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1. Choose a brain region and a behavior this region is thought to control. Describe at least one other brain region that is involved in the execution of this behavior. How do these two regions communicate to execute this behavior? Comment on whether synaptic or hormonal communication (or both) are employed by these brain regions to complete chosen behavior.

The pituitary gland also known as the "master gland" is described in the Crash Course video as being an essential part of the system of hormones in the body (CrashCourse, 2014).The pituitary gland is split into two parts. The anterior pituitary and the posterior pituitary gland. The anterior pituitary gland secretes growth hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, adrenocorticotropic hormone, thyroid-stimulating hormone and prolactin (2-Minute Neuroscience: Hypothalamus & Pituitary Gland, 2014). The posterior pituitary secretes oxytocin and vasopressin (2-Minute Neuroscience: Hypothalamus & Pituitary Gland, 2014). The hypothalamus is also involved with the functioning of the pituitary gland by telling it when to release the hormones. The hypothalamus also synthesizes the hormones for the posterior pituitary gland.

2. Draw a conclusion about the way we localize functions in the brain: Are we justified in using brain lesions to understand "normal" brain functions? Should we reevaluate our old hypotheses concerning localization of function, given the development of neuroimaging techniques? Explain. There is no strictly right or wrong answer to this question, but only thoughtful responses.

I think that brain lesions give great insight into understanding "normal" brain functions. The ability to comprehend the extent of which brain lesions affect different parts of functioning in people is useful even though it some of the case studies may have their own flaws. I believe we should use all tools at our disposal to continue to investigate the functions of different parts of the brain. Neuroimaging techniques are able to see what different parts of the brain are activated with different questions or tasks being performed so I think it is also a very useful aid in understanding brain function and how different functions are connected. With brain lesions we are also able to see the extent of which healing may occur and how the brain "reroutes" some functions. Of course it is most important that case studies are performed ethically.

3. Choose a step in synaptic communication and explain what might happen if you were to perturb this step. Is communication increased, decreased or in some other way changed? Support your hypothesis by describing one drug that alters synaptic communication in this way. (Hint: be sure to include in your answerto what receptors the drug binds in the brain and how this binding alters neuronal communication).

Presynaptic neurons contain neurotransmitters which communicate between neurons (Lyons et al., 2012).The neurotransmitters are released by the presynaptic neuron and into the synaptic cleft. If the neurotransmitters have the appropriate receptor, the neurotransmitter will bind to the postsynaptic neuron. The binding causes a change in the permeability of the postsynaptic neuron which will either open or close the "floodgates" and cause the neuron to be more positively or negatively charged. All excess neurotransmitters that are not binded will be reabsorbed by the presynaptic neuron or broken down. Different drugs can affect this communication by creating more neurotransmitters, stopping re-uptake, interrupting the breaking down of excess neurotransmitters, blocking receptor sites, increasing the degradation of neurotransmitters or blocking the presynaptic neuron from creating the neurotransmitter (Lyons et al., 2012). When chlorpromazine is given to a patient it decreases the amount of dopamine available at the synapse. This has been used for patients that have schizophrenia as they produce excess dopamine. If too much chlorpromazine was given it could cause a disruption in the communication of cells causing Parkinson's-like movements and shaking (Lyons et al., 2012).

References:

CrashCourse. (2014).The Chemical Mind: Crash Course Psychology #3 [Video].YouTube.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4N-7AlzK7s

CrashCourse. (2014).Meet Your Master - Getting to Know Your Brain: Crash Course Psychology #4 [Video].YouTube.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHrmiy4W9C0

Neuro Transmissions. (2015).Three Lesions, Three Lives: Brain Lesions That Changed Science [Video].YouTube.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajExR3uV5ys

Minna Lyons, Neil Harrison, Gayle Brewer, Sarita Robinson, & Rob Sanders. (2012). Biological Psychology. Learning Matters.

YouTube. (2014). 2-Minute Neuroscience: Hypothalamus & Pituitary Gland. YouTube. Retrieved March 26, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVhm2rBGhB0.

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