COURSE:

Class Schedule (tentative):

Week 1 (Jan 12-20): Introduction. Reading: Introduction and Chpt 1, Kalat; Cells of the nervous system, action potential. Reading: Chpt 2 Kalat.

Week 2 (Jan 23-27): Synaptic Transmission. Reading: Chpt 3 Kalat

Week 3 (Jan 30-Feb 3): Synaptic Transmission (cont). PAPER TOPIC STATEMENT DUE FEB 1

Week 4 (Feb 6-10): Non-Visual Sensory Systems. Reading: Pain Chpt 7 (pp. 197-205) Kalat. HOURLY 1 FEB 9

Week 5 (Feb 13-17): Non-Visual Sensory systems (cont) FEB BREAK FEB 13-14

Week 6 (Feb 20-24): Vision. Reading: Chpt 6 Kalat

Week 7 (Feb 27- Mar 3): Vision. (cont). PAPER OUTLINE DUE MAR 1

Week 8 (Mar 6-10): Movement. Reading: Kalat Chpt 8.

*********************** SPRING BREAK MAR 13-17 *******************************

Week 9 (Mar 20-24): Movement (cont) HOURLY 2 MAR 23

Week 10 (Mar 27-31): Wakefulness and Sleep. Reading: Chpt 9 Kalat.

Week 11 (Apr 3-7): Sexual Behavior. Reading: Chpt 11 Kalat

Week 12 (Apr 10-14): Emotion. Reading: Chpt 12 Kalat PAPER DUE APR 14

Week 13 (Apr 17-21): Learning and Memory. Reading Chpt 13 Kalat.

Week 14 (Apr 24-28): Learning and Memory (Cont).

Week 15 (May 1-5): Final Exams

LECTURE OUTLINES:

INTRODUCTION:
Objective: Introduce Physiological psychology and its approach to the mind/brain problem. Reading: Chpt 1 Kalat

Lecture Outline:

Physiological Psychology: Definition

Mind-Brain Problem
*Materialist
*Dualist
*Identity
*Emergent Property

Use of Animals in Brain Research: Ethical Issues

Learning Objectives:

*explain how the study of the brain can help our understanding of mind and behavior

*compare and contrast the 4 main approaches to the mind brain problem: dualist, materialist, identity, and emergent property.

*explain when it is and is not acceptable to use animals in brain research

CELLS OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
Reading: Chapter 2 Kalat.

Lecture Outline:

Cell Types: Neurons and Glia

Cell Organelles

Nerve Cell Structure
*Dendrites, soma, axon, axon terminals

Types of Neurons
*sensory, interneuron, motoneuron

Glia

Neuron Metabolism

Nerve Impulse (Action Potential)
*Resting Potential
*Action Potential
*Application: Action of Local/General Anesthetics
*Propagation of the Action Potential: Role of Myelin
*Application: Multiple Sclerosis

Learning Objectives

*identify and describe the function of the five main parts of a neuron: soma, dendrites, axon, axon hillock, and axon terminals

*compare and contrast the structure and function of oligodendrocytes and Schwann glial cells, including their roles in recovery of function after damage

*describe the main function of astrocytes

*explain how large molecules, such as glucose and amino acids, gain access to the brain

*explain why heroin has greater access to the brain than morphine

*describe the structure of the nerve cell membrane

*describe the nerve cell resting potential, and how it is developed and maintained

*explain how changes in the voltage-gated sodium and potassium channels gives rise to the action potential

*explain how the action potential is propagated down the axon

*explain how the absolute and relative refractory periods prevent the action potential from backfiring (traveling in both directions along the axon)

*explain how myelin affects the propagation of the action potential

*describe how local anesthetics work

*describe how general anesthetics work

*describe how multiple sclerosis affects the nervous system.

SYNAPTIC TRANSMISSION
Reading: Chapter 3, Kalat.

