Lecture 1

Historical Perspectives on
Brain and Behavior
 Aristotle and Mentalism

Mentalism
An explanation of behavior as a function of the
nonmaterial mind

Ancient Greece: Aristotle

Believed the brain only cooled the blood; no role in
producing behavior
 Aristotle and Mentalism

The mind is a single entity having an autonomous

existence

The mind is completely and wholly separate from the

body

A manifestation of the soul that will survive the bodys

death and return to the creator of your choice
(Theological origins)
 Descartes and Dualism

Dualism
Both a nonmaterial mind and the material body
contribute to behavior

MindBody Problem
Quandary of explaining a nonmaterial mind in
command of a material body
 Descartes and Dualism

Rene Descartes

Mind directs rational behavior

Brain and body direct all other behavior via mechanical

and physical principles
Examples: sensation, movement, and digestion

Mind is located in the pineal gland

of the brain, which sits beside
ventricles filled with fluid
 Descartes and Dualism

Rene Descartes
Mind regulates behavior by directing the flow of ventricular
fluid to appropriate muscles
 Descartes and Dualism
Problems with Dualism (and Descarte)

Pineal gland is involved in biological rhythms, but not

intelligence or behavioral control

Fluid is not pumped from the ventricles to control

movement

Nonmaterial influences on the

body would violate the laws of
Conservation of Matter and
Conservation of Energy
 Darwin and Materialism
Materialism

Behavior can be explained as a function of the (material)

nervous system without necessarily referencing a
(nonmaterial) mind

Related to evolutionary theories of Alfred Wallace and

Charles Darwin
Both were struck at the many similarities among species
Wallace described evolution through natural selection, and
Darwin expounded on it in his On the Origin of Species (1859)
 Darwin and Materialism
Darwins Concept of Natural Selection

Explanation for how new species evolve and existing

species change over time

Differential success in the reproduction of different

characteristics (phenotypes) results from the interaction
of organisms with their environment
Survival of the fittest
 How are Traits Selected Naturally?

Appearance of New Trait

(e.g., via mutation)
Increases
Chances of
Survival

Trait Increases
Reproductive Success

Trait Passed
on to Offspring
 Epigenetics
Study of differences in gene expression related to
environment and experience

Epigenetic factors do not change your genes, but they do

influence how your genes express the traits youve
inherited from your parents

Epigenetic changes can

persist throughout a lifetime
have cumulative effects that make dramatic differences in how
your genes work
be inherited
 Darwin and Materialism
(and the study of animal behavior)

1. Because all animal species

are related, so too must be
their brains

2. Because all species of

animals are related, so too
must be their behavior

3. Therefore, we can study and

understand human behavior
and brain function by
comparing the genes, brains,
and behaviors of animals