一、课程的教学目标与任务

Physiology is a science that studies the laws of life activities of the organism and is an important basic course in basic medical courses. Learning physiology not only lays the foundation for follow-up courses, but also cultivates the students' ability to analyze problems and solve problems, and lay the necessary physiology foundation for each professional practice and research after graduation.

This course provides a systematic introduction to the mammalian nervous system, emphasizing the structural and functional organization of the human brain. It exposes students to the field of contemporary neuroscience and lays the necessary foundation for studying other professional courses.

二、课程对人才培养的支撑点

This course contributes to students’ achievement of the following graduation requirements:

Graduation Requirement 1: This course begins with the study of nerve cells: their structure, the propagation of nerve impulses and transfer of information between nerve cells, the effect of drugs on this process, and the development of nerve cells into the brain and spinal cord. We then move to the sensory systems such as olfaction, hearing, and vision and discuss how physical energy such as light is converted into neural signals, where these signals travel in the brain, and how they are processed. Next, we study the control of voluntary movement. Finally, we cover the neurochemical bases of brain diseases and those systems which control motivation, emotion, learning and memory.

Graduation Requirement 2: Problem Analysis and Design Solutions. To master the basic knowledge of physiology, to understand the normal function of living organisms and their components, and to propose reasonable solutions and solutions to problems in related fields based on the basic principles of physiology.

Graduation Requirement 3: Scientific Research. Based on the regularity of the normal function of organisms and their components, analyze the medical and biomedical engineering problems related to the discipline of physiology, and rationally use physiological research methods to design experiments, analyze and interpret experimental data, and obtain reasonable and effective information through comprehensive information.

Graduation Requirement 4: Engineering and Sustainable Development. The various components of the human body are organized in a certain form. The body regulates various physiological functions of various organ systems and cells, and maintains the steady state of the body's internal environment and even various physiological functions. All diseases are clinically diagnosed. Therefore, requiring students to clearly learn physiology knowledge plays an important positive role in solving major human diseases, increasing intellectual development, and improving human survival.

三、课程具体内容及基本要求

(Lecture 1) Chapter 1 Introduction and Syllabus (1.5 hours)
PART ONE Foundations: The following chapters introduce the modern field of neuroscience, tracing some of its historical antecedents. Then, we take a closer look at the structure and function of individual neurons, how they communicate chemically, and how these building blocks are arranged to form a nervous system.

1. CHAPTER ONE Neuroscience: Past, Present, and Future

In Chapter 1, we use a historical approach to review some basic principles of nervous system function and then turn to the topic of how neuroscience research is conducted today. We directly confront the ethics of neuroscience research, particularly that which involves animals.

1.1 THE ORIGINS OF NEUROSCIENCE

Views of the Brain in Ancient Greece

Views of the Brain During the Roman Empire

Views of the Brain from the Renaissance to the Nineteenth Century

Nineteenth-Century Views of the Brain

Nerves as Wires

Localization of Specific Functions to Different Parts of the Brain

The Evolution of Nervous Systems

The Neuron: The Basic Functional Unit of the Brain

1.2 NEUROSCIENCE TODAY

Levels of Analysis

Molecular Neuroscience

Cellular Neuroscience

Systems Neuroscience

Behavioral Neuroscience

Cognitive Neuroscience

Neuroscientists

The Scientific Process

Observation

Replication

Interpretation

Verification

The Use of Animals in Neuroscience Research

The Animals

Animal Welfare

Animal Rights

The Cost of Ignorance: Nervous System Disorders

1.3 REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. What are brain ventricles, and what functions have been ascribed to them over the ages?

2. What experiment did Bell perform to show that the nerves of the body contain a mixture of sensory and motor fibers?

3. What did Flourens’ experiments suggest were the functions of the cerebrum and the cerebellum?

4. What is the meaning of the term animal model?

5. A region of the cerebrum is now called Broca’s area. What function do you think this region performs, and why?

6. What are the different levels of analysis in neuroscience research? What questions do researchers ask at each level?

7. What are the steps in the scientific process? Describe each one.

(Lecture 2) Cellular neuroanatomy and neurophysiology (1.5 hours)

2. CHAPTER TWO Neurons and Glia

In Chapter 2, we focus mainly on the cell biology of the neuron. This is essential information for students inexperienced in biology, and we find that even those with a strong biology background find this review helpful. After touring the cell and its organelles, we go on to discuss the structural features that make neurons and their supporting cells unique, emphasizing the correlation of structure and function. We also introduce some of the feats of genetic engineering that neuroscientists now use routinely to study the functions of different types of nerve cells.

2.1 THE NEURON DOCTRINE

The Golgi Stain

Cajal’s Contribution

2.2 THE PROTOTYPICAL NEURON

The Soma

The Nucleus

Neuronal Genes, Genetic Variation, and Genetic Engineering

Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum

Smooth Endoplasmic Reticulum and the Golgi Apparatus

The Mitochondrion

The Neuronal Membrane

The Cytoskeleton

Microtubules

Microfilaments

Neurofilaments

The Axon

The Axon Terminal

The Synapse

Axoplasmic Transport

2.3 CLASSIFYING NEURONS

Classification Based on Neuronal Structure

Number of Neurites

Dendrites

Connections

Axon Length

Classification Based on Gene Expression

2.4 GLIA

Astrocytes

Myelinating Glia

Other Non-Neuronal Cells

2.5 REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. State the neuron doctrine in a single sentence. To whom is this insight credited?

2. Which parts of a neuron are shown by a Golgi stain that are not shown by a Nissl stain?

3. What are three physical characteristics that distinguish axons from dendrites?

4. Of the following structures, state which ones are unique to neurons and which are not: nucleus, mitochondria, rough ER, synaptic vesicle, Golgi apparatus.

5. What are the steps by which the information in the DNA of the nucleus directs the synthesis of a membrane-associated protein molecule?

6. Colchicine is a drug that causes microtubules to break apart (depolymerize). What effect would this drug have on anterograde transport? What would happen in the axon terminal?

7. Classify the cortical pyramidal cell based on (1) the number of neurites, (2) the presence or absence of dendritic spines, (3) connections, and (4) axon length.

8. Knowledge of genes uniquely expressed in a particular category of neurons can be used to understand how those neurons function. Give one example of how you could use genetic information to study a category of neuron.

9. What is myelin? What does it do? Which cells provide it in the central nervous system?

3. CHAPTER THREE The Neuronal Membrane at Rest

Chapter 3 is devoted to the physiology of the neuronal membrane. We cover the essential chemical, physical, and molecular properties that enable neurons to conduct electrical signals. We discuss the principles behind the revolutionary new methods of optogenetics. Throughout the chapter, we appeal to students’ intuition by using a commonsense approach, with a liberal use of metaphors and real-life analogies.

3.1 THE CAST OF CHEMICALS

Cytosol and Extracellular Fluid

Water

Ions

The Phospholipid Membrane

Protein

Protein Structure

Channel Proteins

Ion Pumps

3.2 THE MOVEMENT OF IONS

Diffusion

Electricity

3.3 THE IONIC BASIS OF THE RESTING MEMBRANE POTENTIAL

Equilibrium Potentials

The Distribution of Ions Across the Membrane

Relative Ion Permeabilities of the Membrane at Rest

The Wide World of Potassium Channels

The Importance of Regulating the External Potassium Concentration

3.4 REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. What two functions do proteins in the neuronal membrane perform to establish and maintain the resting membrane potential?

