wk 2 lecturette

1. Learning & the Brain

2. Basic features of the neuron: dendrite,
cell body, axon

3. Electrical signals are transported down
an axon
• Dendrites: receive information
• inputs
• Axon: transmits electrical
signals
– Myelin: insulates the nerve cell
– Speeds up transmission
– Terminal buttons: release
transmitters
• Synapse: site of chemical
communication

4. Glial Cells

5. A closer look

6. Even closer

7. Prenatal Development
•Human development vastly differs from other animals

8. Changes through Infancy and Early Childhood

9. Hebbian Learning & LTP
"Cells that fire together, wire together"

10. Neural Plasticity

11. Gross anatomy of the brain

12. Gross anatomy of the brain: Grey & White Matter
Glial cells provide support: myelin

13. Gross anatomy of the brain

14. Gross anatomy of the brain

15. Franz Josef Gall (1758-1828)
•Phrenology

16. Franz Josef Gall (1758-1828)
•Phrenology
•Discredited when a scientist, Pierre Flourens, lesioned animal brains
•Popularized the idea of cerebral localization of function

17. Paul Broca
•Tan (1861)
–Lost ability to speak
–Intact intelligence
–Left hemisphere lesion

18. Memory Systems: Declarative

19. Declarative Memory: Spatial Learning
Rat hippocampus
Morris Water Maze
Tolman Maze
Radial Arm Maze

20. Spatial Learning: Place Cells
Rat hippocampus
Tolman Maze

21. LTP: Declarative Neural Signal

22. Mirroring & Mirror Neurons