The Brain Teaching Modules

FACULTY GUIDE

The Brain Teaching Modules

SECOND EDITION

Frank J.Vattano Thomas L. Bennett Michelle Butler Department of Psychology

and Office of Instructional Services Colorado State University

From

The Annenberg/CPB Multimedia Collection

Faculty Guide for The Brain Teaching Modules, Second Edition by Frank Vattano, Thomas L. Bennett, and Michele Butler

Copyright © 1997 by Worth Publishers, Inc.

The Second Edition Revision and new productions is funded by Worth Publishers, Inc. with additional support from The Annenberg/CPB Multimedia Collection

The original series, THE BRAIN, was produced by WNET with major funding by the Annenberg/CPB Project

All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

The contents, or parts thereof, may be reproduced for use with the The Brain Teaching Modules, Second Edition, but may not be reproduced in any form for any other purpose without the prior written permission of the publisher. For information about licensing the course, purchasing videocassettes, call 1-800-LEARNER, or write the Annenberg/CPB Multimedia Collection, P.O. Box 2345, South Burlington, VT 05407.

ISBN: 1-57259-477-2 (EAN: 9781572594777)

Third printing

Worth Publishers 41 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10010 www.worthpublishers.com

Contents Introduction

Module # Time Title

Foundations 1 7:08 Organization and Evaluation of Brain Function 2 6:50 The Effects of Hormones and the Environment on Brain Development 3 4:02 Gender Development: Social Influences 4 4:02 Intelligence and Culture

Cortical Organization and Specialization 5 6:46 The Divided Brain 6 7:44 Language and Speech: Broca's and Wemicke's Areas 7 7:02 Brain Anomaly and Plasticity: Hydrocephalus

Vision and Movement 8 9:11 Visual Information Processing: Elementary Concepts 9 8:45 Visual Information Processing: Perception 10 5:04 Perception: Inverted Vision 11 3:27 Sensory-Motor Integration 12 6:53 Huntington's Disease

Orcadian Rhythms, Sleep, and Dreaming 13 6:09 Sleep and Circadian Rhythms 14 11:12 Sleep: Brain Functions 15 8:23 REM Sleep and Dreaming

Memory and Amnesia 16 6:28 The Locus of Learning and Memory 17 8:19 Learning as Synaptic Change 18 10:35 Living With Amnesia: The Hippocampus and Memory 19 7:06 Alzheimer's Disease 20 9:57 A Super-Memorist Advises on Study Strategies

Stress and Coping 21 10:59 Emotions, Stress, and Health 22 2:49 Coping with Stress: Control and Predictability

Personality and Aggression 23 9:09 Multiple Personality 24 7:17 Aggression, Violence, and the Brain 25 12:03 The Frontal Lobes and Behavior: The Story of Phineas Gage

iii

Module # Time Title

Psychological Disorders 26 5:39 Schizophrenia: Symptoms 27 14:45 Schizophrenia: Etiology 28 6:33 Schizophrenia: Pharmacological Treatment 29 12:03 Autism

Treatment of Brain Disorders 30 11:58 Understanding the Brain Through Epilepsy 31 11:09 Brain Transplants in Parkinson's Patients 32 11:54 Neurorehabilitation

Credits

iv Faculty Guide The Brain Teaching Modules

1

Introduction The Brain Teaching Modules, second edition, has been designed to enhance the teaching of general psychology and related courses. It contains thirty-two modules, averaging eight minutes each. The brevity of the modules provides instructors with the flexibility to incorporate them easily into their courses.

Originally edited from Annenberg/CPB's series The Brain—eight one-hour programs that first aired on PBS in 1984—this series of modules was first produced in cooperation with WNET, New York, with funding from the Annenberg/CPB Project, Washington, D.C.; this edition has been funded by Worth Publishers with additional support from the Annenberg/CPB Multimedia Collection.

The Modules were revised with the following guidelines in mind:

• To maintain the integrity of the contents of the larger programs from which they were derived while capturing significant principles, facts, and/or theory into a meaningful, short-segment video. • To keep the individual modules as short and comprehensive as possible. • To identify all participants, including their institutional affiliations. • To illustrate commonly presented topics in college-level general psychology text-books and in

more advanced college coursework. • To design modules that afford maximum user flexibility, keeping in mind individual

preferences. • To expand their usefulness beyond the general psychology course to courses in physiological

psychology, abnormal psychology, neuropsychology, and occupational therapy.

New to the Second Edition This second edition of The Brain Teaching Modules represents a substantial revision of the original series. Ten modules are new and, of those modules that have been retained from the first edition, only five remain the same, seven have been heavily revised, and twelve have been edited slightly. Three modules from the first edition were deleted. The modules of the second edition have been organized into nine subject categories for ease in identifying the content areas common to many texts.

For those instructors who used the first edition of The Brain Teaching Modules, the table on page 2 indicates which modules are new, which have been revised, and which have not been altered. First-edition module numbers are included so that you may use your earlier notes.

Use of This Faculty Guide This Faculty Guide is intended to facilitate your use of The Brain Teaching Modules. For each module, it provides a description of the module; interpretive comments, which explain the purpose of the module and indicate the topics for which the module might be used; and notes regarding how it differs from the first edition.

Second Edition Module Number

Title

First Edition Module Number

Comments

1 Organization and Evaluation of Brain Function 1 Material added

2 The Effects of Hormones and the Environment on Brain Development 8 New audio 3 Gender Development: Social Influences 9 No change 4 Intelligence and Culture 22 No change 5 The Divided Brain 4 Minor changes 6 Language and Speech: Broca's and Wernicke’s Area 3 No Change 7 Brain Anomaly and Plasticity: Hydrocephalus 5 Material added 8 Visual Information Processing: Elementary Concepts 11 Modified slightly 9 Visual Information Processing: Perception 12 Material added 10 Perception: Inverted Vision 14 New graphics 11 Sensory-Motor Integration 10 New graphics 12 Huntington's Disease New module 13 Sleep and Circadian Rhythms 15 Minor Edits 14 Sleep: Brain Functions New module 15 REM Sleep and Dreaming 17 No changes 16 The Locus of Learning and Memory 19 Updated 17 Learning as Synaptic Change 21 Material added 18 Living With Amnesia: The Hippocampus and Memory Similar to 1/e #20 19 Alzheimer's Disease 7 Updated 20 A Super-Memorist Advises on Study Strategies Replaces 1/e #18 21 Emotions, Stress, and Health 29 Minor edits 22 Coping with Stress; Control and Predictability 28 No changes 23 Multiple Personality 24 Updated 24 Aggression, Violence, and the Brain 30 Minor edits and

new interviews 25 The Frontal Lobes and Behavior 2 Imaging graphics

The Story of Phineas Gage added 26 Schizophrenia: Symptoms 25 New categorization of the disorder and minor edits 27 Schizophrenia: Etiology New; replaces #26 28 Schizophrenia: Pharmacological Treatment New; replaces #27 29 Autism New module 30 Understanding the Brain Through Epilepsy New module 31 Brain Transplants in Parkinson's Patients New; replaces #6 32 Neurorehabilitation New module

2 Faculty Guide The Brain Teaching Modules

MODULE 1

Organization and Evaluation of Brain Function (time: 7:08 minutes)

DESCRIPTION This module begins with a race-car driver exercising his skill in negotiating a series of turns in a highly competitive race. The scene shifts to action diagrams of the various brain areas associated with certain race-driving behaviors. The module illustrates several ways in which we study brain activity such as the computerized axial tomograph (CAT) scan, positron emission tomograph (PET) scan, the electroencephalograph (EEC), sensory event related potentials, and three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Dr. Erin Bigler (Brigham Young University) demonstrates the use of the latest imaging technology and its role in the diagnosis of brain injury.

INTERPRETIVE COMMENTS A good introduction to the general external topography of the brain, this module highlights the brainstem (which regulates sleeping and waking behavior), the midbrain, the limbic system, the visual projection area, sensory-motor strips, and the frontal lobes. Make suie students are aware that these are major brain areas and that more specific activities than those mentioned here are also mediated in these areas, as demonstrated in subsequent modules.

Also, forewarn students that Jesse Salb's demonstration of the sensory event related potential apparatus occurs very quickly. They must therefore watch carefully for the yellow and red areas in the back of the brain that signify a high level of activity during visual stimulation.

NOTES This replaces module 1 of the first edition; it contains new material on magnetic resonance imaging techniques for evaluating brain functions.

Faculty Guide The Brain Teaching Modules 3

MODULE 2 The Effects of Hormones and the Environment on Brain Development (time: 6:50 minutes)

DESCRIPTION The beginning narration of this program cites some statistical differences between males and females in terms of hand preference and other subtle sensory capacities. Along with descriptions of the differing abilities of left-handed and right-handed individuals and in utero photography showing a fetus moving in a random fashion, the narrator explains that hand preference might be influenced by the hormone testosterone.

Dr. Marian Diamond (University of California, Berkeley) is shown in her laboratory working with rat brains. Dr. Diamond has found structural differences in the cortexes of male and female rats—in males the right hemisphere is thicker than the left, whereas in females the thickness of the right and left hemispheres is similar and the shapes are more symmetrical. Diamond describes how these differences can be reversed by removing the ovaries and testes of newly born rats, thus altering their hormonal influences on the brain.