2. On which side of the neuronal membrane are Na⁺ ions more abundant?

3. When the membrane is at the potassium equilibrium potential, in which direction (in or out) is there a net movement of potassium ions?

4. There is a much greater K⁺ concentration inside the cell than outside. Why, then, is the resting membrane potential negative?

5. When the brain is deprived of oxygen, the mitochondria within neurons cease producing ATP. What effect would this have on the membrane potential? Why?

(Lecture 3) Cellular europhysiology and synaptic transmission (1.5 hours)

4. CHAPTER FOUR The Action Potential

Chapter 4 is devoted to the physiology of the neuronal membrane. We cover the essential chemical, physical, and molecular properties that enable neurons to conduct electrical signals. We discuss the principles behind the revolutionary new methods of optogenetics. Throughout the chapter, we appeal to students’ intuition by using a commonsense approach, with a liberal use of metaphors and real-life analogies.

4.1 PROPERTIES OF THE ACTION POTENTIAL

The Ups and Downs of an Action Potential

The Generation of an Action Potential

The Generation of Multiple Action Potentials

Optogenetics: Controlling Neural Activity with Light

4.2 THE ACTION POTENTIAL, IN THEORY

Membrane Currents and Conductances

The Ins and Outs of an Action Potential

4.3 THE ACTION POTENTIAL, IN REALITY

The Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel

Sodium Channel Structure

Functional Properties of the Sodium Channel

The Effects of Toxins on the Sodium Channel

Voltage-Gated Potassium Channels

Putting the Pieces Together

4.4 ACTION POTENTIAL CONDUCTION

Factors Influencing Conduction Velocity

Myelin and Saltatory Conduction

4.5   ACTION POTENTIALS, AXONS, AND DENDRITES

4.6   REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. Define membrane potential (V _m) and sodium equilibrium potential (E _Na). Which of these, if either, changes during the course of an action potential?

2. What ions carry the early inward and late outward currents during the action potential?

3. Why is the action potential referred to as “all-or-none”?

4. Some voltage-gated K⁺ channels are known as delayed rectifiers because of the timing of their opening during an action potential. What would happen if these channels took much longer than normal to open?

5. Imagine we have labeled tetrodotoxin (TTX) so that it can be seen using a microscope. If we wash this TTX onto a neuron, what parts of the cell would you expect to be labeled? What would be the consequence of applying TTX to this neuron?

6. How does action potential conduction velocity vary with axonal diameter? Why?

5.    CHAPTER FIVE Synaptic Transmission

Chapter 5 covers interneuronal communication, particularly chemical synaptic transmission. It presents the general principles of chemical synaptic transmission.

5.1 TYPES OF SYNAPSES

Electrical Synapses

Chemical Synapses

CNS Chemical Synapses

The Neuromuscular Junction

5.2 PRINCIPLES OF CHEMICAL SYNAPTIC TRANSMISSION

Neurotransmitters

Neurotransmitter Synthesis and Storage

Neurotransmitter Release

Neurotransmitter Receptors and Effectors

Transmitter-Gated Ion Channels

G-Protein-Coupled Receptors

Autoreceptors

Neurotransmitter Recovery and Degradation

Neuropharmacology

5.3 PRINCIPLES OF SYNAPTIC INTEGRATION

The Integration of EPSPs

Quantal Analysis of EPSPs

EPSP Summation

The Contribution of Dendritic Properties to Synaptic Integration

Dendritic Cable Properties

Excitable Dendrites

Inhibition

IPSPs and Shunting Inhibition

The Geometry of Excitatory and Inhibitory Synapses

Modulation

5.4 REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. What is meant by quantal release of neurotransmitter?

2. You apply ACh and activate nicotinic receptors on a muscle cell. Which way will current flow through the receptor channels when Vm = -60 mV? When Vm = 0 mV? When Vm = 60 mV? Why?

3. This chapter discussed a GABA-gated ion channel that is permeable to Cl^-. GABA also activates a G-protein-coupled receptor, called the GABA_B receptor, which causes potassium-selective channels to open. What effect would GABA_B receptor activation have on the membrane potential?

4. You think you have discovered a new neurotransmitter, and you are studying its effect on a neuron. The reversal potential for the response caused by the new chemical is -60 mV. Is this substance excitatory or inhibitory? Why?

5. A drug called strychnine, isolated from the seeds of a tree native to India and commonly used as rat poison, blocks the effects of glycine. Is strychnine an agonist or an antagonist of the glycine receptor?

6. How does nerve gas cause respiratory paralysis?

7. Why is an excitatory synapse on the soma more effective in evoking action potentials in the postsynaptic neuron than an excitatory synapse on the tip of a dendrite?

8. What are the steps that lead to increased excitability in a neuron when NE is released presynaptically?

(Lecture 4) Synaptic transmission and nervous system structure (1.5 hours)

6. CHAPTER SIX Neurotransmitter Systems

Chapter 6 covers interneuronal communication, particularly chemical synaptic transmission. It discusses the neurotransmitters and their modes of action in greater detail. We also describe many of the modern methods for studying the chemistry of synaptic transmission.

6.1 STUDYING NEUROTRANSMITTER SYSTEMS

Localization of Transmitters and Transmitter-Synthesizing Enzymes

Immunocytochemistry

In Situ Hybridization

Studying Transmitter Release

Studying Synaptic Mimicry

Studying Receptors

Neuropharmacological Analysis

Ligand-Binding Methods

6.2 NEUROTRANSMITTER CHEMISTRY

Cholinergic Neurons

Catecholaminergic Neurons

Serotonergic Neurons

Amino Acidergic Neurons

Other Neurotransmitter Candidates and Intercellular Messengers

6.3 TRANSMITTER-GATED CHANNELS

The Basic Structure of Transmitter-Gated Channels

Amino Acid-Gated Channels

Glutamate-Gated Channels

GABA-Gated and Glycine-Gated Channels

6.4 G-PROTEIN-COUPLED RECEPTORS AND EFFECTORS

The Basic Structure of G-Protein-Coupled Receptors

The Ubiquitous G-Proteins

G-Protein-Coupled Effector Systems

The Shortcut Pathway

Second Messenger Cascades

Phosphorylation and Dephosphorylation

The Function of Signal Cascades

6.5   DIVERGENCE AND CONVERGENCE IN NEUROTRANSMITTER SYSTEMS

6.6   REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. List the criteria that are used to determine whether a chemical serves as a neurotransmitter. What are the various experimental strategies you could use to show that ACh fulfills the criteria of a neurotransmitter at the neuromuscular junction?

2. What are three methods that could be used to show that a neurotransmitter receptor is synthesized or localized in a particular neuron?

3. Compare and contrast the properties of (a) AMPA and NMDA receptors and (b) GABA_A and GABA_B receptors.

4. Synaptic inhibition is an important feature of the circuitry in the cerebral cortex. How would you determine whether GABA or Gly, or both, or neither, is the inhibitory neurotransmitter of the cortex?

5. Glutamate activates a number of different metabotropic receptors. The consequence of activating one subtype is the inhibition of cAMP formation. A consequence of activating a second subtype is activation of PKC. Propose mechanisms for these different effects.

6. Do convergence and divergence of neurotransmitter effects occur in single neurons?

7. Ca²⁺ are considered to be second messengers. Why?

7.    CHAPTER SEVEN The Structure of the Nervous System

Chapter 7 covers the gross anatomy of the nervous system. Here we focus on the common organizational plan of the mammalian nervous system by tracing the brain’s embryological development. We show that the specializations of the human brain are simple variations on the basic plan that applies to all mammals. We introduce the cerebral cortex and the new field of connectomics.

