To return to the home page of the website of whatever page you're viewing, click on the logo at the top left corner.
To reach the home page of one of the other websites, click on its link at the top of the home page. Internal links are in green. Historical Background & Free Book tells where I began. Another focus: O2P Refs in O2 SM & ASVD . See: 11-22-11 blog entry. The Dictionary is what it's name implies. For readership, see: Google Analytics Log . Many of the articles in this website are, admittedly, quite technical. If you just want to read about psychology in more or less plain English, check out: Online Self-Help , Online Psychology Compilations , Humans as Animals, 10-15-18 Come back to: Emotional Habits . 10-04-18 I've decided to concentrate for the next little while on Oxytocin and its related references .
10-02-18 I want to spend some time looking at humans. Come back to: Psychophysiology . 09-24-18 Come back to: 09-23-18 I noticed that many of the references cited "Grillner" as a source, so I searched for him. Searching PubMed for "Grillner" found 511 references: NOTE:
It turns out that there are at least two "Grillners"; "Grillner L" and
"Grillner S". It's "Grillner S" in whom I am interested. "Grillner L"
is somebody else. Searching PubMed for "Grillner S" found 365 references: 1966 511<511 Grillner S, Lund S. No abstract available, but: 09-11-18 09-08-18 I've spent the past couple of weeks working on Excitation vs. Inhibition . 08-31-18 I'm going to spend some time looking at the more physiological references in 08-25-18 My comment: This is a better answer than I expected. Come back to: Excitation vs. Inhibition . 08-22-18 08-14-18 The sequence, below, expresses an outside > inside viewpoint. That is, the disinhibition results in observed behavior which is then explained as resulting from disinhibition of the motor programs. 08-07-18 I'm going to refocus my efforts from "levels of nerve activity" to "observable behavior." See: My Dysfunctional Family . 08-06-18 I've completed second review of the references identified in Excitation vs. Inhibition . I intend to go back through them a third time providing a link for some of the Related citations and perhaps expanding the Comments. 08-05-18 My interest in the Excitation vs. Inhibition dichotomy was based on my assumption that it reflected a active vs. passive dichotomy. For the most part, it doesn't seem to. Most of the references I found were concerned with levels of nerve activity rather than levels of observable behavior. Perhaps I should go back and look specifically for levels of observable behavior.
08-04-18
I'm going to make a major change here. Up until now I've been concentrating on the physiology of human behavior. I want to switch over to what might be called the phenomenology of human behavior as reflected in some of the initial posts of this web page. 08-02-18
I've just noticed that I seem to be using the same title for more than one page. The "Glutamate " title, below, is an example.
The FIND command finds two different links containing that word, and also, the word itself.
Glutamate
PLEASE NOTE: The code underlying the visual presentation can be visualized with the "mouse-over" function.
For more about the "mouse-over" function, please see:
MySpcLk .
"Glutamate functions as a neurotransmitter in every type of animal that has a nervous system, including ctenophores
(comb jellies), which branched off from other phyla at an early stage
in evolution and lack the other neurotransmitters found ubiquitously
among animals, including serotonin and acetylcholine.[14] Rather, ctenophores have functionally distinct types of ionotropic glutamate receptors,
[14]
such that activation of these receptors may trigger muscle contraction and other responses.
[14]
Sponges
do not have a nervous system, but also make use of glutamate for
cell-to-cell signalling. Sponges possess metabotropic glutamate
receptors, and application of glutamate to a sponge can trigger a
whole-body response that sponges use to rid themselves of contaminants.[15]"
07-30-18
Come back to: Multiple Synapses .
My comment:
This puts the Excitation vs. Inhibition dichotomy into question.
07-24-18
For the next little while, I'm going to be taking the topics in the following order:
07-18-18
Just to confuse things further, the number of references identified by searching PubMed for "excitation inhibition balance" has risen from 1093 to 1096.
Come back to blog dated: 01-09-17 I've created two new webpages: Excitation and Inhibition . This should facilitate my examination of Excitation vs. Inhibition . 06-18-18
See: Motor Program Disinhibition
.
06-17-18
06-16-18
I think the hypothesis presented below is missing a step. As it is currently written, the excitatory glutamatergic input from the Amygdala
and the Hippocampus would be expected to result in inhibition of neural structures farther along the motor program, but this isn't what happens. The excitatory glutamatergic input excites neural structures such as the thalamus and eventually results in overt behavior. One possible explanation is that there is an additional inhibitory step such that the excitatory glutamatergic input excites inhibitory GABAergic interneurons thereby inhibiting the inhibitory GABAergic output and releasing the
Tonic Inhibition which otherwise prevents behavior.
06-15-18
Possible answer to the question posed in the 06-13-18 blog entry, below.
GABA is inhibitory, therefore every part of the brain to which it is projected is inhibited.
the NAC inhibits every part of the brain to which it projects.
Glutamate is excitatory, and when it is projected to the NAC it excites the NAC and increases the
inhibitory influence that the NAC has on the parts of the brain to which it projects.
06-14-18
Motor Programs currently has more than 20 subsections arranged in almost random order. I think my next step might be to try to arrange them in some sort of helpful order.
06-13-18
From 02-25-18:
How does this relate to Motor Programs ?
Perhaps I should take another look at:
Amphioxus Locomotion Lamprey Locomotion Activity of Reticulospinal Neurons During Locomotion Excitation Initiation of Locomotion in Lampreys Inhibition Inhibition of Locomotion in Lampreys Excitation vs. Inhibition Part of the problem might be that
Motor program (Wiki) Says:
Even computer programs are more objectively concrete than that. `
I need to find another definition of "motor program".
NOTE: Although
Grillner doesn't mention "motor programs", he does talk
about "locomotor networks", which are pretty much the same thing.
See: Motor Programs
06-12-18
There has been a sudden, unexpected change in PubMed search results for "amygdaloid-hippocampal convergence". It says:
"The following term was not found in PubMed: amygdaloid-hippocampus."
and
"Search results
However, the link "Amygdaloid-Hippocampal Convergence " still works fine. I'm going to assume that this is a temporary glitch in PubMed and shut down temporarily. The problem may be due to their "Switch to their new best match sort order". Their old search result found 43 references, the new result found 48 references, not including the old cited reference, and the new "best match sort order" finds 77 references:
Searching Google for "amygdala hippocampus convergence" located 283,000 references.
