PBI288 Winter 2025 History and Animal Research PDF

“Only true artists are attracted to science” – Santiago Ramon y Cajal WELCOME! ORIGINS OF BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE ORIGINS OF BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE Objectives Recognize guidelines used to regulate the use of animals in research in Canada Recognize some key discoveries in the history of...

“Only true artists are attracted to science” – Santiago Ramon y Cajal WELCOME! ORIGINS OF BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE ORIGINS OF BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE Objectives Recognize guidelines used to regulate the use of animals in research in Canada Recognize some key discoveries in the history of behavioral neuroscience  PHYSIOLOGICAL APPROACH TO BEHAVIOR & THE MIND Your beautiful brain… what does it do? Behavioral neuroscience: physiological perspective on understanding behaviors and thoughts Dr. Greg Dunn, “Self-reflected” (2016) But can studying the nervous system: – …help us figure out complex things like emotions, attitudes, logic? – …give us insight into something as complicated as the mind?  PHYSIOLOGICAL APPROACH TO BEHAVIOR & THE MIND What is the mind made of? Are we fully “conscious” of all of our experiences? Effects of commissurotomy: “Split brain” patients What happens when the right hemisphere and left hemisphere are disconnected? – Dr. Roger Sperry (1913–1994) California Institute of Technology – Dr. Michael Gazzaniga University of California, Santa Barbara  dorsal Right Left hemisphere hemisphere ventral Image taken from Watson & Breedlove, The Mind’s Machine (1st edition).  A BIT OF CONTEXT… The organization of the our central nervous system is bilateral and (mostly) symmetrical Most of our perceptual information and our motor control commands are processed contralaterally In most humans, spoken language abilities are controlled by the left cerebral hemisphere GIF Source: "BodyParts3D, © The Database Center for Life Science VIDEO: JOE, A SPLIT BRAIN PATIENT https://youtu.be/ZMLzP1VCANo Wolman, D. (2012). Nature, 483, 260–263.  INTERACTIVE RESPONSE SYSTEM For in-class questions, we’ll https://socrative.com/ use an online polling system – Go to https://socrative.com/ – Click on ‘Student Login’ – Enter HOOD1730 – Answer the questions as they appear on your screen – *or you can use pen and paper*  IN-CLASS ACTIVITY Go to socrative.com and click on login  student login – Enter HOOD1730 – Enter your name Or take a piece of paper and try to answer the following question yourself – Write down your name on the paper RESEARCH IN BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE Much of the research described in your textbook involves animals If we’re interested in human minds and behaviors, why study non-human animals? RESEARCH IN BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE Use of animals in research is strictly regulated in Canada, and in most other developed nations – Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC) – Under CCAC, any animal research institution has an Animal Care Committee that includes members of the community as well as researchers “Three Rs” of using animals in research – Replacement – Reduction – Refinement RESEARCH IN BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE There is never an excuse for mistreating or neglecting animals in our care, whether for research or for other purposes – Animal husbandry, food production – Personal pets What could be the impact of mistreating animals on the quality of research? … No matter what your position is on this issue, make sure it’s an informed one  QUESTIONS Which of the following is true? Choose all that apply. HOOD1730 a) The nervous system can conduct electricity b) The nervous system can generate electricity c) The nervous system uses electricity to change the activity of other cells d) The nervous system uses chemical signals to change the activity of other cells  ORIGINS OF BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE Réné Descartes (1596–1650) One of the first to propose a falsifiable model of the control of simple behaviors, or reflexes Pineal gland directs flow of ‘animal spirits’ through nerves  ORIGINS OF BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE Luigi Galvani (1737–1798) Physiologist Dismembered frog leg muscle and nerve tissue (separated from brain) is still capable of movement – So fluid is not necessary… – Nerve attached to muscle, when contacted with two different metals, produced twitch – Conclusions: Electricity activates behavior Nervous system can generate its own electricity  ORIGINS OF BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE What is responsible for activating the nervous system? Luigi Galvani Alessandro Volta (1737–1798) (1745–1827) Physicist Nerves are capable of Nerves can conduct producing their own electricity, which produces electricity behavior But nerves cannot generate their own electricity  ORIGINS OF BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE Who was right? Luigi Galvani Alessandro Volta Nerves are capable of Nerves can conduct producing their own electricity, which produces electricity behavior I Electrophysiology  ORIGINS OF BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE All nerves carry same basic message — an electrical impulse Johannes Müller, 1801–1858 German physiologist “Doctrine of specific nerve energies” – If nervous system uses electrical signals, how do we perceive one type of input as different from another (i.e., why do we ‘see’ or ‘hear’ different inputs)? – Specific sensations are due to activation of specific nerves (“labelled lines”)  ORIGINS OF BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE What is the nervous system made up of? Camillio Golgi Ramon y Cajal Small cells that are Small cells that, although connected or continuous very close to each other, with each other are discrete  ORIGINS OF BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE Otto Loewi (1873–1961) If neurons and tissue are not continuous with each other, then how does a nerve communicate with a muscle? Frog heart experiments (1921) – Discovered the first neurotransmitter acetylcholine (ACh)  ORIGINS OF BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE Loewi’s experiment – Stimulation of vagus nerve in frog heart  ORIGINS OF BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE Otto Loewi (1873–1961) How does a nerve communicate with a muscle? Frog heart experiments (1921) – Discovered the first neurotransmitter acetylcholine (ACh) When released from the vagus nerve, it slows heart rate – ACh is a key neurotransmitter in the somatic and autonomic nervous systems – Necessary for muscle contractions Received the Nobel Prize with Henry Dale in 1936