7.1 GROSS ORGANIZATION OF THE MAMMALIAN NERVOUS SYSTEM

Anatomical References

The Central Nervous System

The Cerebrum

The Cerebellum

The Brain Stem

The Spinal Cord

The Peripheral Nervous System

The Somatic PNS

The Visceral PNS

Afferent and Efferent Axons

The Cranial Nerves

The Meninges

The Ventricular System

New Views of the Brain

Imaging the Structure of the Living Brain

Functional Brain Imaging

7.2 UNDERSTANDING CNS STRUCTURE THROUGH DEVELOPMENT

Formation of the Neural Tube

Three Primary Brain Vesicles

Differentiation of the Forebrain

Differentiation of the Telencephalon and Diencephalon

Forebrain Structure-Function Relationships

Differentiation of the Midbrain

Midbrain Structure-Function Relationships

Differentiation of the Hindbrain

Hindbrain Structure-Function Relationships

Differentiation of the Spinal Cord

Spinal Cord Structure-Function Relationships

Putting the Pieces Together

Special Features of the Human CNS

7.3 A GUIDE TO THE CEREBRAL CORTEX

Types of Cerebral Cortex

Areas of Neocortex

Neocortical Evolution and Structure-Function Relationships

7.4 REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. Are the dorsal root ganglia in the central or peripheral nervous system?

2. Is the myelin sheath of optic nerve axons provided by Schwann cells or oligodendroglia? Why?

3. Imagine that you are a neurosurgeon, about to remove a tumor lodged deep inside the brain. The top of the skull has been removed. What now lies between you and the brain? Which layer(s) must be cut before you reach the CSF?

4. What is the fate of tissue derived from the embryonic neural tube? Neural crest?

5. Name the three main parts of the hindbrain. Which of these is also part of the brain stem?

6. Where is CSF produced? What path does it take before it is absorbed into the bloodstream? Name the parts of the CNS it will pass through in its voyage from brain to blood.

7. What are three features that characterize the structure of cerebral cortex?

(Lecture 5) Chemical senses (1.5 hours)

PART TWO Sensory and Motor Systems: In the following chapters, we go inside the brain to examine the structure and function of the systems that serve the senses and command voluntary movements.

8. CHAPTER EIGHT The Chemical Senses

Chapter 8 is a discussion of the chemical senses—smell and taste. These are good systems for illustrating the general principles and problems in the encoding of sensory information, and the transduction mechanisms have strong parallels with other systems.

8.1 TASTE

The Basic Tastes

The Organs of Taste

Calcium, Water

Taste Receptor Cells

Mechanisms of Taste Transduction

Saltiness

Sourness

Bitterness

Sweetness

Umami (Amino Acids)

Central Taste Pathways

The Neural Coding of Taste

8.2 SMELL

The Organs of Smell

Olfactory Receptor Neurons

Olfactory Transduction

Olfactory Receptor Proteins

cAMP-Gated Channels

Central Olfactory Pathways

Spatial and Temporal Representations of Olfactory Information

Olfactory Population Coding

Olfactory Maps

Temporal Coding in the Olfactory System

8.3 REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. Most tastes involve some combination of the five basic tastes. What other sensory factors can help define the specific perceptions associated with a particular food?

2. The transduction of saltiness is accomplished, in part, by a Na⁺-permeable channel. Why would a sugar-permeable membrane channel be a poor mechanism for the transduction of sweetness?

3. Chemicals that have sweet, bitter, and umami tastes all activate precisely the same intracellular signaling molecules. Given this fact, can you explain how the nervous system can distinguish the tastes of sugars, alkaloids, and amino acids?

4. Why would the size of an animal’s olfactory epithelium (and consequently the number of receptor cells) be related to its olfactory acuity?

5. Receptor cells of the gustatory and olfactory systems undergo a constant cycle of growth, death, and maturation. Therefore, the connections they make with the brain must be continually renewed as well. Can you propose a set of mechanisms that would allow the connections to be remade in a specific way, again and again, over the course of an entire lifetime?

6. If the olfactory system does use some kind of spatial mapping to encode specific odors, how might the rest of the brain read the map?

(Lecture 6) The eye and the visual system (1.5 hours)

9. CHAPTER NINE The Eye

Chapter 9 covers the visual system, an essential topic for all introductory neuroscience courses. Many details of visual system organization are presented, illustrating not only the depth of current knowledge but also the principles that apply across sensory systems.

9.1 PROPERTIES OF LIGHT

Light

Optics

9.2 THE STRUCTURE OF THE EYE

Gross Anatomy of the Eye

Ophthalmoscopic Appearance of the Eye

Cross-Sectional Anatomy of the Eye

9.3 IMAGE FORMATION BY THE EYE

Refraction by the Cornea

Accommodation by the Lens

The Pupillary Light Reflex

The Visual Field

Visual Acuity

9.4 MICROSCOPIC ANATOMY OF THE RETINA

The Laminar Organization of the Retina

Photoreceptor Structure

Regional Differences in Retinal Structure and Their Visual Consequences

9.5 PHOTOTRANSDUCTION

Phototransduction in Rods

Phototransduction in Cones

Color Perception

Dark and Light Adaptation

Calcium’s Role in Light Adaptation

Local Adaptation of Dark, Light, and Color

9.6 RETINAL PROCESSING AND OUTPUT

The Receptive Field

Bipolar Cell Receptive Fields

Ganglion Cell Receptive Fields

Structure-Function Relationships

Color-Opponent Ganglion Cells

Ganglion Cell Photoreceptors

Parallel Processing

9.7 REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. What physical property of light is most closely related to the perception of color?

2. Name eight structures in the eye that light passes through before it strikes the photoreceptors.

3. Why is a scuba mask necessary for clear vision underwater?

4. What is myopia, and how is it corrected?

5. Give three reasons explaining why visual acuity is best when images fall on the fovea.

6. How does the membrane potential change in response to a spot of light in the receptive field center of a photoreceptor? Of an ON bipolar cell? Of an OFF-center ganglion cell? Why?

7. What happens in the retina when you “get used to the dark”? Why can’t you see color in the dark?

8. In what way is retinal output not a faithful reproduction of the visual image falling on the retina?

9. In retinitis pigmentosa, early symptoms include the loss of peripheral vision and night vision. The loss of what type of cells could lead to such symptoms?

10. CHAPTER TEN The Central Visual System

Chapter 10 covers the visual system, an essential topic for all introductory neuroscience courses. Many details of visual system organization are presented, illustrating not only the depth of current knowledge but also the principles that apply across sensory systems.

