PS111

NE&WBehaviour
Brain
NEWSSLOT:
P S L O T:
Module 1
PS1:1111Psychobiology
Tuuesdays
1T esdays
99--110am
Session 2

0 am
The Nervous System:
HH0.52
Overall Structure
0.52
 What’s a Nervous System Good For?

 To interact with the environment:

– register (‘sense’) the environment
– interpret (‘make sense of’) those signals
– generate an appropriate response

 What about plants??

appropriate
e.g., response!
phototropism:

… without a
nervous system.
 What’s a Nervous System Good For?

flexibly!
 To interact with the environment:
– register (‘sense’) the environment
– interpret (‘make sense of’) those signals
– generate a response

 What about plants? Animals, on the other hand...

VARIOUS
appropriate
responses!
 What’s a Nervous System Good For?

 To FLEXIBLY interact with the environment:

– register (‘sense’) the environment;
– interpret (‘make sense of’) those signals;
– generate a response.

Input Organism Response

Input Response

Input Organism Response

Input Response
What’s a Nervous System Good For?

complex behaviour

Input Response

Input Organism Response

Input Response

complex NS
 History of the Nervous System
 Only multicellular animals without NS: Sponges
 History of the Nervous System
 Only multicellular animals without NS: Sponges
 All other animals have a NS:
– a network of electro-chemically active cells (‘neurons’)
– specialised to communicate with each other

Neuron Neuron Neuron

`
 Interlude
 Only multicellular animals without NS: Sponges
 All other animals have a NS:
– a network of electro-chemically active cells (‘neurons’)
– specialised to communicate with each other

Direction of Signal Transfer

Neuron Neuron Neuron

1 2 3

`
 Interlude
 Only multicellular animals without NS: Sponges
 All other animals have a NS:
– a network of electro-chemically active cells (‘neurons’)
– specialised to communicate with each other

Direction of Signal Transfer

Neuron
1
 Interlude
 Only multicellular animals without NS: Sponges
 All other animals have a NS:
– a network of electro-chemically active cells (‘neurons’)
– specialised to communicate with each other

Direction of Signal Transfer

Cell Body

Axon

Axon
Dendrites terminals
 Interlude
 Only multicellular animals without NS: Sponges
 All other animals have a NS:
– a network of electro-chemically active cells
– specialised to communicate with each other

Direction of Signal Transfer

Neuron: Lecture 4
 History of the Nervous System

 Simplest form of nervous system: Uncentralised NS

Hydra Sea star

 History of the Nervous System

 Even structurally simple animals have a centralised NS:

Flatworm Leech Insect

 NS of vertebrates similar, but more complex:

– Central and peripheral NS more clearly separated
– NS hierarchically organised (i.e., brain becomes
‘command centre’)
 Central & Peripheral Nervous System
Brain Everything else:

Peripheral
Peripheral Nervous
Nervous System
System
Central
Central
Nervous
Nervous
System
System Input: sense organs No external input
Somatic
Somatic NS
NS Autonomic
Autonomic NS
NS

Spinal
Cord
Sympathetic
Sympathetic Parasympa-
Parasympa-
part
part thetic
thetic part
part
‘fight or ‘rest &
flight’ maintenance’
The part
of the NS Output: Output:
encased skeletal muscles muscles & glands
in bones (voluntary control) (involuntary control)

ANS: Year 2
 Communication in the Nervous System
 Function: Control & co-ordinate behaviour
– NS enables an organism to react quickly, flexibly, & with
high precision to things happening in the environment
 3 basic processes:
– Sensory signals must be detected
– The signals must be interpreted
– Motor signals must be sent to the muscles or glands

Input Response

– Activity of muscles/glands must be registered & fed back

into the nervous system!
 Simplest form:
– detection, interpretation & motor command
performed by only 2 neurons (no brain being involved at all…)
Things to do without a brain
 Sensory signals from the body (except the
head) enter CNS via the spinal cord