2003 Convergence and Interaction of Hippocampal and Amygdalar Projections within the Prefrontal Cortex
in the Rat
2017 Amygdala-hippocampal dynamics during salient information processing
1997 Single Neuron Activity in Human Hippocampus and Amygdala during Recognition of Faces and Objects
Searching PubMed for "amygdala hippocampus convergence" located 77 references.
including the reference on which I was focused:
1998 Electrophysiology of the hippocampal and amygdaloid projections to the nucleus accumbens of the rat: convergence, segregation, and interaction of i... - PubMed - NCBI
which is now 14<77.
06-11-18
So far I don't see how Amygdaloid-Hippocampal Convergence provides an example
of a Motor Program .
05-29-18
Come back to:
Childhood Maltreatment
.
05-27-18
At the beginning of Early Behavior , I remarked that "Since the most easily observable
behavior is locomotion, I'll look at that first ", and I have. However, there's certainly more to human behavior than locomotion, and I want to move on to that.
05-25-18
Correction to the Important Announcement in the 05-19-18 blog entry, below:
I'm still researching it, but my current impression is that if I start off with a page in a
<hummingbird.lou@gmail.com> account, I can move to a different different page in that same account while maintaining an active editor. If I remember correctly, I generated the active editor by creating a new site in G Suite and then clicking the "Add account" button after clicking the account logo or site email address in the upper right corner of the page.
Now that I've had more time to think about it, perhaps the problem I was having was because I was mixing the Google accounts. Both were "gmail.com", but one was "hummingbird.lou" and the G Suite was "hummingbirdlou1". It seems like both work when used separately, but when used together they crash the system.
05-19-18
Important Announcement:
I've just discovered the cause of the non-responsivness of the editor beginning on 03-20-18.
G Suite changed my Google Account from
<hummingbird.lou@gmail.com> to
<hummingbirdlou1@gmail.com>.
Now that I've switched it back, the editor is once again responsive.
03-30-18 Well, it's another 10th day and the Google Analytics Log continues to be unusable . I'm going to stop here and not use it any more unless / until it gets better.
A quick review shows that the peak reading was:
02-10-15 47 non-empty sessions with an average session duration of 11:38 (11.63) for a total of 546.6 session minutes over the last month. Come back to: Early Behavior .
03-23-18 Come back to: 01-05-18 blog Porifera
.
I had not expected that sponges would have so many possible hormones. Perhaps the question, "How do Excitation and Inhibition interact to form Early Behavior ? " is an oversimplification.
See: Parazoa Porifera Parazoa Hormones and 02-25-18 blog:
If I remember correctly, both the Amygdala
and the Hippocampus use Glutamate
to project to the
Nucleus Accumbens Septi which in turn uses GABA to project to the rest of the brain. 03-20-18 To extend the comments of 02-25-18, below, see:
Amphioxus Asymmetry Lamprey Asymmetry Human Asymmetry 02-25-18 In response to the question asked, below, the Amygdaloid-Hippocampal Convergence can be seen as emphasizing the nervous system and the left hemisphere while the
Parazoa Hormones can be seen as emphasizing the endocrine system and the right hemipshere.
Is there any relationship between
Amygdaloid-Hippocampal Convergence and Parazoa Hormones ? GABA and glutamate specifically induce contractions in the sponge Tethya wilhelma. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17021832 See:
2003 Convergence and Interaction of Hippocampal and Amygdalar Projections within the Prefrontal Cortex in the Rat Reference: McDonald AJ (1996)
Glutamate and aspartate immunoreactive neuron of the rat basolateral
amygdala: colocalization of excitatory amino acids and projections to
the limbic circuit.
J Comp Neurol 365: 367-379. CrossRef PubMed Google Scholar 02-18-18
Come back to: Amygdaloid-Hippocampal Convergence .
02-15-18
Come back to: Coelenterata Neuropeptides . 02-11-18 I've taken the first steps in combining Biological Psychology Humanistic Psychology General Psychology and Psychodynamic Psychotherapy with Online Psychology Compilations 02-05-18 I've revised the circuit diagram in the 12-22-17 blog to make it more understandable. See below: excitatory: SI(Glu)>+ Cbl(Glu)>+ Th(Glu)>+ RAS(Ach)>+ MP inhibitory: AMG(Glu)>+ Str/NAC(GABA)>- SNr(GABA)>- Th(Glu)>+ RAS(Ach)>+ MP HIP(Glu)>+ Str/NAC(GABA)>- SNr(GABA)>- Th(Glu)>+ RAS(Ach)>+ MP SNc(DA1)>+ Str/NAC(GABA)>- GPe(GABA)>- STN(Glu)>+ SNr(GABA)>- Th(Glu)>+ RAS(Ach)>+ MP SNc(DA2) >- Str/NAC(GABA)>- GPi(GABA)>- Th(Glu)>+ RAS(Ach)>+ MP The notation "AMG(Glu)>+ Str/NAC(GABA)>- HIP(Glu)>+ Str/NAC(GABA) >- " represents the Amygdaloid-Hippocampal Convergence . It is identifiable in all creatures above the Amphioxus on the evolutionary scale . See the Abbreviation Keys in Locomotion Sequence and Dopamine Receptors . 01-29-18 Come back to: 2015 186<670 Adult attachment style is associated with cerebral μ-opioid receptor availability in humans. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26046928 in Emotion and My Dysfunctional Family . 01-05-18 Come back to: Porifera . I skipped over them by accident yesterday. I had not expected that sponges would have so many possible hormones. Perhaps the question, "How do Excitation and Inhibition interact to form Early Behavior ? " is an oversimplification.