10.1 THE RETINOFUGAL PROJECTION

The Optic Nerve, Optic Chiasm, and Optic Tract

Right and Left Visual Hemifields

Targets of the Optic Tract

Nonthalamic Targets of the Optic Tract

10.2 THE LATERAL GENICULATE NUCLEUS

The Segregation of Input by Eye and by Ganglion Cell Type

Receptive Fields

Nonretinal Inputs to the LGN

10.3 ANATOMY OF THE STRIATE CORTEX

Retinotopy

Lamination of the Striate Cortex

The Cells of Different Layers

Inputs and Outputs of the Striate Cortex

Innervation of Other Cortical Layers from Layer IVC

Ocular Dominance Columns

Striate Cortex Outputs

Cytochrome Oxidase Blobs

10.4 PHYSIOLOGY OF THE STRIATE CORTEX

Receptive Fields

Binocularity

Orientation Selectivity

Direction Selectivity

Simple and Complex Receptive Fields

Blob Receptive Fields

Parallel Pathways and Cortical Modules

Parallel Pathways

Cortical Modules

10.5 BEYOND THE STRIATE CORTEX

The Dorsal Stream

Area MT

Dorsal Areas and Motion Processing

The Ventral Stream

Area V4

Area IT

10.6 FROM SINGLE NEURONS TO PERCEPTION

Receptive Field Hierarchy and Perception

Parallel Processing and Perception

10.7 REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. Following a bicycle accident, you are disturbed to find that you cannot see anything in your left visual field. Where has the retinofugal pathway been damaged?

2. What is the source of most of the input to the left LGN?

3. A worm has eaten part of one lateral geniculate nucleus. You can no longer perceive motion in the right visual field of your right eye. What layer(s) of which LGN have most likely been damaged?

4. List the chain of connections that link a cone in the retina to a blob cell in the striate cortex. Is there more than one path by which cones connect to the blob cell?

5. What is meant by the statement that there is a map of the visual world in the striate cortex?

6. What is parallel processing in the visual system? Give two examples.

7. If a child is born cross-eyed and the condition is not corrected before the age of 10 years, binocular depth perception will be lost forever. This is explained by a modification in the circuitry of the visual system. From your knowledge of the central visual system, where do you think the circuitry has been modified?

8. What layers of the striate cortex send efferents to other visual cortex areas?

9. What new receptive field properties are found in the striate cortex and other cortical areas that are not seen in the retina or LGN?

10. What sort of experiment might you perform to investigate the relationship between visual perception and neural activity in the visual cortex?

(Lecture 7) Hearing and somatic sensory system (1.5 hours)

11. CHAPTER ELEVEN The Auditory and Vestibular Systems

Chapter 11 explores the auditory system. Audition is such an important part of everyday life; it is hard to imagine teaching introductory neuroscience without discussing it. The vestibular sense of balance is covered in a separate section of Chapter 11.

11.1 THE NATURE OF SOUND

11.2 THE STRUCTURE OF THE AUDITORY SYSTEM

11.3 THE MIDDLE EAR

Components of the Middle Ear

Sound Force Amplification by the Ossicles

The Attenuation Reflex

11.4 THE INNER EAR

Anatomy of the Cochlea

Physiology of the Cochlea

The Response of the Basilar Membrane to Sound

The Organ of Corti and Associated Structures

Transduction by Hair Cells

Hair Cells and the Axons of the Auditory Nerve

Amplification by Outer Hair Cells

11.5 CENTRAL AUDITORY PROCESSES

The Anatomy of Auditory Pathways

Response Properties of Neurons in the Auditory Pathway

11.6 ENCODING SOUND INTENSITY AND FREQUENCY

Stimulus Intensity

Stimulus Frequency, Tonotopy, and Phase Locking

Tonotopy

Phase Locking

11.7 MECHANISMS OF SOUND LOCALIZATION

Localization of Sound in the Horizontal Plane

The Sensitivity of Binaural Neurons to Sound Location

Localization of Sound in the Vertical Plane

11.8 AUDITORY CORTEX

Neuronal Response Properties

The Effects of Auditory Cortical Lesions and Ablation

11.9 THE VESTIBULAR SYSTEM

The Vestibular Labyrinth

The Otolith Organs

The Semicircular Canals

Central Vestibular Pathways and Vestibular Reflexes

The Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex (VOR)

Vestibular Pathology

11.10 REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. How is the conduction of sound to the cochlea facilitated by the ossicles of the middle ear?

2. Why is the round window crucial for the function of the cochlea? What would happen to hearing if it suddenly didn’t exist?

3. Why is it impossible to predict the frequency of a sound simply by looking at which portion of the basilar membrane is the most deformed?

4. Why would the transduction process in hair cells fail if the stereocilia as well as the hair cell bodies were surrounded by perilymph?

5. If inner hair cells are primarily responsible for hearing, what is the function of outer hair cells?

6. Why doesn’t unilateral damage to the inferior colliculus or MGN lead to deafness in one ear?

7. What mechanisms function to localize sounds in the horizontal and vertical planes?

8. What symptoms would you expect to see in a person who had recently had a stroke affecting A1 unilaterally? How does the severity of these symptoms compare with the effects of a unilateral stroke involving V1?

9. What is the difference between nerve deafness and conduction deafness?

10. Each macula contains hair cells with kinocilia arranged in all directions. What is the advantage of this arrangement compared to an arrangement of all the cells in the same direction?

11. Imagine a semicircular canal rotating in two different ways: around its axis (like a rolling coin) or end over end (like a flipped coin). How well would its hair cells respond in each case, and why?

12. How would you expect the functions of the otolith organs and the semicircular canals to change in the weightless environment of space?

12. CHAPTER TWELVE The Somatic Sensory System

Chapter 12 introduces the somatic sensory system. Somatic sensation is such an important part of everyday life; it is hard to imagine teaching introductory neuroscience without discussing it.

12.1 TOUCH

Mechanoreceptors of the Skin

Vibration and the Pacinian Corpuscle

Mechanosensitive Ion Channels

Two-Point Discrimination

Primary Afferent Axons

The Spinal Cord

Segmental Organization of the Spinal Cord

Sensory Organization of the Spinal Cord

The Dorsal Column–Medial Lemniscal Pathway

The Trigeminal Touch Pathway

Somatosensory Cortex

Cortical Somatotopy

Cortical Map Plasticity

The Posterior Parietal Cortex

12.2 PAIN

Nociceptors and the Transduction of Painful Stimuli

Types of Nociceptors

Hyperalgesia and Inflammation

Itch

Primary Afferents and Spinal Mechanisms

Ascending Pain Pathways

The Spinothalamic Pain Pathway

The Trigeminal Pain Pathway

The Thalamus and Cortex

The Regulation of Pain

Afferent Regulation

Descending Regulation

The Endogenous Opioids

12.3 TEMPERATURE

Thermoreceptors

The Temperature Pathway

12.4 REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. Imagine rubbing your fingertips across a pane of smooth glass and then across a brick. What kinds of skin receptors help you distinguish the two surfaces? As far as your somatic sensory system is concerned, what is different about the two surfaces?

2. What purpose is served by the encapsulations around some sensory nerve endings in the skin?

3. If someone tossed you a hot potato and you caught it, which information would reach your CNS first: the news that the potato was hot or that it was relatively smooth? Why?

4. At what levels of the nervous system are all types of somatic sensory information represented on the contralateral side: the spinal cord, the medulla, the pons, the midbrain, the thalamus, and the cortex?

5. What lobe of the cortex contains the main somatic sensory areas? Where are these areas relative to the main visual and auditory areas?

6. Where within the body can pain be modulated, and what causes its modulation?

7. Where in the CNS does information about touch, shape, temperature, and pain converge?

8. Imagine this experiment: Fill two buckets with water, one relatively cold and one hot. Fill a third bucket with water of an intermediate, lukewarm temperature. Put your left hand into the hot water, your right hand into the cold, and wait one minute. Now quickly plunge both hands into the lukewarm water. Try to predict what sensations of temperature you will feel in each hand. Will they feel the same? Why?