In another experiment comparing different environments and their effect on brain development. Dr. Diamond has found that enriched environments produce brain growth and impoverished environments retard brain growth, and that the enriched and impoverished environments affect male and female rats differently. Her conclusions are summarized in terms of amount of brain growth and sex differences. Dr. Diamond suggests that it is possible to extrapolate these findings from rats to humans. In fact, most recent research establishes a similarity.

INTERPRETIVE COMMENTS The module presents some rather startling and significant findings which address the important topic of gender differences. The in utero photography is stunning.

Dr. Diamond is a most impressive female role model of a scientist who is doing ground-breaking research with far-reaching implications. The work seen here represents yet another example of the importance of using animals in research, with important implications for understanding human brain function. Finally, the results of the influence of different environments can open up a discussion of the nature/nurture issue in development.

NOTES This replaces module 8 in the first edition. It contains new audio in which Dr. Diamond describes the current status of her research.


MODULE 3

Gender Development: Social Influences (time: 4:02 minutes)

DESCRIPTION The narrator reminds the viewer that gender development is influenced by both biological and environmental factors. Using voice-over action, the program shows Dr. Caroline Smith (University of Sussex) in her laboratory where she is studying the differences between mothers' reactions to girls and to boys.

Dr. Smith offers a baby boy to a mother as she observes the mother's reaction to the child. The mother hands the boy a hammer and allows the child to explore his environment as she places him on the floor.

The boy is then dressed up like a girl and offered to another mother as Jane. The mother talks more to the child and offers the child a doll. She tells the child she is pretty. She does not place the child on the floor nor does she allow the child to explore the environment.

Dr. Smith's research presents evidence that we do indeed treat boys and girls differently. As explained by the narrator, we talk more to girls and do not encourage them to be active, as we do boys. We offer them different experiences and encourage different abilities. The question remains, however, whether the different characteristics of males and females are mainly the result of experience.

The scene shifts to a male chef in a kitchen preparing a special sauce. The narrator points out that, although we may treat girls and boys differently, individual differences exist in the expression of behaviors despite varying environmental influences.

INTERPRETIVE COMMENTS This is an excellent module which clearly demonstrates how we treat children as a function of their sex. The examples are clear and vivid. The point made here is cleverly presented and very convincing for what we already know to be the case. This module will elicit laughter from the viewers when they observe the male child being disguised as a girl. It provides a good starting point for discussion of gender identity, gender role, and gender-typing.

NOTES This was module 9 in the first edition—no content changes.


MODULE 4

Intelligence and Culture (time: 4:02 minutes) DESCRIPTION

In this module. Dr. Judy Kearins (University of Western Australia) describes her studies comparing the skills of white Australian children with those of aborigines. On the basis of observation, Australian aborigine children seem to be superior to white Australian children in tasks that require visual/spatial skills. To demonstrate these differences, Dr. Kearins has developed recognition tests using either man-made objects or natural objects, such as rocks of different sizes and shapes.

When compared to white Australian children, aborigines perform far better in tests with natural objects. As Dr. Kearins administers a natural-object test to an aborigine child, she describes the superior performance on the basis of visual/spatial development. Apparently, the learning involves right-hemisphere activity, whereas the left hemisphere dominates when the verbal skills associated with man-made objects are required.

In summarizing. Dr. Kearins indicates that aborigine children perform about three years ahead of white children on her natural-object tests. She also indicates that aborigine children perform their tasks on a more or less continuous basis with few pauses. White children, on the other hand, seem to talk to themselves, trying to verbalize about the objects. Apparently, the two different groups of children use different problem-solving strategies and perhaps different brain hemispheres.

INTERPRETIVE COMMENTS This module is an excellent example of cultural bias in testing. Dr. Kearins has demonstrated quite convincingly that environmental influences play an important part in how individuals learn to cope. It is an excellent example of how different cultures are adept at different sorts of cognitive processing. This module provides an opportunity to raise the issue of whether intelligence involves a single ability (g) or several abilities, as suggested by the multiple intelligences theories of Howard Gardner and Robert Stemberg, for example. Gardner, in particular, emphasizes the domain of psychomotor (movement) intelligence. In light of recent evidence that environmental influences may help to sculpt the brain. Dr. Kearins study may shed some light on how environmental demands influence the way in which children perceive their world.

This was module 22 in the first edition. The content has not changed; the audio has been enhanced. NOTES


MODULE 5

The Divided Brain (time: 6:46 minutes)

DESCRIPTION Using action graphics, this program begins by reviewing the specialized functions of the two cerebral hemispheres. It continues with a description of the asymmetry of the two halves of the brain, diagrams of the contralateral neural connections, and illustrations of how the corpus callosum enables the two hemispheres to communicate.

Split-brain surgery is described as a means of arresting some forms of advanced epilepsy. Vicki, who suffered from epilepsy, is a split-brain patient who is being monitored by Dr. Michael Gazzaniga (Cornell Medical Center). The viewer first hears Vicki's own description of her postoperative condition. We then see her being tested by Dr. Gazzaniga. She is asked to focus on a dot in the center of a screen. Visual pictures of objects are flashed on either or both sides of Vicki's visual fields as she fixates on the black dot. When asked to respond verbally or in writing, Vicki demonstrates hemispheric specialization. Action diagrams trace the stimulus input to the respective sides of her brain. These demonstrations and diagrams show the verbal dominance of the left hemisphere. For example, when Vicki is asked to describe (verbal task) a picture of a woman talking on the telephone presented to her right hemisphere, she demonstrates confusion. She is then asked to close both eyes and write what she saw with her left hand. Because this task requires that she use her right motor cortex, she is able to write the word "telephone" (which she cannot say with her language-dominant left hemisphere).

INTERPRETIVE COMMENTS This module vividly presents hemispheric dominance and specialization in the split -brain patient. The visual crossover pathways at the optic chiasm are shown. In this illustration, the visual images are presented to either the right or left visual fields. It is important to explain the differences between the right and left visual fields and the right and left visual cortices. It is also important to emphasize how each hemiretina functions when a person looks either right or left of center.

It would be helpful to play the segment showing Vicki being tested by Dr. Gazzaniga a second time to assist students in understanding the specialized functioning of the two hemispheres: speaking is mediated in the left hemisphere and writing with the left hand is controlled by the right hemisphere.

It is also important to remember that all split-brain patients have suffered from poorly controlled epilepsy in the past; therefore, some of the findings may reflect changes in brain organization secondary to the epilepsy.

NOTES Formerly called Split Brain, this was module 4 in the first edition. It has been edited to make the presentation more succinct.


MODULE 6

Language and Speech: Broca's and Wernicke's Areas (time: 7:44 minutes)

DESCRIPTION The opening scene is an action visual of the brain, focusing on the left hemisphere. The narrator describes the left hemisphere's specialized functioning in terms of language and speech.

The classic case of Paul Broca's patient named "Tan" (the French pronunciation is "Tau") is reviewed. The brain, which was discovered in a Paris museum, is shown undergoing CAT scan analysis. The scan reveals extensive damage in the left frontal region.

The scene shifts to a patient, Charles Landry, who has suffered a stroke in his left hemisphere. Mr. Landry is interviewed by the late Dr. Norman Geschwind (Harvard Medical School), who describes the language difficulty associated with damage to the left hemisphere using a diagram of auditory processing. Through this technique, Geschwind shows the subtleties of language disorder after brain damage.

Wernicke's area is presented in terms of its importance in language comprehension. An action diagram shows how language is processed through Wernicke's area, to Broca's area, and then on to the motor area where speech is executed.

INTERPRETATIVE COMMENTS This module has several outstanding segments. The CAT scan of Tan's brain is dramatic. To expose a preserved brain to analysis after all these years and to corroborate Broca's early finding using a CAT scan are elegant. This is outstanding from both an historical and a functional perspective.

The narrator describes Wernicke's area as a "third" area involved in speech, with Broca's area being first and the motor strip, the second area. In the sequencing animation, however, the narrator refers to Wernicke's area as the first stage in the speech process, Broca's as the second stage, and the motor areas as the third in the sequence. It might be helpful to emphasize this sequence and not confuse the proper order of events with the initial statement about Wemicke identifying a "third" language area for speech.

The final statement in the program is important to reiterate. Charles Landry's brain damage has produced difficulties that are fairly typical of patients with damage to Broca's area.

NOTES This was module 3 in the first edition. The contents remain the same, although a few graphic and script changes have been made to enhance understanding.


MODULE 7

Brain Anomaly and Plasticity: Hydrocephalus (time: 7:02 minutes)

DESCRIPTION Dr. John Lorber (University of Sheffield, England) compares the brain of a normal child with that of a hydrocephalic to illustrate the enormous difference in the size of the ventricles. In the hydrocephalic, ventricular expansion compresses the cerebral cortex, which leads to a loss of brain mass. In the past, hydrocephalus was untreatable, but today infants can be helped through a shunting technique for draining excess fluid from the brain.

The main point of the video is that despite significant compression of the brain tissue, some patients, such as Sharon, are average to above-average in intellectual functioning and can lead normal lives. The program shows Sharon undergoing both a CAT scan and cerebral blood flow analysis, which reveal a severely distorted brain with activity focused mostly in the visual area of the brain. In the normal brain tasks are distributed more evenly. These differences are interpreted in terms of brain plasticity.

