The Endocrine

System and
how we
examine the
brain
First a few reminders…
Other divisions to note
 Lateral fissure (sulcus)

 Central fissure (sulcus)

Somatosensory cortex
 Tissuestimulation can cause a person to
report feeling touched or to feel as if they
have moved a limb when they haven’t
 On top of the band – touched on the
shoulder
 A point on the side – feel something on their
face
Endocrine system
 Another form of chemical messaging: hormones
 Travel through blood stream and affect other
tissues, including the brain

 Works in interconnected ways with the

electrochemical system

 Feedback system where the brain influences the

pituitary which influences other glands which
influences hormones which influences the body
and brain
 Some hormones are chemically identical to
neurotransmitters but hormones are ‘slow and
steady’
 Hormone messages outlast neurotransmitter effects
 Ex. the Autonomic Nervous System orders adrenal
glands on top of the kidneys to release epinephrine
and norepinephrine (increase heart rate, blood
pressure, blood sugar FFF response)
 The feeling lasts long after the initial stimulus is gone
 Note that…
 You should be able to describe at least one example
of interplay between the nervous and endocrine
systems
 brain influencing the endocrine system which then influences
the brain
 Your go-to examples are sexuality and fight-or-flight
 Thinkingabout sex can trigger the hypothalamus to secrete
hormones
 These in turn trigger the pituitary gland to influence the sex
glands to release their hormones
 These hormones intensify thoughts about sex in your
cerebral cortex
 Let’s look at some of the
ways we research the brain
 Stimulation (electrical, chemical or magnetic)
 Lesions
 Imaging
 EEG
 PET
 CT
 MRI/fMRI
 Split Brain research
 Lesions
 Measure the effects of brain damage (aka lesions,
ablations) in humans
 Causes
 disease
 trauma
 stroke
 Lesions - problems
 We can only study what we get!
 Lesions are often in certain places (e.g. where
particular blood vessels run)
 Often large or multiple areas are damaged
 Sometimes not only are the neurons damaged
but also the fibres passing through
 Recovery
 Brainscan ‘rewire’ (especially when young)
 Patients learn new cognitive strategies
 Hard to know what the original function was
 Lesions - animals
 Make a deliberate lesion
 Chemically, electrically or by cooling
 Choose what area we want to study
 Selectivity
 Regional
 Chemical
 Repeatability
 Lesions that would not occur in human patients
 Disadvantages
 Tasks
 Potential species differences
 Invasive
 Examples of electrical
stimulation
 Researchers can implant
electrodes in different areas of
the brain
 Remember the placid cat had its
amygdala stimulated?
 We can also think of rats whose
reward centres get stimulated
 Brain Imaging…
 Brain imaging involves analyzing activity within the
brain while performing various cognitive tasks

 Two types:

1. structural: overall structure and precise diagnosis of

intracranial disease and injury
2. functional: neurological and cognitive science
research – i.e. what areas of your brain are active
when you are performing a task?
EEG (electroencephalogram)
Electrodes placed at the
scalp measure changes in
voltage.
EEG
 EEG Results

Animation of the last half second (from -0.5 to -0.2) of high-

frequency electrical activity at the scalp prior to the button
press indicating subjects had solved a problem with insight.
from: http://www.psych.nwu.edu/~mjungbee/PLoS_Supp.htm
 EEG..
 Strengths: non-invasive,
 Time resolution is high, (i.e. it is the only measure of
brain electric activity in real time)

 Limitations:cannot discriminate between individual

action potentials,
 Limited anatomical specificity (i.e. it is not good for
pinpointing the “where”)
 Skull and scalp distort emerging electrical waves
 Hyperlink hand holding
Positron Emission Tomography (PET)

 A radioactive substance is
injected into the body and
observed as it gathers in
blood vessels of brain
 Sensors detect
radioactivity (positron
emissions)
 Positron Emission Tomography

 This allows the

activity levels of
different areas to be
determined during a
particular task
PET
 Strengths: high resolution and speed of
completion and reasonable location of
active areas (3-4 millimeters)

 Limitations: radioactivity
decays rapidly allows
only short tasks!
Some PET Images

PET images courtesy of UCLA Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology

© 1995-2005, Healthwise, Incorporated, P.O. Box 1989, Boise, ID 83701. All Rights Reserved.
Computer Tomography (CT or CAT)

A series of x-rays are taken at

different angles
 X-ray tube and detector spin
around axis, hence
‘computerized axial
tomography’ (CAT scan)
Computer reconstructs
the x-rays into 2D slices
CAT or CT Scan
 CT Scans (aka CAT Scans)
A series of x-rays taken at different angles and then
recombined to form an image
MRI Magnetic Resonance
Imaging

