphere; the same arrangement holds true
for the left eye.
► Fibers from the right sides of both eyes go to the right hemisphere of the brain, and fibers from the left sides of
both eyes go to the left hemisphere.
► As a result, the left visual field is represented in the right hemisphere, whereas the right visual field is
represented in the left hemisphere.
• Helpful in pinpointing the location of a brain tumor or other abnormalities

• PRIMARY AUDITORY AREA

○ Located in the surface of the temporal lobe at the side of each hemisphere
○ Involve in the analysis of complex auditory signal -- particularly the temporal patterning of sound, as
in human speech
○ Both ears are represented in the auditory areas on both sides of the cortex, but connections to the
opposite side are stronger
○ The right ear send information to the auditory area on the left side of the brain and the opposite is
true of the left ear.

► The brain changes throughout life, adapting to things we have learned and experienced. In a healthy brain, new
connections continually develop, and broken ones are repaired. As we get older, particularly from middle age
onwards, changes can start to happen within the brain so that there’s a gradual decrease in mental capabilities.
This is known as age-related cognitive decline, and it typically results in people becoming more forgetful and

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 This is known as age-related cognitive decline, and it typically results in people becoming more forgetful and
less mentally sharp. So, although brain health is important at every age, it becomes more imperative as we grow
older.

► Mental decline is one of the most frightening aspects of aging, but it is not inevitable, by working to improve brain
health you can help maintain your memory, understanding, communication and quality of life.

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR BRAIN (LECTURE VIDEO 1)

INTRODUCTION TO PHRENOLOGY
• Franz Joseph Gall
○ First phrenologist
• PHRENOLOGY
○ The detailed study of the shape and size of the cranium as a supposed indication of character and
mental abilities.
▪ CRANIUM
□ Bone that surrounds the brain
• "DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE BRAIN CONTROL SPECIFIC ASPECTS OF OUR BEHAVIOR"
• Function in other term is localized
• MOTOR CORTEX - arm twitch
• FRONTAL LOBES - remember memories

HOW DO OUR BRAINS' FUNCTION TIE TO THE BEHAVIOR OF THE MIND?

• Central Nervous System
○ Makes your bodies big decisions
○ The command center
• Peripheral Nervous System
○ Composed of scout-like sensory neurons that gather information and report it back to the central
nervous system

THE CURIOUS CASE OF PHINEAS GAGE

► Phineas Gage was working on a rail road, when was tamping gunpowder into a hole with an iron rod but it
ignited. The explosion caused the rod to shoot like a bullet up through his left cheek and out of the top of his
head. But he survived, even the doctors were surprised. But when he got home, he coughed and a tea-cup size of
his brain had gone out of his mouth. He looked okay but his friends observed something wrong about him. His
personality had change. The old Phineas was gone, the soft spoken and mild-mannered Phineas was gone. He
was describes as "no longer gage".
THE BRAIN STRUCTURE
► Messing with the brain was messing with the mind
► We are working 10% of our brain capacity
► Nearly every region of the brain lights up during even simple task like walking and talking
► Our brain requires 20% of all the body's energy

OLD BRAIN
• Keep our brain system keep our basic body's functioning running smoothly

Brain stem
• The most ancient and central core of the brain
Medulla
• The old brain functions happen automatically without any conscious effort: the beating of hearts, breathing
of lungs
Pons
• Perched on the medulla and it helps coordinate movements
Thalamus
• Take in sensory information related to seeing, hearing, touching and tasting
Reticular information
• Essential for arousal

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 • Essential for arousal
• Sleeping and waling and pain perception
Cerebellum
• Little brain
• Responsible for non verbal learning and memory, the perception of time and modulating motions
• Controls voluntary movement but also gets impaired in the influence of alcohol

LYMBIC SYSTEM
• Higher functions of the brain
• Boarder region separating the old brain and the newer, higher cerebral areas
Amygdala
• Memory consolidation as well as both our greatest fear and hottest aggression

Hypothalamus
• Keeps your whole body steady
• Regulating body temperatures, circadian rhythms, and hunger
• Helps endocrine system especially the pituitary gland
• Feel pleasure and reward

Hippocampus
• Central to learning and memory
• If damaged a person may lose their ability to retain new facts and memories

GREY MATTER
• The two hemispheres of your cerebrum make up about 85 percent of your brain weight, and oversee your
ability to think speak and perceive.
• The left and right hemispheres govern and regulate different functions, giving us a split brain, connected by
a structure called corpus callosum.

• Left hemisphere
○ Language production
• Right hemisphere
○ Certain creative function

• POP PSYCHOLOGY
○ A behavioral disorder in which journalists and armchair psychology use research showing beautiful,
detailed, intimately connected complexities of your brain to sell newspapers or reinforce previously
held beliefs.

CEREBRAL CORTEX
• A thin layer of over twenty billion interconnected neurons

• GLIAL CELLS
○ Provides spider web of support that surround, insulate, and nourish the cerebral neurons

FRONTAL LOBES
• Involved in speaking, planning, judging, abstract thinking and personality aspects
PAREITAL LOBES
• Sense of touch, body position
OCCIPITAL LOBES
• Information related to sight
TEMPORAL LOBES
• Comprehension, sound and speech
FISSURES
• A prominent folds that separates the four lobes

EACH HEMISPHERE CONTROLS THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE BODY

MOTOR CORTEX
• Controls voluntary movements and sends messages from the brain out of the body
SOMATOSENSORY CORTEX
• Processes incoming sensations

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 • Processes incoming sensations

ASSOCIATION AREAS
• The rest of the gray matter related to higher mental functions
• Unlike the sensory and motor cortex, you couldn't just poke and create a neat response
• Association areas are more subtle; they deal with things like interpreting and integrating sensory input and
linking up with memories
• Prevail throughout all our four lobes

BIOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGY ARE INTERTWINED

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