Nicole is introduced as another example of brain plasticity. Dr. Erin Bigler (Brigham Young University) describes Nicole's history of early hydrocephalus. The brain scans he shows indicate a loss of brain tissue due to a large expansion of the ventricles, primarily on the left side of her brain. Additionally, the occipital area of Nicole's brain is extensively damaged. At the conclusion of this portion of the video, Nicole's attempt to perform certain tasks shows that although she is unable to do visual/perceptual motor tasks, she has developed normal language skills.

The cases of Sharon and Nicole dramatically demonstrate the brain's plasticity. Although they may raise more questions than answers, they provide a challenge for further research into the brain's remarkable ability to recover from injury.

INTERPRETIVE COMMENTS The emphasis here is on plasticity more than on hydrocephalus. Two points require further clarification and explanation. First, brain injury that occurs early in life is different from brain injury experienced after maturity. This distinction is important to emphasize to students who may overgeneralize from these cases to their ability to recover from accident and injury. Second, although their brains are distorted, both Sharon and Nicole have a cortex which is essential to normal human brain function.

NOTES This was module 5 in the first edition. Another case of hydrocephalus and brain plasticity has been added, as has a discusison of diagnostic tools for evaluating this condition.


MODULE 8

Visual Information Processing: Elementary Concepts (time: 9:11 minutes)

DESCRIPTION This program begins with a brief review of the visual pathway from the eye, through the conductive mechanisms, to the primary striate cortex of the occipital lobe. The work of Drs. Russell Devalois and Roger Tatell (University of California, Berkeley) is presented. Dr. Devalois shows an autoradiograph x-ray picture of a visual pattern projected onto the visual cortex of a monkey, which reveals the rather remarkable precision of the image transduced by the visual system.

Nobel Laureates Drs. David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel (Harvard Medical School) are introduced as pioneers in the visual mapping of the striate cortex of an anesthetized cat. They explain how they serendipitously discovered "feature detectors" in the cat's brain: They had been projecting a black dot on a slide but that there had been no response from the cat's brain; however, when they moved the slide, they found that individual cells in the cat's brain responded to a line created by the edge of the slide. Hubel and Weisel then describe how lines of different lengths elicit responses from specific cells but do not respond to movement in two directions. These feature detectors appear to be selective in terms of length and direction and presumably overlap into contours and gradations of shadow and texture to form object recognition. There is a brief comparison between the interpretations of Devalois and Hubel and Weisel as they relate to the role of the brain in interpreting orientation, edge, and spatial frequencies of visual stimuli.

INTERPRETIVE COMMENTS This program is important because it depicts the original pioneering research on how our visual system transmits and encodes visual information. In particular, it presents basic knowledge about what we now understand to be feature detectors. Although numerous articles relate to this topic, "The Visual Image in Mind and Brain" by Semir Zeki {Scientific American, September 1992, pp. 69-76) is of particular significance. In this article, the author analyzes the distinct attributes of images and how these images are interpreted by the brain. The module "Visual Information Processing: Perception" covers other visual areas involved in perception.

NOTES This was module 11 in the first edition. The narration has been modified slightly to clarify the differences between the theories of David Hubel and Russell DeValois.


MODULE 9

Visual Information Processing: Perception (time: 8:45 minutes)

DESCRIPTION This module concentrates on higher visual areas beyond the striate cortex. In the opening scene, from black dots on a white background emerges a moving Dalmatian dog (figure-ground). The narrator poses the questions, "When does seeing become perception? Where does all this take place?"

Dr. Mortimer Mishkin (National Institute of Mental Health) describes two higher visual pathways emanating from the striate cortex. Along one path signals are sent up to the parietal lobe, which interprets the information in terms of where things are located. Along the other path signals are sent down to the inferior temporal lobe, which helps explain what things are. Dr. Mishkin talks about specific cells in this part of the temporal lobe, which he likens to the "grandmother cells" hypothesized in the 1950s. Visual animations demonstrate that in the monkey's inferior temporal lobe, individual cells fire when presented with an intact image of another monkey's face. When the face is distorted, the cells do not fire. This phenomenon is related to other cells called "cumulative cells," which assist in the recognition of individual faces and other objects. Describing this area as a special-purpose visual system. Dr. Mishkin explains that damage to this region in humans can result in loss of facial recognition.

Dr. Leslie Ungerleider (a colleague of Dr. Mishkin at the National Institute of Mental Health) describes how she uses functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to conduct research on human face recognition. As she discusses her research methodology, we see ongoing neural activity in the temporal region of human subjects as they recognize images of previously presented faces. Dr. Ungerleider then describes the areas of the frontal lobe that are involved in the processing of facial images when a subject is told to hold the image in mind for recognition a short time later, presenting evidence that the same areas of the cortex involved in the processing of information about faces also participate in the long-term storage of memories for faces. So, seeing a face and imagining a face in our mind's eye involve the same areas of the cortex.

The narrator brings us back to the question of how organisms are predisposed to recognize and interpret the qualities of objects; that is, how perception works. The process is simulated with an animated graphic of Jesse Salb's brain-mapping methodology.

INTERPRETIVE COMMENTS The main point of this module is that visual perception is the end result of a complex set of component brain processes mediated by different regions of the brain. The narration and visual illustrations set the stage for discussing perception and its related components. This module also provides a basis for understanding the complex events that we see in certain forms of deficit after brain injury. The functional MRI pictures show the latest in "real time" brain measurement technology. Dr. Ungerleider, like Dr. Diamond (see module 2) represents an impressive role model of a female scientist at the cutting edge of neuroscience research.

NOTES This was module 12 in the first edition. The research of Dr. Ungerleider is new to this module.


MODULE 10

Perception: Inverted Vision (time: 5:04)

DESCRIPTION Susannah Fiennes, a London art student, volunteers for a study on the effects of wearing lenses that invert her visual world—that is, make everything appear upside down. To help the viewer understand the underlying visual mechanism, an animated sequence follows the path of a visual image as it passes through the lenses of the eyes on to the retinas, then to the visual cortex of the brain, where it is interpreted as being right-side up.

As Susannah tries to adapt to her upside-down world, the camera photographs a few scenes through the inverted lenses, providing the viewer with a sense of her upside-down world. We gain an appreciation of what Susannah Fiennes experiences when she tries to pour liquid from a container into a cup. This "experiment" with inverting lenses is conducted for a single week.

Midway through the study, Susannah is asked to write her name without looking at her hands. She writes some letters right-side up and some upside down. When she is able to look at her hands while writing, she writes her name correctly, but it is upside down. On the last day of the study she is able to draw flowers, write her name so that it appears right side up, and ride a bicycle on a road through a dark tunnel. The camera captures the view through the lenses as she rides the bicycle. After wearing the lenses for one week, Susannah removes them and is once again disoriented; within one hour, however, she readapts to her "normal" visual world.

INTERPRETIVE COMMENTS This demonstration is both interesting and can be somewhat confusing to the student. It might be worthwhile, after showing the entire video, to repeat the opening animation of the visual mechanism. The narration describes this process, but additional explanation of how we see in a right-side-up fashion may be necessary. It is also important to emphasize human adaptability as seen by the fact that Susannah can adapt to a world which visually is upside down. Susannah's proprioceptive, kinesthetic, and auditory senses remain unchanged. What is happening during the adaptation process is that Susannah leams to connect a new upside-down version of her visual world to her long-established right-side-up proprioceptive-kinesthetic and auditory world. You might caution the overcurious student not to try this experiment without proper supervision.

This is an excellent module to introduce the empiricist/nativist question and to demonstrate the remarkable plasticity of the nervous system to adapt to new and changing conditions in the visual world. It is also interesting to note (and explain) that it only took one hour for Susannah to readapt to the "normal" world, whereas it required an entire week to manage the initial adjustment.

NOTES Formerly module 14, this module includes a new graphic animation to explain how the visual mechanism inverts images on the retina, then interpets them right side up in the visual cortex.


MODULE 11

Sensory-Motor Integration (time: 3:27 minutes)

DESCRIPTION Olympic Gold Medalist Greg Louganis is described as the greatest diver that ever lived. As he performs three spectacular dives off the ten meter board—including a reverse one-and-a-half with three-and-a-half rotation—we see vividly the elegance of the human body in motion. The program shows Greg's total attention and concentration just prior to his dives. The narrator describes the visual and motor coordination involved in the execution of the perfect "10" performance. The areas of the brain that makes this coordination possible—the motor cortex, cerebellum, and basal ganglia— are illustrated during the narration. Concluding comments refer to the extensive practice that "wires in" the performance as a mere reflex for someone of Greg's ability and talent.

INTERPRETIVE COMMENTS This module provides an opportunity to emphasize senses other than vision while explaining sensory-motor integration. Discussion of the roles of kinesthesis, vestibular functions, and even cutaneous sensitivity would help illustrate how highly sophisticated motor performance depends on all our senses, orchestrated in a coordinated fashion.

The module provides a good example of sensory-motor learning and how natural talent, combined with expert coaching and untiring practice, work together to achieve perfection.

This was module 10 in the first edition. Graphics have been added to illustrate the brain mechanisms involved in sensory-motor integration.

NOTES


MODULE 12

Huntington's Disease (time: 6:53 minutes)

DESCRIPTION Dr. Nancy Wexler (Hereditary Disease Foundation and Columbia University) gives the history of her research on Huntington's disease. She then describes how she discovered a large family in villages around Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela with the largest population in the world having Huntington's disease. As Dr. Wexler describes disease demographics and symptoms, we see various patients from around Lake Maracaibo.

