Brain and
Behavior
Chapter 1: What are the origins of Brain and
Behavior?
The brain: A physical organ that consists of living tissue
Behavior: Something that is not physical, but still observable (actions)
Reasons for linking brain and behavior together:
1. A growing list of behavioral disorders can be explained and cured by understanding the brain
2. The brain is the most complex living organ on earth and is found in many different groups of animals
3. How the brain produces both behavior and human consciousness is a major unanswered scientific
question (mind-body relationship)
Anatomy of the brain:
The brain consists of two major parts: the forebrain, responsible for most of our conscious behavior,
and the brainstem, responsible for most of our unconscious behavior.
The outer layer of the forebrain consists of a thin, folded layer of nerve tissue called the cerebral
cortex.
,The forebrain consists of four lobes:
1. The temporal lobe, associated with hearing, language and musical abilities
2. The frontal lobe, associated with “executive” functions of the brain, such as decision making
3. The parietal lobe, associated with limbic movements
4. The occipital lobe, associated with visual processing
Gross anatomy of the nervous system:
Edmond Jacobson: Thought that even when we do nothing but thinking, we make subliminal
movements related to our thoughts. When his participants experienced total relaxation, their minds
were also black (1932)
Embodied consciousness: Proposes that the movements that we make and receive are crucial to
consciousness
Behavior: patterns in time (including thinking)
Behavior in simpler nervous systems is largely dependent on heredity, whereas behavior in complex
nervous systems is more dependent on learning.
2
, Perspectives on Brain and behavior
Aristotle and Mentalism:
Aristotle believed that every person had a psyche that was responsible for life. Its departure of the
body results in death. Mentalism stems from this. It is the belief that the mind (or psyche) is
responsible for all behavior.
Descartes and Dualism:
Descartes believed that behavior is controlled by two entities: the mind and the brain, in which the first
was responsible for rational behavior and the second for autonomic processes like breathing. It was
however unclear how the immaterial mind could interact with the material brain ( mind-body problem)
Darwin and Materialism:
Materialism is the belief that behavior can be fully explained by the brain and the rest of the nervous
system only. Darwin’s theory of natural selection brought about three important implications for the
study of brain and behavior:
1. Because all animal species are related, so are their brains
2. Because all animal species are related, so is their behavior
3. Both brain and behavior changed bit by bit in animals that evolved to great complexity over time.
The strong scientific evidence resulted in the formation of the brain theory, which covers the beliefs of
materialism.
Evolution of Brain and Behavior
Contrary to popular believe, humans do not stem from apes. Instead, we share a common ancestor.
Taxonomy groups organisms according to their common characteristics and their relationships to one
another. The units from large to small are: kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus and species.
Taxonomic hierarchies help us trace the evolution of brain cells and the brain.
3
Behavior
Chapter 1: What are the origins of Brain and
Behavior?
The brain: A physical organ that consists of living tissue
Behavior: Something that is not physical, but still observable (actions)
Reasons for linking brain and behavior together:
1. A growing list of behavioral disorders can be explained and cured by understanding the brain
2. The brain is the most complex living organ on earth and is found in many different groups of animals
3. How the brain produces both behavior and human consciousness is a major unanswered scientific
question (mind-body relationship)
Anatomy of the brain:
The brain consists of two major parts: the forebrain, responsible for most of our conscious behavior,
and the brainstem, responsible for most of our unconscious behavior.
The outer layer of the forebrain consists of a thin, folded layer of nerve tissue called the cerebral
cortex.
,The forebrain consists of four lobes:
1. The temporal lobe, associated with hearing, language and musical abilities
2. The frontal lobe, associated with “executive” functions of the brain, such as decision making
3. The parietal lobe, associated with limbic movements
4. The occipital lobe, associated with visual processing
Gross anatomy of the nervous system:
Edmond Jacobson: Thought that even when we do nothing but thinking, we make subliminal
movements related to our thoughts. When his participants experienced total relaxation, their minds
were also black (1932)
Embodied consciousness: Proposes that the movements that we make and receive are crucial to
consciousness
Behavior: patterns in time (including thinking)
Behavior in simpler nervous systems is largely dependent on heredity, whereas behavior in complex
nervous systems is more dependent on learning.
2
, Perspectives on Brain and behavior
Aristotle and Mentalism:
Aristotle believed that every person had a psyche that was responsible for life. Its departure of the
body results in death. Mentalism stems from this. It is the belief that the mind (or psyche) is
responsible for all behavior.
Descartes and Dualism:
Descartes believed that behavior is controlled by two entities: the mind and the brain, in which the first
was responsible for rational behavior and the second for autonomic processes like breathing. It was
however unclear how the immaterial mind could interact with the material brain ( mind-body problem)
Darwin and Materialism:
Materialism is the belief that behavior can be fully explained by the brain and the rest of the nervous
system only. Darwin’s theory of natural selection brought about three important implications for the
study of brain and behavior:
1. Because all animal species are related, so are their brains
2. Because all animal species are related, so is their behavior
3. Both brain and behavior changed bit by bit in animals that evolved to great complexity over time.
The strong scientific evidence resulted in the formation of the brain theory, which covers the beliefs of
materialism.
Evolution of Brain and Behavior
Contrary to popular believe, humans do not stem from apes. Instead, we share a common ancestor.
Taxonomy groups organisms according to their common characteristics and their relationships to one
another. The units from large to small are: kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus and species.
Taxonomic hierarchies help us trace the evolution of brain cells and the brain.
3
