Behaviour and the Brain 2:
Cognitive Neuroscience
Johannes Fahrenfort
[email protected]
Medical Faculty, room B563
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Overview
• The central and peripheral nervous system
• Evolutionary history
• From re exes to more complexity
• The brain stem
• Thalamus
• Cerebral cortex
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Main messages
• Behavior has many non-cortical sources,
many of which are evolutionary ancient and
highly automatized
• Action and perception are deeply
embodied
• The cerebral cortex is a super-interactive
midpoint between input and output
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Central and peripheral nervous system
- Perception and processing of sensory
stimuli
- Planning and execution of voluntary
motor responses
All vertebrates share
common systems:
- Central nervous system
- Peripheral nervous system
The Nervous System: common ancestry
Invertebrate
Vertebrate and
invertebrate animals Vertebrate
share a common
architecture, but is
‘upside down’ for
vertebrates!
All vertebrates
invertebrate
Inversion vertebrate
→ interhemispheric
crossing: left is
connected to the vertebrate
right hemisphere and
vice versa
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The core vertebrate brain
has three main vesicles
most
recent in
evolution
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2
1
oldest
in
evolution
Three vesicles Embryo: lateral view Adult: developed brain
Five vesicles
Separate systems for inner and outer
environments in the peripheral nervous system
• Somatic nervous system
‣ voluntary action,
perception-action cycle
• Autonomic nervous system
‣ control of bodily functions:
sympathetic (FFFFF)
parasympathetic (rest-regenerate)
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Autonomic nervous system
Two modes:
‣ Sympathetic
nervous system: 4 F’s
ght, ight, fright,
freeze etc
‣ Parasympathetic
nervous system
rest and regenerate:
slow heart rate,
respiration, low
blood pressure,
energy storage
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Body and brain are heavily
intertwined
V1
LOC V3
LGN V2
retina
Brain in a vat is not a realistic scenario
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Body and brain are heavily
intertwined
iti o n
ogn
d c
od i e
b
Em (a) Embodied perception
(b) Passive perception
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2023.03.022
Segmental organization
Vertebrate Invertebrate
(mouse embryo) (fruit y)
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Segmental organization
Sensory dermatomes
Dorsal: input
Ventral: output
‘stripes’
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Muscles also have segmental organization
• Lower and upper limbs
quadriplegia: lower and
upper limb paralysis
• Leg muscles
paraplegia: lower limb
paralysis
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The spinal cord
afferents
(input)
somatic
autonomic efferents
• White matter:
(output) insulated
(myelinated)
long distance
connections
between neurons
• Grey matter:
neurons and
their local
connections
Dorsal: sensory input
Ventral: motor output 15
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Re ex arc: knee-jerk
Re ex arc: knee-jerk
sweet
walk stop
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Re ex-arc → brain?
central pattern generators
stepping movements even when
brain is disconnected from the spinal cord
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Re ex-arc → brain?
central pattern generators
stepping movements even when
brain is disconnected from the spinal cord
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Re ex-arc → brain?
central pattern generators
stepping movements even when
brain is disconnected from the spinal cord
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Re ex-arc → brain?
central pattern generators
stepping movements even when
brain is disconnected from the spinal cord
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The brain stem:
many autonomous functions!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Mike_the_Headless_Chicken
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The brain stem
Brainstem
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Hindbrain: medulla
‣ Redundant double breathing
mechanism in air-animals
‣ Ventilating gills in water-animals
• More complex input-output
coordination through cranial nerves
• Vestibulo-cochlear re ex
• Vestibulo-ocular re ex
• Chewing, swallowing, yawning, sucking,
coughing, sneezing, hiccups
• Fatal when damaged!
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Hindbrain: medulla
‣ Redundant double breathing
mechanism in air-animals
‣ Ventilating gills in water-animals
• More complex input-output
coordination through cranial nerves
• Vestibulo-cochlear re ex
• Vestibulo-ocular re ex
• Chewing, swallowing, yawning, sucking,
coughing, sneezing, hiccups
• Fatal when damaged!
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Hindbrain: pons
• Pons (bridge in Latin)
connects the
cerebellum and the
cerebral cortex
• bladder control, eye
movement, facial
expression, equilibrium
and posture
Brainstem
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Cerebellum (little brain)
Brainstem
Cerebellum (little brain)
• First evolutionary step towards
guided action
• Contains 80% of the brain’s 86
billion neurons!
