Biology 202 Neurobiology and Behavior Spring 2002

And a break point in the course, so ... what do you think? We started with brain=behavior and now know brain is neurons with ionic gradients, variable membrane permeabilities, and current flows, which respond to and release chemicals. Is that enough? to account for behavior, including experience? What would it take to get from where we are to that? Do you think we can do it?

And a break point in the course, so ... what do you think? We started with brain=behavior and now know brain is neurons with ionic gradients, variable membrane permeabilities, and current flows, which respond to and release chemicals. Is that enough? to account for behavior, including experience? What would it take to get from where we are to that? Do you think we can do it?

However, the mechanisms for control present in the nervous system are quite sophisticated and help explain why organisms typically do not continuously experience random, involuntary movement and behavior. Inhibitory post-synaptic potentials and controlled release of neurotransmitters, in addition to the highly specialized and selective nature of all chemicals and processes involved, are some of the main functions needed to explain control.

The questions I am still interested in having answering include: how does that brain store information? How is this information accessed and used for further processing? I was in a car accident last semester and suffered a head injury associated with memory loss. I am still unable to recall certain events, peoples' faces/names; I cannot retain a lot of new information, etc. I suppose memory is particularly interesting to me because I would like to understand what processes were damaged, and how these functions normally work.

Our brains are different from each other. Learning about how neurons are organized and their interaction can lead us to a better understanding of behavior. Neurons listen to a lot of different inputs. There are differences due to different connection patterns among neurons. Wouldn’t the paths traveled have to make a difference in our own experience? There could be different experiences due to different connection patterns among neurons. Our own activity is constantly changing. The nervous system is being processed by these signals but, also being changed by those processed signals. Do the patterns of activity in neural networks determine the type of person we are?

I think it is amazing that you can still see movement in the body after a chicken's head has been cut off. Is there still thought going on about what is really being done and happening? The running around?

Brain equals behavior? Seastars are an interesting animal to look at. Afterall, their nervous system is very simple. They do not have a brain and there is no ganglia to coordinate movement. The nervous system consists of as a nerve ring that surrounds the mouth. A radial nerve branches off of the nerve ring and extends to each arm. Yet, don’t starfish have some type/form of behavior? Can the same be said about jellyfish? Jellyfish are more than 95% water. They have no heart, bones, or brain, and have no real eyes. So, does brain really equal behavior?

Personally, I believe that there has to be something more that accounts for behavior. What we have discussed seems complicated enough, but it's only half way through the semester-there has to be something more! We haven't really discussed the idea of experiences and thought yet. Perhaps there is something more than what we have discussed that contributes to the that. Could we do it? I think we can. :)

Like Kelli stated earlier, I want to know how the brain stores information. How do these neurons work together so that information is learned? What differences lie within individuals that allow a greater or lesser capacity for knowledge?? When I get a random thought, is it the result of a spontaneous action potential, or is it a pattern of neurons working together? I really want to understand how the neuron correlates with behavior. Because we can not presume that there is anything else there but cells, it must be the patterns of these cells that account for the differences in brain and behavior amongst different species and different individuals.

Think about biting into a sour lemon. Mm, not a pleasant thought, unless you actually like the pure taste. Even if you do like it, your mind creates the thought that gives one a positive or negative feeling. First we think, then we feel. It just happens that the neurons and chemicals go along with it. On the other hand, what about chemical imbalances?

We talked about how neurons can start an action potential in the middle of a neuron, which is helpful. This provides a reason for how people can simply think of something without having some sort of stimuli. A neuron in the brain (most likely in the cerebrum)can create a cascade of action potentials which will be expressed as an idea. I'm not sure how this can be done. One must draw upon a very large number of neurons in order to even remember where I put my keys this morning. Not only do I have to think about my actions from the morning, but I have to express everything in terms of a language that I can understand -- the narrator inside our heads. This makes me very curious about language.

We must attempt to understand what exactly is occurring within the boxes of each individual that makes his reality and reaction to the world different from his neighbor. It cannot simply be neurons, activation potentials and concentration gradients which define this so. Or is it?
What happened to experience, soul and emotions?
I think that they play a role in shaping behavior and do not necessarily result from behavior.

While I am not necessarily insistent that there must be more to consciousness than the sum of these neurons, I am curious as to how exactly phenomena such as memory, emotions, and thought occur. What is memory, once it is broken down to a matter of signals moving along neurons? We know that learning, when young, builds new links between neurons; is this all that memory is? Is it possible to keep building links throughout one’s entire life? If this were true, how would a person lose their memory through problems such as Alzheimer’s disease or amnesia caused by head trauma? If a memory is simply a pattern of linked neurons – ignoring for the moment that such an explanation does not truly explain how exactly we retain an image to remember – then wouldn’t we eventually run out of neurons to link with? Even in my own eighteen-year lifespan there are innumerable memories: tastes, smells, images, sounds. Many of these are linked with one another also; the smell of diesel conjures up the image of my father’s truck, the sound of its engine, other scents inside the truck, the feeling of sitting in the cab of the truck at all different ages, from when I was tiny to now. It is hard to believe that all this detail, all these chains of sensation, can be contained in the space of a brain; even harder to believe that they can be expressed with the firing of a neuron. Where are memories held when they are not actively being recalled? What happens to the ones you lose? Are they are truly gone, or are the claims of some hypnotists true: that under hypnosis, you can remember more than you can normally. What is the difference between short-term and long-term memory?

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