PLEASE STILL BE MINDFUL OF ERRORS, NOT 100% FULL-PROOF

LEC 02 – BIOLOGICAL BASES OF BEHAVIOR

KEY DETAIL SUBDETAIL 1 SUBDETAIL 2 FROM LECTURE

2.1 MECHANISMS OF BEHAVIOR Specify the source and assess

if (e.g.,) loud or not, near…

1. Receiving Mechanism Adaptability Power to become used to

● Comprised of sense organs which particular stimulus
receives all stimuli from the Experience to being adapted
environment in an environment we’re not
2. Connecting Mechanism used to
● Comprised of the neurons and Nervous SI–C–S--A
System (where nerve impulses are
conducted to) Types of Sense Organs (Location)
3. Reacting Mechanism
Receptors: cells or group of cells specialized to
● Comprised of the muscles and glands
respond to relatively small changes in a
particular kind of energy
Side Note: in this outline, the reacting Exteroceptors Found in the eyes, ears, nose,
mechanism is detailed first before the mouth, and skin
connecting mechanism
are sensitive to external
stimulus

2.1.1 THE RECEIVING MECHANISM Interoceptors Found in the respiratory

tract, digestive, and
genito-urinary tract
2.1.1.1 SENSE ORGANS
Where/how we feel hunger
(stomach) and thirst
Sense organs (esophagus) (both do not
➥ Sensitive nerve endings located in certain involve the mouth);
body parts genito-urinary includes the
➥ Receptors of stimulus sex drive

Proprioceptors Embedded in muscles,

Stimulus: anything which initiates an tendons, and joints
organic activity
Has a dependence on the age
of the person (acc. to Google
Attributes/Characteristics of Sense proprioception declines or
Organs becomes impaired with
age??)
Sensitivity and Power to react to stimulus; No
Irritability S = No I
SIDE TOPIC: SENSATION & PERCEPTION (LEC 03)
Conductivity Power to conduct nerve
impulses Sensation
Specificity Attribute of reacting to
➥ Simple experiences which arise from the
particular stimulus (e.g., light stimulation of the sense organs
waves stimulate the eyes) ➥ 2 elements: stimulus and receptors
 of the body
continued…
Other Related Terms (from K&A) Cardiac Related to the heart

Perception Characteristics
➥ Interpretation of a stimulus – as Contractility Power of muscles to shorten
differentiated from the simple experience
of a stimulation Tonicity Power to be in partial
Sensory Adaptation contraction
➥ Any reduction in sensitivity to stimulus as
Extensibility Power of muscles to stretch
stimulation persists through time
➥ Sense organs have the capacity to adapt Elasticity Power to resume its original
(adaptability attribute??) to stimulus when shape
such stimulus persists for quite a time
Treshold Additional Notes from K&A
➥ Generally: the level of stimulus energy
which must be exceeded before a response Functions
occurs ➥ To lend shape to the body (as the skeletal
or voluntary muscles of the arms and legs
do)
➥ To propel food and waste products along
the intestinal pathway (as smooth
muscles in the digestive tract do)
➥ For movement (as when the arms and
legs move or when we move the mouth to
form sounds of speech)
➥ To control the flow of blood,
(or refer to matrix activity #03) automatically opening and closing the
blood vessels in response to body needs
✕ equilibratory/vestibular senses are closely ➥ To convert mechanical energy into
associated (and similar to) kinesthetic mechanical work
✕ Skin = largest sense organ ➥ To generate heat
✕ Acc. to Google results hearing is the fastest
sense (*olfactory it seems nakalagay sa notes
Conditions for Speed of Muscular Reaction
ni Miller)
➥ Nerve pathways (blocked/open)
➥ Muscles (relaxed/fatigued)
➥ Strength of stimulus
2.1.2 THE REACTING MECHANISM
Other Facts
A. MUSCLES ➥ Muscle fibers cannot be manufactured
○ Growth of a muscle results from an
Three Kinds/Types increase in the size of individual muscle
cells (hence, the kind of exercise is
Voluntary Stripe, skeletal, or striated
important)
Involuntary Visceral*, smooth, or ➥ Glucose = principal source of muscle
unstriated energy
*related to internal organs in the main cavities
 ○ Obtained from sugar, starches, and eggs and this maintains
carbohydrates pregnancy
➥ Flow of acetylcholine ions stimulate
muscular contraction Thymus ⇢ “The gland of childhood”
⇢ Keeps the child to be childish
➥ Repeated movements requiring less than ⇢ Prevents puberty
maximing strength increase the blood
supply, and therefore the endurance but Pineal ⇢ “Seat of the soul”
not the size of the muscle ⇢ Helps in the control of the
entire Nervous system

