Chapter 2: Neuroscience and Biological Foundations

Testing your knowledge of idioms and other vocabulary

Here are some more American idioms, words used with figurative meanings, and other vocabulary items that you may not be familiar with. Match each item in column A with the appropriate meaning given in column B. If you are unsure, look at the sentence context given below. Remember that words may have different meanings in different contexts. The meanings given here are appropriate for the contexts from your textbook, but in different contexts the words in question might have different meanings. Answers are given on page 14.

COLUMN A / COLUMN B
a. odd jobs / 1. many; a great number
b. a host of / 2. together
c. to take in / 3. to swell or puff out; to get larger
d. to follow through / 4. to stop something from moving out of its position
e. hard wired / 5. a word used to describe a girl who behaves “like a boy”
f. in charge / 6. to take appropriate actions
g. to hold in place / 7. to accomplish; to complete
h. to fire / 8. to do mental calculations without writing or using a machine
i. to boost / 9. occasional or miscellaneous work
j. to take up / 10. to raise; to increase
k. hand in hand / 11. approximately
l. to dart / 12. to move suddenly or rapidly
m. to balloon / 13. in a position of authority; acting as the boss
n. to do something in one's head / 14. to explain
o. to carry out / 15. to interact with
p. to pick out / 16. to receive information by hearing it or seeing it
q. roughly / 17. to make different from
r. to set apart from / 18. to absorb
s. to play off something or someone / 19. to transmit a nerve impulse
t. to account for / 20. to choose; to select
u. tomboyish / 21. having permanent and unchanging connections

Sentence context

a. According to historical records by his physician, Gage never again held a job equal to that of foreman. He supported himself with odd jobs and traveled around New England, exhibiting himself and the tamping iron, and for a time he did the same at Barnum Museum. (p. 45)

b. But as you can see in the photos above, the rod entered and exited the front part of the brain, a section unnecessary for physical survival but intimately involved in motivation, emotion, and a host of other cognitive activities. (p. 45)

c. Our brain and bodies must take in information from the outside world, decide what to do with the information, and then follow through. (p. 46)

d. Our brain and bodies must take in information from the outside world, decide what to do with the information, and then follow through. (p. 46)

e. However, the brain may not be as “hard wired” as we once believed. (p. 46)

f. When you initially jump [out of an airplane with a parachute], your sympathetic nervous system would be in charge. (p. 49)

g. Neurons are held in place and supported by glial cells (from the Greek for “glue”). (p. 51)

h. Similar to the firing of a bullet from a gun, the action potential fires either completely or not at all. (p. 53)

i. And popular antidepressant drugs, like Prozac and Zoloft, work by boosting levels of available serotonin. (p. 55)

j. They found that the morphine was taken up by specialized receptors in areas of the brain linked with mood and pain sensations. (p. 57)

k. The nervous system and the endocrine system work hand in hand to direct our behavior and maintain our body’s normal functioning. (p. 57)

l. You are sleeping. Your eyes dart back and forth as you begin your last dream of the night. (p. 63)

m. They [the two hemispheres] balloon out and cover most of the lower-level structures from view. (p. 66)

n. Before the accident, Bogumill was able to easily multiply two-digit numbers in his head. (p. 67)

o. By the mid-1800’s, early researchers had discovered that the left and right hemispheres carry out different tasks. (p. 70)

p. However, the right hand could pick out the fork by touch. (p. 71)

q. In general, for roughly 95 percent of all adults, the left hemisphere is specialized not only for language functions (speaking, reading, writing, and understanding language), but also for analytical functions, such as mathematics. (p. 72)

r. But it’s the genes we share with other humans that set us apart from gorillas, spiders, and tomatoes. (p. 77)

s. Nature and nurture interact - they play off each other and are inseparable. (p. 79)

t. What accounts for these differences? (p. 81)

u. For example, studies of girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), a rare genetic disorder with an excess amount of androgens, grow up to be more “tomboyish” and aggressive than nonaffected girls. (p. 82)

Reviewing your knowledge of English grammar

As you have no doubt learned, regular verbs in the past tense in English require an -ed ending, which signals that the action took place in a previous time, not in the present. Present tense verbs, on the other hand, do not need an -ed ending. They refer to a present time or express an event which we believe to be always true or unchanging.

Compare:

Past time: In 1848, Phineas Gage suffered a bizarre accident when an

explosion happened at his work place. As a result of the

explosion, an iron rod entered his skull and pierced his

frontal lobe. Phineas recovered physically from this

accident, but his personality changed forever.

Present time: From the case study of Phineas Gage, it appears that

the frontal lobe controls much of our individual

personality and defines our ability to make decisions.

We now know that the frontal lobe helps us to plan

and change actions.

Read the paragraph below and decide if the verbs need an -ed ending (that is, if they show a past action) or if they refer to the present time period. Add the -ed endings where necessary. When you are finished, you may check your answers in the answer key section.