Lecture Outline:

Anatomy of the Synapse

Chemical Transmission: the release and binding of neurotransmitters

Post-Synaptic Effects
*Ionotropic
*Metabotropic
*Neuromodulatory

Presynaptic Receptors

Inactivation and Reuptake of Neurotransmitters

Types of Neurotransmitters

Neuronal Decision Making Processes

Application: Site of action of psychoactive drugs

Learning objectives:

Describe Loewi’s experiment demonstrating that synaptic transmission at the neuromuscular junction is chemical and not electrical
Describe the sequence of events that begins with an action potential in the presynaptic terminal and ends with the release of neurotransmitter into the synaptic cleft.
Compare and contrast ionotrophic and metabotrophic receptor-ion channel interactions in the post-synaptic membrane.
Explain the role synaptic vesicles play in the quantal nature of post-synaptic potentials described by Fatt and Katz
Describe the factors that determine whether a neurotransmitter-receptor binding interaction results in an inhibitory postsynaptic potential or an excitatory postsynaptic potential
Compare and contrast neurotransmitters and neuromodulators
Explain how presynaptic receptors can influence the amount of neurotransmitter released by the presynaptic terminal
Compare and contrast the two main mechanisms that inactivate neurotransmitters once they have been released into the synaptic cleft (enzymatic degradation, reuptake)
Explain how acetylcholine can produce excitatory post-synaptic potentials at some synapses, and inhibitory post-synaptic potentials at other synapses.
Discuss possible explanations for how enkephalin, an endogenous opiate, can be involved in different functions (e.g., pain inhibition vs. euphoria)
Describe how the following drugs affect synaptic transmission (including the type of neurotransmitter affected): caffeine, cocaine, amphetamine, heroin, MAO inhibitors, serotonin-selective reuptake inhibitors.

NON-VISUAL SENSORY SYSTEMS: PAIN
Reading: Chpt 7, pp. 197-205 Kalat.

Lecture Outline:

Importance of psychological factors in pain

Stimulus

Transduction

Pain Pathways

Response Properties of Neurons in the Pain Pathways

Psychological Factors in Pain: Evidence for Pain Inhibitory Mechanisms

Pain Inhibitory Processes

Learning Objectives:

Explain the importance of pain perception in survival and well being
Describe situations where it is best if a noxious stimulus produces pain, whereas in others it is best if the noxious stimulus does not produce pain
Describe the type of stimuli that activate the peripheral nociceptors.
Describe the functions of the 4 different types of peripheral afferents in a mixed nerve (Aα ,Aβ, Aδ, C) and compare with the 3 types in a sensory nerve
Describe where the peripheral nociceptors project into the spinal cord
Compare and contrast the 2 different types of nociceptive cells in the spinal cord (nociceptive specific and wide dynamic range)
Describe the brain areas and the sequence of connections of the 3 main nociceptive pathways: Spinothalamic, Spinoreticular, Spinomesencephalic
Explain why the early attempts at treating intractable pain by surgical resection of the spinothalamic tract often resulted in pain that was worse than before the surgery
Describe Melzack and Wall’s original Gate Control Theory of Pain
Describe the role of the periaqueductal gray matter in opiate analgesia
Using the known input and output connections of periaqueductal gray, explain how psychological factors can result in inhibition of the nociceptive pathways.
Describe how acupuncture works
Describe how physiological stress (e.g., activation of the fight or flight response) affects pain.

VISION
Reading: Chpt 6 Kalat.

Lecture Outline:

Stimulus

Eye
-Light path, including accommodation
-Retina
*Photoreceptors, horizontal, bipolar, and ganglion cells
*Transduction

Central Pathways

Brightness
-Ganglion cell receptive fields
-Principle of lateral inhibition

Color Vision
-Young-Helmholtz theory
-Opponent-Process theory
-Physiology of color vision

Shape perception
-Hubel and Wiesel and the responses of cortical neurons
-principle of columnar organization

Separate Pathways for Different Functions
-3 major vision subsystems: Shape; Color/Brightness; Movement/Distance
-Anatomical separation of the different vision subsystems.

Learning objectives:

Describe the path light takes through the eye
Identify the structures in the eye responsible for focusing an image on the retina, including which have adjustable refraction and which have fixed refraction.
Describe what is meant by retinotopic organization
Describe how the rod receptors convert light into neural activity (transduction)
Describe where the rod and cone receptors are located in the retina
Explain why an image focused onto the “blind spot” of the retina does not result in a conscious visual experience
Describe the geniculostriate visual pathway and its main function
Describe the tectopulvinar visual pathway and its main function
Describe the suprachiasmatic visual pathway and its main function
Describe the receptive field of retinal ganglion cells
Explain how the retinal ganglion cell’s receptive field explains the Hermann Grid illusion.
Draw a wiring diagram between the retinal receptors and ganglion cells that accounts for the ganglion cell receptive field
Compare and contrast the Young-Helmholtz (Trichromatic) and Opponent-Process theories of color vision.
Describe at which level of retinal processing the Young-Helmholtz and Opponent-Process theories operate.
Compare and contrast the inputs and receptive field properties of the parvocellular and magnocellular cells in the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus
Describe how retinal ganglion cells of the two eyes project onto the 6 lamina of the lateral geniculate nucleus.
Describe how the visual field is projected onto the primary visual cortex.
Compare and contrast the receptive fields of the simple and complex cells of the primary visual cortex
Describe the columnar organization of the primary visual cortex
Compare and contrast the response properties of cells in blob and inter-blob regions of the primary visual cortex
Describe where the lateral geniculate nucleus parvocellular and magnocellular cells project to in the primary visual cortex
Describe the visual cortical areas comprising the dorsal visual pathway
Describe the visual cortical areas comprising the ventral visual pathway
Describe the inputs to the dorsal and ventral visual pathways
Compare and contrast the functions of the dorsal and ventral visual pathways
Describe how the Binding Theory attempts to explain how information in separate anatomical locations in the visual cortices is combined into a single, unified visual perception

MOVEMENT
Reading: Kalat, Chpt. 8.

Lecture Outline:

Muscle
-movement about a joint
-slow, fast and intermediate twitch

Spinal control of movement
-stretch reflex
-flexion-crossed extension reflex

Types of Movements
-non-ballistic vs. ballistic
-skilled vs. non-skilled

Supraspinal control of movement
-Motor cortices:

Primary motor cortex

Supplementary motor cortex

Premotor cortex

-basal ganglia

Learning Objectives:

Describe the reflex circuitry of the spinal stretch reflex (anatomy, inputs and outputs)
Describe the role of the muscle spindle in the spinal stretch reflex
Describe the functions of the intrafusal and extrafusal muscle fibers in the spinal stretch reflex
Describe the functions of the gamma and alpha motor neurons in the spinal stretch reflex
Explain how the spinal stretch reflex corrects for external perturbations of a limb
Explain how the spinal stretch reflex can be used to compare intended and actual movements
Describe the reflex circuitry of the spinal flexion crossed extension reflex (anatomy, inputs and outputs)
Explain the role of the spinal flexion crossed extension reflex in escaping and avoiding noxious stimuli
Explain how the spinal flexion crossed extension reflex is used in walking
Explain what role spinal reflexes play in voluntary movements
Describe the role of the central pattern generator in the scratch reflex
Identify the location of the central pattern generator responsible for the scratch reflex
Identify where the primary motor cortex is located
Describe the main inputs and outputs of the primary motor cortex
Describe the response properties of neurons in the primary motor cortex
Describe the function of the primary motor cortex in voluntary movement
Describe how small lesions of the primary motor cortex affect its organization
Identify where the supplementary motor area is located
Describe the main inputs and outputs of the supplementary motor area
Describe the main role of the supplementary motor area in voluntary movement
Identify where the basal ganglia are located
Describe the circuitry interconnecting the basal ganglia structures
Describe the main inputs and outputs of the basal ganglia
Describe the main role of the basal ganglia in voluntary movements
Use the circuitry of the basal ganglia to explain the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease
Use the circuitry of the basal ganglia to explain Huntington’s disease

SLEEP
Reading: Chpt 9 Kalat.

Lecture Outline:

Sleep
-Physiological changes with sleep (EEG, EOG, EMG)
-Sleep stages
-Why do we sleep
*adaptive process
*restorative process
*function of REM sleep
-Brain mechanisms of sleep and arousal.
*Reticular formation and arousal
*raphe system and sleep

Circadian Rhythms
-Why do we wake/sleep in regular intervals
-Sleep wake/cycle and other processes regulated by internal clock
-The internal clock is the Suprachiamatic Nucleus (SCN)
-SCN inputs, outputs
-Other rhythms

Learning Objectives:

· Describe the electrophysiological (EEG, EOG, EMG) characteristics that define the 4 stages of non-REM sleep

· Describe the electrophysiological characteristics that define REM sleep

· Describe the differences between the delta, theta, alpha and beta EEG frequency bands, and when they occur during the sleep wake cycle

