Running head: BIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR

Questions on Biology and Behavior

Name

Institution of Affiliation
BIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR 2

Biology and Behavior

1. How do nerve cells operate and communicate?

Nerve cells communicate through the synapses, which are the gaps between end of one nerve

cell and the beginning of another. The communication uses neurotransmitters, which are

chemicals that help transmit signals across a synapse. The neurotransmitters have keys to the

neuron receptors an only the messages with the right keys will fit into the receptors. In the

process of communication between nerve cells, an electrical signal travels down the axon

followed by release of chemical neurotransmitter molecules into the synapse. The

neurotransmitter molecules bind to receptor sites on the releasing nerve cell as well as the

receiving one (Fox et al., 2005). The signal that is picked by the second nerve cell is either

halted or passed along.

2. What are the functions of major parts of the nervous system?

The major parts of the nervous system include the brain, the spinal cord, the sensory organs,

and all the nerves that connect the system with the rest of the body. These parts are

responsible for control of the body and communication among the various parts. The brain

and the spinal cord form the control center i.e. the central nervous system, which evaluates

information and makes decision. The sensory nerves and the sense organs of the peripheral

nervous system monitor the conditions inside and outside the body and convey this

information to the CNS (Brodal, 2004). The efferent nerves in the peripheral nervous system

transmit signals from the control center to the organs, glands, and muscles to regulate their

functions.

3. How do we know how the brains work?

BIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR 3

We know how the brains work by mapping the electrical signaling throughout the entire

network of neuron connections. It appears that there is an important balance between

signaling that incites nerve cells to transmit signals and the messaging that inhibits signaling,

keeping some nerve cells quiet. The approaches to figuring out how the brains work involve

how it manipulates information. The pattern of electrical signaling by neurons signify the

patterns of the original stimuli. These neural signaling patterns are recoded into another set of

patterns that process and sort out crucial variables in the environment from those that barely

matter. The patterns are then decoded in the process of generating behavioral actions

(Corredor and Goldberg, 2009). In comprehending how the brains work, they appear to make

use of algorithms for collecting and assessing information about the surroundings and

encoding messages that tell the body what to do.

4. How is the brain organized, and what do its higher structures do?

The human brain is organized into three major layers: the hindbrain, the midbrain, and the

forebrain. The hindbrain is the protected central core of the brain and include structures such

as reticular formation, cerebellum, and the brain stem, which facilitate the basic autonomic

functions of life such as movement and breathing. The midbrain comprise of the brain stem

and is located between the hindbrain and the forebrain. All the motor and sensory

information pass through the midbrain thereby making it a relay station of the CNS. The

forebrain contains the most complex networks in the CNS. It has two major divisions, the

telencephalon and the diencephalon. The telencephalon is on top of the diencephalon and

contains the cerebrum while the diencephalon is lower and contains the hypothalamus and

the thalamus. The large and complex forebrain distinguishes the human brain from other

vertebrates.
BIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR 4

The higher structures of the brain comprise the cerebrum. The cerebrum contains all of the

centers of the brain that receive and interpret information. The structures initiate movement,

analyze information, reason, and experience emotions (Brodal, 2004). The centers of these

tasks are in the cerebral cortex, which controls higher brain functions such as information

processing.

5. Why are the brain’s association areas important? What happens when they are injured?

The association areas of the brain are part of the cerebral cortex that receive messages from

multiple areas. They integrate sensory messages and form connections between the sensory

and the motor regions. They are important because they organize information that comes

from other areas of the brain to perform complex functions. These areas interpret, integrate

and act on the messages processed by the sensory areas (Garrett, 2009). They participate in

higher mental functions such as speaking, thinking, remembering, and learning.

When these areas are damaged, for instance, damage to the visual association cortex, a

person can see objects but cannot recognize them. He/she would be able to describe

individual features of an object but name it by sight. This is because the visual association

cortex is the area that processes information on vision.

6. What kind of behaviors are controlled by the subcortex?

The subcortex comprises of three major divisions with each of the division being involved in

specific behaviors. The basal ganglia is involved in skills learning and motor control. The

limbic system is primarily involved in the detection and expression of emotions. In its

components, the amygdala perceives fear or threats, the hippocampus connects to the

amygdala and is involved in laughter. Together with the thalamus, the hippocampus is
BIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR 5

associated with positive feelings. The hippocampus is also crucial in detecting novelty,

memory, and learning. The third division of the subcortex is the diencephalon, which

contains the thalamus and the hypothalamus, is the main sensory conveyor of all senses,

except smell (Garrett, 2009). The hypothalamus regulates hunger, body temperature, thirst,

and sexual behavior.

7. Does the glandular system affect behavior?

The glandular system works with the nervous system to influence many facets of behavior

including metabolism, reproduction, and growth. It also plays vital roles in regulation of

emotions. Hormones regulate behaviors such as parenting, mating, and aggression.

8. How do right and left-handed individuals differ?

Left-handed people have a larger corpus callosum i.e. a group of nerves that connects the

right and the left hemispheres of the brain. The bigger corpus callosum and the many nerves

suggest that there are more connections and the possibilities of intercommunication. In a

study done in 2006, it emerged that left-handed people tend to have faster connections

between the right and the left hemisphere of the brain resulting to swift information

processing (Cherbuin and Brinkman, 2006). In left-handed people, motivation is associated

with a greater activity in the right hemisphere of the brain while for right-handed people,

motivation causes activation of the left hemisphere of the brain.

9. Is brain damage always permanent?

Brain damage is not always permanent; it depends on the injury, as some people would

recover while others would not. The brain has a way of compensating for lost brain tissue to
BIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR 6

facilitate restoration of function. For example, a concussion is a mild and common type of

brain injury and as long as there is adequate recovery time and no repeated injury, the brain

recovers to its full and normal functioning. Even in extreme injuries such as stroke, through

therapy, the brain is capable of forming connections and rerouting function through the

healthy areas (Quattromani et al., 2018).

BIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR 7

References

Brodal, P. (2004). The central nervous system: structure and function. Oxford University Press.

Cherbuin, N., & Brinkman, C. (2006). Hemispheric interactions are different in left-handed

individuals. Neuropsychology, 20(6), 700.

Corredor, R. G., & Goldberg, J. L. (2009). Electrical activity enhances neuronal survival and

regeneration. Journal of neural engineering, 6(5), 055001.

Fox, N. A., Henderson, H. A., Marshall, P. J., Nichols, K. E., & Ghera, M. M. (2005).

Behavioral inhibition: Linking biology and behavior within a developmental framework.

Annu. Rev. Psychol., 56, 235-262.

Garrett, B. (2009). Brain and behavior: An introduction to biological psychology. Sage

Publications, Inc.

Quattromani, M. J., Pruvost, M., Guerreiro, C., Backlund, F., Englund, E., Aspberg, A., ... &

Vivien, D. (2018). Extracellular matrix modulation is driven by experience-dependent

plasticity during stroke recovery. Molecular neurobiology, 55(3), 2196-2213.

Siegfried, T. (2017). There’s a long way to go in understanding the brain. Science News.

Retrieved from https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/context/neuroscience-understanding-

brain