 Simple forms of behaviour (reflexes) already

generated here!
Things to do without a brain
 Sensory signals from the body (except the
head) enter CNS via the spinal cord

Spinal
Cord

Brain

white
matter
sensory
grey neuron
matter
Things to do without a brain
 Sensory signals from the body (except the
head) enter CNS via the spinal cord

 Motor signals to the body leave the CNS via the

spinal cord

white
matter
sensory
grey neuron
matter motor
neuron
 Things to do without a brain
 The monosynaptic reflex arc: The knee-jerk-reflex
– Specific receptors (muscle spindles) inside each muscle fibre
– … activate sensory
neuron when
muscle is stretched
– axons enter spinal
cord via dorsal root

– connect directly
with motor neuron,
– axons exit spinal
cord via ventral root,

– activate same
muscle from which
signals originated:
– causing it to contract
 Things to do without a brain
 The monosynaptic reflex arc: The knee-jerk-reflex
– Specific receptors (muscle spindles) inside each muscle fibre
– … activate sensory
neuron when
muscle is stretched
– axons enter spinal
cord via dorsal root

– connect directly
with motor neuron,
– axons exit spinal
cord via ventral root,

– activate same
muscle from which
signals originated:
– causing it to contract
 Things to do without a brain
 The monosynaptic reflex arc: The knee-jerk-reflex
– Specific receptors (muscle spindles) inside each muscle fibre
– … activate sensory
neuron when
muscle is stretched
– axons enter spinal
cord via dorsal root

– connect directly
with motor neuron,
– axons exit spinal
cord via ventral root,

– activate same
muscle from which
signals originated:
– causing it to contract
 Things to do without a brain
 The monosynaptic reflex arc: The knee-jerk-reflex
– Specific receptors (muscle spindles) inside each muscle fibre
– … activate sensory
neuron when
muscle is stretched
– axons enter spinal
cord via dorsal root

– connect directly
with motor neuron,
– axons exit spinal
cord via ventral root,

– activate same
muscle from which
signals originated:
– causing it to contract
 Things to do without a brain
 The monosynaptic reflex arc: The knee-jerk-reflex
– Specific receptors (muscle spindles) inside each muscle fibre
– … activate sensory
neuron when
muscle is stretched
– axons enter spinal
cord via dorsal root

– connect directly
with motor neuron,
– axons exit spinal
cord via ventral root,

– activate same
muscle from which
signals originated:
– causing it to contract
 Things to do without a brain
 The monosynaptic reflex arc: The knee-jerk-reflex
– Specific receptors (muscle spindles) inside each muscle fibre
– … activate sensory
neuron when
muscle is stretched
– axons enter spinal
cord via dorsal root
r o n g
W on!

??
– connect directly
with motor neuron,
e s t i
– axons exit spinal
cord via ventral root,
Qu
– activate same
muscle from which
signals originated:
– causing it to contract
 Things to do without a brain
 The monosynaptic reflex arc: The knee-jerk-reflex

we DON’T need
a knee-jerk reflex as such
–
we DO need
monosynaptic reflex arcs:
Note:
even a
All through your body, monosynaptic
monosynaptic reflexes ‘resist’ or ‘dampen’ reflex can have
quick stretching of skeletal muscles, additional
synaptic
providing smooth, stable movement. connections!
 Things to do without a brain
More complex processing in the spinal cord:
 Polysynaptic reflex
arc:
– Sensory & motor neu-
rons connected via
one or more inter-
neurons
– Receptor & effector at
different places
e.g., withdrawal reflex:
 Things to do without a brain
More complex processing in the spinal cord:
 Polysynaptic reflex
arc:
– Sensory & motor neu-
rons connected via
one or more inter-
neurons
– Receptor & effector at
different places

– More flexible arrange-

ment
– can show simple
forms of learning*
* as studied in aplysia
which
does
not
have
Eric a
Kandel spine!
 Learning…?