See: Parazoa Porifera Parazoa Hormones 12-29-17 I've completed my review of the human psychology references. I found almost no mention of the human endocrine system. I'm now going to review my references on non-human endocrine systems. Come back to: Coelenterata Hormones Coelenterata Neuropeptides 12-27-17 I've spent the last couple of days reading Endocrinology - NCBI Bookshelf https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK22/ See: Hormones in General . It's very informative and clearly written, but it's written for medical doctors rather than psychologists. Maybe I should take another look at: Biological Psychology . 12-23-17 Although I'm quite pleased with my progress on the Amygdaloid-Hippocampal Convergence , it's scope is limited to Nerves . I would like to broaden my view by considering Hormones. Come back to: Hormones in General . 12-22-17 I just noticed a mistake in the 12-18-17 blog. The corrected diagram, which was subsequently revised on 02-03-18, should have been. excitatory: SI(Glu)>+ Cbl(Glu)>+ Th(Glu)>+ RAS(Ach)>+ MP inhibitory: AMG(Glu)>+ Str/NAC(GABA)>- SNr(GABA)>- Th(Glu)>+ RAS(Ach)>+ MP HIP(Glu)>+ Str/NAC(GABA)>- SNr(GABA)>- Th(Glu)>+ RAS(Ach)>+ MP SNc(DA1)>+ Str/NAC(GABA)>- GPe(GABA)>- STN(Glu)>+ SNr(GABA)>- Th(Glu)>+ RAS(Ach)>+ MP SNc(DA2) >- Str/NAC(GABA)>- GPi(GABA)>- Th(Glu)>+ RAS(Ach)>+ MP  (from Basal Ganglia ) Although the notation "AMG(Glu)>+ Str/NAC(GABA)>- HIP(Glu)>+ Str/NAC(GABA) >- " does not appear in the colorful diagram of the Basal Ganglia connections, above, it is visible in the monochromatic diagram and represents the Amygdaloid-Hippocampal Convergence . It is identifiable in all creatures above the Amphioxus on the evolutionary scale . See the Abbreviation Keys in Locomotion Sequence and Dopamine Receptors . I recognize that this blog entry ignores the Cerebral Cortex . For the time being, I'm concentrating on the Subcortical Brain . For an improved diagram, see the 02-03-18 blog, above. 12-17-17 Come back to: Amygdaloid-Hippocampal Convergence 1998 60<Mulder AB Electrophysiology of the hippocampal and amygdaloid projections to the nucleus accumbens of the rat: convergence, segregation, and interaction of inputs. Free Full Text: http://www.jneurosci.org/content/18/13/5095.long Note: This reference is from a photocopy I made almost 10 years ago. I've been carrying the idea around with me ever since. 2003 50<77 or 52<131 Individual nucleus accumbens-projection neurons receive both basolateral amygdala and ventral subicular afferents in rats. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12763065 This supports my hypothesis that the accumbens facilitates behavior when the needs influencing the amygdala match the memories, provided by the hippocampus, of how similar needs were met. BLA+HIP>NAC 11-28-17 Up until now, Online Self-Help , has been trying to deal with two separate issues at the same time: 1. references on the internet which might be helpful to someone who is struggling with psychological discomfort, 2. and the confusing "mouse-over" phenomena. I'm going to try to move the " mouse-over" references to a different page so that the only remaining Online Self-Help
references provide links which try to offer help to those who are "struggling with psychological discomfort".
Come back to: MySpcLk 11-21-17 The whole "mouse-over" phenomena is distracting me from my central focus of understanding human psychology. I could just drop it, but Online Self-Help was central to my effort, and it is the most badly afflicted of all the pages. Below is a list of the pages I've generated which deal with mouse-overs. Perhaps getting them all together in one place will help to end the confusion. Online Self-Help OnLineSelfHelp MySpcLk Online Psychology Compilations OnLinePsychComp MySpcWk Cmp Hacking MSPlink#1 11-12-17 In case you don't know what a "mouse-over" is, it's when you "hover" the mouse over a link on an inactive screen and a URL appears at the bottom of your screen. There is a major transition between Online Psychology Compilations dated 11-12-17 and MySpcLk with two lists dated Feb and Nov 2011 . The lists from 2011 are badly corrupted by the MySpace infestation while the 2017 list is entirely clean. 11-11-17 Come back to: Online Psychology Compilations . Two links which appear identical. Wikipedia Psych Portal: (Wiki) ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Psychology Wikipedia Psych Portal: & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Psychology Copied from: MySpcLk . Note that the two links appear identical. They are not. The first, marked with a "^", is an active link which shows a mouse-over identical to the link. The second, marked with an "&", shows a mouse-over with a lot of gibberish and is not active. This is the current focus of my attention. 10-22-17 This is a continuation of the 10-16-17 and 10-15-16 blogs, below. I'm really very puzzled. Either my imagination has completely distorted my memory, or the problem I thought I had with MySpace links has fixed itself. ? The only example I still have of the intrusive MySpace links is: Archive: www.msplinks.com: https://archive.li/www.msplinks.com However, clicking on that link brings up perhaps 50 more MySpace links, none of which were ever mine. Note: The "mouse over" response only occurs when the page is read-only. It does not occur when the page is being edited and is open to being "Saved".
10-16-17 So why do some of the links work some of the time and not all of the links all of the time? MySpcLk provides a clue. At the very bottom of that page there is a "Work Space" which has two identical copies of the same link, one of which works while the other doesn't. I don't remember it at all, but it looks as though I found the second link by searching Google for the title. 10-15-17 While looking back over the earlier blog entries, I discovered that the statement in the 04-21-17 blog was overly optimistic. It seems as though some of the links work some of the time but not all of the links all of the time. I don't understand this. Come back to: 04-12-17, MySpcLk and MySpcWk . 10-13-17 I've completed the first review of Estrogen Accumbens and identified 21 references for further study. Come back to: Testosterone Accumbens . 10-01-17 I've made a very cursory survey of the references in Personality and used asterisks to mark a dozen or so for further attention. Come back to: How does Oxytocin relate to Testosterone ? And while I'm at it, how does it relate to Estrogen ? Searching PubMed for "oxytocin testosterone" identified 317 references: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=oxytocin+testosterone 06-03-17 Diencephaloreticular Transmission makes it very clear that there are many connections from the thalamus to the reticular formation. So, that isn't a problem. However, I do need to incorporate this understanding into Locomotion Sequence . 05-26-17 I'm beginning to realize that most parts of the brain probably receive both excitatory and inhibitory input. So, how do I diagram that? from: Cerebellar Efferent Pathways 2004 250<1217 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15684654 "... cerebellar fibers are glutamatergic" from: 4-29-17 blog entry, below: Globus pallidus (GP) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globus_pallidus "When it comes to regulation of movement, the globus pallidus has a primarily inhibitory action that balances the excitatory action of the cerebellum." from:Cerebellar Neurotransmitters My comment: "Both inhibitory (GABA) and excitatory (glutamate) neurons are present. However, they play different roles. The inhibitory, GABAergic, neurons stay within the cerebellum. They modulate the excitatory, glutamatergic, neurons which extend beyond the cerebellum and function as the over-all output. Therefore, looking at the larger picture, the cerebellum is excitatory rather than inhibitory. " 05-05-17 The problem I'm having with Locomotion Sequence is that my diagram is very linear and implies that the cerebellum provides input only to the substantia nigra pars compacta. This is not the case. It supplies input to many, perhaps even most, brain structures. See: Cerebellar Efferent Pathways and Diencephaloreticular Transmission . As below, I seem to have been assuming that the Posterior Horn of the Spinal Cord is one of the Cerebellar Efferent Pathways . It's not. It's one of the Cerebellar Afferent Pathways Come back to: Spinal Cord Cerebellum Deep Cerebellar Nuclei 04-29-17 Globus pallidus (GP) from: Locomotion Sequence . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globus_pallidus Important: When it comes to regulation of movement, the globus pallidus has a primarily inhibitory action that balances the excitatory action of the cerebellum." 04-14-17 The time and energy I'm having to spend trying to fix the links in Online Self-Help and Online Psychology Compilations demonstrates a vulnerability of the internet. The information provided by the internet remains available only for as long as the provider of the information continues to function. If the functionality of the information provider becomes disrupted, the information becomes unavailable. 04-12-17 The original motivation for these web pages was my interest in psychology. So imagine my surprise and disappointment when I discovered that the links in both Online Self-Help and Online Psychology Compilations no longer worked. Notice that the blog entry quoted above says that BOTH Online Self-Help and Online Psychology Compilations no longer worked. This is consistent with my memory. But now Online Self-Help works, while some of Online Psychology Compilations still does not. 04-21-17 It took eleven days, but I've finally fixed the URLs for most of the references in Online Self-Help and Online Psychology Compilations.