The narrator explains the neurological basis of the disease, accompanied by action graphics of the brain mechanisms. Dr. Wexler describes how she has been personally touched by the disease through the death of her mother and all of her mother's brothers. It is now known that the disease can affect males and females alike, with offspring of an afflicted individual having a 50 percent chance of developing the disorder.

Although there is currently no known cure for the disease, the gene responsible for it has now been identified. With DNA testing, a person can find out whether he or she will get the disease.

Dr. Wexler addresses the ethical and moral question of DNA testing, noting that each individual should be able to decide whether to undergo testing. There are no moral rights or wrongs. At the end of the program Dr. Wexler reflects on her seventeen years of research, explaining that it has sharpened her perspective of what really matters in life. She says, "Everything that you thought was important, was so petty ... and what really matters is sort of life and death, and how you treat your neighbor and your relative."

INTERPRETIVE COMMENTS Huntington's disease affects 1 in 10,000 people, about the same frequency as for Cystic Fibrosis and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Dr. Wexler, a clinical psychologist who has dedicated her career to uncovering the mysteries of a serious disease that touches her in a very personal way, works as part of a cross-discipline team of biologists, geneticists, and epidemiologists. This program is a wonderful case study of how problem-centered research works. Although the gene responsible for the disease has been discovered, it is important to stress that currently there is no known cure for the disease. It is fatal.

NOTES This is a new module. However, some of the material was taken from the original Annenberg/CPB series, with updates on the discovery of the gene by Dr. Wexler.


MODULE 13

Sleep and Circadian Rhythms (time: 6:09 minutes)

DESCRIPTION As the camera pans a serene natural environment, the narrator talks about living creatures and their biological ties to seasons and cycles with inherent interval rhythms. The scene shifts to a sleeping subject, showing a close-up of his rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, as the narrator discusses rhythms and sleep. During a normal night's sleep, the cycle of REM, sleeping, and dreaming occurs every 90 minutes. Five hours of a normal night's sleep are graphically compressed into a 20-second segment in which we see a computer image of brain electrical activity—described as waves approaching and then receding from the shore. This attractive presentation is created from Jesse Salb's sensory event related potentials mapping studies in which different colors represent various phases of the sleep cycle.

The remainder of the module is devoted to an experiment conducted by Michel Siffre, a French cave explorer. In this experiment, Mr. Siffre spends seven months in a Texas cave. During this period Mr. Siffre was "on his own" in terms of time cues. He did not know the time of day, week, or month and had no artificial sound cues. He simply lived in accord with his natural built-in biological rhythms. During the entire seven months, he kept careful records of everything he did. Sleeping/waking, blood pressure, body temperature, brain waves, performance skills, heart rate, and eating behaviors, for example, were carefully monitored and physiological data were telemetrically recorded by a surface support team. This study showed that, although we all live on a routine 24-hour clock of our own creation, nature provides for a 25-hour endogenous sleep/wake rhythm for three-quarters of the adult population.

INTERPRETIVE COMMENTS Although this experiment was conducted with only one subject, other similar studies, involving about a half dozen individuals, have demonstrated the same phenomenon. Sleep is intrinsically interesting to most students, and the program can lead to a lively discussion of the relevant problems related to living in a society geared to rigid time constraints. Furthermore, with the prevalence of transcontinental travel, it becomes apparent that external clocks are not always in synchrony with our internal circadian rhythms. This provides for a nice discussion of jet lag, which people experience when traveling from west to east over several time zones.

NOTES This was module 15 in the first edition. The content has not changed.


MODULE 14

Sleep: Brain Functions (time: 11:12 minutes)

DESCRIPTION The program opens with a general description of the familiar experience of sleep, as we see a young woman preparing herself for this evening ritual.

Dr. Martin Reite (University of Colorado Health Sciences Center) discusses the nature and importance of sleep, emphasizing its restorative function. As the young woman sleeps, the narrator describes methods for recording sleep and characteristics of the five stages (stages 1 through 4, or non-REM [NREM] and REM sleep); the typical EEC patterns are superimposed over the sleeper's image. The typical 90-minute pattern is seen visually as the person ascends and descends through the five stages.

In the final segment of the program. Dr. Reite compares normal sleep with common sleep disorders.

INTERPRETIVE COMMENTS The sleep patterns superimposed over the women in the sleep scene are not her actual patterns; they are typical patterns observed in a sleep laboratory, showing the well-established stages of sleep, including REM. The program makes no attempt to review the details of all the categories of sleep disorders nor does it present all the current techniques for treatment. With modules 14 and 16, this module can be used to enhance students' understanding of the material on sleep provided in literally every general psychology text.

NOTES This is a new module.


MODULE 15

REM Sleep and Dreaming (time: 8:23 minutes)

DESCRIPTION The program opens with comments about the biological necessity for sleep and the fact that everyone dreams. Dr. J. Allan Hobson (Harvard Medical School) discusses the function of dreams. He emphasizes that dreaming is an inherent brain process which must include the notion that the brain is doing something for its own sake—certainly a different interpretation from a classical Freudian view.

The scene shifts to a laboratory where sleep and dreaming are studied, with the narrator explaining how we measure these phenomena. The narrator notes that it was not until the early 1950s when researchers began the systematic study of sleep and dreaming. The discovery of rapid eye movement (REM) has led to a number of interpretations about the functions of dreaming.

Dr. Jason Bimholtz (Rush Presbyterian, St. Luke's Medical Center, Chicago) views ultrasound television pictures of the 4-month-old fetus; the ultrasound provides sufficient detail to clearly identify rapid eye movements (REMs) and certain facial features in the fetus. The program asks, "What function/ if any, does REM plays in a fetus? Does the fact that this apparently similar behavior in a fetus and an adult have any significance? Could the REMs in a fetus represent some similarity to adult dreaming?" We simply don't know.

We do know, however, that sleep and dreaming are related to chemical changes in the brain associated with specific anatomical features. As a diagram of the brainstem and limbic system is shown. Dr. Hobson describes his theory to help explain dreaming. According to this theory, when the brain generates activity during a dream, a switching mechanism in the pons (which is connected to the visual and motor areas of the brain) turns off the bodily responses to the dream. This all occurs with frontal lobe involvement.

Dr. Hobson looks at dreams as expressions of creativity. The module ends with an account of Friedrich August Keckule's discovery of the benzene ring, appearing to him in a dream after years of speculation about how the hydrogen and carbon atoms were arranged to form the compound.

INTERPRETIVE COMMENTS This is an excellent example of ultrasound technology used in studying the development of the fetus. The relationship between REM in the fetus and REM in humans of all ages provides an opportunity for an interesting discussion of what REMs tell us about levels of awareness. Hobson's view of the functions of dreams should be compared and contrasted with other views on the functions of dreams. A comparison with the psychoanalytic interpretation would be appropriate here, or perhaps deferred to a time when Freud is discussed in detail. Recent interpretations from an information-processing perspective would also contribute to a more balanced view on the subject. Two excellent references on this issue are Sleep: The Gentle Tyrant by Wilse Webb, (Boston: Anker, 1992) and The Functions of Dreaming, edited by R. Hoffman (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993).

NOTES This was module 17 in the first edition. The content has not changed.


MODULE 16

The Locus of Learning and Memory (time: 6:28 minutes)

DESCRIPTION Dr. Neal Cohen (University of Illinois, Beckman Center) introduces this program. He focuses on the early study of memory with reference to classic research conducted by Dr. Karl Lashley and later by Dr. Wilder Penfield. Historical footage of Dr. Penfield's work is shown, beginning with him discussing his surgical procedures with a former patient. The various segments address the central question of where learning occurs and where memories are stored. Dr. Cohen compares and contrasts this work and concludes that memories are stored in a distributive fashion across the cortex of the brain wherever processing occurs.

The program ends with an action visual of simulated chemical firing across the synapses of neurons, a process that is thought to be the key to learning and memory. The chemicals are described as either excitatory or inhibitory.

INTERPRETIVE COMMENTS In this program it is often difficult to separate the use of the terms learning and memory. Several times these terms are used interchangeably. As Dr. Cohen suggests, it is probably the distributed action across the brain regions in which processing occurs that mediates both phenomena.

It is important to point out that in the history of psychology—and in the study of learning in particular—the question of where learning and memory take place has occupied investigators for years. Recent work by Drs. Avi Kami and Leslie Ungerleider (Laboratory of Neuropsychology, National Institute of Mental Health) has brought reserachers closer to resolving the issue. Employing the latest magnetic resonance imaging technology, they have been able to identify specific cortical changes in the motor cortex of human subjects who performed two different but highly similar finger-tapping sequences at a set pace. These changes were observed in daily training sessions and remained after a period of more than a year. Ungerleider thinks the brain may set up larger-than-normal expert circuits to handle specific, practiced sequences of move-ments. (APA Monitor, January 1996, 27(1), p. 18).

NOTES This was module 19 in the first edition. On-camera narration by Dr. D. 0. Hebb has been replaced by the interview with Dr. Cohen.


MODULE 17

Learning as Synaptic Change (time: 8:19 minutes)

DESCRIPTION The module begins with a visit to the laboratory of Dr. Jean-Pierre Changeux (Pasteur Institute in Paris), who describes his investigations of the neural networks in the brains of young rats. He explains that his research shows that the process of learning involves both the formation of new connections and the elimination of others.

