Psychosomatic Medicine 31:457-478 (1969)
© 1969 American Psychosomatic Society

Some Recent Neurophysiological Contributions to the Problem of Brain and Behavior

¹ Division of Psychiatry, Montefiore Hospital and Medical Center, and the Department of Psychiatry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine Bronx, NY.

The advantages and disadvantages of cellular neurophysiological technics for recording over time the behaviors of waking and sleeping vertebrates, and invertebrates are pointed out, followed by a selective review of the literature on the relationship of brain to behavior. A survey of the influences of sensory input on many regions of the brain is made. Neurophysiological technics were used for the analysis of tactile placing in cats. Intracellular recordings were made for the analysis of a reflex movement which can also occur spontaneously in a mollusk. A review of the neuronal and behavioral consequences of altering visual input and consequently visual experience follows. The paper concludes with a summary of work on the patterning of neuronal activity in different behavioral steady states and the effects of sensory input and movement on this pattern.