(Lecture 8) Spinal and brain control of movement (1.5 hours)

13. CHAPTER THIRTEEN Spinal Control of Movement

In Chapter 13, we discuss the motor systems of the brain. Considering how much of the brain is devoted to the control of movement, this more extensive treatment is clearly justified. However, we are well aware that the complexities of the motor systems are daunting to students and instructors alike. We have tried to keep our discussion sharply focused, using numerous examples to connect with personal experience.

13.1 THE SOMATIC MOTOR SYSTEM

13.2 THE LOWER MOTOR NEURON

The Segmental Organization of Lower Motor Neurons

Alpha Motor Neurons

Graded Control of Muscle Contraction by Alpha Motor Neurons

Inputs to Alpha Motor Neurons

Types of Motor Units

Neuromuscular Matchmaking

13.3 EXCITATION–CONTRACTION COUPLING

Muscle Fiber Structure

The Molecular Basis of Muscle Contraction

13.4 SPINAL CONTROL OF MOTOR UNITS

Proprioception from Muscle Spindles

The Stretch Reflex

Gamma Motor Neurons

Proprioception from Golgi Tendon Organs

Proprioception from the Joints

Spinal Interneurons

Inhibitory Input

Excitatory Input

The Generation of Spinal Motor Programs for Walking

13.5 REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. What did Sherrington call the “final common pathway,” and why?

2. Define, in one sentence, motor unit. How does it differ from motor neuron pool?

3. Which is recruited first, a fast motor unit or a slow motor unit? Why?

4. When and why does rigor mortis occur?

5. Your doctor taps the tendon beneath your kneecap and your leg extends. What is the neural basis of this reflex? What is it called?

6. What is the function of gamma motor neurons?

7. Lenny, a character in Steinbeck’s classic book Of Mice and Men, loved rabbits, but when he hugged them, they were crushed to death. Which type of proprioceptive input might Lenny have been lacking?

14. CHAPTER FOURTEEN Brain Control of Movement

In Chapter 14, we further discuss the motor systems of the brain.

14.1 DESCENDING SPINAL TRACTS

The Lateral Pathways

The Effects of Lateral Pathway Lesions

The Ventromedial Pathways

The Vestibulospinal Tracts

The Tectospinal Tract

The Pontine and Medullary Reticulospinal Tracts

14.2 THE PLANNING OF MOVEMENT BY THE CEREBRAL CORTEX

Motor Cortex

The Contributions of Posterior Parietal and Prefrontal Cortex

Neuronal Correlates of Motor Planning

Mirror Neurons

14.3 THE BASAL GANGLIA

Anatomy of the Basal Ganglia

Direct and Indirect Pathways through the Basal Ganglia

Basal Ganglia Disorders

14.4 THE INITIATION OF MOVEMENT BY PRIMARY MOTOR CORTEX

The Input–Output Organization of M1

The Coding of Movement in M1

The Malleable Motor Map

14.5 THE CEREBELLUM

Anatomy of the Cerebellum

The Motor Loop through the Lateral Cerebellum

Programming the Cerebellum

14.6 REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. List the components of the lateral and ventromedial descending spinal pathways. Which type of movement does each path control?

2. You are a neurologist presented with a patient who has the following symptom: an inability to independently wiggle the toes on the left foot, but with all other movements (walking, independent finger movement) apparently intact. You suspect a lesion in the spinal cord. Where?

3. PET scans can be used to measure blood flow in the cerebral cortex. What parts of the cortex show increased blood flow when a subject is asked to think about moving her right finger?

4. Why is L-dopa used to treat Parkinson’s disease? How does it act to alleviate the symptoms?

5. Individual Betz cells fire during a fairly broad range of movement directions. How might they work together to command a precise movement?

6. Sketch the motor loop through the cerebellum. What movement disorders result from damage to the cerebellum?

(Lecture 9) Control of brain, behavior and motivation (1.5 hours)

PART THREE The Brain and Behavior: In the following chapters, we explore the neurobiology of human behavior, including motivation, sex, emotion, sleep, language, attention, and mental illness.

15. CHAPTER FIFTEEN Chemical Control of the Brain and Behavior

In Chapter 15, we describe a number of neural systems that orchestrate widespread responses throughout the brain and body. We focus on three systems that are characterized by their broad influence and their interesting neurotransmitter chemistry: the secretory hypothalamus, the autonomic nervous system, and the diffuse modulatory systems of the brain. We discuss how the behavioral manifestations of various drugs may result from disruptions of these systems.

15.1 THE SECRETORY HYPOTHALAMUS

An Overview of the Hypothalamus

Homeostasis

Structure and Connections of the Hypothalamus

Pathways to the Pituitary

Hypothalamic Control of the Posterior Pituitary

Hypothalamic Control of the Anterior Pituitary

15.2 THE AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM

ANS Circuits

Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Divisions

The Enteric Division

Central Control of the ANS

Neurotransmitters and the Pharmacology of Autonomic Function

Preganglionic Neurotransmitters

Postganglionic Neurotransmitters

15.3 THE DIFFUSE MODULATORY SYSTEMS OF THE BRAIN

Anatomy and Functions of the Diffuse Modulatory Systems

The Noradrenergic Locus Coeruleus

The Serotonergic Raphe Nuclei

The Dopaminergic Substantia Nigra and Ventral Tegmental Area

The Cholinergic Basal Forebrain and Brain Stem Complexes

Drugs and the Diffuse Modulatory Systems

Hallucinogens

Stimulants

15.4 REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. Battlefield trauma victims who have lost large volumes of blood often express a craving to drink water. Why?

2. You’ve stayed up all night trying to meet a term paper deadline. You now are typing frantically, keeping one eye on the paper and the other on the clock. How has the periventricular zone of the hypothalamus orchestrated your body’s physiological response to this stressful situation? Describe in detail.

3. An “Addisonian crisis” describes a constellation of symptoms that include extreme weakness, mental confusion, drowsiness, low blood pressure, and abdominal pain. What causes these symptoms and what can be done to treat them?

4. Why is the adrenal medulla often referred to as a modified sympathetic ganglion? Why isn’t the adrenal cortex included in this description?

5. A number of famous athletes and entertainers have accidentally killed themselves by taking large quantities of cocaine. Usually the cause of death is heart failure. How would you explain the peripheral actions of cocaine?

6. How do the diffuse modulatory and point-to-point synaptic communication systems in the brain differ? List four ways.

7. Under what behavioral conditions are the noradrenergic neurons of the locus coeruleus active? The noradrenergic neurons of the ANS?

16. CHAPTER SIXTEEN Motivation

In Chapter 16, we look at the physiological factors that motivate specific behaviors, focusing mainly on recent research about the control of eating habits. We also discuss the role of dopamine in motivation and addiction, and we introduce the new field of “neuroeconomics.”

16.1 THE HYPOTHALAMUS, HOMEOSTASIS, AND MOTIVATED BEHAVIOR

16.2 THE LONG-TERM REGULATION OF FEEDING BEHAVIOR

Energy Balance

Hormonal and Hypothalamic Regulation of Body Fat and Feeding

Body Fat and Food Consumption

The Hypothalamus and Feeding

The Effects of Elevated Leptin Levels on the Hypothalamus

The Effects of Decreased Leptin Levels on the Hypothalamus

The Control of Feeding by Lateral Hypothalamic Peptides

16.3 THE SHORT-TERM REGULATION OF FEEDING BEHAVIOR

Appetite, Eating, Digestion, and Satiety

Ghrelin

Gastric Distension

Cholecystokinin

Insulin

16.4 WHY DO WE EAT?

Reinforcement and Reward

The Role of Dopamine in Motivation

Serotonin, Food, and Mood

16.5 OTHER MOTIVATED BEHAVIORS

Drinking

Temperature Regulation

16.6 REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. A surgical approach to reducing excessive body fat is liposuction—the removal of adipose tissue. Over time, however, body adiposity usually returns to precisely the same value as before surgery. Why does liposuction not work permanently? Contrast this with the effect of gastric surgery to treat obesity.

