During the first week of lecture I became confused about what we were defining to be behavior. It seemed to me that processes I had considered to be separate from my previous definition of behavior were being included. Things like the concept of personality rather than the actions that stem from this abstract concept I still believe to affect behavior instead of belonging to such said category. I do think that if we are considering the mind to be part of the brain, then yes, the brain controls behavior ( I do still think that the distinction between mind and brain is giving me a hard time). I do not feel that the brain and behavior are the same thing. Looking at the nervous system in more depth in relation to its role in behavior, it seems that we lose some of our free will. We cannot always control the action potentials that pulse through our synapses. The brain, whether we are conscious of it or not controls the nervous system and these electrical impulses that are ultimately at the root of all of this. It seems to me that when you consider things like chemical imbalances and hormone problems that affect the way people act, this lends itself to giving the brain even more power over influencing behavior. It can be pituitary problems rather than just wanting or not wanting to act a certain way. This biological basis leads me to wonder what kind of control the "mind" really has over the brain, if any, when it comes to influencing our decisions regarding behavior.

Confusion fully understandable. If all goes well, the course should result in some new thoughts about behavior, as well as about the nervous system. We do want to think about behavior and its (presumed) causes, in their entirety, and how all this relates to the brain. And how whether brain, mind, behavior, and "We" are separate things, with varying degrees of power over each other, or all the same thing. PG