B. GLANDS 2.1.3 THE CONNECTING MECHANISM

A. NEURON (NERVE CELLS)

Special secreting organs which pour their
secretions either directly or indirectly into the
bloodstream ● Basic conducting unit of the nervous
system
Two Kinds ● Provide the means through which the
Duct glands ⇢ via ducts, passages, or canals nervous system transmits and coordinates
⇢ Lachrymal (tear), sebaceous information.
(sweat/oil??), salivary, gastric, ● Myriads of neurons connect in diverse
sex, and mammary glands
ways to make up the central nervous
Ductless ⇢ Aka. endocrine glands; the system (CNS)
glands endocrine system ● ~12 billion neurons in the CNS
⇢ directly into the bloodstream
⇢ Secretions = hormones

Types(/Examples)
#s 1-7 are in K&A, p. 73-74

Pituitary ⇢ Master gland; stimulates entire

endocrine system
⇢ Produces growth hormones

Thyroid ⇢ Thyroxin hormones

⇢ Regulates bodily metabolism

Parathyroid Calcium and phosphorus in blood

Adrenal Produces emergency hormone

Medulla (adrenaline)
Three Principal/Basic Parts
Adrenal Converts protein to sugar (to give
Cortex energy to the Adrenal Medulla) Dendrites Specialized signal-receiving
structures where the impulse
(input) enters
Islets of Produces insulin to regulate
Langerhans blood sugar level
Receives messages from other
(pancreas)
neurons
Gonads Produces the sex hormones for
Cell body ⇢ Central region
reproduction (testosterone –
⇢ Integrates input and output and
male & estrogen – female)
the axon where the output is
discharged
Placenta Prevents ovaries to produce ripe
Axons Transmits information to other
○ Simplest and most rapid takes place in one
neurons (output is discharged) segment of the spinal cord. Examples:
➞ Flexion reflex: withdrawal of limb from
Synapse ⇢ Impulse travels from axon of one painful stimulus
neuron to synapse
⇢ Functional conjunction between
➞ Extensor reflex: knee jerk
two neurons making conduction ➞ Scratch reflex: response to local irritation
of nerve impulses continuous 2. Instinct
from one to the other ➥ Complex unlearned behavior of a species
⇢ Limit the nerve fiber to one-way
traffic set off by relatively simple stimuli
○ Seasonal migration of birds and fishes
○ Mating behaviors
Types of neurons acc. to speed
○ Maternal instinct
➥ Fastest = 110 m/s
3. Cortex Level
➥ Slowest = 0.5 m/s
➥ Involves more neurons and may take
➥ Speed is influenced by the thickness of
more time before reaction or response
the myelin sheath (insulating material
takes place
around the axon)
➥ More myelin = faster conduction
C. STIMULATION AND HOMEOSTASIS

Types of Neurons (Basic Function)

