Transcript Left Brain
Lecture 1 ProSeminar in Biological Psychology 10% theory Absolutely no evidence to support 10% theory • Natural Selection • Clinical Neurology • fMRI, PET, EEG How well do you really know your brain? Forebrain telencephalon • Movement • Orientation • Recognition • Perception of stimuli • Reasoning • Planning • Speech Produce • Movement • Emotions • Problem solving • Personality • Visual Processing • Perception & recognition of auditory stimuli • Memory • Speech Comprehension Taking sides…. how the two sides process information that is! Right Brain Left Brain • • • • • • Logical Sequential Rational Analytical Objective Looks at parts • • • • • • Random Intuitive Holistic Synthesizing Subjective Looks at wholes What is your brain made of? Gray Matter: 40% White Matter: 60% Synapses: 0.15 quadrillion Brain has more pathways: Receptors located on neurons in membrane 2 Types of Cells in NS Nerve Cells (Neurons) Electrical Signaling Communicate with other cells Glial Cells (Glia) Supportive No signaling (90%) Brain mostly composed of… Brain Composition: H20 77-78% Lipids 10-12% Proteins 8% Carbs 1% The “Kiss” IONOTROPIC (LIGAND BINDING RECEPTOR) METABOTROPIC (G-PROTEIN COUPLED RECEPTOR) Will the human brain ever completely understand its own workings? 3 major debates • Mind vs Brain (monism/dualism) • Nature of neural communication • Localism vs holism (Neurons) Debate: Nature of Neural Communication Luigi Galvani (1596-1650) Italian Physician Physicist Electrical Stimulation of frog legs Contraction of the muscles “Animal Electricity” "While one of those who were assisting me touched lightly, and by chance, the point of his scalpel to the internal crural nerves of the frog, suddenly all the muscles of its limbs were seen to be so contracted that they seemed to have fallen into tonic convulsions. “ Debate: Neural Communication Johannes Muller (1801-1858) German Physiologist Doctrine of specific nerve energies All nerves carry electrical signals Different nerves = different outcomes Camillo Golgi (1843-1956) Italian Physician: Santiago Ramon y Cajal (1852-1934) Spanish Histologist Silver Staining Method – continuous mass of tissues…one cytoplasm (holism) Labeled Cells “neuron doctrine” – discrete entities Nobel Prize 1906: Research on structure of the nervous Debate: Nature of Neural Communication Debate: Nature of Neural Communication 1. Neurons are discrete and autonomous cells that can interact 2. Synapses are gaps that separate neurons 3. Information is transmitted in one direction from dendrites (input) to the axon (output) Debate: Localism vs Holism brought Neuroanatomy & Psychology together discrete regions of brain controls specific functions = mental state localization Phrenology (personology) Franz Joseph Gall (1757-1825) German Physician Neuroanatomist Localism!!! Wilder Penfield (1891-1976) American-Born Canadian Neurosurgeon: • Greatest neurosurgeon of all times • mapped the brain • direct stimulation of the brain •“Grandmother Cell" • Localism vs holism? Mind-Body Question Dualist: mind separate from body Mechanist: Body is like a machine Mind controls the machine Body tells mind about the environment Rene Descartes (1596-1650) • Mind vs Brain Pipes = nerves Water = fluids in body Hidden Value = Pineal Control Valve: Pineal Gland “Seat of the Soul” First technical model for the NS Innervation of the Pineal Dependent on the Light/Dark Cycle Debate: Mind vs Brain Mind vs Brain??? Monism: Dualism: Mind is product of brain Brain is physical mind is not Mind-Body Question..are you a monist or a dualist?