Brain Function and Behavior Systems

Study Notes

The brain's primary function is to control behavior.
Behavior encompasses three core aspects: Affect (emotions), Behavior (movement), and Cognition (thinking & memory).
These psychological processes are essential for survival, enabling us to secure food, avoid danger, and reproduce.

Behavioral neuroscience aims to explain behavior by understanding the physiological mechanisms underlying it.
The field focuses on the intricate connections between the brain and the body, as well as various brain regions.
These functional connections are known as "systems."

A system operates by processing inputs, leading to outputs: INPUT --> PROCESSING --> OUTPUT

From the 1700 BC, humans sought to understand behavior.
Dualism was a prevalent belief that the body was physical, but the mind (or soul) was not.
Monism posits that the world comprises only matter and energy, and the mind arises from the nervous system.

1700 BC: Egyptians recognized the brain, but the heart was considered the seat of the soul.
460 BC: Hippocrates argued that the brain controls thought and emotion.
1645: Descartes suggested that the brain provided sensory data to the "soul" for decision-making.
1780: Galvani demonstrates electrical stimulation causing muscle movement in dead frogs.
~1840: Müller observes different nerve messages depending on the sensory organ.
1815: Flourens uses experimental ablation to pinpoint specific brain regions and their functions.
1861: Broca identifies a region in the frontal lobe linked to speech production.
1870: Helmholtz discovers slower-than-expected nerve signals, hinting at chemical communication in neurons.
1849: Fritsch and Hitzig identify the motor cortex, responsible for voluntary movement.