Unfortunately, at the time of this entry, I was still confounding the
two entries, so I'm unable to say which page had fixed URLs and which
did not. I also don't seem to have a clear record of how I fixed them.
I do have very clear memories, but those memories are strongly
contradicted by the currently available evidence.
02-04-17 I had not expected that sponges would have so many possible hormones. Perhaps the question, "How do Excitation and Inhibition interact to form Early Behavior ? " is an oversimplification. See: Parazoa Porifera Parazoa Hormones 01-21-17 Both Central Pattern Generators and Initiation of Locomotion in Lampreys contain references which indicate that glutamate and other excitatory amino acids play an important role in initiating locomotion. 01-10-17 I just realized that my "Excitation , Inhibition , and Excitation vs. Inhibition " divisions from yesterday are over simplified. 1. Inhibition of inhibition results in over-all excitation, but 2. excitation of excitation does not lead to over-all inhibition. I'm puzzled by the lack of symmetry. 01-09-17 I've created two new webpages: Excitation and Inhibition . This should facilitate my examination of Excitation vs. Inhibition . 01-08-17 It's clear that the neuroendocrine system includes both excitatory and inhibitory elements. Perhaps the Autonomic Nervous System might provide a helpful perspective. The Excitation vs. Inhibition dichotomy seems to be paralleled by a Sympathetic Nervous System vs Parasympathetic Nervous System dichotomy. See: Sympathetic Nervous System and Parasympathetic Nervous System 12-29-16 I've done a pretty good job of reviewing the references in Excitation vs. Inhibition , but there is almost no consideration of the psychological, situational or metabolic causes of either excitation or inhibition . 10-24-16 I've completed the first review of the references in Cerebellar Neurotransmitters . Both inhibitory (GABA) and excitatory (glutamate) neurons are present. However, they play different roles. The inhibitory, GABAergic, neurons stay within the cerebellum. They modulate the excitatory, glutamatergic, neurons which extend beyond the cerebellum and function as the over-all output. Therefore, looking at the larger picture, the cerebellum is excitatory rather than inhibitory. How do I integrate this into Locomotion Sequence ? 10-14-16 I've completed my first review of the references in Cerebellar Efferent Pathways . My initial impression is that the cerebellar output is more excitatory than inhibitory. If so, it opposes rather than facilitates Tonic Inhibition. Sensory Input
. 09-24-16 I've reviewed the first dozen references linked in: Cerebellar Afferent Pathways . My first impression is that the Cerebellum receives inputs from many different sources. 09-23-16 I've reviewed the first dozen references linked in Cerebellar Efferent Pathways . They make it abundantly clear that any input to the Cerebellum from the Posterior Horn of the Spinal Cord may be forwarded to any of a large number of subcortical structures. 09-15-16 from : Dorsal Root Ganglion : " Unlike the majority of neurons found in the central nervous system, an action potential in posterior root ganglion neuron may initiate in the distal process in the periphery, bypass the cell body, and continue to propagate along the proximal process until reaching the synaptic terminal in the Posterior Horn of the Spinal Cord . " My comment: So what is the next step after the Posterior Horn of the Spinal Cord ? 09-14-16 I seem to be back to: Locomotion Sequence . One of the important transitions is the inclusion of ****
See:
Pseudounipolar Neuron .
09-12-16 Come back to: 1987 Defense reaction elicited by injection of GABA antagonists and synthesis inhibitors into the posterior hypothalamus in rats. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3037412 in Fear . See also: Behavioral Disinhibition . 09-09-16 Come back to: 1988 10<13 Synaptic organization of the striatum http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3069970 "The major physiologic function of striatal efferent activity appears to be inhibition of tonically active GABAergic neurons in the globus pallidus and substantia nigra pars reticulata." in Striatum . 09-06-16 Up until now, my proposed Locomotion Sequence has been centered around the diagram in Basal Ganglia . I'm going to try a different approach focused on GABA , Glutamate ,
Medium Spiny Neurons the Ventral Tegmental Area
and the Nucleus Accumbens Septi . 09-04-16 I've completed the second review of the references in Accumbens Input . Even a quick glance shows that there is still much to be done. However, I want to go back to
Locomotion Sequence . 08-26-16 I've completed the first review of the references in Accumbens Input . Of the 519 references located in the original search, Searching PubMed for "Accumbens Input" identified 519 references: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=accumbens+input I've chosen 71 for closer consideration. See: Accumbens Input . 08-20-16 My focus on Accumbens Input was motivated by the tacit assumption that the Nucleus Accumbens Septi receives only a few inputs. Now that it turns out that it receives many, I don't know where to go. Maybe I should take a look at:
Searching PubMed for "Accumbens Input" identified 518 references: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=accumbens+input 08-15-16 Come back to: Locomotion Sequence . I need to map the connections which reduce the Tonic Inhibition imposed by the Nucleus Accumbens Septi
.