Does not expose individual to x-rays

 How does an MRI work?
A strong magnetic field causes the nuclei
of hydrogen atoms to line up.
 Radio waves at the right frequency
disturb the hydrogen’s alignment, and as
the hydrogen move back into alignment
they emit radio waves, which can be
detected.
MRI
 Strengths:high anatomical detailed
images, high contrast
resolution,harmless to patients (no x-
rays, no radioactive tracers)

 Limitations:
cost (can be hundresds
of dollars an hour), low functional
information
We must suppose a very delicate adjustment
whereby the circulation follows the needs of the
cerebral activity. Blood very likely may rush to
each region of the cortex according as it is most
active, but of this we know nothing.
William James (1890)
fMRI Functional Magnetic Resonance
Imaging
Relies on the magnetic
properties of
oxygenated vs
deoxygenated
hemoglobin to see
images of changing
blood flow in the brain
associated with neural
activity
fMRI
 Strengths: high resolution, non-invasive,
spatial resolution (3-6 millimeters)

 Limitations: Still very expensive; must be

perfectly stll for a clear image; we are
measuring changes in oxygenated
haemoglobin – we are unable to look at
the activity of individual neurons
 The areas that light up may represent a
number of different functions
fMRI: Example

http://www.fmrib.ox.ac.uk/fmri_intro/fusion.gif
 MRI vs fMRI
 Ifused to scan anatomy of brain for tumors etc. it is an
MRI you need. If used during tasks to detect brain
function it is an fMRI for you
Which type of scan is he having?

 Hyperlink brain portrait

Split Brain
Experiments
And other cool research!
Are the hemispheres
identical?
 For
each of the following functions, decide
whether they belong to the right
hemisphere or left hemisphere:
 Perceptual tasks
 Speaking
 Reading
 Quick, literal interpretations of language
 Making inferences
 Arithmetic reasoning
 Speech modulation
Well…
 Speaking  Perceptual tasks
 Reading  Making inferences
 Quick, literal  Speech
interpretations of modulation
language  Orchestrates sense
 Arithmetic of self
reasoning
 Whatword goes with summer, boot and
ground?
 Camp
Split brain research in
humans
 Joseph Vogel and Joseph Bogen - 1961
 Speculated that epileptic seizures were
caused by abnormal brain activity
between the two hemispheres
 Studied the impact of severing the corpus
callosum in order to treat the seizures
 The
seizures disappeared and the people
were surprisingly normal
 Brain
Reorganization
 Remember, information from
the left half of your visual field
gets processed in the right
hemisphere (and vice versa)
 Data received from either
hemisphere are quickly sent
across the corpus callosum – in
a person with a severed
corpus callosum, this data
sharing does not take place
Split brain operation—procedure used to reduces recurrent
seizures of severe epilepsy
Corpus callosum—thick band of axons that connects the two
cerebral hemispheres

A hammer is flashed in the LEFT

visual field of a split brain patient.
When asked, “What did you see?”
What will they say?
Split brain operation—procedure used to reduces recurrent seizures of severe
epilepsy
Corpus callosum—thick band of axons that connects the two cerebral
hemispheres
Split brain operation—procedure used to reduces recurrent
seizures of severe epilepsy
Corpus callosum—thick band of axons that connects the two
cerebral hemispheres

When asked to
pick up the
object they just
saw with their
LEFT hand they
are able to do it.
Why is this?
Split brain operation—procedure used to reduces recurrent
seizures of severe epilepsy
Corpus callosum—thick band of axons that connects the two
cerebral hemispheres

An apple is shown to the split

brain patient in their RIGHT
visual field. When asked,
“What did you see?” What
will be their response?
Split brain operation—procedure used to reduces recurrent
seizures of severe epilepsy
Corpus callosum—thick band of axons that connects the two
cerebral hemispheres

They can say that they

saw the apple.
Why do you think this
is?
Split Brain Experiments
Split Brain Experiments
Split Brain Experiments
Split Brain Experiments

HE
ART
Split Brain Experiments
Hemispheres
The left hemisphere usually controls speech
(Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area are in the
left hemisphere)

The right hemisphere is involved in

language processing but not to the same
extent or same way as the left hemisphere
Neural prosthetics
 Premise is eavesdropping on brain activity
(intentions) and decoding the activity to then
guide prosthetics
 100 tiny electrodes in the motor cortex of
monkeys
 The monkeys used a joystick to move a cursor to
follow a moving target (in pursuit of rewards)
 Researchers matched the brain signals to the arm
movements
 Then a computer was programmed to monitor
the signals and move the joystick
Ahh, coffee
Neurogenesis
 Keep in mind our brains are sculpted by our
experiences and severed neurons do not
regenerate and some brain functions seem
pre-assigned to specific areas

 Re-organize existing tissues in response to

damage and building new pathways
(especially children)
 Eg. Restraining limbs or temporal lobe processes
info from the visual system
Phantom Limb Sensations
 Here the brain misinterprets the
spontaneous central nervous system
activity that occurs in the absence of
normal sensory input
9:56 start