The narrator wonders about the age-old view that individuals lose brain cells as they get older. Dr. Donald Hebb says this is a myth. According to Dr. Hebb, although at about age 25, individuals do lose some brain cells, they seem to get smarter with age. How can this be? Simply, individuals make better use of what they have, despite the loss of some brain cells.

The scene changes to the laboratory of Dr. Gary Lynch (University of California, Irvine). In his study of the physical changes that occur during the formation of new learning, he has found structural evidence that learning involves the formation of new connections at nerve cell synapses. Electron micrographs show the formation of new connections as a result of passing electrical impulses over individual nerve cells. Dr. Lynch speculates on the research in terms of influencing the location and extent of these changes.

In the last scene Dr. Eric Kandel (Columbia University), who is also a pioneer in the study of tlie basic neurological mechanisms in learning, reviews his research on sensitization and associative learning in a common sea snail, Aplysia. He discusses the relationship of learning in animals with a primitive nervous system to human cortical functioning.

INTERPRETIVE COMMENTS Dr. Changeux has a heavy accent. Although the narrator captures the essence of what he says, listen carefully to this module prior to showing it in class.

Dr. Hebb's comments about the loss of brain cells relates to the often-heard statement that most of us use only a small portion of our brain. This is true but at any given moment we focus on specific tasks and process only a portion of what is going on around us. It would appear that the large majority of our brain cells are "backup systems," called upon when needed. If learning is, at least in part, involved with the streamlining of connections, much of what we possess is not needed for each mental operation involving neural transmission. Dr. Hebb describes this process in his theory of "cell assemblies" in the 1949 classic. Organization of Behavior.

Dr. Eric Kandel's research is an excellent example of how basic research can be used to extrapolate from simple organisms to complex systems. The principles underlying sensitization and classical conditioning are seen in simple organisms with 20,000 neurons {Aplysia) and in humans possessing billions of neural connections. This is how science operates, and the scientists in this program exemplify that as well as anyone.

NOTES This was module 21 in the first edition. Dr. Kandel's review of his research has been added.


MODULE 18

Living with Amnesia: The Hippocampus and Memory (time: 10:35 minutes)

DESCRIPTION This program begins with a commentary about the importance of memory in our day-to-day living. The narrator then introduces Mike, an amnesic individual who has been able to leam compensatory strategies in order to live independently. Mike's memory impairment is believed to be the result of injury to the hippocampus, the brain structure that is important in memory function.

Dr. Thomas Bennett, Colorado State University, reviews Mike's physical status prior to his accident and subsequent status epilepticus, which produced his memory difficulty. Mike describes his reaction to his deficit and his rehabilitation, which has allowed him to live independently—to cope with his problem, Mike writes down absolutely everything that he does or that he has to know. Mike's mother and employer comment on his abilities at work and at independent living.

The narrator returns to the role of the hippocampus in memory and describes Dr. Bennett's animal research into the neural mechanisms underlying long-term potentiation (LTP), which may reflect cellular changes that underlie memory consolidation.

INTERPRETIVE COMMENTS Amnesia appears in many different forms. It seems that both the extent and location of damage can result in varying levels of memory impairment. An important point to emphasize is that Mike and others who experience memory disorders can often leam strategies to compensate at least in part for their memory problems.

NOTE This is a new module; it replaces module 20 in the first edition.


MODULE 19

Alzheimer's Disease (time: 7:06 minutes)

DESCRIPTION When this program was filmed 12 years ago, Eleanor, age 51, was in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. Using footage from that video, the narrator describes how she was then able to lead a church choir. Eleanor herself briefly describes her forgetfumess and how she feels about it.

An action diagram highlights the area at the base of the brainstem, the nucleus basalis, where the problem that causes Alzheimer's arises. The nucleus basalis is the point at which the excitatory neurotransmitter acetylcholine is generated for release to other distant parts of the cortex. In Alzheimer's disease plaques and tangles form at this site, causing cells to die and thus interfering with the release of acetylcholine. The result is neuronal atrophy.

Dr. Barry Gordon (Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine) points out that other neural systems also appear to be related to this disorder. He describes in detail all the brain areas involved in Alzheimer's disease along with the role of acetylcholine. PET scan and brain-image maps accompany verbal descriptions of the behavioral deficits seen in Alzheimer's patients at autopsy.

Eleanor's case study is reviewed. Dr. Gordon discusses his study of her autopsy, which verifies that she had Alzheimer's disease. He concludes by discussing the current status of our knowledge of the disease and the future direction of research into the disorder.

INTERPRETIVE COMMENTS Eleanor's battle with Alzheimer's was followed closely by Dr. Gordon, who, upon her death, conducted an extensive autopsy examination of her brain. Her family has generously given permission to report the results presented in this module. It is worth mentioning that other disorders affecting human memory may give the appearance of Alzheimer's disease. Currently, an accurate diagnosis of the disease can be made only through autopsy, or in some cases, through biopsy. Biopsy is typically not done, although examinations are conducted during initial evaluations to rule out treatable dementias.

NOTES This is an update of module 7 in the first edition. Dr. Barry Gordon discusses Eleanor's physical and mental decline during the years prior to her death, as well as the status of research on and knowledge about this disease.


MODULE 20

A Super-Memorist Advises on Study Strategies (time: 9:57 minutes)

DESCRIPTION At the beginning of this module we see a person dialing a telephone as the narrator explains that short-term memory has an average capacity of approximately seven items. Rajan Mahadevan then demonstrates his phenomenal memory by scanning a 7x7 matrix of digits and recalling all forty-nine digits forward, backward, by columns, you name it. As a further demonstration of his remarkable ability, Mahadevan recites a long sequence of numbers from pi—he has reportedly committed to memory the first 100,000 digits of pi. He recites the numbers as fast as he can speak until interrupted by Dr. Brett King (University of Colorado, Boulder).

Frank Vattano (Colorado State University) asks Mahadevan to offer suggestions to help college students improve their study habits when learning new material. The suggestions are not discipline specific but apply to the study of most school subjects. In summary, they include motivation, active listening, immediate review, attending classes regularly, paying attention to context, review in the class where the information was given, distributed study, and a last-minute review prior to an exam.

INTERPRETIVE COMMENTS Although Rajan Mahadevan's memory for numbers is awesome, it serves merely as a demonstration of the brain's potential. His study suggestions, however, are useful; they are the same as those found in most books on study skills and in sections of memory chapters in general psychology texts. Coming from Rajan, they may have a bit more credibility.

Note that, as Mahadevan indicates, his memory for numbers is "domain specific." He does not appear to have similar abilities with names, letters, or other nondigital material. He does maintain, however, that anyone is capable of increasing his or her capacity for memory with sufficient practice.

NOTES This is a new module, replacing module 18 in the first edition.


MODULE 21

Emotions, Stress, and Health (time: 10:58 minutes)

DESCRIPTION This module is action packed with many transitions from scientists to actors to action graphics. The focus is on prolonged stress and its consequences for health.

In the first scene Dr. Floyd E. Bloom (Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation, La Jolla, CA) discusses chemical messages and the elements of stress. Then Dr. Jay Weiss (Rockefeller University, New York) discusses stress and its properties, emphasizing environmental characteristics that help us to interpret stress-related events.

An action diagram shows the brain releasing hormones through the combined action of the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, adrenal glands, and the locus coeruleus. This is followed by a role-playing situation involving two air traffic controllers. They are introduced as examples of people in highly stressful professions. Scenes from the control tower convey the multitude of decisions associated with this high-stress job and the consequences that result from mistakes in guiding unseen airplanes to and from Dorval Airport in Montreal.

As the narrator explains what is happening, we observe the air traffic controller at work. When the radar equipment goes out, the stress increases: the operators experience mental flashes of aircraft accidents and feel out of control. The early scenes are interspersed with action graphics simulating what is probably going on inside individuals experiencing prolonged low-level stress. Dr. Weiss and Dr. Bloom also describe the relationship between the limbic system and the frontal cortex, speaking to the important balance between these two vital areas. They explain that prolonged stress leads to the breakdown of frontal lobe functioning.

At the conclusion of these sequences, the narrator discusses the role of inhibition in attaining this balance. The neurotransmitter GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) is described as one of the main chemicals in the brain capable of inhibiting the excitatory firing of neurons before they reach the cortex. The tranquilizer Valium is mentioned as one of the GABA-facilitating drugs on the market today. The drug seems to have its main effect on the limbic system.

Dr. Weiss concludes by noting that one of the major lessons of twentieth-century biology is the recognition of the inhibitory role of most neural tissue.

INTERPRETIVE COMMENTS This module has many sequences of action tied together to communicate several messages. The central theme concerns our ability to cope with states of prolonged, and to some extent, uncontrollable stress. Important action graphics show the limbic system and its chemical interaction with endocrine functioning. The role of inhibition is critical to an understanding of how we are able to adjust to variations in stressful environments. An excellent source of information on GABA can be found in "GABAergic Neurons" (Scientific American, February 1988, pp. 82-89).

NOTES This was module 29 in the first edition. The content has not been changed.


MODULE 22

Stress: Locus of Control and Predictability (time: 2:49 minutes)

DESCRIPTION The rat experiment described by Dr. Jay Weiss (Rockefeller University, New York) is a classic. Some form of this experiment appears in virtually every general psychology textbook under the topic of stress and its management.

