Fall 2022 - ZOO403 - 1 - BC190408054

Student I'd, bc190408054
Student name, Asia Nawaz
Course name, Animal behavior (Zoo403)
Role of Nervous System in Shaping Behavior

nervous system controls complicated processes like movement, thought and memory. It also
plays an essential role in the things our body does without thinking, such as breathing, blushing
and blinking.
A great deal of human behavior involves social interaction. Although the whole brain
contributes to social activities, certain parts of the cerebral hemispheres are particularly
involved. The surgical procedure of leucotomy, cutting through the white matter that connects
parts of the frontal lobes with the thalamus, upsets this aspect of behavior. This procedure,
proposed by the Spanish neurologist Egas Moniz, used to be performed for severe depression
or obsessional neuroses.
The defense reaction

When certain neurons of the hypothalamus are excited, an individual either becomes
aggressive or flees. These two opposite behaviors are together called the defense reaction.
Mating
The total act of copulation is organized in the anterior part of the hypothalamus and the
neighboring septal region. In the male, erection of the penis and the ejaculation of semen are
organized in this area, which is adjacent to the area that controls urination. Under normal
circumstances, the neurons that organize mating behavior do so only when they receive
relevant hormones in their blood supply. But when the septal region is electrically stimulated in
conscious patients, sexual emotions and thoughts are produced.
Urination and defecation

Electrical stimulation in cats of regions in and related to the anterior part of the hypothalamus
can induce the behavior of expelling. When electrodes planted in these regions are stimulated
by radio waves, the cat stops whatever it is doing and behaves as though it is going to urinate
or defecate. It goes through its usual behavior of digging a hole, squatting, and assuming the
correct posture, and then it passes urine or feces. At the end, it even goes through its
customary ritual of hiding its excreta.
Eating and drinking

The eating and drinking centers are in the lateral and ventromedial regions of the
hypothalamus, although such basic aspects of living concern most of the brain. If the lateral
region is experimentally destroyed, the animal consumes less food or stops eating altogether; if
the ventromedial region is destroyed, it eats enormously. When neurons of the lateral region
are electrically stimulated, a monkey eats, and when those of the ventromedial area are
stimulated, the monkey stops eating. There is an increase in the activity of these neurons when
the monkey looks at food, but only when it is hungry. Receptors in the lateral region monitor
blood glucose and are stimulated only when blood glucose is low; satiety stops their response.
Temperature regulation
To maintain homeostasis, heat production and heat loss must be balanced. This is achieved by
both the somatomotor and sympathetic systems. The obvious behavioral way of keeping warm
or cool is by moving into a correct environment. The posture of the body is also used to balance
heat production and heat loss. When one is hot, the body stretches out-in physiological terms,
extends thus presenting a large surface to the ambient air and losing heat. When one is cold,
the body curls itself up-in physiological terms, flexes-hus presenting the smallest area to the I
ambient temperature.
The sympathetic system is the most important part of the nervous system for controlling body
temperature. On a long-term basis, when the climate is cold, the sympathetic system produces
heat by its control of certain fat cells called brown adipose tissue. From these cells, fatty acids
are released, and heat is produced by their chemical breakdown
Reward and punishment

In a fundamental discovery made in 1954, Canadian researchers James Olds and Peter Milner
found that stimulation of certain regions of the brain of the rat acted as a reward in teaching
the animals to run muzes and solve problems. The conclusion from such experiments is that
stimulation gives the animals pleasure. The discovery has also been confirmed in humans.
Regions of the brain also clearly cause rats distress when electrically stimulated; these are
called aversive centres. However, the existence of an aversive Centre is less certain than that of
a reward centre. Electrodes stimulating neurons or neural pathways may cause an animal to
have pain, nxiety, fear, or any unpleasant feeling or emotion. These pathways are not
necessarily centres that provide punishment in the sense that a reward Centre provides
pleasure. Therefore, it is not definitely known that connections to aversive centres punish the
animal for biologically wrong behaviour, but it is thought that correct behaviour is rewarded by
pleasure provided by neurons of the brain.
Circadian rhythms
Humans have inevitably adapted to the orderly rhythms of the universe. These biological cycles
are called circadian rhythms, from the Latin circa ("about") and dies ("day"). They are
essentially endogenous, built into the central nervous system. Circadian activities include
sleeping and waking, rest and activity, taking in of fluid, formation of urine, body temperature,
cardiac output, oxygen consumption, cell division, and the secreting activity of endocrine
glands. Rhythms are upset by shift work and by rapid travel into different time zones. After long
journeys it takes several days for the endogenous rhythm generator to become synchronized to
the local time.

Fall 2022 - ZOO403 - 1 - BC190408054

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Fall 2022 - ZOO403 - 1 - BC190408054

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Student I'd, bc190408054

Student name, Asia Nawaz

Course name, Animal behavior (Zoo403)

Role of Nervous System in Shaping Behavior

The defense reaction

Urination and defecation

Eating and drinking

Reward and punishment

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