08-12-16 GABA Testosterone didn't help much. Searching PubMed for "gaba testosterone" discovered 304 references. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=gaba+testosterone" but came up with almost nothing. Searching PubMed for "testosterone nucleus accumbens " revealed 63 references: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=testosterone+nucleus+accumbens " and found a few references on both testosterone and estrogen in the NAC. Reported "reward" but no mention of GABA or release of Tonic Inhibition . Perhaps it's time to revisit: Locomotion Sequence . 08-11-16 On 05-01-16 I wrote: "It occurred to me that the Aggression promoted by Testosterone requires at least some Behavioral Disinhibition of the
Tonic Inhibition
ascribed to GABA/Glycine Inhibition . To look into this further, I've started a new page: GABA Testosterone ." It's easy to get distracted. On 04-23-16, I wrote: "I'm going to change direction for a while. This collection of interlocking web pages is motivated by my own psychological problems. Although I've really enjoyed studying our early ancestors, I seem to be a long way from relating what I've learned about them to my own psychological difficulties. So I'm going to spend some time looking at the issue from the other chronological end. See: My Dysfunctional Family . Since my own problems are centered around my dysfunctional mother, I'm going to start by looking for physiologic associations for what I perceive as her Personality Disorders ." In the almost four months since then I've read a lot about our ancient ancestors. I've really enjoyed it, but none of it seems directly relevant to my mother's Sadism . So now I'm going to try to get back to My Dysfunctional Family . Come back to: Aggression . 08-10-16 For the first time I can remember, the average duration for a city has improved from one 10-day summary to the next: On 07-30-16 Berkeley = 2 x 10:39. Today Berkeley = 7 x 7:40 . This is big news. For prior Google Analytics, please see Google Analytics Log . 08-09-16 I've completed the first review of the references in Protochordate Hormones . Although there's a lot here that's interesting, most of it does not seem relevant to my mother's
Sadism .
So I'm going to go on to
Amphioxus Hormones . 08-04-16 I've completed the first review of the references in Sea Urchin . They are heavily biased toward thyroid hormones. I don't know if this reflects an early evolution of thyroid hormones or just an early interest in them. 07-24-16 I've completed the first review of Acrasin . I didn't find anything that looked like a hormone, so I'm going to move on to: Parazoa , Porifera and Placozoa . 07-23-16 Come back to: Acrasin . I'm still looking for the early precursors of hormones. Prokaryote Colonies : quorum sensing molecules Gram-positive / small (antimicrobial) peptides Gram-negative / homoserine lactones Slime Molds : acrasins cyclic Adenosine Monophosphate (cAMP) 07-12-16 Although I never found a form of hormonal interaction at the Last Universal (Common) Ancestor (LUCA) level, there are many clear examples in Prokaryote Colonies
Gram positive / post-translationally modified peptides (or pheromones ) . Gram negative / acyl homoserine lactone, AHL (autoinducers) In overall structure the archaea are most similar to gram-positive bacteria, as most have a single plasma membrane and cell wall, and lack a periplasmic space." 07-03-16 Even a quick glance will show that Montmorillonite is not complete. However, I want to get back to "looking for some form of hormonal interaction at the Last Universal (Common) Ancestor (LUCA) level", so I'm going to change my focus to the Prokaryotes . 06-27-16 Although I was looking for some form of hormonal interaction at the Last Universal (Common) Ancestor (LUCA) level, I didn't find it. However, I did find some references which I feel go a long way toward describing an environmental niche which would have protected the newly evolving prebiotic chemistry from external disruption. See: Montmorillonite 06-21-16 Although it's a bit of a stretch, I'm going to start my research on the "very early beginnings" by looking at the Last Universal (Common) Ancestor . It will be interesting to see if we have identified anything like a hormone associated with any of them. 05-16-16 There's always more that could be done, but I think that Amygdaloid Hippocampal Convergence does a pretty good job with BLA+HIP>NAC, so I'm going to go back to: My Dysfunctional Family . 05-11-16 I've just finished scanning through this Introduction starting with the earliest still-existing blog dated 4-2-10. There are many loose ends; questions which I've never answered. I've decided to come back to the Amygdaloid Hippocampal Convergence, as first mentioned in the 03-04-16 blog entry. 05-01-16 It occurred to me that the Aggression promoted by Testosterone requires at least some Behavioral Disinhibition of the Tonic Inhibition ascribed to GABA/Glycine Inhibition . To look into this further, I've started a new page: GABA Testosterone . 04-28-16 Unlike the fatherless boys I considered in Boys without Fathers , my mother was more Aggressive than Impulsive , so I'm going to try to apply what I learned about the endocrinology of the Aggression exhibited by fatherless boys to my mother's Sadism while ignoring the fatherless boys' Impulsivity . Up until now, the references I've found for My Dysfunctional Family have been almost entirely descriptive. They've described symptoms and life events without asking about the underlying physiology. In contrast, most of the references reported in Boys without Fathers are firmly rooted in physiology. Since the aggression discussed in
Boys without Fathers seems similar to the aggression discussed in Sadism I'm going to assume that they have similar underlying physiologies and copy the references which seem relevant from
Boys without Fathers to Sadism .
