COGNITIVE NEUROETHOLOGY

The course proceeded till now as “Neuroethology”; change of the title was caused by a necessity to distinguish this lecture from the planned lecture of Dr. Pavel Němec.
The course is addressed primarily to the advanced students of specialization “ethology and ecology”. This specialized course of master-degree study is not conceived as an overall review, more to the contrary it is based on case studies. This could be useful for students of ethology used to the angle of view of classical ethology (Veselovský) or behavioral ecology and sociobiology (Frynta). Because it is not dedicated to specialists on neurobiology, it is necessary to include at least basic conceptions, methods, and the hypothesis of neurosciences. Special interest is paid to regulation of complex forms of behavior; for example to learning (song learning, filial and sexual imprinting), memory (spatial cognition, food-storing), motivation and emotions (aggression, fear, anxiety), play behavior. Topics are hierarchy organized, from the level of behavior to neuronal substrate, and usually, examples both from neuroethology of birds and mammals are provided. Attention is also paid to psychological topics: especially parallels between human behavior and animals models, neuronal basis of emotion, motivation, and personality.
Notice: The lecture is not designated to students of bachelor study and it not substitute specialized courses of neurophysiology or ethology.

(1-4) INTRODUCTION

What is neuroethology: History and definition of the discipline

Fundamentals of physiology and anatomy of the neural system

mechanisms of neuronal transmission: Electrochemical transmission, Synapses, Action Potential, Passive

conduction: the length and time constant

Receptors, Ion channels: Voltage-Gated Channels, Chemical Receptors, G-protein coupled receptors

Neurotransmitters : Definition, Types, Function, Deficits, Malfunctions, Influence on homeostasis and

behavior

Methods: Measuring of neuronal activity, Lesions studies, Pharmacology,

Behavioral studies, c-fos, Positron emission tomography, Magnetic resonance imaging, Magnetic resonance

angiography

(5-6) BASIC EMOTIONAL AND MOTIVATIONAL PROCESSES

Emotions Theories, Taxonomies and semantics

Aggression: Evolutionary sources of aggression and rage; Appraisal, higher cognitive functions and

aggression, The general neurocognitive substrates of anger, Environmentally induced varieties of

aggression, ESB-induced aggression and their affective consequences, Brain circuits for affective attack

(rage), Quiet-biting attack, Intermale aggression and dominance, Learning and aggression, Pharmacology

and the neurochemistry of aggression

Fear, anxiety: Characteristics of fear, Preclinical models for the study of fear (tasks), The basic fear system –

trajectory of a trans-hypothalamic fear system, Learning within fear system, The neurochemistry and

pharmacology of fear

(7) LEARNING AND MEMORY I. Classifications and mechanisms:

Definitions and classification, Underlying mechanisms: basic mechanisms of LTP and LTD, Hippocampus as

the key structure for learning and memory. The case study: Learning and memory in simple reflex system in

Aplysia

complex-learning skills – an example: The mentality of crows and apes -the case study.

(8) LEARNING AND MEMORY II: space cognition:

Spatial orientation in rats and pigeons: maze learning, Neuronal substrates for spatial cognition:-

hippocampus, place cells, head-directions cells – basic information; Methods of investigation – behavioral

tests, spatial cognition as a basis for abstract though, Synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus, Orientation on

small and medium scale – alothetic orientation, idiothetic orientation, path-integration, landmarks, cognitive

maps, Different aspects of space cognition in humans-ontogeny, gender, relation to the others cognitive

functions.

The case study: Spatial cognition as a basis for abstract thought, Neurogenesis and food-storing birds.

(9) LEARNING AND MEMORY III: Learning in early development I:

Song learning: ontogeny and song acquisition and production, Innate predisposition, Sexual dimorphism

and hormonal regulation of song, neuroanatomy of song system – phylogeny, needs of auditory feedback,

Classical view – anterior forebrain pathway, song production pathway, Laterality of the song system, new

view – IEG and function of the vocal centres, Seasonal variation and neurogenesis

(10) LEARNING AND MEMORY IV: Learning in early development II:

Filial imprinting: Characteristics of behavior and study attitudes, Critical brain areas and Functional

asymmetry, Heritability for imprinted stimulus – localisation in the brain

Sexual imprinting: Characteristics of behavior-acquisition and stabilization phase and experimental attitudes,

Function and localization of the centres in the brain; Influence of social environment, and age on the speed of

re-consolidation process, IEG and sexual imprinting, Sexual imprinting, and hippocampus

(11) SOCIAL BEHAVIOR: play behavior in rats:

Conceptual background for the neural sources of ludic (play) behavior, Description and experimental

analysis and sources of play, Play and aggression, The neuroanatomy and neurochemistry of play, The

function of play, Distinction between play and exploration

(12) DISORDERS: Animals models

Neuronal substrate for some psychiatric disorders and deficits: schizophrenia, depression, Alzheimer?s

disease, toxicomania, methods of investigation, animal models for investigation of psychiatric disease.

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