● Normal life of organism = action
Sensory ⇢ Afferent fibers ● Reflex activities take place in context form
⇢ Conducts impulses to the NS (varying between underactivity and
overstimulation)
Association ⇢ Interneuron / Connecting
fibers / Central neurons (?) ● Homeostasis
⇢ Conduct impulses within the ➥ tendency of the body to maintain its
nervous system natural equilibrium
➥ Body’s automatic protective device
Motor ⇢ Efferent fibers
⇢ Conducts impulses away from against overstimulation and stresses
the nervous system ○ Infection
○ Nervous strain
○ Physical injuries
Side Note: subsections B to D are not ○ Eexcessive heat or cold
included in the PPT (PPT/lec skips to ○ Muscular fatigue
Nervous System subtopic) ➥ Overstimulation may cause exhaustion
and may be also be fatal
➥ Understimulation is just as disruptive
B. LEVELS OF SYNAPTIC CONNECTIONS ➥ A minimum level of active stimulation
and response is necessary to help us
function normally
1. Simple Reflexes
➥ Automatic responses to stimuli
D. NERVE IMPULSES
➥ Produced by a functional unit of the
nervous system called the reflex arc
➥ Reflex arc ● Refers to potential changes moving along
○ Chain consisting of a nerve fiber
➞ Sensory organ ● Receptor
➞ 3 nerve cells (1 each kind) 1. Energy converter
 2.Energy from the environment ➟ ○ Some neurons require the simultaneous
chemical processes ➟ produce stimulation of a large number of other
electrochemical nervous impulses neurons for activation.
● K-Na Pump (Action-Potential Process) ○ Another form of this is convergence
1. A stimulus activates the semipermeable where two or more impulses are activated
membranes of the fiber, it disturbs the at the same time, their combined energies
balance of ions across the membranes. converging to form a single stimulation
2.Potassium ions (K) interchange with sufficiently strong to elicit a reaction.
sodium (Na) ions in the environment 2. Temporal summation
causing the resting potential to drop. If ○ Repeated stimulation from one or more
the stimulus is weak, the drop in nearby neurons in a short period of time
potential is small and short-lived, i.e., the may be activated
membrane is restored quickly to its ➞ Several consecutive taps of something
normal resting level. hot may produce sensation of heat
3. Recruitment
Two Important Principles ○ Involves a progressive increase in the
number of nerve fibers giving nerve
1. The All-or-None Law impulses as the exciting impulse is
○ Impulse is independent of the properties repeated
of the stimulus which started it ○ Increasing the number of motor neurons
○ A nerve impulse (even of a certain involved increases the amount of motor
minimal strength) remains at the same units activated in a muscle, which is
strength as it travels along a nerve fiber. A called recruitment (oregonstate.edu)
stimulus triggers a release of energy into ➞ Repeated action becomes more
the fiber but does not contribute energy vigorous as it persists
itself. 4. Reverberation
○ Impulse size and speed: ○ Nerve impulses that were initially
➞ Varies with the size of the fiber activated in response to stimuli are more
(proportional to the square of the fiber’s or less continuously reactivated so that
diameter) retrieval of information on demand is
➞ Conditions of the fiber (e.g., drugged, possible. (from Google)
oxygen-deprived, fatigued, in an ○ Neurons are frequently arranged in
abnormal state) circuits in which the fiber of one neuron
2. The Frequency Principle comes back and ends on a neuron whose
○ Frequency of nerve impulses relates to fiber stimulates the first neuron.
intensity of stimulus ➞ Hunger persisting despite already
○ There are more impulses per second with being responded upon
the stronger stimulus than the weaker 5. Reciprocal innervation
stimulus ○ Depends on the way muscles are
○ A stronger stimulus produces impulses arranged and innervated (connected with
more frequently than the weaker stimulus nerve fibers).
○ In this way, only one reflex is dominant
Varieties of Neural Circuits at a time and antagonistic muscles are
kept from working against each other.
1. Spatial summation ➞ When the extensor muscles contract,
○ Involves a many-to-one principle. the flexor muscles relax and vice
versa.
 ➞ Another example is the cessation of ○ Catabolism (heightened emotional,
respiration during swallowing. mental, or physical activity)
6. Inhibition ii. Parasympathetic NS
○ Reflex actions may be stopped ○ Anabolism (restoring energy)
➞ Stopping a sneeze by applying cooling period
pressure to the upper lip
7. Integration Side Note: tried reorganizing K&A similar
○ Integration is the ability of the nervous to prof’s version of categorization of NS
system to function as a unit.
○ It exercises hierarchical control over
voluntary and involuntary reflexes, over 2.2.1 CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM
emotional and learning activity fitting all
parts together so that the organism
“Cerebro-Spinal System” (fr. K&A)
operates with reasonable smoothness.
● Due to normal colors:
➥ White matter = myelin sheath in nervous
2.2 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
fibers
➥ Gray matter = neuron
Nervous System
● White matter = greater part of cerebral
➥ Controls all the physiological processes
and behavioral responses mass
➥ Basis for our ability to perceive, adapt to, ● Brain and the spinal cord is protected by
and interact with the world around us three meninges or membranes
➥ Through this… we receive, process, and 1. Dura mater – outer membrane lining
respond to information from the the inner surface of the skull forming a
environment protective covering for the brain
2. Arachnoid mater – thin membrane
(Acc. to lecture…) beneath the dura matter which secretes
2 Major Divisions a serious fluid keeping the inner surface
1. Central Nervous System moist
a. Brain 3. Pia mater – membrane dipping to the
● Master organ convolutions, fissures, and the interior;
● Controls and directs all NS activities and is rich in blood vessels
● Directly controls our thoughts,
emotions, and motivations
b. Spinal Cord
● Relays nerve impulses between brain
and body
● Controls simple reflexes
2. Peripheral Nervous System
➥ Largest part of NS
a. Somatic System* From Cleveland Clinic
● Controls skeletal muscles which are
attached to the bones THE BRAIN
b. Autonomic Nervous System
● Controls the non-skeletal muscles
Brain Hemispheres
(e.g., visceral and smooth muscles)
i. Sympathetic NS Left Right
– right handedness – left handedness
– logical – creative/emotional ⇢ Control of visceral and somatic
functions as temperature and
metabolism
Substructures (& Parts)
Midbrain – Reticular Activating System (RAS)
Forebrain – front most part of brain
Midbrain/ ⇢ “Switching Power” of the
Cerebrum ⇢ “Seat of consciousness” RAS brain which controls sleep,
⇢ Controls all higher forms of wakefulness, attention, and
thinking and judgement arousal
⇢ Sense perception, voluntary ⇢ A conduction and switching
movements, learning, center; pupillary light reflex.
remembering, thinking,
emotion, consciousness, (Fr. K&A) For the arousal and alertness of
personality integration Reticular the organism, the change from
Formation sleep to wakefulness.
1. Cerebral Vital role in thinking
Cortex Hindbrain

