Enduring Understandings

What you think of as your "self" is, in fact, the sum total of the chemical and electrical activity in your brain and nervous system.
Our brain consists of different sections which handle different functions.
Different parts of the brain may produce conflicting impulses or information which the brain must synthesize.
Altering the chemistry of our brain alters our perception, behavior, and personality.

Essential Questions

How do chemical and electrical actions produce personality, perception, and behavior?
How do the functions of different areas of the brain give us insight into behavior?

Core Skills

Predict the effect of a drug, given its action on the brain and nervous system.
Analyze a situation where reactions of your "old brain" might influence your perception of events.

Foundational Knowledge

Describe the differences between dualist and monist conceptions of the brain, and detail the problems with monism
Describe the structure and functions of the neuron.
Draw a diagram of the pathways of communication within and between neurons.
List three of the major neurotransmitters and describe their functions.
Describe the structures and function of the “old brain” and its influence on behavior.
Explain the structure of the cerebral cortex (its hemispheres and lobes) and the function of each area of the cortex.
Define the concepts of brain plasticity, neurogenesis, and brain lateralization.

Many of these objectives (particularly the foundational knowledge items) were taken from the Stangor text (CC-BY-NC-SA). See course credits for more information.