2. Bilateral lesions of the lateral hypothalamus lead to reduced feeding behavior. Name three types of neurons, distinguished by their neurotransmitter molecules, which contribute to this syndrome.

3. What neurotransmitter agonists and antagonists would you design to treat obesity? Consider drugs that could act on the neurons of the brain as well as drugs that could act on the peripheral nervous system.

4. Name one way the axons of the vagus nerve might stimulate feeding behavior and one way they inhibit it.

5. What does it mean, in neural terms, to be addicted to chocolate? How could chocolate elevate mood?

6. Compare and contrast the functions of these three regions of the hypothalamus: the arcuate nucleus, the subfornical organ, and the vascular organ of the lamina terminalis.

(Lecture 10) Brain regulates sex and emotion (1.5 hours)

17. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN Sex and the Brain

Chapter 17 investigates the influence of sex on the brain, and the influence of the brain on sexual behavior.

17.1 SEX AND GENDER

The Genetics of Sex

Sex Chromosome Abnormalities

Sexual Development and Differentiation

17.2 THE HORMONAL CONTROL OF SEX

The Principal Male and Female Hormones

The Control of Sex Hormones by the Pituitary and Hypothalamus

17.3 THE NEURAL BASIS OF SEXUAL BEHAVIORS

Reproductive Organs and Their Control

Mammalian Mating Strategies

The Neurochemistry of Reproductive Behavior

Love, Bonding, and the Human Brain

17.4 WHY AND HOW MALE AND FEMALE BRAINS DIFFER

Sexual Dimorphisms of the Central Nervous System

Sexual Dimorphisms of Cognition

Sex Hormones, The Brain, and Behavior

Masculinization of the Fetal Brain

Mismatches between Genetic Sex and Hormone Action

Direct Genetic Effects on Behavior and Sexual Differentiation of the Brain

The Activational Effects of Sex Hormones

Brain Changes Associated with Maternal and Paternal Behavior

Estrogen Effects on Neuron Function, Memory, and Disease

Sexual Orientation

17.5 REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. Suppose you have just been captured by aliens who have landed on Earth to learn about humans. The aliens are all one sex, and they are curious about the two human sexes. To earn your freedom, all you must do is tell them how to reliably distinguish between males and females. What biological and/or behavioral tests do you tell them to conduct? Be sure to describe any exceptions that might violate your tests; you don’t want the aliens to get angry!

2. Figure 17.18 shows an interesting but unexplained observation: In the brain of a mother rat during periods of lactation, the size of the somatosensory cortex representing the skin around the nipples expands. Speculate about a likely mechanism for this phenomenon. Suggest a reason why such brain plasticity might be advantageous.

3. Estradiol is usually described as a female sex hormone, but it also plays a critical role in the early development of the male brain. Explain how this happens and why the female brain is not similarly affected by estradiol at the same stage of development.

4. Where and how can steroid hormones influence neurons in the brain at the cellular level?

5. What evidence supports the hypothesis that sexual differentiation of the body and brain is not entirely dependent on sex hormones?

6. Suppose that a research team has just claimed that a small, obscure nucleus in the brain stem, nucleus X, is sexually dimorphic and essential for certain “uniquely male” sexual behaviors. Discuss the kinds of evidence you would need to accept these claims about (a) the existence of a dimorphism, (b) the definitions of uniquely male behaviors, and (c) the involvement of nucleus X in these sexual behaviors.

18. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN Brain Mechanisms of Emotion

Chapter 18 examines the neural systems believed to underlie emotional experience and expression, specifically emphasizing fear and anxiety, anger, and aggression.

18.1 EARLY THEORIES OF EMOTION

The James–Lange Theory

The Cannon–Bard Theory

Implications of Unconscious Emotion

18.2 THE LIMBIC SYSTEM

Broca’s Limbic Lobe

The Papez Circuit

Difficulties with the Concept of a Single System for Emotions

18.3 EMOTION THEORIES AND NEURAL REPRESENTATIONS

Basic Emotion Theories

Dimensional Emotion Theories

What is an Emotion?

18.4 FEAR AND THE AMYGDALA

The Klüver–Bucy Syndrome

Anatomy of the Amygdala

Effects of Amygdala Stimulation and Lesions

A Neural Circuit for Learned Fear

18.5 ANGER AND AGGRESSION

The Amygdala and Aggression

Surgery to Reduce Human Aggression

Neural Components of Anger and Aggression Beyond the Amygdala

Anger, Aggression, and the Hypothalamus

The Midbrain and Aggression

Serotonergic Regulation of Anger and Aggression

18.6 REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. According to the James–Lange and Cannon–Bard theories of emotion, what is the relationship between the anxiety you would feel after oversleeping through an exam and your physical responses to the situation? Would you experience anxiety before or after the increase in your heart rate?

2. How have the definition of the limbic system and thoughts about its function changed since the time of Broca?

3. What procedures produce an abnormal rage reaction in an experimental animal? Can we know that the animal feels angry?

4. What changes in emotion were observed following temporal lobectomy in monkeys by Klüver and Bucy? Of the numerous anatomical structures they removed, which is thought to be closely related to changes in temperament?

5. Why might performing bilateral amygdalectomy on a dominant monkey in a colony result in that monkey becoming a subordinate?

6. What assumptions about limbic structures underlie the surgical treatment of emotional disorders?

7. The drug fluoxetine (Prozac) is a serotonin-selective reuptake inhibitor. How might this drug affect a person’s level of anxiety and aggression?

8. What distinguishes basic emotion, dimensional, and psychological constructionist theories of emotion?

9. How do patterns of brain activation differ for sadness and fear?

(Lecture 11) Sleep and language brain mechanisms (1.5 hours)

19. CHAPTER NINETEEN Brain Rhythms and Sleep

In Chapter 19, we investigate the systems that give rise to the rhythms of the brain, ranging from the rapid electrical rhythms during sleep and wakefulness to the slow circadian rhythms controlling hormones, temperature, alertness, and metabolism. We next explore aspects of brain processing that are highly developed in the human brain.

19.1 THE ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAM

Recording Brain Waves

EEG Rhythms

Mechanisms and Meanings of Brain Rhythms

The Generation of Synchronous Rhythms

Functions of Brain Rhythms

The Seizures of Epilepsy

19.2 SLEEP

The Functional States of the Brain

The Sleep Cycle

Why Do We Sleep?

Functions of Dreaming and REM Sleep

Neural Mechanisms of Sleep

Wakefulness and the Ascending Reticular Activating System

Falling Asleep and the Non-REM State

Mechanisms of REM Sleep

Sleep-Promoting Factors

Gene Expression during Sleeping and Waking

19.3 CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS

Biological Clocks

The Suprachiasmatic Nucleus: A Brain Clock

SCN Mechanisms

19.4 REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. Why do EEGs with relatively fast frequencies tend to have smaller amplitudes than EEGs with slower frequencies?