Dr. Weiss describes the experimental set up in his laboratory. Both rats are connected to a stress stimulus—an electric shock to the tail. One rat, labeled "Control," can turn off the stimulus by turning a wheel. The other rat, labeled "No Control," receives the stress stimulus no matter what it does. Dr. Weiss compares their physiological and neurochemical reactions to the two different stress conditions.

The animal with no control over the shock is in greater danger of developing stomach lesions (ulcers) than the animal that has control over the termination of the stressful event. Dr. Weiss also relates predictability to the differences in the animals' general health. He concludes by drawing a parallel between the rats' situation and control and predictability in our human environments. The evidence is clear that lack of control and predictability can affect general health.

INTERPRETIVE COMMENTS This program illustrates the importance of animal research as a means of promoting human well-being. Showing how well the results of the rat experiment apply to the human situation provides a clear demonstration of what can be learned from animal studies under laboratory conditions. This program can be used to lead into a lively discussion with students by having them identify stress-related factors in their lives and examine the elements they can control and predict which could reduce stress for them. Another point that may warrant comment relates to the etiology of ulcers. Many ulcers, which formerly were thought to be related to stress, have been found to result from the presence of a bacterium E. Pylori in the stomach lining. That's not to say that all ulcers are caused by these bacteria; there are many different types of ulcers. For further reference see Scientific American, February 1996, 274(2), pp. 104-107.

NOTES This was module 28 in the first edition. The content has not been changed.


MODULE 23

Multiple Personality (time: 9:09 minutes)

DESCRIPTION The video opens with Tony walking down a country road, talking to himself about his multiple personalities. The narrator describes Tony as an individual with at least 53 different personalities—Tony, DeDe, and Richard, among others.

Dr. Prances Howland (Yale University School of Medicine) describes Tony's unusual case. The program shifts back and forth among Tony's description of himself. Dr. Howland's commentary, and comments by Tony's wife Roberta.

Tony is shown during a therapy session with Dr. Howland. Roberta is present. Dr. Howland draws various personalities out and probes them about their identity and recognition of the other personalities.

The narrator states that multiple personality starts in childhood, triggered by the need to flee psychologically from real physical or sexual abuse. No one knows what triggered Tony's multiple personality syndrome. Dr. Howland describes some of Tony's personality dynamics and contrasts them to DeDe and Richard.

Tony tries to describe who and what he remembers from his various personalities. Some personalities and events he remembers easily, others are a complete blank. He is particularly affected by what he learns from his visit and examination at the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland.

Dr. Frank Putnam (National Institute of Mental Health, St. Elizabeth's Hospital, Washington, D.C.) explains how event-related potentials can be used for measuring brain activity. He describes an experiment in which he was looking for differences in brain activity between individuals with multiple personality and actors mimicking multiple personality. In comparing the evoked potentials of a group of multiples with those of a group of normal individuals who were asked to mimic or fake new personalities, he found clear differences in the electrical activity patterns of Tony, DeDe, and Richard, which differed from the group of control subjects. Tony was so upset by these findings that he had to leave the room.

The program concludes with the narrator stating that these intriguing biological differences among alter-personality states in multiple personality patients continue to be reported by investigators such as Putnam. The researchers have found stable differences on repeated testing of visual acuity, ocular function, heart rate, galvanic skin response, respiratory rate, and regional cerebral blood How. This suggests that some real bodily and neurophysiological changes may in fact occur when the alternate personalities are present. The narrator ends by saying, "Together, these different forms of data indicate that multiple personality disorder is a valid psychiatric condition that provides an important scientific window into the organization of personality and consciousness."

INTERPRETIVE COMMENTS Tony's case israther rare. However, this module gives the student some insight into what goes on in a therapy session. The research technique used in comparing persons with multiple personality with normal individuals illustrates^ the variety of applications of the-event related^ potential technique for measuring brain activity. As the narrator states, however, many other measures such as visual acuity, ocular function, heart rate, galvanic skin response, respiratory rate, and regional cerebral blood flow have also been employed to show real differences among the alter personalities.

The interpretation of Tony's condition is surely one-sided. The instructor should balance this view with that of the late Nicholas Spanos; his work on role enactments suggests another interpretation. (Spanos, N. P., Weekes, J. R., & Bertrand, L. D. (1985). Multiple personality: Asocial psychological perspective. Journal a/Abnormal Psychology, 94, 362-376) This topic elicits great interest among students due to the number of movies and TV epics that dramatize the disorder, probably out of proportion to its actual occurrence.

NOTES This was module 24 in the first edition. New information on research in alter personalities has been added.


MODULE 24

Aggression, Violence, and the Brain (time: 7:17 minutes)

DESCRIPTION The topic of animal and human aggression and violence is introduced with a scene from a classic experiment of the 1960s. In this clip. Dr. Jose Delgado is shown implanting an electrode in a bull's brain. The scene shifts to an arena where we see the bull charging Dr. Delgado in a matador costume. In the middle of a charge. Dr. Delgado stimulates the bull's brain, and the animal immediately turns to the right and the charge is "short circuited." (The narrator qualifies this account with the words ".. . or so it seemed.")

The next scene shows a more controlled setting with two cats. One has an electrode implanted in its hypothalamus. Upon electrical stimulation, the cat immediately shows signs of rage and strikes at its caged mate. When the current is withdrawn, nonaggres-sive behavior returns. The question is asked, "But what about human behavior?" Are we humans also at the mercy of our primitive brains, which accounts for our violent, aggressive behavior? This leads to the case of Mark Larribus.

Mark Larribus is accused of assaulting and almost killing his girlfriend's 2^-year-old daughter. While in the custody of the courts. Mark is taken to the University of California, Davis, Medical Center. Dr. Joe Tupin has conducted a routine medical examination of Mark and has found a rumor (cyst) adjacent to Mark's hypothalamus. The tumor is removed. Dr. Alia Karim, University of California, Davis Medical Center, reviews Mark's behavioral history of emotional outbursts.

Then, Mark and his wife describe his mental state before and after the operation. There is a dramatic difference in his behavior after the tumor is removed. Mark describes his new freedom: once the pressure on his hypothalamus was removed, his tendency to lose control of his emotions disappeared.

In the last scene. Mark, who has completely recovered and no longer exhibits aggressive and violent tendencies, is reunited with his family. Here is a a clear-cut case of an unacceptable behavior being corrected medically.

INTERPRETIVE COMMENTS Dr. Delgado's brain implantation is a classic experiment that was later criticized for attributing the animal's restrained rage to electrical stimulation, as the narrator suggests in the statement "or so it seemed." Apparently, the stimulation actually caused a motor response of turning to the right rather than cessation of emotional charge. The footage, however, is classic, and the subsequent scenes of the cats "electrical outrage" represents a more accurate interpretation of the relation between hypothalamic stimulation and rage.

Mark Larribus was ultimately cleared of the charges of assault on the basis of insanity. When his biological condition was altered, his psychological state of aggression was arrested. That is not to say that all rage and violence is brought about by pressure on the hypothalamus. Mark's case is one clear example of their relation, and it opens up the possibility for interesting dialogue among your students.

NOTES This was module 30 in the first edition. It contains additional interviews from the original series.


MODULE 25

The Frontal Lobes and Behavior: The Story of Phineas Gage (time: 12:03 minutes)

DESCRIPTION

This program departs from all the others in the series in that it is a reenactment of what happened to a person whose name appears in virtually every general psychology textbook: Phineas Gage. This tragic accident ultimately destroyed Phineas's capacity to function normally. After a tamping rod is blown through his frontal lobe, entering from his cheek and exiting at the top of his skull, Phineas is taken by wagon back to town by his fellow workers. Along the route, the narrator describes some of the physiological events that occur during this type of trauma.

The long trip back to town is interrupted by several diagrammatic descriptions of what happens when the limbic system is separated from the frontal lobes. There is also an account of the role of Substance P, endorphins, neurotransmitter action, and the brain's incredible ability to block pain perception immediately following trauma.

Phineas is taken immediately to the local physician. Dr. Edward Williams, a former railroad worker himself, who attends to cleaning out his wound. In removing bone fragments, the doctor is shown touching a finger of his left hand with a finger on his right hand, both fingers entering the brain from opposite ends of the wound.

The most salient aspect of this short story is that Phineas Gage recovers from the tragic accident, but more physically than mentally. His inability to control his emotions and to focus his attention are dramatically portrayed. Phineas's skull and the tamping rod are shown on display at the Warren Museum of Harvard University.

The scene shifts to the neuroimaging laboratory of Drs. Antonio and Hanna Damasio (Department of Neurology, University of Iowa). The narrator describes their work as we see a moving image taken from Phineas's skull. The revolving image reveals the path taken by the tamping rod and the areas that were most affected.

INTERPRETIVE COMMENTS This reenactment of Phineas Gage's accident illustrates the first documented evidence of how brain injury can affect human behavior. In the process of telling the story, some very good action diagrams show how the tamping rod passed through Phineas's skull and how, in effect, a frontal lobotomy had been performed. It touches upon the perception of pain, endorphins. Substance P, and neurotransmission in general. The incident of Phineas Gage provides some of the background for the book Descartes' Error, by Antonio Damasio, which addresses a number of important issues on the workings of the brain as it relates to emotions. The specifics of Phineas Gage's injury was addressed in the May 20,1994 lead article of Science, vol. 264, pp. 1053-1224. We greatly appreciate and acknowledge the use of the visual of Phineas Gage's skull which appeared on the cover of the Science article referenced above.