• Inputs and outputs to the brain
stem
• Functions:
‣ Relatively little is known
‣ Fine/smooth movements, forward
model (predictive)
‣ Possibly language, memory,
attention, and even emotional
regulation!
consistent wiring pattern 28
Cerebellum (little brain)
Brainstem
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Midbrain
Brainstem
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Midbrain
• Periaqueductal gray matter
‣ Initiate/coordinate complex
pattern generators for defense,
aggression and reproduction
• Reticular formation
‣ Regulating wakefulness/sleep:
conscious states
• Locus coreleus: norepinephrin
Neurotransmitters: • Midbrain raphe nuclei:
serotonin
• Norepinephrin: alerting
• Substantia nigra: dopamine
• Serotonin: mood, sleep
• Dopamine: reward, movement, motivation, cognition
Midbrain
Connections
Brainstem to cranial
nerves
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The brain stem
Connections
Brainstem to cranial
nerves
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Cranial nerves
I Olfactory II Optic
III Oculomotor • I Olfactory
‣ Smell signals
• II Optic
‣ Visual input
VI Trichemenal • III Oculomotor / trochlear / abducens
‣ Controls eyes
• VI Trichemenal
‣ Chewing, touch/pain mouth
VII Facial • VII Facial
‣ Taste (anterior part of tongue),
muscles of facial expression
• VIII Vestibulocochlear
‣ Signals for hearing and balance
VIII Vestibulocochlear
• IX Glossopharyngeal
‣ Taste (posterior part of tongue),
swallowing re ex
IX Glossopharyngeal • X Vagus
‣ Parasympathetic nervous system, blood
pressure, heart rate, digestion etc
• XI Spinal accessory
XII ‣ Muscles for head, neck shoulders
Hypoglosssal XI Spinal • XII Hypoglossal
X Vagus
accesory ‣ Muscles to move the tongue
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The forebrain: hypothalamus,
thalamus and onwards
Hypothalamus
Brainstem
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Hypothalamus
• Integrates information
from many sources
within the body (visceral,
blood stream etc)
• Functions:
‣ Enforces homeostasis
‣ Regulates “basic drives”,
simple responses
‣ BUT: no ability to drive
complex tasks!
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Hypothalamus
• Integrates information
from many sources
within the body (visceral,
blood stream etc)
• Functions:
‣ Hormone secretion through
the pituitary gland such as
oxytocin (social bonding)
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The forebrain: hypothalamus,
thalamus and onwards
Hypothalamus
Brainstem
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The forebrain: hypothalamus,
thalamus and onwards
Brainstem
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Thalamus
Intralaminar nuclei
• Major gateway from brain
stem to cerebral cortex, drives
complex behaviors and
association areas in the cortex.
Reticular nucleus • Relay nuclei serve speci c
Input from
Superior colliculus
sections of the cortex:
‣ Lateral Geniculate Nucleus LGN:
pathway to visual cortex
‣ Pulvinar (taking input from the
superior colliculus) projects to
parietal cortex
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Thalamus
Intralaminar nuclei
• Intralaminar nuclei
provide diffuse input to the
cortex and have profound
impact on the
Reticular nucleus
level of consciousness →
deep brain stimulation
• Reticular nucleus wraps
around thalamus, no outputs
to cortex, coordinates
thalamic activity and
regulates alertness.
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The forebrain: hypothalamus,
thalamus and onwards
Brainstem
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THE BRAIN
Brainstem
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THE BRAIN: Cerebral cortex
primary Precentral
motor cortex gyrus Postcentral
gyrus primary
somatosensory
cortex
planning Visual: where?
orpus
callosum (like SC/IC)
C
Prefrontal
Precuneus
cortex
value
primary
auditory cortex Visual: what?
(V1, V2 etc)
Calcarine
sulcus
Lateral view Medial view
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THE BRAIN: Cerebral cortex
visual processing:
faces, houses, cars
and other objects
(island in Latin)
pain, fatigue, hunger,
sexual arousal etc
Lateral view Ventral view
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Gray vs white matter
• White matter:
insulated
(myelinated)
long distance
connections
between neurons
• Grey matter:
neurons and
their local
•Basal ganglia
connections
Spinal cord 46
Basal ganglia
• Heavily connected with cortex
• Motor cortex: control of
movement, inhibition
of movement
striatum
(stripes)
reward
Basal ganglia
Parkinson’s: Deep Brain Stimulation therapy (DBS)
Electrode in Subthalamic nucleus compensates
for Substantia Nigra dysfunction
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Basal ganglia
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Connecting the “inner” and
“outer” world: the limbic system
homeostasis, drives, internal inputs
memory, learning
drives, external inputs
A brain system regulating
emotion and motivation 50
Connecting the “inner” and
“outer” world: the limbic system
Linking the body’s
current needs to
knowledge of places
and past events
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The four ‘edges’
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Conclusions
• Entire system is massively interactive
(both interoceptively and exteroceptively)
• Perception and action are driven by much more
than just the brain/cortex
• Much behavior is regulated by evolutionary old
‘local’ (sub)systems (hindbrain, midbrain)
• Newer systems slapped on top of them (forebrain)
to deal with increasingly complex planning demands:
• → Re ex
→ Central pattern generators
→ Complex behaviors
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Questions?
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