04-24-16 I'm going to start out with Sadism , since it was this that did the most harm. 04-23-16 I'm going to change direction for a while. This collection of interlocking web pages is motivated by my own psychological problems. Although I've really enjoyed studying our early ancestors, I seem to be a long way from relating what I've learned about them to my own psychological difficulties. So I'm going to spend some time looking at the issue from the other chronological end. See: My Dysfunctional Family . Since my own problems are centered around my dysfunctional mother, I'm going to start by looking for physiologic associations for what I perceive as her Personality Disorders . Using links from: Personality disorder (Wiki) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personality_disorder#Cluster_B_.28dramatic.2C_emotional_or_erratic_disorders.29 these are: Sadistic Dependent Narcissistic 04-22-16 I've been looking at feeding and respiration as behaviors which preceded locomotion. My working hypothesis has been that they are evolutionarily older. But how are they related? The only behavior that the amphioxus exhibits that I'm sure of is when it swims to the surface to reproduce. (See: Amphioxus Behavior ) Otherwise neither feeding nor respiration elicit locomotion. 04-20-16 The location of the respiratory generator does not seem to be constant among different species. Come back to: Lamprey Feeding & Respiration . 04-18-16 It turns out that my hypothesis is only partially correct. The amphioxus uses its "gills' for feeding, but not for respiration. The lamprey uses its gills for both. 04-17-16 I just realized that, for filter feeders such as the amphioxus, feeding and respiration take place simultaneously. So I've started a new page: Amphioxus Feeding & Respiration . 04-16-16 I've completed an initial survey of the references in Lamprey Rhombencephalon . My most interesting impression is that hunger-feeding and possibly also respiration are below the reticular formation on the neuroaxis. 04-12-16 I've started a new page: Lamprey Rhombencephalon . My comment: The Wikipedia article in Rhombencephalon did not mention the "posterior rhombencephalic reticular nucleus" which seems to be a major focus for some of the other references . However, there are many references in Reticulospinal Transmission which don't specify the name of the nucleus for the reticulospinal fibers and which, therefore, may be "posterior rhombencephalic". Come back to: posterior rhombencephalic reticular nucleus - PubMed http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=posterior+rhombencephalic+reticular+nucleus 40 references 04-09-16 Come back to: Rhombencephalon 1988 Brainstem command systems for locomotion in the lamprey: localization of descending pathways in the spinal cord. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3219560 and 1997 Diencephalic projection to reticulospinal neurons involved in the initiation of locomotion in adult lampreys Lampetra fluviatilis. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9421142 in Initiation of Locomotion in Lampreys seems to indicate that the
Ventral Thalamus projects directly to the
Mesencephalic Locomotor Region and/or the Rhombencephalon in the lamprey.
04-08-16 As far as I can tell, there's no direct path from the Ventral Pallidum to the Mesencephalic Locomotor Region (MLR) . The VP does provide input to some of the thalamic nuclei, such as the ventral anterior nucleus, the ventral lateral nucleus, and the medial dorsal nucleus. but these nuclei seem to project exclusively to the cortex rather than to the MLR. It's beginning to look like the the only animal in which the Ventral Thalamus projects directly to the Mesencephalic Locomotor Region is the lamprey. However, I need to come back and look at this more closely. See: Initiation of Locomotion in Lampreys , Lamprey Thalamus and Diencephaloreticular Transmission . 04-07-16 I'm particularly interested in the possibility of a direct path from the Ventral Pallidum to the Mesencephalic Locomotor Region . I just realized that I need to add the Ventral Striatum to the Ventral Thalamus , Ventral Pallidum and
Subpallidal Area/Region as possible sources of input to the Mesencephalic Locomotor Region . 04-05-16 I've been adding images to Ventral Pallidum , and they really help my understanding. 04-01-16 I've spent the past 12 days, since 03-19-16, looking into the possibility that the Ventral Thalamus ,
the Ventral Pallidum and/or the
Subpallidal Area/Region might provide direct input to the
Mesencephalic Locomotor Region . I will continue with this.
03-28-16
I'm currently reviewing and comparing
Subpallidal Area/Region and Ventral Pallidum . 03-26-16 I just realized that I've been conflating Ventral Thalamus , Ventral Pallidum and
Subpallidal Area/Region . 03-25-16 I used the "Find" command to search the 23 references in Subpallidal Area/Region for "mesen". I found 10 references to the Mesencephalic Locomotor Region 03-24-16 However, see: Lamprey Thalamus . What are the similarities and differences between the Ventral Thalamus and the Subpallidal Area/Region ?
03-23-16 Some of the photocopies from 8-10 years ago seem to imply that there is a direct path from the Subpallidal Area/Region to the Mesencephalic Locomotor Region which bypasses the Thalamus .
I need to look at this more closely. Perhaps the Thalamus
is only important in the context of a
Cerebral Cortex .
03-19-16 Although none of the references in Amygdaloid Hippocampal Convergence mentions the Substantia Nigra pars Compacta (SNc), the following diagram from Nucleus Accumbens Septi (NAC) shows input to the NAC from the Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA). At this point I don't see a clear difference between the SNc and the VTA. As far as I can tell, it's a single neuroanatomical structure with two names.  03-18-16 My attempt to integrate Amygdaloid Hippocampal Convergence with Locomotion Sequence Revision ran into an immediate problem. I used the diagram in Basal Ganglia as the framework for a very bare-bones guess about the sequence of events leading to locomotion. This diagram shows only two inputs to the Striatum, one from the Substantia Nigra pars Compacta and one from the Cerebral Cortex . from: Basal Ganglia : Connectivity diagram showing excitatory glutamatergic pathways as red, inhibitory GABAergic pathways as blue, and modulatory dopaminergic pathways as magenta. (Abbreviations: GPe: globus pallidus external; GPi: globus pallidus internal; STN: subthalamic nucleus; SNc: substantia
nigra compacta; SNr: substantia nigra reticulata)
In contrast, none of the references in Amygdaloid Hippocampal Convergence mentions the Substantia Nigra pars Compacta . This, however, may be due to observer bias. I became very interested in the
Nucleus Accumbens Septi
about 15 years ago, and my focus on "amygdala hippocampus convergence " reflects my ongoing interest.
03-15-16 It won't be easy, but I'm going to try to integrate Amygdaloid Hippocampal Convergence with Locomotion Sequence Revision . Part of the problem is that the notation in the original
Locomotion Sequence
was never quite right.