NOTES This was module 2 in the first edition. The imaging graphics from the University of Iowa Imaging Laboratory have been added.


MODULE 26

Schizophrenia: Symptoms (time: 5:39 minutes)

DESCRIPTION The program opens with a group of mental health professionals about to observe an interview between a patient named Jerry and Dr. Llewellyn Bigelow at the National Institute of Mental Health, St. Elizabeth's Hospital. Jerry's case and his medication schedule are described.

Jerry enters the room twirling his hair with his fingers. He acts in a disordered fashion, rambling on to the questions put to him by Dr. Bigelow. As he continues to ramble, we hear the voice of Dr. Darryl Kirch (The Medical College of Georgia) describing his behavior.

Dr. Kirch describes Jerry as a classic case of schizophrenia, manifesting practically all the symptoms of the disease. He is characterized as a textbook case: disorganized, with loosely connected thoughts, delusional ideas, disturbances in mood, displaying purposeless and aimless behavior.

Dr. Bigelow asks Jerry what he wants to do. Jerry responds by saying he wants to get dried out, return home, get a job in a bakery, and go to medical school.

Dr. Daniel Weinberger (National Institute of Mental Health) delineates his interpretation of schizophrenia. He focuses on schizophrenia as a global impairment that effects our highest psychological functions.

The scene shirts to a locked psychiatric ward at the National Institute of Mental Health, St. Elizabeth's Hospital, where Dr. E. Fuller Torrey is seen entering the ward. As he proceeds down the hall, he describes schizophrenia by breaking the disease down into what he calls the "rule of fourths": the first quarter are those who will get well and stay well, the second quarter do relatively well on medication and are able to live independently, the third quarter are able to live in a group facility on medication, and the final quarter do very poorly. Ten percent of this latter group will commit suicide within 10 years, and 15 percent will not respond to medication at all. The module ends with Dr. Torrey talking to some of the chronic patients in catatonic postures with blank stares on their faces. Many of these patients also experience brain damage as part of their illness.

INTERPRETIVE COMMENTS This program focuses on schizophrenia as a disease. For those who have not observed hospitalized patients, this is a realistic view of what the disease involves and how disabling it can be. Although the patients presented in this program are all male, the disease is evenly divided between the sexes.

NOTES This was module 25 in the first edition. Dr. E. Fuller Torrey's characterization of the course of schizophrenia is new to this module.


MODULE 27

Schizophrenia: Etiology (time: 14:45 minutes)

DESCRIPTION As the narrator cites some statistics about schizophrenia. Heather and her parents pull up in their driveway and walk toward their house. Heather is the victim of schizophrenia, and the severity of her symptoms is revealed by her incoherence and mannerisms. Heather's mother recounts the difficulties she has when Heather comes home for brief visits from the hospital. Heather is upset when told that she has to return to the hospital.

Or. Arnold Scheibel (UCLA Medical Center) traces the history of attitudes and beliefs about the etiology of schizophrenia, interrupted briefly by comments from Or. Oaniel Weinberger (National Institute of Mental Health). For example, with the dawn of psychoanalysis, schizophrenia was thought to be environmentally caused—the parents were to blame. Scheibel discusses recent research that clearly identifies the disorder as organic in nature, involving chemical and molecular bases. He identifies specific pathological changes in the orientation and organization of nerve cells in the hippocampus in some schizophrenics. Schiebei further explains that the mitotic migration of cells may have been disrupted as a result of some form of flu virus during a critical developmental period in the second trimester of pregnancy. The organic nature of the disease involves both diffuse and focal pathology in a number of different areas of the brain, including the prefrontal cortex. A genetic component for the disease is also well established. The program closes with Heather's mother trying to convince Heather that she must now return to

the hospital but that she will certainly be able to come home again another time. Heather's apparent confusion and incoherence is reflected in her emotional reaction to her mother's request.

The narrator summarizes our current understanding of schizophrenia, that it involves a multiplicity of neurological factors with cognitive and emotional symptoms. Some schizophrenics

can function somewhat independently when treated with some forms of medication in combination with a supportive environment.

INTERPRETIVE COMMENTS It is important to emphasize the scientific evidence in support of schizophrenia being an organic disease. Environmental factors have been discounted as causal, and the evidence is mounting in support of a chemical and neurological basis for the disease. Another point worth reinforcing is that the existence of schizophrenia in one member of a particular family does not mean that others in that family will also develop the disorder. This program is closely related to two other modules in this series— Schizophrenia: Symptoms and Schizophrenia: Pharmacological Treatment.

NOTES This new module replaces module 27 in the first edition.


MODULE 28

Schizophrenia: Pharmacological Treatment (time: 6:33 minutes)

DESCRIPTION The program opens with an interview between Dr. Llewellyn Bigelow and Augustine, a schizophrenic patient who is about to begin a new medication regimen. Dr. Arnold Scheibel (UCLA Medical Center) reviews the various ways in which schizophrenia has been treated since the 1950s, ranging from the use of physical restraints and cool baths to the administration of antipsychotic drugs. He then describes the ways in which certain drugs alter the chemistry of the brain.

Dr. Jack Barchas (Comell Medical Center) discusses the basic elements of nerve conduction. He relates schizophrenia to abnormalities in the actions of neurotransmitters, specifically, the neurotransmitter dopamine. Apparently, an excess of dopamine in some way contributes to the disorder. Drugs that are effective in treatment seem to reduce the levels of dopamine in the brain.

The program returns to a second interview with Augustine, 4 weeks after beginning his new medication. Asked about his earlier and current attitudes and about his goals for the future, August appears more alert and coherent.

Dr. Scheibel then discusses second- and third-generation drugs and their effectiveness in treatment. He emphasizes that medication yields amelioration and stabilization, not a cure.

The program ends with Dr. Bigelow interviewing another patient, Steve, who describes his reactions to drug treatment, followed by comments from Dr. Barchas on the ultimate goals of pharmacological treatments tailored to specific diagnostic categories.

INTERPRETIVE COMMENTS Because there is such a dramatic contrast between Augustine without medication— unkempt and confused—and Augustine after 4 weeks of medication—neat, clean, and coherent—the instructor may want to stop the program to be sure that students understand that these Augustines are "the same person." A brief caption appears indicating that the second interview takes place "4 weeks later" but students may miss it. Dr. Scheibel does a nice job of reviewing roughly 50 years of history in the treatment of schizophrenia.

NOTES This new module replaces module 27 in the first edition.

Faculty Guide The Brain. Teaching Modules 31

MODULE 29

Autism (time: 12:03 minutes)

DESCRIPTION This module opens with the narrator reciting some statistics and descriptive comments about autism and how it was historically viewed. Scenes of autistic children at the North East Center for Autism, Boston, Massachusetts, accompany the narration.

Dr. Margaret Bauman (Autism Research Foundation, Boston, MA), who works with Dr. Thomas Templar, describes the "whole brain serial section" technique that she and her colleagues employ to study brain sections at autopsy. Their study supports the theory that autism is not the result of inadequate parenting style; rather, it reflects a brain malfunction traced to lack of normal neural growth and development during the prenatal period. Dr. Bauman discusses structural abnormalities in limbic and cerebellar circuits that she and her colleagues have identified. These areas are shown in visual detail.

The narrator presents the case of Dr. Temple Grandin, a severely autistic child, now a professor of animal sciences at Colorado State University, who managed to use her autistic way of perceiving the world to her advantage. In a lecture to a student-filled auditorium. Dr. Grandin explains how she was able, with extensive assistance from understanding parents and teachers, to overcome her severe childhood autism. She then describes her reactions to sensory stimuli and her reliance on visual imagery, which gives her a special empathy with cattle. The scene shifts to Dr. Grandin explaining to livestock personnel the rationale for the design of her world-famous holding pens. Her development of the "squeeze machine" for alleviating stress and tension resulted from her experience observing cattle on her grandmother's farm. She demon-strates use of the device and reveals her outlook on her life and professional career.

Dr. Bauman emphasizes the need to go beyond identifying the brain structures related to autism. She points to the need for a neurochemical profile as an ultimate means of treatment.

INTERPRETIVE COMMENTS Several important points are presented in this module. Autism is not a condition associated with poor mothering or bad environments. It is a neurological condition with definite brain structural, and in all likelihood, neurochemical abnormalities. No specific treatment exists for all those with autism, but in special cases (like that of Temple Grandin), remarkable results are obtained with extensive and persistent care from parents and teachers.


32 Faculty Guide The Brain Teaching Module

MODULE 30

Understanding the Brain Through Epilepsy (time: 11:58 minutes)

DESCRIPTION As the program begins, a young boy named Jason is in the middle of an epileptic seizure. Dr. Fritz Dreifuss (University of Virginia School of Medicine), who considers epileptic seizures to be a window for viewing the circuitry of brain activity, explains what is happening. The narrator then describes an action sequence of simulated neural activity, which further explains what is probably occurring in Jason's brain during an epileptic episode.

Dr. Dreifuss explains the neurotransmitter activity of excitatory and inhibitory action, noting that Jason's seizures are due primarily to a lack of adequate inhibitory neurotransmitter function, which allows normal discharges to become abnormally dispersed throughout the nervous system. During these episodes, Jason's brain ceases its normal function, creating an "electrical storm," which is viewed through sensory event related potential recording. The narrator discusses how valproic acid has been used to control the frequency of Jason's seizures by increasing the presence of the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA, which suppresses overexcitation.

