NBB302_lecture_03_to_post.pptx

PowerPoint Presentation

NBB 302 (PSYC 353)Behavioral Neuroscience1Class #3Comparative CognitionAnyone interested in being a note taker?TODAY is ADD/DROP/SWAP deadline!12Cognition, too, is best understood in the light of evolution

We will use a loose definition of cognition to connect data from brain and behavior in a theoretically meaningful framework grounded in evolution.There are many potential pitfalls to this approachEven if we avoid the pitfalls, the path is a difficult one without an end in sightIt is the best path we havethe only path (see point #1 above)

Main Points2Outline334Separate sensory, motor, and interneuron neurons enable more computation(images from Squire et al., Fundamental Neuroscience 3rd ed, chpt 2)

s = sensory neuronm = motor neuroni = interneurone = effector (e.g., muscle) [note: here we are calling any neuron that is not a sensory or motor neuron an interneuron. Later in the semester, we will reuse that term to refer more specifically to local inhibitory interneurons.]4

5(from Chapter 2)Sensory and motor neuronsMostly interneuronsInterneurons open up a world of computation (and cognition)[note: here we are calling any neuron that is not a sensory or motor neuron an interneuron. Later in the semester, we will reuse that term to refer more specifically to local inhibitory interneurons.]5Brain and Behavior6

Ramon y Cajal (Chpt 1)

Watson (Chpt 1)67Our definition of cognitionBehaviorBrainCognitionTheoretical construct(s) connecting brain and behavior7Outline889Influence of Darwin on scientific thought, including brain and behaviorData without theory is naturalism

(images via Smithsonian.com)910

BTW, I found this on the interwebs1011(from Encyclopedia Brittanica)Early Psychologists thought about thinking

Wilhelm Wundt used a form of structured introspection to study consciousness1112

Psychology as the behaviorist views it is a purely objective experimental branch of natural science. Its theoretical goal is the prediction and control of behavior. Introspection forms no essential part of its methods, nor is the scientific value of its data dependent upon the readiness with which they lend themselves to interpretation in terms of consciousness. The behaviorist, in his efforts to get a unitary scheme of animal response, recognizes no dividing line between man and brute. The behavior of man, with all of its refinement and complexity, forms only a part of the behaviorists total scheme of investigation.

from Psychology as the Behaviorist Views it John B. Watson (1913)

(from Chapter 1)Behaviorism disallowed thinking about thinking1213For first behaviorists, the off-limits black box was cognitionBehaviorBrainCognition.Okay, so its green here1314Jane Goodall didnt know any better, so she assumed chimps were thinking Video of termite fishing

(from janegoodall.org)

1415(all from Chapter 1)Cognitive psychologists said it was okay to think about thinking (but no introspection)

15Outline161617(by Alonso de Proaza in 1512)Anthropocentrism and Scala NaturaeA ladder of nature in which humans are at top (actually, near the top, below angels and god).

1718(grumpy cat)AnthropomorphismOur propensity for anthropomorphism in two words: cat gifs

1819

(from some random blog: dashofdamsel.blogspot.com)Proximate and ultimate explanationsUltimate original whyProximate current how1920New Caledonian Crows show evidence of tool useWhat are the crows thinking? Does it matter?VIDEO(via www.psych.auckland.ac.nz)

2021Pigeons show evidence of self awarenessWhat are the pigeons thinking? Does it matter?

(from Epstein, Lanza, and Skinner, Science, 1981)VIDEO21

Sherry & Galef, 1990. Social learning without imitation:More about milk bottle opening by birds

Original study: Fisher & Hinde, 1949Cultural transmission of a skill in birds?22

23Why is this guy fishing?(from www.fly-fishing-discounters.com)2324You are not the center of the universe or the top of the ladderDo not think of non-human animals as humansFraming explanations in evolutionary theory is good, but we cannot truly know why a particular phenotype originally evolved.Examples of complex behavior can often be explained simplySometimes the simplest explanation is not the correct oneSome lessons24Outline2525Nucifraga columbiana

Clarks Nutcrackers have very good memories for where they cached their nuts

Birds showed above chance memory for cache locations even after 285 days.(Balda and Kamil, 1992)2627Rattus Norvegicus (Brown Norway Rat, which is not from Norway)

via flikrvia www.bioterio.fm.usp.br2728Rats have a cognitive map

Eichenbaum et al, 199928

RRLLRYUM!Stimulus-Response learningEWEWEI remember a treatCognitive MapORHow do rats learn the route through a maze?29

T-Maze: Do they learn Left or West?TrainTestCognitive MapS-RAdapted from Fundamental Neuroscience, 4th edition 30

31

32

33

unit 12Firing Rate (Hz)Place field of an example place cell34

unit 1Firing Rate (Hz)Another example 35

unit 2Another example Firing Rate (Hz)36

37

38

From The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet Press Release(Edvard and May Britt Moser also won in 2014 for discovery of grid cells)39

40Tunisian Desert Ants have a cognitive map?(from idw-online.de/pages/en/image85848)40

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9KDM4C1kVg41Outline424243Humans are very good at thinking about what others are thinking

4344(from Dunbar, 1998)Social Brain hypothesis: big brains to think about what others are thinking

4445Dogs but not wolves appear to care about what humans are thinking

Miklosi et al., Current Biology, 20034546Cognition, too, is best understood in the light of evolution

We will use a loose definition of cognition to connect data from brain and behavior in a theoretically meaningful framework grounded in evolution.There are many potential pitfalls to this approachEven if we avoid the pitfalls, the path is a difficult one without an end in sightIt is the best path we havethe only path (see point #1 above)

Main Points46