I Love You with all my

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• I Love You with all my
• Limbic System

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• I Love You with all my
• Limbic System

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Neuroscience

• Introductory Psychology

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Have you ever wondered why..... 1

• 1. Babies have such large heads?

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Have you ever wondered why..... 2

• 2. Newborn human beings cant walk? Horses can,
  we cant?
• 3. Why Arnold Schwarzenegger still speaks
  English with a German accent? (Even though he has
  lived in the U.S. for 30 years and has had expert
  diction instruction?)

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Have you ever wondered why 4

• 4. Why Christopher Reeves paralysis cant be
  cured?

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Have you ever wondered why..... 5

• 5. Why Alzheimers, Parkinsons, Huntingtons
  Diseases, Cerebral Palsy, Tourettes, etc., cant
  be cured?
• 6. What happens to your brain when you get
  knocked unconscious?

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Have you ever wondered why..... 7

• 7. How a black widow spider causes paralysis and
  death?

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Have you ever wondered why?

• Aliens are depicted as having such large heads?

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• When the trend in computers is to get smaller,
  not larger

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Everything you have always wanted to know about
the nervous system

• but were too unstimulated to ask

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Brain weight

• Birth 350 grams--some areas low activity
• 1 year 1000 grams
• Adult 1200-1400 grams

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Neurogenesis (Regeneration of Neurons) 1

• Q Are you born with all the neurons you will
  ever have? (Probably not, but close).
• Q Is there NO regeneration (new neurons or axon
  growth) in the CNS? (Regeneration is virtually
  nonexistent in the CNS of adult mammals. It
  isnt great in the PNS).

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Neurogenesis (Regeneration of Neurons) 2

• Schwann cells, which myelinate PNS axons, promote
  regeneration in the PNS by producing neurotrophic
  factors and cell-adhesion molecules that
  stimulate the growth of new axons and provide the
  paths along which axons grow.
• CNS axons, in contrast, are myelinated by
  oligodendroglia, which do not do either.
• Cheng, Cao, and Olson (1996) transplanted
  sections of nerve from the PNS to the CNS and
  were able to restore some function in paralyzed
  rats.
• Stem cells from fetal tissue apparently will grow
  new neurons in the brain. Some monkey research
  has been successful.

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Rehabilitation

• When neurons die, SOMETIMES, nearby cells will
  take over the function or part.
• This depends on the
• Extent of the damage
• Location of the damage
• Age of the person (younger is better)
• Extent of rehabilitation

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Some Important Neurotransmitters 1

• Serotonin Affects neurons involved in sleep,
  appetite, sensory perception, temperature
  regulation, pain suppression, and mood, i.e.,
  depression.
• Dopamine Affects neurons involved in voluntary
  movement, learning, memory, and emotion.
• Implicated in Parkinsons Disease and Schizophrenia

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Some Important Neurotransmitters 2

• 3. Norepinephrine Affects neurons involved in
  increased heart rate and the slowing of
  intestinal activity during stress and neurons
  involved in learning, memory, dreaming, waking
  from sleep, and emotion. i.e depression
• 4. Acetylcholine Affects neurons involved in
  muscle action, cognitive functioning, memory, and
  emotion.
• 5. GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) Functions as
  the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the
  brain. Implicated in anxiety.

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Black widow neurotoxin causes flood of Ach at
pre-synaptic junction. Muscles of respiration
(e.g. diaphragm) spasm
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Curare tipped arrows block Ach release--paralyzes
muscles
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Botulin blocks Ach release

• Botulism bacterium and a puffy can-- the effect
  of build up of botulinin bacteria.

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Ways to Study the Brain

• 1. Case Studies of Persons with Brain Damage.
  E.g., H. M.
• 2. Lesion Studies
• 3. Needle Electrodes
• 4. EEGs
• 5. CT Scans
• 6. PET Scans
• 7. MRI
• 8. Functional MRI