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Psychology 230 Lab Manual 2014-2015

Brain and Behaviour ~ Term 1

Lab Instructor: Jennifer Morgen

Office: 109H

Office Hours: Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 08:30 – 10:00

* If you can not come during these times, please contact me*

Telephone: 867-5014

Email: jmorgen@stfx.ca

Lab Location: Room 122 JBBH (basement in JBBH)

Lab Value: 20% of course grades

Lab breakdown:

Attendance, pop-quizzes, weekly Moodle submissions, and participation: 30%

Christmas Lab Exam: 30%

Final Lab Exam: 40%

Please note attendance is a required component of Psychology 230. Students will be required

to submit weekly activities via Moodle. Instructions will be given during lab each week.

This is a dissection lab; as such individuals coming to class unprepared or inappropriately

attired will be asked to leave and marked absent for that day’s class.

This means:

- No opened toed shoes/sandals will be allowed

- No food or drink permitted in the lab (water bottles are Not permitted)

- Students participating in dissection or handling the specimens must wear protective

glasses and gloves, which will be provided in lab.

Required Materials:

Vanderwolf, C.H., & Cooley, R. K. (2002). The Sheep Brain: A Photographic Series (2nd ed.).

London, Ontario: A.J. Kirby Co.

Pinel, J. (2005). Biopsychology (8th ed.). n/a.: Allyn and Bacon.

Psychology 230 Lab Manual 2014-15

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General Outline

This is a comparative lab designed to help familiarize you with the gross anatomy of

the sheep’s brain. In groups of two or three, you will dissect a sheep’s brain, identifying

major structures, pathways, and connections as you go along. You will be responsible for the

anatomy and physiology of the structures identified during this lab.

During each lab you are expected to investigate a portion of the brain. The

important structures will be indicated in this manual; however, you are responsible for

sketching, labeling and identifying the functions of these structures with your own specimen.

Please note that there are individual differences even among the sheep. The diagrams in the

manual represent an optimal specimen. If your sheep’s brain is missing structures or does

not clearly show the structures you are to identify, please notify the Lab Instructor. Good

specimens within the lab will be shared with all groups; also photographic series will show

good specimens between lab sections.

Please note that 30% of your lab grade is based on attendance, participation, weekly

submissions, and pop-quizzes. You should come to lab having reviewed the relevant material

in this lab manual and your textbook, as well as having familiarized yourself with the related

slides in The Sheep Brain: A Photographic Series. Quizzes may be drawn from the previous lab or

the current day’s lab. For weekly submission, you must submit the functions of the

structures discussed in lab by each Friday following lab. You are responsible for the terms in

bold only.

This lab will begin September 15, 2014*. The midterm exam will be held on

November 21, 2014* and will account for 30% of your lab mark. It will be held during class

time (not during your lab section) and will be a written exam. It will only consist of material

covered to date. Your final exam will account for 40% of your final lab grade and will be

held in the JBBH lab and will be cumulative, covering material from terms 1 and 2. (*These

dates are tentative).

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Images obtained from http://academic.scranton.edu/department/psych/sheep/newsheep/practice/welcome3.html And http://www.psychology.uoguelph.ca/learnmatl/sheep_labman/MidSagittalCuts.html

Lab One ~ Dorsal View

Pages 16 & 17 in Vanderwolf & Cooley

Important Terms: (these terms are the basis for your Christmas exam!)

- Rostral/Anterior: Head or front end

- Caudal/Posterior: Tail or hind end

- Dorsal: Back or top surface

- Ventral: Belly or bottom surface

- Lateral: Away from the midline

- Medial: Toward the midline

Once we are “inside” the brain (i.e. mid-sagittal or coronal slices) we use the terms Superior

and Inferior to describe the position of structures rather than Dorsal/Ventral.

Examples:

Incorrect: The Fornix is Dorsal to the

Thalamus

Correct: The Fornix is Superior to the

Thalamus

Incorrect: The Temporal lobe is Inferior

to the Parietal Lobe

Correct: The Temporal lobe is

Lateral/Ventral to the Parietal Lobe

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Divisions of the cortex (Describe the primary functions of each lobe)

Frontal Lobe:

Parietal Lobe:

Temporal Lobe:

Occipital Lobe:

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Images obtained from http://academic.scranton.edu/department/psych/sheep/newsheep/practice/welcome3.html and http://www.psychology.uoguelph.ca/learnmatl/sheep_labman/MidSagittalCuts.html

Sulci and Gyri

Begin investigating the dorsal surface of the brain. The outermost portion of the brain is the

cortex, which contains convolutions of various depths called sulci (singular: sulcus), fissures

and gyri (singular: gyrus). The largest furrows are called fissures, while the smaller ones are

called sulci. The “bulges” of cortex are the gyri.

Important fissures (identify divisions) and gyri (identify functions)

Medial Longitudinal Fissure:

Cruciate/Central Fissure:

Superior Frontal Fissure: (no function necessary)

Rhinal/Lateral Fissure:

Precentral Gyrus:

Postcentral Gyrus:

Superior Temporal Gyri:

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Images obtained from http://academic.scranton.edu/department/psych/sheep/newsheep/practice/welcome3.html and http://www.psychology.uoguelph.ca/learnmatl/sheep_labman/MidSagittalCuts.html

Subdivisions of the brain:

The brain is divided into different sections. You should know them all and be able to

identify which structures are in which subdivision of the brain.