· Compare and contrast the Adaptive and Restorative theories of sleep

· Explain the role of slow wave sleep in restoring brain function

· Describe how brain temperature affects sleep

· Describe the Activation-Synthesis Theory of REM sleep

· Explain the role REM sleep plays in learning and memory

· Identify the brain areas involved in arousal (waking) and sleep

· Describe the role of the suprachiasmatic nucleus in the diurnal rhythm

SEX
Reading: Chapter 11 Kalat

Lecture Outline:

Introduction: female/male differences

Hormones and Behavior

Genetic differences

Hormonal differences
-Estrogen and Androgen

Sex hormone actions: Effects on physical structures and behavior
-Organizational effects
-Activational effects

Sexual orientation: What determines homo- vs. heterosexuality?

Learning Objectives:

Describe how the X and Y chromosomes direct the development of the gonads
Describe how the sex hormones direct the development of the reproductive organs and genitalia
Describe the mechanism whereby sex hormones affect neurons
Compare and contrast the organizational and activational effects of sex hormones
Identify the brain areas that are different between males and females
Describe how increasing or decreasing sex hormone levels affects reproductive behavior in males and females
Compare and contrast the effects of sex hormone levels on a female’s receptivity, proceptivity and attractivity.
Describe how experience can affect sex hormone levels
Compare and contrast the Adrenogenital and the Androgen Insensitivity Syndromes and explain how they support the hypothesis that sexual orientation is biologically based
Describe the Psychoanalytic theory of homosexuality
Identify the brain areas whose size appears to be related to sexual orientation
Describe how stress might impact sexual orientation
Compare and contrast the influence of biological and environmental factors in determining sexual orientation

EMOTION
Reading: Kalat Chpt. 12

Lecture Outline
Components of the emotional response:
behavioral
autonomic
psychological

Theories of emotion
James Lange
Cannon Bard

Brain Areas involved in emotion

Learning Objectives:

Compare and contrast the James-Lange and Cannon-Bard theories of emotion
Describe the evidence against the James-Lange theory of emotion
Describe the role of autonomic arousal in emotion
Identify the brain areas involved in emotion
Describe MacLean’s 3 emotion circuits, including the brain areas involved and their roles in emotion
Describe the role of the amygdala in emotion
Describe the role of the orbital frontal cortex in emotion

LEARNING AND MEMORY
Reading: Chapter 13 Kalat

Lecture Outline:

Introduction

Nature of Learning and Memory
-learning processes (e.g., classical conditioning)
-memory types (short-term and long-term)
-Hebb's cell assembly theory of learning and memory

Activity Dependent Plasticity in the Mammalian Nervous System
-Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)
-Cellular and biochemical mechanisms of LTP
-Possible role of LTP in Fear Conditioning

Learning Objectives:

Describe the procedure used in classical conditioning
Define unconditioned stimulus, conditioned stimulus, unconditioned response, and conditioned response
Compare and contrast working memory and long-term memory
Describe Hebb’s reverberating circuit theory of how memories are formed
Describe how Hebb’s reverberating circuit theory accounts for working memory and long-term memory
Describe how long-term potentiation is generated in the hippocampus
Describe the roles of the NMDA, kainate, and quisqualate glutamate receptors in long-term potentiation in the hippocampus
Explain how high frequency stimulation of the perforant pathway leads to an increase in the excitatory post-synaptic potentials in the hippocampal cells
Identify the brain areas important in fear conditioning involving a neutral auditory stimulus
Explain how the synaptic changes associated with long-term potentiation can be used to explain auditory fear conditioning.

THE NEUROPSYCHOLOGY OF MEMORY

Reading: Chpt 13 Kalat

Lecture Outline:

Lashley's Studies: Search for the engram
Clinical Studies

H.M. and the Hippocampus
Wernicke-Korsakoff's syndrome
Alzheimer's Disease

Prefrontal cortex and working memory

Learning objectives:

Explain Lashley’s concept of equipotentiality
Explain Lashley’s concept of mass action
Describe the role of the hippocampus in memory formation
Describe Wernicke-Korsakoff’s Syndrome
Explain the causes of Wernicke-Korsakoff’s syndrome
Describe the brain areas affected by Wernicke-Korsakoff’s syndrome
Describe the memory deficits associated with Alzheimer’s disease
Describe the cortical area involved in working memory