BIO 331 Exam 3- Final
Fixed action pattern - answerex: A herring gull (Larus argentatus) chick is known to
respond to the presence of a red spot by opening its mouth and begging for food.
caused by a network of neurons in response to the standard red-color stimulus
(referred to as a SIGN STIMULUS or RELEASER).
Innate Releasing Mechanism (IRM) - answerA mechanism in the animal's nervous
system that serves to connect the stimulus with the right response.
internal processing - answer1. sensory neurons receive and decode
2. info transmitted along axons through dendrites to relay neurons
3. regions of brain and spinal cord redirect info via motor neurons back out of body
(muscles, skeletomuscular)
Salient Stimuli - answermost noticeable or important stimuli, ignoring non essential
stimuli
neural acclimation - answertuning out irrelevant stimuli
Specialization - answertuning in with special sensitivity to particular elements of stimuli
Central Pattern Generator (CPG) - answera centrally located control mechanism that
produces mainly genetically defined actions such as walking or a sea slugs dorsal and
ventral felxion
List the three main functional aspects of neurons controlling animal behaviors -
answerSalience, specialization, and redundancy.
Responding to the right stimuli (salience)
with the right response (specialization)
are critical for animal fitness.
Having a backup plan is nice
(redundancy)
but not as key for survival responses.
ZENK - answergene that codes for a protein that is expressed in particular parts of the
brain after the bird hears the song of its own species
- For birds that only listen to these songs but do not sing in response, the protein can be
detected only in certain brain structures associated with auditory processing. For those
birds that respond vocally after hearing their species' song, the ZENK protein is also
detected in the regions of the brain that control song production. The ZENK protein is a
transcription factor
, HVC - answerhigh vocal center nucleus
dense collection of neurons connects to the robust nucleus of the arcopallium
(mercifully shortened by anatomists to RA), which in turn is linked with the
tracheosyringeal portion of the hypoglossal nucleus (whose less successful acronym is
nXIIts).
The fact that HVC and RA can communicate with nXIIts, which connects to the syrinx -
answersuggests that these brain elements exert control over singing behavior
the experimental destruction of this center, or surgical cuts through the neural pathway
leading from RA to nXIIts, should have devastating effects on a bird's ability to sing,
which they do
Other brain nuclei appear to be essential for song learning, rather than for song
production. - answerOne such nucleus is the lateral magnocellular nucleus of the
anterior nidopallium (LMAN), which projects to area X, another nucleus in the forebrain
that is important for song learning. A team led by Arthur Arnold demonstrated that
lesioning LMAN in juvenile male zebra finches disrupted song development
Hormones - answerinternally produced and circulated chemicals that regulate body
processes including behavior
-metabolism, hunger, sex drive, health
Steriods - answer-sex steroids(testosterone, estrogen)
-glucocorticoids (cortisol)
ex testosterone
peptide and protein hormones - answer-releasing growth hormones
-insulin
-LH/FSH (lutinizing hormone or follicle stimulation hormone)
-prolactin, oxytocin
monoamine hormones - answer-dopamine serotonin, melatonin
-epinephrine and norepinephrine
WHY do hormones control behavior - answergenes
environment
>> hormones
to integrate enviro info w genetic code for a behavior and internally guide the body to
make appropriate decisions
Fixed action pattern - answerex: A herring gull (Larus argentatus) chick is known to
respond to the presence of a red spot by opening its mouth and begging for food.
caused by a network of neurons in response to the standard red-color stimulus
(referred to as a SIGN STIMULUS or RELEASER).
Innate Releasing Mechanism (IRM) - answerA mechanism in the animal's nervous
system that serves to connect the stimulus with the right response.
internal processing - answer1. sensory neurons receive and decode
2. info transmitted along axons through dendrites to relay neurons
3. regions of brain and spinal cord redirect info via motor neurons back out of body
(muscles, skeletomuscular)
Salient Stimuli - answermost noticeable or important stimuli, ignoring non essential
stimuli
neural acclimation - answertuning out irrelevant stimuli
Specialization - answertuning in with special sensitivity to particular elements of stimuli
Central Pattern Generator (CPG) - answera centrally located control mechanism that
produces mainly genetically defined actions such as walking or a sea slugs dorsal and
ventral felxion
List the three main functional aspects of neurons controlling animal behaviors -
answerSalience, specialization, and redundancy.
Responding to the right stimuli (salience)
with the right response (specialization)
are critical for animal fitness.
Having a backup plan is nice
(redundancy)
but not as key for survival responses.
ZENK - answergene that codes for a protein that is expressed in particular parts of the
brain after the bird hears the song of its own species
- For birds that only listen to these songs but do not sing in response, the protein can be
detected only in certain brain structures associated with auditory processing. For those
birds that respond vocally after hearing their species' song, the ZENK protein is also
detected in the regions of the brain that control song production. The ZENK protein is a
transcription factor
, HVC - answerhigh vocal center nucleus
dense collection of neurons connects to the robust nucleus of the arcopallium
(mercifully shortened by anatomists to RA), which in turn is linked with the
tracheosyringeal portion of the hypoglossal nucleus (whose less successful acronym is
nXIIts).
The fact that HVC and RA can communicate with nXIIts, which connects to the syrinx -
answersuggests that these brain elements exert control over singing behavior
the experimental destruction of this center, or surgical cuts through the neural pathway
leading from RA to nXIIts, should have devastating effects on a bird's ability to sing,
which they do
Other brain nuclei appear to be essential for song learning, rather than for song
production. - answerOne such nucleus is the lateral magnocellular nucleus of the
anterior nidopallium (LMAN), which projects to area X, another nucleus in the forebrain
that is important for song learning. A team led by Arthur Arnold demonstrated that
lesioning LMAN in juvenile male zebra finches disrupted song development
Hormones - answerinternally produced and circulated chemicals that regulate body
processes including behavior
-metabolism, hunger, sex drive, health
Steriods - answer-sex steroids(testosterone, estrogen)
-glucocorticoids (cortisol)
ex testosterone
peptide and protein hormones - answer-releasing growth hormones
-insulin
-LH/FSH (lutinizing hormone or follicle stimulation hormone)
-prolactin, oxytocin
monoamine hormones - answer-dopamine serotonin, melatonin
-epinephrine and norepinephrine
WHY do hormones control behavior - answergenes
environment
>> hormones
to integrate enviro info w genetic code for a behavior and internally guide the body to
make appropriate decisions