Forebrain

Telencephalon: (including Rhinencephalon)

Diencephalon:

Midbrain

Mesencephalon:

Hindbrain

Metencephalon:

Mylencephalon:

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Images obtained from http://academic.scranton.edu/department/psych/sheep/newsheep/practice/welcome3.html and http://www.psychology.uoguelph.ca/learnmatl/sheep_labman/MidSagittalCuts.html

Lateral diagram

Cerebellum

Lateral olfactory tract

Olfactory bulb

Pyriform lobe

Rhinal/Lateral fissure

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Lab 1 Drawings & Functions

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Images obtained from http://academic.scranton.edu/department/psych/sheep/newsheep/practice/welcome3.html

Lab Two ~ Cranial Nerves

Page 18 in Vanderwolf & Cooley

Being examining the ventral surface of your specimen. Some cranial nerves may be intact

and visible on your specimen. The nerves look like round, flat openings that protrude from

the ventral surface. Using the diagram provided in the manual and your textbook, identify as

many sets of cranial nerves as possible. Be familiar with their location/order as well as their

function(s) and fibre type. You should be able to find cranial nerves I, II, III, and VI without

difficulty.

*Please note that only a few nerves will still be visible on your specimen. The important

information is approximately where they are and what they do rather than to be able to

locate them on a specimen. Identify whether the nerve is primarily motor, sensory or both

and what it controls/relays in each case.

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Lab 2 Drawings & Functions

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Lab Three ~ Ventral Surface

Page 18 in Vanderwolf & Cooley

Continue investigating the ventral surface of your specimen.

Using your manual and textbook, locate all structures listed and give the function of those in

bold.

Ventral diagram

Cerebral Peduncle

Entorhinal cortex

Infundibulum

Interpeduncular fossa

Mammillary body

Medulla

Olfactory bulbs

Olfactory tracts

Optic chiasm

Optic nerve

Optic tract

Pons

Pyramidal tract

Spinal cord

Trapezoid body

Ventral median fissure

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Lab 3 Drawings & Functions

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Lab Four ~ Mid-Sagittal Slice

Pages 21 & 22 in Vanderwolf & Cooley

Now that we have studied the external surface of the brain we are ready to begin dissecting.

Our first slice will be a mid-sagittal slice, directly through the mid-line of the brain.

*Do not begin cutting until properly instructed to do so*

*Do not stick the dissection tools into the tray wax*

Place your specimen in a dissection tray with its dorsal surface up. Have a pair of forceps

and a scalpel ready at hand (Please use caution when handling the scalpels as they are very

sharp). When instructed, begin at the most anterior portion and place the scalpel blade along

the medial longitudinal fissure. Draw the blade toward you in a single fluid motion. Do

Not plunge the blade into the specimen. If the blade becomes snagged, do not re-cut the

same area over, rather, spread the two hemispheres apart and continue the slice in the same

motion. The forceps may be used to separate the hemispheres, or one partner may hold the

specimen while the other slices. Cut only the depth of the blade. Slicing the brain will

require several passes.

You have just divided the brain into two hemispheres and many internal structures are now

visible. Please diagram your specimen, identify the following structures and give the

functions of those structures which are in bold.

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Mid-sagittal diagram

IVth ventricle

Anterior commisure

Cerebral aqueduct

Cingulate gyrus

Corpus callosum

Fornix

Habenula

Inferior colliculus

Lateral ventricle

Mammillary body

Massa intermedia

Medulla

Optic chiasm

Pineal body

Pons

Posterior commissure

Primary fissure

Septum pellicidum

Spinal cord

Superior colliculus

Tegmentum

*When you have finished, please rinse the dissection tray and your tools in the designated

sink. Stack the trays, leave your scalpels at the front, and replace any pointers/forceps etc.

in their containers with the pointy ends down.*

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Lab 4 Drawings & Functions

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Lab Five ~ Visual Projections

Pages 88 & 89 in Vanderwolf & Cooley

Images from: http://www.doc.gold.ac.uk/~mas02fl/MSC101/Vision/Pics/VisualPathways.jpg

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Binocular Depth Perception

Monocular Depth Perception

Binocular area

Images from: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Anatomy_and_Physiology_of_Animals/The_Senses

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Lab Five ~ Auditory Projections

Pages 86 & 87 in Vanderwolf & Cooley

Image from: http://ivertigo.net/graphics/audiology/pathsLAB.jpg

Cochlear

Projections

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*This is the end of the first term material*

Your Christmas Lab Midterm will be held at 9:30 AM on

Friday, November 21th

, 2014

Answer Key for Matching

Lab 1

1, 4, 5, 2, 3

Lab 3

13, 12, 6, 4, 5, 14, 8, 9, 7, 10, 11, 3, 1, 16, 2, 15

Lab 4

21, 13, 18, 10, 9, 12, 6, 3, 8, 15, 7, 20, 14, 5, 19, 16, 2, 11, 1, 4, 17