2. Basal Controls all motor functions Medulla Has control over swallowing and
Ganglia digestion (responsible for) and
breathing and heartbeat
3. Limbic Concerns: motivation, learning, (regulates)
System and emotion
a. Amygdala – anger and Cerebellum ⇢ Coordinates fine muscle
aggression movement, coordination, and
balance
Case in Point (Fr. Lec): Too much
alcohol (and drugs) may trigger Example of Disorder:
of distort the sensibilities of one’s Cerebral Palsey
amygdala
⇢ For muscle tone, body balance,
b. Septum – anger and fear coordination of voluntary
c. Hippocampus – formation of movement (as of fingers and
memories thumb)

Thalamus ⇢ Relays sensory information to Pons Relays information to different

cerebral cortex parts of the brain (e.g., between
⇢ The way-station for impulses cerebral cortext and cerebellum)
coming up the spinal cord to
the cerebrum

Hypotha- ⇢ Maintains homeostasis Corpus Contains fibers connecting the

lamus ✓Regulates body temp., eating, Callosum two brain hemisphere
and sleeping
✓“Seat of Emotion”
✓Controls Endocrine System
and Autonomic NS
✓Responsible for survival
behaviors (feeding, fighting,
and mating*)

*in mating, humans are

biologically predisposed/
designed to be attracted to
opposite sex due to sexual drive
(especially in the context of
reproduction)
 interpreting and remembering
visual info
⇢ Located at the back of the brain

Areas of the Brain (fr. K&A)

(already touched upon in previous tables)