Input Response

Input Response

Input Response

“Learning” as “modifying links between inputs and responses”

Input Organism Response

 Things to do without a brain
More complex processing in the spinal cord:
 Polysynaptic reflex
arc:
– Sensory & motor neu-
rons connected via
one or more inter-
neurons
– Receptor & effector at
different places

– More flexible arrange-

ment
– can show simple
forms of learning

Learning
without a brain!!
 Things to do without a brain
Even more complex processing in the spinal cord:

 Spinal cord neurons can even generate complex

movement patterns (e.g., walking)
– but can not voluntarily initiate movements
 patterns only elicited in response to appropriate
stimulation

Stepping reflex
 Things to do without a brain
Even more complex processing in the spinal cord:

 Spinal cord neurons can even generate complex

movement patterns (e.g., walking)
– but can not voluntarily initiate movements
 patterns only elicited in response to appropriate
stimulation

How do we know
that this is done in the spinal cord alone
(and not in the brain?)

Brain
Hind
legs
 Things to do without a brain
Even more complex processing in the spinal cord:

 Spinal cord neurons can even generate complex

movement patterns (e.g., walking)
– but can not voluntarily initiate movements
 patterns only elicited in response to appropriate
stimulation support
 Things to do without a brain
Even more complex processing in the spinal cord:

 Spinal cord neurons can even generate complex

movement patterns (e.g., walking)
– but can not voluntarily initiate movements
 patterns only elicited in response to appropriate
stimulation

– With sufficient
training, the legs
of these cats can
learn to support
weight again!
– Recall:
“Learning
without a brain”

Côté, M.-P., Ménard, A., & Gossard, J.-P. (2003). Spinal Cats on the Treadmill: Changes in Load Pathways. The
Journal of Neuroscience, 23, 2789-2796.
 Things to do without a brain
Even more complex processing in the spinal cord:

 Spinal cord neurons can even generate complex

movement patterns (e.g., walking)
– but can not voluntarily initiate movements
 patterns only elicited in response to appropriate
stimulation

 Every type of behavioural control that is more complicated

than this NEEDS A BRAIN...
Question Time
 Question Time

0. Example Question
a) Option a
b) Option b
c) Option c
(note: the timing is exam practice – the
d) Option d
online tests are not timed!)
e) Option e

5 questions
Write down question number and the letter of
your chosen answer
Correct answers given at the end!
 Question Time

1. What is the difference between the nervous system

(NS) of insects and vertebrates?
a) Vertebrates have a NS, insects don't have a NS
b) Insect NS is uncentralised, vertebrate NS is centralised
c) Vertebrates have a both a central and a peripheral NS,
insects only have a peripheral NS
d) Vertebrates have a hierarchically organised NS, insect NS is
non-hierarchic
e) There is no fundamental difference between insect and
vertebrate NS
 Question Time

2. The peripheral nervous system consists of

a) Brain and spinal cord
b) Somatic and autonomic division
c) Sympathetic and parasympathetic division
d) Dorsal and ventral roots
e) Mono- and polysynaptic reflex arcs
 Question Time
3. The figure below shows a section of the spinal cord.
Which of the numbers indicates the cell body of a
motor neuron?
a) 1
b) 2
c) 3
d) 4
e) None of these

1
4
2
3
 Question Time

4. The figure below shows…

a) A monosynaptic reflex arc of a vertebrate
b) A monosynaptic reflex arc of an invertebrate
c) A polysynaptic reflex arc of a vertebrate
d) A polysynaptic reflex arc of an invertebrate
e) None of the above
 Question Time
5. Why does a newborn’s stepping reflex disappear as the
child grows older?
a) Because as the legs grow heavier, they can no longer be
moved by small signals
b) Because as the leg muscles become stronger, they can resist
the reflex
c) Because as the nervous system matures, the interneurons
that mediate the reflex disappear
d) Because as the nervous system matures, ‘voluntary’ signals
from the brain begin to override the reflex
e) None of these – the reflex does not disappear