Neurobiology of Behavior

Behaviors—whether determined by conscious or unconscious processes—are based on complex neurobiological substrates. They are, in fact, underpinned by molecular and cellular changes within the nervous system that modulate the neural networks responsible for motor and emotional processes linked to an individual’s memory. These processes are fundamental in enabling the organism to develop an integrated behavioral response in close interaction with its environment, thereby ensuring the adaptation and survival of the individual and its species.

The topics covered in the Neurobiology of Behavior course will be as follows:

-Gene–Behavior

The Relationship Between Genotype and Phenotype—Environmental Impact—Attention Processes/Movement Planning—Behavioral Disorders (Genetic and Environmental Aspects)

-Memory and Synaptic Plasticity

Methodological approaches to studying synaptic plasticity: electrophysiology, optogenetics, animal models, behavioral tests—Factors regulating synaptic plasticity, including genetic and epigenetic factors—The relationship between plasticity and memory—The neurobiology of memory, forgetting, and reconsolidation

-Neurobiology of Emotions

Neurobiological Bases of Emotions - Functions of Emotions - Maladaptation: Pathological Aspects: Emotional Disorders

The EU's goal is to:

-to enable students to acquire up-to-date knowledge of the molecular, cellular, and integrative mechanisms within the nervous system that underlie certain behaviors.

-to demonstrate that analysis at various levels (gene, neuron, neural network, behavior) is necessary to understand how the brain functions in the development of behaviors. The study of behavioral disorders will also highlight the importance of genetic and environmental factors in changes to the activation of neural processes that underlie behavioral maladjustment.

-Develop a scientific argument based on a critical analysis of experimental results (presentation and analysis of articles, and completion of an independent project in the form of scientific presentations addressing the topics covered in the course).

Earning a bachelor's degree with coursework in neuroscience: basic knowledge of neurobiology/neurophysiology, sensory perception, and motor function

Recommended prerequisites: Knowledge of major physiological and neurobiological functions.

75% written and 25% oral

Genes and Behavior (10CM)

The Relationship Between Genotype and Phenotype

*Definition of genotype and phenotype

*The role of genes in behavior can be studied in animal models.

*The various models of animal behavior research and the tests used to assess executive functions, conditioning, and attentional processes

*Complex behaviors are regulated by peptidergic systems, as exemplified by dopamine and oxytocin in social behaviors*

*An example of alterations in the neurotransmission system and their effects on behavior in High Sensation Seekers (HSS)

*Behaviors are the simultaneous activation of neural networks with opposing effects: the theory of opposing processes (from neuropsychology to molecular and cellular neurobiology).

Gene-environment interaction:

*Epigenetic mechanisms at the neuronal level that regulate gene expression. Physiological approaches

*The Influence of Sensory Experiences on Behavioral Expression: The Examples of Pain and Pharmacological Substances*

*The concept of passing on to offspring new, enduring traits that confer an adaptive advantage but also vulnerability (Meeaney MJ's experiment)

Attentional Processes/Movement Planning

*Description of attentional processes

*Top-Down and Bottom-Up Research*Theories of Attention Processes

*The Neurobiological Basis of Attention Processes*

*Description of higher-level controls of movement and their interaction with attentional processes

*Behavioral Disorders (Genetic and Environmental Factors), Using Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) as an Example.

Memory and Synaptic Plasticity (7CM)

Methodological approaches to the study of synaptic transmission and plasticity:

*Electrophysiological and optogenetic approaches

*In vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo models.

*Spontaneous and evoked synaptic transmission.

*Structure and function of glutamate and GABA receptors.

*Triggering of synaptic plasticity phenomena.

Synaptic plasticity in the rodent hippocampus:

*The hippocampus's central role in declarative memory in humans

*Cellular and molecular mechanisms of plasticity consolidation

*The Relationship Between Synaptic Plasticity and Memory*

*Behavioral tests*

*Regulation of plasticity through genomic and epigenetic mechanisms

*Examples of genetic disorders associated with intellectual disability (Rett syndrome, Fragile X syndrome)

Other animal models:

*Memory in Insects: The Bee Model and Olfactory Conditioning*

*Synaptic plasticity and memory in the sea slug*

Mechanisms of memory reconsolidation:

*Identification and Molecular Mechanisms

*Human therapy*

Neurobiology of Emotions (7 CM)

Introduction:

*Defining Emotions: Emotional Experience/Emotional Expression

*Take into account the challenges posed by the scientific study of emotions: subjectivity; the link between experience and expression; specificity

*An Overview of the Major Theories of Emotion

Neurobiological substrates of emotions:

*Placing knowledge in a historical context

*The various experimental approaches used to study the anatomical basis of emotions: lesions, stimulation, intracerebral recordings, observation of clinical cases, and imaging (advantages and limitations)

*The main structures and circuits involved: hypothalamus, structures of the Papez circuit, structures of the limbic system, amygdala nuclei, thalamus, septum, striatum, structures of the reward circuit, orbitofrontal cortex, insula, somatic markers (Damasio)...

*Emotions arise from the network rather than from the activation of localized brain structures (niF data + machine learning)

Functions of Emotions:

*Emotions and Communication (Empathy/Mirror Neurons)*Emotions and Motivation (Structures of the Reward Circuit)

*Emotions and Cognition*

-Emotions and memory: e.g., the influence of emotions on episodic memory/learned fear (Joseph Ledoux)

-Emotions and Decision-Making (Antonio Damasio)

*Emotions and Adaptation:*

-General Adaptation Syndrome-Homeostasis/Allostasis/Pathology

-Complexity of the stress response/psychobiological personality

-Examples of environmental factors influencing the stress response (age, perinatal influences, social status, cognitive assessment, etc.): insights based on experimental data: the concepts of interindividual variability and vulnerability

Maladjustment: Pathological Aspects: Emotional Disorders: Examples of Anxiety and Phobic Disorders (PTSD, Panic Disorder, Phobias, OCD, Generalized Anxiety Disorder):

*Definition/Symptoms/Neuropathological Processes

*Pharmacology of Anxiety Disorders (examples of pharmacotherapies targeting GABAergic and 5-HT neurotransmission)*Paradoxes illustrating the complexity of the relationship between mental states and brain states / the double bind.