1. Motor Area
● In front of fissure of Rolando
● The body is represented in approximately
upside-down form.
● Movements on the right side of the body
Lobes of the Brain originate thru stimulation of the left
hemisphere.
Lobe Attributes 2. Body-Sense Area
● in the parietal lobe
Parietal Body senses (somatosensory info.)
● The lower extremeties are represented
⇢ Receive and interpret high on the area of the opposite
somatosensory info (i.e., temp., hemisphere.
pressure, texture, and pain) 3. Visual Area
⇢ Actively involved in paying
attention, processing word ● in the occipital lobe
sounds, and thinking about ● Damage in the left hemisphere will result
spatial characteristics of objects in blind areas in the left side of both eyes.
and events
4. Auditory Area
Frontal Motor and speech ● Both ears are totally represented on both
sides so that loss of one temporal lobe
⇢ Responsible for a wide variety of has very little effect on hearing
every “human” activities
✓Language
5. Speech Area
✓Attention ● The motor-speech area (Broca's speech
✓Reasoning area) controls the tongue and jaws
✓Planning ● It is located in the right hemisphere of
✓goal setting
✓Self-monitoring the left handed persons and vice versa
✓decision making (according to conventional
✓Judgement interpretation)
✓Learning strategies
6. Association Areas
✓Controlled movements
✓Interp. of others’ behaviors ● Areas of the brain not accounted for
● Bring together phenomena involving
Temporal Auditory information more than one sense.
7. Smell Area
⇢ Interpret and remember complex
auditory info (e.g., speech and ● Just below the frontal - near the temporal
music) lobe.
⇢ Also involved with long term 8. Taste Area
memory
⇢ Located at the sides (behind the ● Located behind the central fissure at the
ears) lower part of the side of the brain.

Occipital Visual information

2.2.2 THE PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM
⇢ Majorly responsible for
 ○ Consists of nerves and ganglia in the
Additional Notes from K&A cervical, thoracic and lumbar segments of
● The peripheral nervous system is gray matter of the spinal cord, this
composed of the cranial nerves, the spinal division tends to act as a unit.
nerves and the nerves of the autonomic ○ Active in emotion-activating the organism
nervous system. in response to pain, anger or fear thru the
● Cranial Nerves controlled secretion of epinephrine
➥ There are twelve pairs of cranial nerves (adrenaline).
made up of sensory, motor and mixed ➞ In emotional excitement:
nerves. ↪ speeds up the heart
○ Motor nerves arise from cell bodies ↪ dilates the pupils and the arteries of
within the brain the muscles and the heart
○ Sensory nerves arise from cell bodies ↪ constricting muscle of skin and the
outside the brain digestive organs
● Spinal Nerves 2. Parasympathetic System
➥ There are thirty-one pairs of spinal nerves ○ Composed of fibers from the cranial
➥ Emerge from the cervical, thoracic, region, some below the sympathetic
lumbar, sacral and coccygeal areas of the system.
vertebral column through openings ○ Acts or affects one organ at a time.
between the vertebrae ○ During excited activity, if: sympathetic =
dominant ➟ parasympathetic = quiescent
# Part … … ○ It maintains the functions that conserve
(pairs)
and protect the bodily reserves illustrating
08 Neck 05 Sacral nature's homeostatic device, i.e., of
(cervical) maintaining equilibrium.
12 Thoracic 01 Coccygeal
Competition & Cooperation
05 Lumbar ➥ Rule: competition when both fibers are
connected to the same muscle or gland
● Each spinal nerve is attached to the spinal
➥ Competion:
cord by two roots of both motor and
○ SS speeds up the heart; the PS slows it
sensory nerve cells forming one nerve
○ SS inhibits digestion, the PS facilitates it.
before leaving the vertebral column.
➥ Cooperation: the SS is dominant in fear
➥ A plexus or network is formed and from
and the PS cooperate with an involuntary
these plexuses the peripheral fibers arise,
discharge of the bowels or the bladder
often taking the same pathway as the
blood vessels and are so similarly named.

AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM

Named because many of its activities are

"autonomous" or "self-regulating" such as
digestion and circulation, which go on even
when a person is asleep or unconscious.

Two antagonistic but integrated system:

BY GIAN OCCIANO:)
1. Sympathetic System