2. The human cerebral cortex is very large and must be folded extensively to fit within the skull. What do the foldings of the cortical surface do to the brain signals that are recorded by an EEG electrode at the scalp?

3. Sleep seems to be a behavior of every species of mammal, bird, and reptile. Does this mean that sleep performs a function essential for the life of these higher vertebrates? If you do not think so, what might be an explanation for the abundance of sleep?

4. An EEG during REM sleep is very similar to an EEG when awake. How do the brain and body in REM sleep differ from the brain and body when awake?

5. What is a likely explanation for the brain’s relative insensitivity to sensory input during REM sleep compared to the waking state?

6. The SCN receives direct input from the retina, via the retinohypothalamic tract, and this is how light–dark cycles can entrain circadian rhythms. If the retinal axons were somehow disrupted, what would be the likely effect on a person’s circadian rhythms of sleeping and waking?

7. What differences would there be in the behavioral consequences of a free-running circadian clock versus no clock at all?

20. CHAPTER TWENTY Language

Chapter 20 investigates the neural basis of language.

20.1 WHAT IS LANGUAGE?

Human Sound and Speech Production

Language in Animals

Language Acquisition

Genes Involved in Language

FOXP2 and Verbal Dyspraxia

Genetic Factors in Specific Language Impairment and Dyslexia

20.2 THE DISCOVERY OF SPECIALIZED LANGUAGE AREAS IN THE BRAIN

Broca’s Area and Wernicke’s Area

Dominance

20.3 LANGUAGE INSIGHTS FROM THE STUDY OF APHASIA

Broca’s Aphasia

Wernicke’s Aphasia

The Wernicke–Geschwind Model of Language and Aphasia

Conduction Aphasia

Aphasia in Bilinguals and Deaf People

20.4 ASYMMETRICAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING IN THE TWO CEREBRAL HEMISPHERES

Language Processing in Split-Brain Humans

Left Hemisphere Language Dominance

Language Functions of the Right Hemisphere

Anatomical Asymmetry and Language

20.5 LANGUAGE STUDIES USING BRAIN STIMULATION AND HUMAN BRAIN IMAGING

The Effects of Brain Stimulation on Language

Imaging of Language Processing in the Human Brain

20.6 REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. How is it possible for a split-brain human to speak intelligibly if the left hemisphere controls speech? Isn’t this inconsistent with the fact that the left hemisphere must direct motor cortex in both hemispheres to coordinate movements of the mouth?

2. What can you conclude about the normal function of Broca’s area from the observation that there are usually some comprehension deficits in Broca’s aphasia? Must Broca’s area itself be directly involved in comprehension?

3. Pigeons can be trained to press one button when they want food and to press other buttons when they see particular visual stimuli. This means the bird can “name” things it sees. How would you determine whether or not the pigeon is using a new language—“button-ese”?

4. What does the Wernicke–Geschwind language processing model explain? What data are inconsistent with this model?

5. In what ways is the left hemisphere usually language dominant? What does the right hemisphere contribute?

6. What evidence is there that Broca’s area is not simply a premotor area for speech?

(Lecture 12) Resting networks, attention and consciousness (1.5 hours)

21. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE The Resting Brain, Attention, and Consciousness

Chapter 21 discusses changes in brain activity associated with rest, attention, and consciousness.

21.1 RESTING STATE BRAIN ACTIVITY

The Brain’s Default Mode Network

Functions of the Default Network

21.2 ATTENTION

Behavioral Consequences of Attention

Attention Enhances Visual Sensitivity

Attention Speeds Reaction Times

Physiological Effects of Attention

Functional MRI Imaging of Human Attention to Location

PET Imaging of Human Attention to Features

Attention Enhances Responses of Neurons in Parietal Cortex

Attention Focuses Receptive Fields in Area V4

Brain Circuits for the Control of Attention

The Pulvinar, a Subcortical Component

The Frontal Eye Fields, Eye Movements, and Attention

Directing Attention with Salience and Priority Maps

A Priority Map in the Parietal Lobe

The Frontoparietal Attention Network

21.2 CONSCIOUSNESS

What Is Consciousness?

Neural Correlates of Consciousness

Neuronal Correlates of Alternating Perception in Binocular Rivalry

Visual Awareness and Human Brain Activity

Challenges in the Study of Consciousness

21.3 REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. What areas of the resting brain are active, and what might they be doing?

2. What behavioral advantages are produced by attention?

3. What neurophysiological data are consistent with the concept of a spotlight of attention?

4. How are shifts in attention and eye movements related?

5. How might a salience map guide bottom–up attention?

6. In what ways is hemispatial neglect different from blindness in half of the visual field?

7. Why can’t the identification of neural correlates of attention answer the “hard problem of consciousness”?

8. How is binocular rivalry used to explore conscious awareness?

(Lecture 13) Mental illnesses (1.5 hours)

22. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO Mental Illness

Chapter 22 discusses mental illnesses. We introduce the promise of molecular medicine to develop new treatments for serious psychiatric disorders.

22.1 MENTAL ILLNESS AND THE BRAIN

Psychosocial Approaches to Mental Illness

Biological Approaches to Mental Illness

The Promise and Challenge of Molecular Medicine in Psychiatry

22.2 ANXIETY DISORDERS

A Description of Anxiety Disorders

Panic Disorder

Agoraphobia

Other Disorders Characterized by Increased Anxiety

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Biological Bases of Anxiety Disorders

The Stress Response

Regulation of the HPA Axis by the Amygdala and Hippocampus

Treatments for Anxiety Disorders

Psychotherapy

Anxiolytic Medications

22.3 AFFECTIVE DISORDERS

A Description of Affective Disorders

Major Depression

Bipolar Disorder

Biological Bases of Affective Disorders

The Monoamine Hypothesis

The Diathesis–Stress Hypothesis

Anterior Cingulate Cortex Dysfunction

Treatments for Affective Disorders

Electroconvulsive Therapy

Psychotherapy

Antidepressants

Lithium

Deep Brain Stimulation

22.4 SCHIZOPHRENIA

A Description of Schizophrenia

Biological Bases of Schizophrenia

Genes and the Environment

The Dopamine Hypothesis

The Glutamate Hypothesis

Treatments for Schizophrenia

22.5 REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. How and where in the brain do benzodiazepines act to reduce anxiety?

2. Depression is often accompanied by bulimia nervosa, which is characterized by frequent eating binges followed by purging. Where does the regulation of mood and appetite converge in the brain?

3. Snuggling with your mom as a baby might help you cope with stress better as an adult. Why?

4. What three types of drugs are used to treat depression? What do they have in common?

5. Psychiatrists often refer to the dopamine theory of schizophrenia. Why do they believe dopamine is linked to schizophrenia? Why must we be cautious about accepting a simple correlation between schizophrenia and too much dopamine?

(Lecture 14) Brain neuroconnectivity (1.5 hours)

PART FOUR The Changing Brain: In the following chapters, we look at how the environment modifies the brain, both during development and in adult learning and memory.

23. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE Wiring the Brain

Chapter 23 examines the mechanisms used during brain development to ensure that the correct connections are made between neurons. The cellular aspects of development are discussed here rather than in Part I for several reasons. First, students fully appreciate that normal brain function depends on its precise wiring. Because we use the visual system as a concrete example, the chapter must also follow a discussion of the visual pathways in Part II. Second, we survey aspects of experience-dependent development of the visual system that are regulated by behavioral state, so this chapter is placed after the early chapters of Part III.