Epilepsy can also be treated by surgically removing the part of the brain causing the seizures. Ashley, a 14-year-old who has had epilepsy for 10 years, has undergone such surgery. Before then, she was unable to carry on the normal activities of a young teenager. Ashley's mother, Terri, describes the symptoms of Ashley's seizures as she has observed them in her daughter. Ashley describes her upcoming surgery at the Swedish Medical Center in Denver, Colorado, to her classmates.

Dr. Michael Handler (Swedish Medical Center) describes the basis of the upcoming surgery while the narrator explains that during surgery an electric grid will be placed on the surface of Ashley's brain where it will remain to record any epileptic activity. When the site of the seizures is located, the brain area is carefully mapped to avoid removal of the critical areas that control speech and other major functions. Detailed steps in Ashley's operation are shown. Seen 2 weeks later, Ashley returns to school without having had a single seizure. She describes her experiences to her classmates and in an interview relates her minor memory difficulties as a worthwhile tradeoff for being free from seizures.

INTERPRETIVE COMMENTS This module deals with epilepsy as a brain disorder involving unrestrained electrical activity.

It focuses on two young people, one male, one female—epilepsy is found equally in males and females. The graphic illustrations give the viewer a direct look into the functioning of the brain when it is diseased and after treatment (not for students with weak stomachs). The story of Jason was filmed 14 years prior to that of Ashley. The first situation illustrates that drug therapy may be amelioration, and surgery as possible complete cure. Jason's seizures are kept under control through the action of chemicals which, when taken as prescribed, can assist in normalizing neural activity. Surgical intervention can result in complete elimination of epileptic seizures as evidenced by Ashley, who at the time of this filming, had gone one year without a single seizure. As techniques for diagnosis and detection continue to improve, the promise of surgical intervention for brain disorders is very encouraging. In cases such as Ashley's, long-term observation will help to verify the success of this type of surgical treatment.



MODULE 31

Brain Transplants in Parkinson's Patients (time: 11:09 minutes)

DESCRIPTION The narrator opens the program with a brief description of Parkinson's disease, showing hand tremors in a male patient. Dr. David Marsden (Kings College Hospital Medical Center) describes the symptoms of Parkinson's patients and the basic mechanisms affected by this disease.

A moving diagram of neurotransmission across several synapses identifies the chemical dopamine as deficient in the brains of Parkinson's patients. This deficiency is caused by deterioration of a dopamine-producing structure called the substantia nigra buried deep within the base of the brain. One treatment for the disease involves use of the drug L-dopa, a chemical that provides some temporary relief but also has undesirable side effects.

One of the most promising new approaches to treating the disease involves the implantation of fetal tissue into the basal ganglia (putamen) of Parkinson's patients. Dr. Lars Olson (Karolinska Institute), a pioneer in the development of brain tissue transplants, describes his early animal research on rats. Dr. Curt Freed (University of Colorado Health Sciences Center) reviews the events that led to his first such operation on human patients in 1988.

Dr. Freed then describes the surgical procedure he employs for implanting human fetal brain tissue into one of his patients as part of a double-blind study involving thirty Parkinson's volunteers. Dr. Freed speculates that in the future brain tissue will be grown in the laboratory, thereby eliminating the need for fetal tissue transplants. The final narration is accompanied by a visual of Margaret, one of Dr. Freed's Parkinson's patients. She is shown barely able to get into a chair before transplant surgery and able to play tennis later, after surgery. The results of the operation are dramatic.

INTERPRETIVE COMMENTS This sequence of historical events is significant from several standpoints. First, it clearly demonstrates the beneficial effects of animal research as a means of promoting advances in human medicine. Second, the advances in human brain tissue transplants, as developed by Dr. Freed and his colleagues, speak to the possibility of growing human brain tissue in the laboratory and storing the tissue for future use in the treatment of human brain disease. A third area of significance relates to the use and importance of double-blind control techniques in the conduct of medical research. Because of the invasive nature of this procedure, it is advisable to alert students that they might experience some discomfort in viewing the actual operation as described by Dr. Freed.

Note that it takes about one and a half years for the transplanted tissue to produce its full complement of dopamine. Even then, it does not produce all the dopamine needed by the patients, and so they continue to take L-dopa after surgery.



MODULE 32

Neurorehabilitation (time: 11:54 minutes)

DESCRIPTION This module opens with the narrator introducing the role of rehabilitation in treating brain traumas. The results of treatment and recovery have encouraged a growing number of centers dedicated to working with brain-injury victims. Dr. Thomas Bennett (Brain Injury Recovery Program, Fort Collins, CO) discusses the interdisciplinary nature of treatment in conjunction with community involvement. Through this process, brain-injured individuals remain in their home community while receiving supervision and continued rehabilitation, as needed.

Christy Dittmar (M.S., OTR, Coordinator of the Brain Injury Recovery Program) describes the range of treatment available to assist in recovery. The narrator illustrates activities designed to further the cause of recovery and shows individual patients interacting with rehabilitation therapists.

Thais, a 16-year-old high school honors student, describes her gradual recovery from a serious head injury incurred during an automobile accident. Her mother chronicles her progress through the experience.

The narrator then describes a therapy used to help brain-injured individuals relearn to walk. Dr. Michael Thaut (Center For Biomedical Research in Music, Colorado State University) explains his use of music and rhythmic patterns in the rehabilitation of walking and gait disturbance. He is investigating the interaction between the auditory and motor systems as it relates to rhythmic entertainment mechanisms. To illustrate the results of his research, we see patients walking to music and other forms of auditory rhythmic stimuli.

The case of Jean, the victim of a serious motorcycle accident, brings this module to a close. Jean's case takes the viewer through her struggle from a dismal prognosis to a return to independent living and her high-level administrative position in a large corporation.

The final narration poses a question related to the mechanisms involved in the recovery process, and the brain's ability to apply compensatory strategies in rehabilitation is discussed.

INTERPRETIVE COMMENTS The important message of this module is that people can recover significantly from brain damage. In the past, medicine usually adopted a "wait-and-see" attitude about brain injury recovery, and formal rehabilitation was not done. This module provides examples of the efficacy of formal rehabilitation to enable people to return to school or work. For rehabilitation to be most effective, remediation should be combined with teaching compensatory strategies. To ensure generalization to real-world situations, rehabilitation needs to occur both in the clinic and in the environment where the person spends his or her life, that is, in the community, at work or school, or in the home.



Credits Dr. Janice Nerger Colorado State University

Dr. Frank Putnam National Institue of Mental Health

Dr. Martin Reite University of Colorado Health Sciences Center

Dr. Cecil R. Reynolds Texas A & M

Dr. Arnold Scheibel UCLA Medical Center

Dr. Michael Thaut Colorado State Universtiy

Dr. E. Puller Torrey National Institute of Mental Health

Dr. Leslie Ungerleider National Institute of Mental Health

Dr. Vicki Volbrecht Colorado State University

Dr. Daniel Weinberger National Institute of Mental Health

Dr. Nancy Wexler Columbia University & Hereditary Disease Foundation

Special Thanks to

Autism Research Foundation Boston, Massachusetts

Hereditary Disease Foundation Santa Monica, California

Aimee Sporer Channel #4 News Denver, Colorado

The following individuals and agencies contributed in important ways to the production and development of the second edition of The Brain Teaching Modules. We are greatly indebted to them in making this series possible.

Advisors

Dr. Margaret Bauman Autism Research Foundation Boston, Massachusetts

Dr. Erin Bigler Brigham Young University

Dr. Neal Cohen University of Illinois

Dr. Hanna Damasio Dr. Antonio Damasio University of Iowa

Dr. Marian C. Diamond University of California at Berkeley

Dr. Curt Freed University of Colorado Health Sciences Center

Dr. Barry Gordon Johns Hopkins University

Dr. Temple Grandin Colorado State University

Dr. Eric Kandel Columbia University

Dr. Gary Lynch University of California, Irvine

Dr. Rajan Mahadevan Florida State University

Dr. Mortimer Mishkin National Institute of Mental Health


Ann D'urso-Rose Maiden Access Television Maiden, Massachusetts

Brain Injury Recovery Program Ft. Collins, Colorado

Technical Production

Office of Instructional Services Colorado State University

Dr. Thomas Maher, Director Larry Preuss Associate Director

Sally Hibbitt Television Coordinator

Michael Ellis Television Producer

Ronald Bend Television Producer

Stacy Payne Television Camera

Nicholas Samuelson Television Camera

Greg Nelson Graphic Artrist/Animation

Eileen Fraher WNET, Channel 13 New York, NY

Narration George Page WNET, Channel 13 New York, NY

Music Consultant Dr. James McCray Colorado State University

Center For Biomedical Research In Music Colorado State University and Poudre Valley Hospital Ft. Collins, Colorado

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Winnipeg, Canada

Northeastern Center For Autism Boston, Massachusetts

Swedish Medical Center Denver. Colordado

Ashley Horrigan Terri Horrigan Vicki Gillis Margaret Bryce Thais Berglund Patrice Berglund Jean Brandley Janet Smith, OTR Lynne Howell, M.S., CCC-SLP Lesley Murray Christy Dittmar, M.S., OTR Michael Solomonson Donna Solomonson Jon Davidson


Documents

The Brain Teaching Modules