Many psychologists believe___ that the temporal lobes affect___ the emotional behavior of human beings. They base___ this belief on ongoing research with cats and monkeys. In 1939, for example, Kluver and Bucy remove___ both the temporal lobes of monkeys. As they expect___, the monkeys act___ completely different after surgery. They demonstrate___ very flat emotional behavior and show___ no fear of snakes, even though before the surgery they act___ terrified of snakes. Today we believe___ that the temporal lobes (along with the other cortical lobes) connect___ to the other areas of the brain, including the subcortical areas.

Finding key information

In this chapter, the authors present critical information about the nervous system and the brain. In doing this, they often divide up the information they are presenting into subgroups. We call this kind of organizational method classification. Usually, the authors first indicate the various subgroups of the class they are discussing. They then give additional information about each subgroup.

Look at the information on page 61 about brain imaging. Notice how this information falls into three classes. Study the additional information or characteristics provided for each subgroup.

CT / PET / MRI / fMRI
Definition: stands for computerized tomography / Definition: stands for positron emission tomography / Definition: stands for magnetic resonance imaging / Definition: stands for functional magnetic resonance imaging
Method: uses a computer that creates cross-sectional pictures of the brain and read X-rays directed through the brain at different angles / Method: a radioactive form of glucose is injected into the bloodstream / Method: a high-frequency magnetic field is passed through the brain by means of electromagnets / Method: detects blood flow by picking up magnetic signals from blood that has given up its oxygen to activate brain cells
Advantage: is the least expensive type of imaging; reveals the effects of strokes, injuries, tumors, and other brain disorders / Advantage: identifies which areas of the brain are active during ordinary activities / Advantage: produces high-resolution three-dimensional pictures of the brain which are useful for identifying abnormalities and mapping brain structures and function / Advantage: indicates which areas of the brain are active or inactive during ordinary activities or responses; also, shows changes associated with disorders

Read the section on page 51 that describes the basic parts of the neuron. Fill in the chart. When you are finished, you may check your answers in the answer key section.

DENDRITES / CELL BODY (SOMA) /

AXON

/ MYELIN SHEATH
Definition/Description / Definition/Description / Definition/Description / Definition/Description
Function / Function / Function / Function

Examining structural clues

Authors often use language that indicates the classification of items to signal that things fall into different classes or groups. Study the following observations about the language of classification.

·  In classification, there is often a clear list of the groups being discussed.

Just as no two people are alike, no two neurons are exactly alike, although most share three basic features: dendrites, the cell body, and an axon.

·  The language may indicate the number of classes into which the items fall.

The nervous system has two major divisions, the Central Nervous System (CNS), which processes and organizes information, and the Peripheral Nervous System (PNS), which serves primarily as a relay system getting information to and from the CNS.

·  The sentence often contains a passive verb construction.

The autonomic nervous system is itself further divided into two branches, the sympathetic and parasympathetic.

·  Classifications are usually written using the present tense.

The brain evidently produces its own naturally occurring chemical messengers that elevate mood and reduce pain, as well as affect memory, learning, blood pressure, appetite, and sexual activity.

Locate 5 sentences in chapter 2 in the book that contain the language of classification and write these sentences in the spaces provided below. Study your sentences to see if they use similar language to the language noted above.

1. ______

______

2.  ______

______

3. ______

______

4. ______

______

5. ______

______


Answer key

Testing your knowledge of idioms and other vocabulary

a. 9; / b. 1; / c. 18; / d. 6; / e. 21; / f. 13; / g. 4; / h. 19; / i. 10; / j. 16; / k. 2; / l. 12;
m. 3; / n. 8; / o. 7; / p. 20; / q. 11; / r. 17; / s. 15; / t. 14; / u. 5

Reviewing your knowledge of English grammar

Many psychologists believe that the temporal lobes affect the emotional behavior of human beings. They base this belief on ongoing research with cats and monkeys. In 1939, for example, Kluver and Bucy removed both the temporal lobes of monkeys. As they expected, the monkeys acted completely different after surgery. They demonstrated very flat emotional behavior and showed no fear of snakes, even though before the surgery they acted terrified of snakes. Today we believe that the temporal lobes (along with the other cortical lobes) connect to the other areas of the brain, including the subcortical areas.

Finding key information

DENDRITES / CELL BODY (SOMA) / AXON / MYELIN SHEATH
Definition/Description: branching neuron structures; look like leafless branches of a tree / Definition/Description: the part of the neuron that contains the cell nucleus and other structures that help the neuron carry out its functions / Definition/Description: a long, tubelike structure / Definition/Description: a layer of fatty insulation wrapped around the axon of some neurons
Function: receive neural impulses from other neurons and convey impulses toward the cell body / Function: contains the biochemical machinery that keeps the neuron alive / Function: conveys impulses away from the neuron’s cell body toward other neurons or to muscles or glands / Function: increases the rate at which nerve impulses travel along the axon

Examining structural clues

Answers will vary.

Handbook for Non-Native Speakers -14-