So, at the moment, I'm back to working on
Locomotion Sequence
. 03-14-16 It's been a couple of years since I've done much with Boys without Fathers . It's pretty much complete as it is. However, I only just recently discovered: Daniel Patrick Moynihan < https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Patrick_Moynihan > and his The Negro Family: The Case For National Action" <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Negro_Family:_The_Case_For_National_Action> . I've copied the links into Family Structure and will begin to look through it when I have a chance. 03-13-16 I've put the references in Medium Spiny Neurons into a single, chronological, list. It was previously composed of two lists and a couple of fragments which were not chronologically integrated, and this made searching it difficult. I think Amygdaloid Hippocampal Convergence will be my next focus. 03-11-16 2003 50<77 Individual nucleus accumbens-projection neurons receive both basolateral amygdala and ventral subicular afferents in rats. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12763065 See: Amygdaloid Hippocampal Convergence for full Abstract, Related citations and Cited by's. My comment: This supports my hypothesis that the accumbens facilitates behavior when the needs influencing the amygdala match the memories, provided by the hippocampus, of how similar needs were met. 03-10-16 I've attempted to resolve the two different pathways of locomotion sequence, but it's so complex I'm not sure I got it right. I'll have to come back to this. 03-09-16 Locomotion Sequence has two different pathways for locomotion sequence. One of them considers sensory input, and one does not. I need to resolve this. 03-08-16 Do both the GP and the NAC use GABA as an efferent neurotransmitter? Apparently the answer is "yes". Medial Globus Pallidus (internal globus pallidus) "The medial globus pallidus (or internal, GPi) is one of the output nuclei of the basal ganglia (the other being the substantia nigra pars reticulata). The GABA-containing neurons send their axons to specific nuclei of the dorsal thalamus (VA and VL), to the centromedian complex and to the pedunculopontine complex.[1][2] Nucleus Accumbens Septi "In culture, as in the intact nAcc, medium-spiny neurons account for over 95% of the cells and are GABAergic." "GABA is one of the main neurotransmitters in the NAcc, and GABA receptors are also abundant.[19][21] 03-06-16 My next step will be to try to forge some synthesis between Behavioral Disinhibition and Locomotion Sequence . 03-05-16 At first I thought I would try for a synthesis between Motor Programs and Behavioral Disinhibition , but there was no mention of
Behavioral Disinhibition in any of the Motor Programs references. What's more, the only mention of GABA was a very brief mention in the 5.1 Striatum and basal ganglia section of the "Procedural memory" reference. In contrast, Behavioral Disinhibition mentions several behaviors which involve motor programs. 03-04-16 It looks like I've found the references for the "hippocampal-amygdala comparison" mentioned in the 02-24-16 blog, below. See: Amygdaloid Hippocampal Convergence . So now what? Perhaps I could try to forge some sort of synthesis between Locomotion Sequence and
Behavioral Disinhibition .
02-24-16 The EEA-GABA interaction hypothesis, below, doesn't require that either the excitatory or the inhibitory influences be specifically targeted at only a portion of the motor system. All that is required is that the hippocampal-amygdala combination increase the level of DA at the D2 receptors thus decreasing the Tonic Inhibition and allowing behavior in accord with the hippocampal-amygdala comparison. So I need to find the reference for the "hippocampal-amygdala comparison". If I remember correctly, it's filed in Nucleus Accumbens Septi . 02-23-16 I'm going to try to update Locomotion Sequence to include the hypothesis, below, that "it's possible that the EEAs are either on or off at various strengths with all behavior being shaped by the inhibitory reward circuit". I expect that this will be difficult. Perhaps I should take some time looking at Early Behavior . 02-22-16 What's the interaction between excitatory amino acids (EAAs) such as glutamate and inhibitory neurotransmitters such as GABA and glycine? Important distinction: GABA is controlled, at least in part, by the reward circuit, including the NAC. It is much less clear what controls the EEAs. So, what does control the EEAs? I suppose it's possible that the EEAs are either on or off at various strengths with all behavior being shaped by the inhibitory reward circuit, but so far I've seen no experimental evidence for this. 02-21-16 I've finished integrating Inhibition of Locomotion in Lampreys into
Central Pattern Generators . 02-19-16 The references in Tonic Inhibition use phrases like 'phasic GABA" and "MLR activity". To what extent are these CPGs under a different name? On 01-01-16 I asked the question: " What is the interaction between the Globus Pallidus (GP) and the
Nucleus Accumbens Septi
(NAC)? ". I may have stumbled on two partial answers in Tonic Inhibition : I've finished integrating Tonic Inhibition into Central Pattern Generators . Next I'll work on
Inhibition of Locomotion in Lampreys
. 02-18-16 I've completed a third review of the 82 references in Central Pattern Generators (CPGs). Strictly from memory, the neurotransmitters in descending order of importance are: glutamate, glycine, substance P, dopamine, 5-HT, and finally GABA. However, this apparent order of importance may be biased toward excitatory transmitters by it's focus on CPGs. Perhaps the next step should be to integrate the GABA pages with the CPG page. I've finished integrating Lamprey GABA into Central Pattern Generators . Now I'm going to start integrating
Tonic Inhibition
. 02-14-16 There are currently 82 references in Central Pattern Generators . Many of them are just bare-bone links without even an Abstract. I'm now going to go back and give the more interesting of them not only an Abstract but also links to Similar articles. Instead of working in chronological order as I usually do, I'll be working up from the bottom of the list; in reverse chronological order. Eventually I'm going to try to integrate what I've learned about Central Pattern Generators into
Locomotion Sequence .
02-11-16 I've completed the second review of Central Pattern Generators with special emphasis on the subset of 349 references listing Grillner as an author. There's a lot here, so I'm going to have to go back through it again. 02-05-16 I've completed the first review of the 667 references in Central Pattern Generators (CPGs) and the additional 349 references I found when searching PubMed for "Grillner S". Although my original focus was CPGs, I had a hard time ignoring references on different topics which I found interesting. So both searches include references on topics other than CPGs. I guess my next step is to go back over Central Pattern Generators and find new places to file the references that are not directly relevant to CPGs. 01-18-16 Although Central Pattern Generators mentions many neurotransmitters, it seems especially focused on excitatory amino acids such as glutamate. In contrast, it doesn't say much about GABA. So perhaps it's time to take another look at GABA , Medium Spiny Neurons , Lamprey GABA , GABA/Glycine Inhibition , Tonic Inhibition , Behavioral Disinhibition , Inhibition of Locomotion in Lampreys Initiation of Locomotion in Lampreys . 01-11-16 My central focus continues to be: Locomotion Sequence Experimental data concerning this topic is spread out through numerous pages: Spinal Locomotor Generator Central Pattern Generators Lamprey Locomotion Activity of Reticulospinal Neurons During Locomotion Initiation of Locomotion in Lampreys Inhibition of Locomotion in Lampreys Salamander Locomotion Reticulospinal Transmission Diencephaloreticular Transmission Thalamic Neurotransmitters Dorsal Root Ganglion Sensory System Sensory Input Spinal Cord GABA , Medium Spiny Neurons , Lamprey GABA , GABA/Glycine Inhibition ,
Tonic Inhibition
,
Behavioral Disinhibition Ventral Thalamus I clearly need to do some consolidation. 01-03-16 I've finished reviewing: Pallidothalamic tracts , Ansa Lenticularis , Thalamic Fasciculus (H1), Lenticular Fasciculus (H2) , Subthalamus and
Medium Spiny Neurons .
