Behavioral neuroscience

Behavioral neuroscience studies how the brain and nervous system shape behavior, cognition, and emotion, using evidence from experiments, clinical cases, and biological measurement.

Neural circuit: A network of interconnected neurons whose coordinated activity supports particular functions. Circuit activity links neural organization to specific behavioral and cognitive outputs.
Neuron: An electrically excitable cell that receives, processes, and transmits information in the nervous system. Neurons are the basic signaling units whose activity behavioral neuroscience investigates.
Animal model: A nonhuman species used to investigate biological processes relevant to human health or behavior. Animal experiments permit controlled tests of neural mechanisms underlying behavior.
Franz Joseph Gall: A German physician who proposed that mental faculties were localized in distinct brain regions. His localization claims helped provoke scientific debate about brain organization, despite phrenology's failure.
Cognitive neuroscience: The study of neural mechanisms underlying mental processes such as memory, attention, and language. It overlaps strongly but focuses especially on neural explanations of cognition.
Neurotransmitter: A chemical messenger released by neurons to influence other cells. Neurotransmitters alter communication within circuits that regulate motivation, mood, and action.
Central nervous system: The brain and spinal cord, which process information and coordinate bodily functions. It is the main anatomical system examined in studies of brain–behavior relations.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging: A neuroimaging method that estimates brain activity from changes in blood oxygenation. It maps brain activity associated with cognitive tasks and emotional responses.
Pierre Flourens: A French physiologist who used experimental brain lesions to investigate nervous-system function. His lesion experiments challenged simple maps of localized mental faculties.
Neuroethology: The study of neural mechanisms underlying naturally occurring animal behavior. It emphasizes behavior in ecological contexts, complementing laboratory-focused approaches.

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