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1. ReviewReview

2. Newest brain areas stacked on top of oldest:

3. Puzzle:
If a rod through Phineas Gage’s brain made him
a sociopath, why didn’t Malala become a
sociopath when she got a bullet through her
brain?

4. Fixed Action PatternsFixed Action Patterns

5. << Golden wheel spider >>

6. << Stickleback fish >>

7. << Herring Gull >>

8. Herring Gull
(Testing the releasing stimulus)

9. Fixed Action Pattern – a behavioral pattern
triggered by a releasing stimulus that, once it
begins, runs to completion
Examples:
F.A.P. = Spider cartwheeling
R.S. = wasp + steep dune
F.A.P. = Stickleback fish zigzag dance
R.S. = sight of female stickleback fish
F.A.P. = Stickleback fish nest building
R.S. = sexual maturity (hormones?) + sight of clean nest site
F.A.P. = Herring gull chick pecks at red spot on adult gull’s beak
R.S. = sight of long yellow beak with red spot

10. >> if StimulusA && StimulusB
>> execute BehaviorX
>> elsif StimulusC && StimulusD
>> execute BehaviorY
A fish’s brain is like a simple computer:
=

11. >> if Stim(Female) && Condition(NestReady)
>> execute Behavior(ZigzagDance)
>> elsif . . .
A fish’s brain is like a simple computer:
=

12. >> if StimulusA && StimulusB
>> execute BehaviorX
>> elsif StimulusC && StimulusD
>> execute BehaviorY
When is a human brain like a simple computer?
=
?

13. >> if shape appears close to eyes
>> execute Behavior(Flinch)
>> elsif StimulusC && StimulusD
>> execute BehaviorY
When is a human brain like a simple computer?
=
?

14. >> if StimulusA && StimulusB
>> increase HomoneG 60%
>> if HormoneG >= 400ppm && HormoneH >= 950ppm
&& StimulusC && StimulusD && StimulusE
>> execute BehaviorX(modified by LearningY)
A mouse’s brain is a more advanced computer:
=

15. Differences between brains and computers?
1. Brains are resilient when damaged – they will rewire and
maintain some function
2. The human brain is faster and more energy efficient than
a computer
3. The brain can’t do certain things a computer does
(memorize trillion-digit numbers or flawlessly record
pixel-by-pixel videos);
However, the human brain is better at other things
(watching someone demonstrate a task, guessing their
intent)

16. (Interlude)

17. Stimulus  Behavior
(Stimulus A will always produce Behavior X)
Stimulus
Hormones
Learning Behavior
Prenatal
factors
(Stimulus A might produce Behavior X,
depending on hormones, learning, etc.)
}

18. Hormones & NeurotransmittersHormones & Neurotransmitters
Cortisol
Testosterone
Oxytocin
Dopamine
Serotonin
Adrenaline*
• Released by glands
• Stay in your body a
long time (hours,
days, …)
• In your blood stream*
• Released by synapses
• Stay in your body a
short time (seconds,
minutes)

19. Amygdala
Adrenaline, Cortisol

20. Amygdala = fear center in your brain;
Hippocampus = short-term memory

21. • Testosterone increases risk taking—“Hey, let’s
gamble and invade.”
• Testosterone increases risk taking—“Hey, let’s
gamble and make a peace offer.”
• Testosterone makes you feel good—“Let’s start
another fight, since the last one went swell.”
• Testosterone makes you feel good—“Let’s all hold
hands.”
[. . .] testosterone’s effects are hugely context
dependent.
Excerpt From: Robert M. Sapolsky. “Behave: The
Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst.”
Testosterone

22. Oxytocin, Dopamine

26. Closely-related animals have similar brains

27. These animals have baby-mania!
• A lioness adopted 5 baby antelopes, ate one, and kept
on caring for the others.
• A female leopard killed a baboon but adopted its baby
(she carried the baby by the scruff of its neck into a
tree and protected it as her own).
• Barnyard hens protected baby geese, ducks, and
kittens in the nest.
• A female Jack Russell Terrier nursed a kitten to
maturity.
• A female cat adopted a Rottweiler pup.
Horses, goats, and many other animals would never
“adopt” or show affection to someone else’s baby. Why?

29. Joshua Eckert, 2018
Superpinball.blogspot.com