23.1 THE GENESIS OF NEURONS

Cell Proliferation

Cell Migration

Cell Differentiation

Differentiation of Cortical Areas

23.2 THE GENESIS OF CONNECTIONS

The Growing Axon

Axon Guidance

Guidance Cues

Establishing Topographic Maps

Synapse Formation

23.3 THE ELIMINATION OF CELLS AND SYNAPSES

Cell Death

Changes in Synaptic Capacity

23.4 ACTIVITY-DEPENDENT SYNAPTIC REARRANGEMENT

Synaptic Segregation

Segregation of Retinal Inputs to the LGN

Segregation of LGN Inputs in the Striate Cortex

Synaptic Convergence

Synaptic Competition

Modulatory Influences

23.5 ELEMENTARY MECHANISMS OF CORTICAL SYNAPTIC PLASTICITY

Excitatory Synaptic Transmission in the Immature Visual System

Long-Term Synaptic Potentiation

Long-Term Synaptic Depression

23.6 WHY CRITICAL PERIODS END

23.7 REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. What do we mean by saying that the cortex develops “inside out”?

2. Describe the three phases of pathway formation. In which phase (or phases) does neural activity play a role?

3. What are three ways that Ca²⁺ is thought to contribute to the processes of synapse formation and rearrangement?

4. How are the elimination of polyneuronal innervation of a muscle fiber and the segregation of retinal terminals in the LGN similar? How do these processes differ?

5. Not long ago, when a child was born with strabismus, the defect was usually not corrected until after adolescence. Today, surgical correction is always attempted during early childhood. Why? How does strabismus affect the connections in the brain, and how does it affect vision?

6. Children are often able to learn several languages apparently without effort, while most adults must struggle to master a second language. From what you know about brain development, why would this be true?

7. Neurons that fire out of sync lose their link. How does this occur?

(Lecture 15) Memory mechanisms (1.5 hours)

24. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR Memory Systems

Chapter 24 focuses on the anatomy of memory, exploring how different parts of the brain contribute to the storage of different types of information.

24.1 TYPES OF MEMORY AND AMNESIA

Declarative and Nondeclarative Memory

Types of Procedural Memory

Nonassociative Learning

Associative Learning

Types of Declarative Memory

Amnesia

24.2 WORKING MEMORY

The Prefrontal Cortex and Working Memory

Imaging Working Memory in the Human Brain

Area LIP and Working Memory

24.3 DECLARATIVE MEMORY

The Neocortex and Declarative Memory

Hebb and the Cell Assembly

Studies Implicating the Medial Temporal Lobes

Anatomy of the Medial Temporal Lobe

Electrical Stimulation of the Human Temporal Lobes

Neural Recordings from the Human Medial Temporal Lobe

Temporal Lobe Amnesia

The Case of H.M.: Temporal Lobectomy and Amnesia

An Animal Model of Human Amnesia

Memory Functions of the Hippocampal System

The Effects of Hippocampal Lesions in Rats

Spatial Memory, Place Cells, and Grid Cells

Hippocampal Functions Beyond Spatial Memory

Consolidating Memories and Retaining Engrams

Standard and Multiple Trace Models of Consolidation

Reconsolidation

24.4 PROCEDURAL MEMORY

The Striatum and Procedural Memory in Rodents

Habit Learning in Humans and Nonhuman Primates

24.5 REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. If you try to recall how many windows there are in your house by mentally walking from room to room, are you using declarative memory, procedural memory, or both?

2. What kind of experiment might you conduct to find the place in the brain that people use to hold a phone number in mind?

3. In what brain areas have neural correlates of working memory been observed?

4. What structures in the medial temporal lobe are thought to be involved in memory?

5. Why did Lashley conclude that all cortical areas contribute equally to learning and memory? Why was this conclusion later called into question?

6. What arguments can you think of for and against the idea that Wilder Penfield’s electrical brain stimulation evoked memories?

7. What evidence is there that declarative and nondeclarative memory use distinctly different circuits?

8. In the famous amnesic known as H.M., what types of memory were lost after temporal lobe surgery? What kinds were preserved?

9. What are place cells and grid cells? Where have they been observed?

10. What evidence indicates that long-term memories are stored in the neocortex?

11. The multiple trace model of memory consolidation was proposed to deal with what concern(s) about the standard model of memory consolidation?

12. Where is it thought that procedural memories are stored?

(Lecture 16) Learning mechanisms (1.5 hours)

25. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE Molecular Mechanisms of Learning and Memory

Chapter 25 takes a deeper look into the molecular and cellular mechanisms of learning and memory, focusing on changes in synaptic connections.

25.1 MEMORY ACQUISITION

Cellular Reports of Memory Formation

Distributed Memory Storage

Strengthening Synapses

Anatomy of the Hippocampus

Properties of LTP in CA1

Mechanisms of LTP in CA1

Weakening Synapses

Mechanisms of LTD in CA1

Glutamate Receptor Trafficking

LTP, LTD, and Memory

Synaptic Homeostasis

Metaplasticity

Synaptic Scaling

25.2 MEMORY CONSOLIDATION

Persistently Active Protein Kinases

CaMKII

Protein Kinase M Zeta

Protein Synthesis and Memory Consolidation

Synaptic Tagging and Capture

CREB and Memory

Structural Plasticity and Memory

25.3 REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. What is the most common cellular correlate of memory formation in the cerebral cortex? What does this say about how memories are stored?

2. How does one account for the graceful degradation of memory as neurons die over the lifespan?

3. How can LTD contribute to memory?

4. Sketch the trisynaptic circuit of the hippocampus.

5. How can the mechanisms of LTP serve associative memory?

6. What property of the NMDA receptor makes it well suited to detect coincident presynaptic and postsynaptic activity? How could Ca²⁺ entering through the NMDA receptor possibly trigger both LTP and LTD in CA1 and the neocortex?

7. Compare and contrast metaplasticity and synaptic scaling.

8. In H.M and R.B. (see Chapter 24), destruction of the hippocampus appears to have impaired the mechanism that “fixes” new memories in the neocortex. Propose a mechanism involving CREB explaining why this might be true.

四、教学安排及方式

Total class hours include 32 hours for teaching and no laboratory.

注：教学方式填写“讲授、实验或实践、上机、综合练习、多种形式”。

五、本课程对培养学生能力和素质的贡献点

Through the study of this course, students are required to master important concepts and knowledge of theoretical systems of each chapter, and can apply relevant knowledge to comprehensively analyze some practical problems, cultivate students' awareness of innovation, and comprehensively analyze problems and solve problems and improve the students' science knowledge. This course will cultivate analytical thinking skills in students that meet the requirements of academic development in the new century.

六、考核及成绩评定方式

There will be in-class assignments and quizzes to help the students prepare for the final examination. In-class assignments and quizzes will count as 60% of the final grade. Final exam will count as 40% of the final grade and will include multiple choice, short answer, and essay questions that will cover the material presented in the lectures and in the assigned readings.

过程成绩提交时间和总评成绩计算说明表

注：上表用于说明授课过程中分项成绩提交时间，教师应在规定的时间内提交对应成绩，提前或逾期无法提交，一旦提交无法修改。大纲可以根据需要自行定义提交成绩的次数、时间和名称或说明，总评成绩计算必须与考核和成绩评定方式中描述的一致。