Eventually I've got to figure out how these fit into Locomotion Sequence . 11-13-15 I've just added the Ventral Thalamus to Locomotion Sequence . It may not be exactly right, but I think it's a step in the right direction. However, I notice that "SI >+ VTh >+ RAS >+ ..." is a series of three excitatory synapses. Without some form of restraint, this would result in exponentially increasing excitation and destruction of the down-stream neurons. So maybe it's time to take another look at GABA , Medium Spiny Neurons , Lamprey GABA , GABA/Glycine Inhibition ,
Tonic Inhibition
,
Behavioral Disinhibition ,
Inhibition of Locomotion in Lampreys
. 09-11-15 911, and I didn't even see it coming. I'd go to a memorial event, if I knew of one close by, but I don't. I did a web search. Lots of other stuff, but almost no mention of the World Trade Center. 09-05-15 I reviewed all 234 references in Thalamus Motor Relay and read the full Abstracts of all the references that seemed like they might discuss a direct pathway from the thalamus to lower motor centers. None did. All the pathways from the thalamus to the motor centers that they discussed passed through the cortex. Didn't the thalamus of precortical animals such as the lamprey and the salamander have a pathway to the lower motor centers? I'm sure they must have. I need to take another look at: Lamprey Locomotion Update: See blog entry of 06-03-17. 08-03-15 There seems to be very little acknowledgement of the importance of GABAergic disinhibition to behavior. Searching Motor Programs for "gaba" found only one occurance in the entire page. On the other hand, the references in Behavioral Disinhibition give very little attention to just what behavior is being disinhibited. What allows some behaviors and not others to be disinhibited? The reward circuitry, including the Nucleus Accumbens Septi may disinhibit non-emergency behavior, but what disinhibits emergency behavior? This sounds like the questions surrounding Fast vs. Slow Twitch Muscles
.
01-30-15 I had hoped that I would be able to identify specific neurotransmitters for the tracts reported by Herrick in Brain of the Tiger Salamander , but that's proving to be more difficult than I anticipated. In particular, I'm having trouble reconciling Tract Neurotransmitters with Salamander Neurotransmitters There's very little overlap between the two.
An additional problem is that I find myself torn between two goals: Goal #1: Make this website as comprehensive as possible. Goal #2: Study the physiology of human behavior. I'm going to drop Goal #1 and start concentrating on Goal #2. Come back to: Lateral Forebrain Bundle . 12-11-14 This is a big day for me. BHL ran a really nice review of my
Brain of the Tiger Salamander
website. You can read it at:
BHL and Our Users . Biodiversity Heritage Library: Search results for Herrick http://blog.biodiversitylibrary.org/search?q=Herrick 09-15-14 I've begun a major new effort. I realized that my Subcortical Brain site was attempting to serve two different purposes: 1) supplement Herrick's presentation of salamander neuroanatomy with information which may be relevant to salamanders' neurotransmitters and hormones; and 2) provide a model of subcortical function which will hopefully shed light on human behavior. Although these these two goals are not mutually contradictory, they are different, and dealing with both of them on the same website was awkward. So I've split the site into two. Goal #1, "supplement(ing) Herrick's presentation of salamander neuroanatomy with information which may be relevant to salamanders' neurotransmitters and hormones" has been moved to a new site, Herrick Update .
Goal #2, providing "a model of subcortical function which will hopefully shed light on human behavior" will remain in Subcortical Brain . I'm going to start with the Lamprey Nervous System . 05-30-12 I've now completed the first draft of an online version of C. Judson Herrick's Brain of the Tiger Salamander
11-22-11 I've resurrected an earlier website, Subcortical Brain , and given it a new focus. I'll be working on it at the same time that I'm continuing to work on the other two websites and the earlier project, below. I want to go back and work on an earlier project. As the culmination of a 30 year effort, in 2003 I published a paper: Plasma Oxygen Permeability May be a Factor in Atherosclerosis http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15153663 I want to do a repeat study, but I can't do it alone. Dr. Heppner, with whom I did the first study, is now completely tied up with his practice and is unable to help me a second time. So I must find someone else. For the next little while, I'm going to be working on that. 07-31-11 I've completed the first version of the rewrite of Boys without Fathers centered on serotonin rather than testosterone. It needs more work, of course, but this is, nonetheless, a milestone. Since most of the research into the endocrinology of male socialization has centered on testosterone and aggression, that was my initial focus. However, the boys who cause problems in the classroom seem more impulsive than violent, so I've rewritten the paper with a stronger focus on serotonin. 03-13-11 My BA was in math, and the kind of math I liked best was deductive construction of complex intellectual results from a minimal number of simple axioms. I turned to the amphioxus as a source of axioms for building an understanding of human psychology because I expected that it would provide me with a minimal number of simple biological facts that I could stitch together to provide a physiological explanation for human psychology. The amphioxus defeated me. It has turned out to be far more complex than I could ever have imagined. So, I've started a new webpage, Boys without Fathers , and I'll be spending most of my time on that effort for the next several months. 01-03-11 I'm going to change my focus. When viewed at the receptor level, the amphioxus and its descendants are overwhelmingly complex. So I'm going to step back and look at them at the organism level. For the moment, Goals #1 and #2, below, appear to be out of reach. So, for the next little while, I'm going to concentrate on the easier task of providing an endocrine explanation for why boys who grow up without a father have so much difficulty adjusting to society. I'll come back to the larger task once this is done. 7-8-10 Goal #1: My main goal, of course, is to provide a physiological basis of human behavior. Goal #2: Human physiology is bewilderingly complex, and I was assuming that the amphioxus was a simple little creature that I could use as a starting point for unraveling human complexity. However, the amphioxus has turned out to be far more complex than I anticipated. So, in order to understand the physiological basis of human behavior, I must first understand the physiological basis of amphioxus behavior, and that has proved challenging. 4-2-10 Amphioxus Nervous System now gives an overview of the amphioxus nervous system. I had originally intended to go from the general discussion to a more detailed consideration of particular parts of the nervous system. I've changed my mind. I really think that, as important to human behavior and psychology as the nervous system might be, the endocrine system is even more important. So I'm going to switch my focus from the amphioxus nervous system to the amphioxus endocrine system. I still have many references on the amphioxus nervous system that I haven't yet summarized, but I want to spend some more time on the endocrine system first. Contact: hummingbird_lou@yahoo.com I try to check the inbox every day. Comments and questions would be most welcome.
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