Introduction to Neuroscience

Question 1

Early History of Neuroscience

Answer 1

lEgypt (5000 years ago)

–Knew about brain damage

–Had a hieroglyph for “brain”

–Heart was the key to the soul and where memories were stored

–Brain discarded while the rest of body preserved

Question 2

Early Views of the Brain?

Answer 2

lMen ought to know that from nothing else but the brain comes joys, delights, laughter and sports, and sorrows, griefs, despondency, and lamentations. And by this, in an especial manner, we acquire wisdom and knowledge, and see and hear and know what are foul and what are fair, what are bad and what are good, what are sweet and what are unsavory…And by the same organ we become mad and delirious, and fears and terrors assail us … All these things we endure from the brain when it is not healthy…In these ways I am of the opinion that the brain exercises the greatest power in man. Hippocrates- Fourth century B.C.

Question 3

Scientific Method?

Answer 3

lObservation

lReplication

lInterpretation

lVerification

lDriven by hypotheses, but “discovery” research also needed

lScientists subject to same biases as anybody else

Question 4

What was Known by Around 1800?

Answer 4

lInjury to brain can cause death, disrupt thought, movement , sensation

lBrain communicates to body via nerves

lDifferent identifiable parts which probably perform different roles

lBrain operates like a machine, follows laws of nature

Question 5

Nineteenth-Century Views of the Brain

Answer 5

lNerves as wires-Galvani and du Bois-Reymond showed that electricity can stimulate muscle movement

lBrain generates electricity

lNerves made of bundles of fibers, each fiber transmission is one way, sensory and motor nerves in same bundle-Bell and Magendie

Question 6

What kind of information do Spinal Nerve bundles carry?

Answer 6

Both Sensory and Motor Information

Question 7

Animal Research in Science?

Answer 7

lSmall number of animals used, mostly rats and mice

lMajor discoveries made with rats, mice, chicken, cow, fruit flies, squid, rabbit, frog, dog, monkey, pig, fish, etc.

lAnimal welfare very important and tightly regulated (sometimes more than human welfare)

• Alternatives considered
• Anesthesia
• Only worthwhile, minimal number used for each project
• Animal review committees
• Animal rights-same moral and legal rights as humans, ie. life of rat is equivalent to that of child