PSYC 304 Chapter Notes -Neoteny, Pineal Gland, Blindsight
Document Summary
Objectives: describe blindsight and the behaviour of people with split brains and explain what these phenomena contribute to our understanding of self-awareness. Biological roots of behavioral neuroscience: hippocrates (460-370 bc) concluded that the brain is responsible for thought and emotions. Evolution of the human brain: prolonged maturation of the brain is known as neoteny. Ryan taggart: large brains allows collective information acquisition, use of tools, and large memory capacity, humans share 98. 8 % of dna with chimps but neoteny causes our brains to be 3 times larger. Ethical issues in research with animals: treat animals nicely and weigh the benefit to humanity vs animal harm. Careers in neuroscience: behavioral neuroscientists study the physiology of behavior, primarily by performing physiological and behavioral experiments with laboratory animals, broader field is neuroscience and must obtain a grad degree and 2 years as a postdoc. Topic 2: structure and function of cells of the nervous system.
