Institute on Neuroscience ION/Teach Build-A-Brain!
This Is Your Brain
Middle English words for front, back, top and bottom Directional Terms
Nonhuman animals are oriented differently
So are their brains
Frontal Lobe reasoning planning parts of speech movement emotions problem-solving Temporal Lobe Hearing or audition memory Parietal Lobe perception related to: touch pressure temperature pain Occipital Lobe Vision or sight The Cerebrum Lobes are only organized like this in the brains of mammals
Brain Stem & Spinal Cord -Hypothalamus – the 4 F’s -Thalamus—sensory relay station Midbrain Hindbrain -Pons - ”bridge” (plus nuclei) -Medulla oblongata -Cerebellum -Tectum -Processing visual and auditory stimuli -Lower vertebrates: vision -Tegmentum -basal ganglia: motor activity Diencephalon
The Cerebellum Functions: coordination of balance, locomotion and movement Note: All vertebrates have a cerebellum which varies in size depending on the class of animals
Brain Complexity & Surface Area How does this brain compare to other vertebrate brain models? Convolutions = folds Increase surface area Reflect more complexity (in cerebrum and/or cerebellum only)
Vertebrate Brain Diversity Brain diversity across vertebrate classes Size of forebrain related to "intelligence" of species behavioral complexity? Compare across species to consider structure-function relations e.g. olf bulb or cerebellum
Vertebrate Brains and Brain Diversity
Brain Diversity & Adaptations Understanding an animal’s behavior or how it interacts with its environment can help you make predictions about what its brain might look like Knowing about an animal’s brain can help you make predictions about its behavior or sensory systems Relative brain size is more important than overall brain size
Who has the best brain?
That depends on what you need it for.
Evolutionary increase in relative brain size. Humans and several other animals have much larger brains than expected, based on body mass. Ratio was named the “encephalization quotient”, by H. J. Jerison. Hypothesized reasons: climate change eating fruit! improved vasculature neoteny
How are dog and cat brains different? Which do you think has a proportionally larger olfactory bulb? How about cerebral cortex? Which has more wrinkles (convolutions)? How about the cerebellum? Which is bigger? Which has more convolutions?
Dog vs. Cat
Brains and Behavior of Aquatic Mammals: A Comparison of Dolphins, Sea Lions and Manatees ComparisonPorpoiseSea LionManatee ClassMammal Primary way to find food (forage) echolocationvisualtactile Dietshrimp, fishfishsea grasses Vocalizationscomplex--mother-pup I.D. Territorialnoyesno Dominance hierarchy yes no Tricks Acrobatic/balance -- Olfaction Lobes and nerves absent Pup I.D.probably Cerebral cortexGuess!
Sea Lion Bottle-nose Dolphin
Marine Mammal: Florida Manatee
Compare Marine Mammal Brains
Consider These Brains Forebrain/Cor tex Cerebellum (Coordination ) Midbrain (Visual)
What do these brains tell you about the behavior of these animals? Forebrain/Cor tex Cerebellum (Coordination ) Midbrain (Visual)
Now Build Your Own Brain! It can be a brain from a real or imaginary creature Supplies: Play-Doh (at least four different colors), your imagination, and hands! What does the relative size of different brain regions say about the environment of the animal?