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Biological Psychology 303 Fall 10

This lecture introduces the field of biopsychology, which studies the biological basis of behavior, focusing on neuroanatomy, neurochemistry, neuroendocrinology, neuropathology, neuropharmacology, and neurophysiology. Divisions of biopsychology and major debates in neuroscience are also discussed.

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Biological Psychology 303 Fall 10

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  1. Biological Psychology 303 Fall 10 Lecture 1

  2. Neuroscience Biopsychology: the study of the biological basis of behavior the study of : • Neuroanatomy: structure of NS • Neurochemistry: chemical bases of neural activity • Neuroendocrinology: interactions btw NS & endocrine system • Neuropathology: disorders of NS • Neuropharmacology: drugs effects on NS – neural activity • Neurophysiology: function & activity of the NS

  3. Biopsychology Biopsychology is the branch of psychology that studies the relationship between behavior and the body, particularly the brain. Biopsychologists try to go beyond the mechanisms of how the brain works and focus on the brain’s role in behavior. psychology biology mechanisms behavior

  4. Divisions Biopsychology • Physiological Psychology: neural mechanisms of behavior by direct manipulation of the brain (Experimental) • Psychopharmacology: neural activity and behavior with drugs (Experimental & Applied) • Neuropsychology: psychological effects of brain damage in humans (Applied) • Psychophysiology: relation bwt physiological activity & psychological processes in humans – non invasive (Experimental..also Applied) • Comparative Psychology: compare behavior btw species, evolutionary level (experimental) • Cognitive Psychology: non invasive study of brain, cognition, information processing (Applied, Experimental)

  5. Psychopharmacology+ Comparative Psychology + Neuroscience Behavioral Neuroscientist… The impact the Brain has on behavior… that’s a no brainer

  6. But what do you really know about it?

  7. I get no respect… Egyptians Indian Chinese Greeks • necessary for life • emotion HB Aristotle

  8. Hippocrates (460-370 B.C) Galen (130-200 A.D)

  9. "The brain, the masterpiece of creation, is almost unknown to us."  Nicolaus Steno, 1669 Will the human brain ever completely understand its own workings? 3 major debates • Nature of neural communication • Localism vs Holism (Neurons) • Mind vs Brain (monism/dualism)

  10. 3 major debates • Mind vs Brain (monism/dualism)

  11. Mind-Body Question • Dualist: mind separate from body • Mechanist: Body is like a machine • Mind controls the machine • Body tells mind about the environment Rene Descartes (1596-1650) hydraulic model Pipes = nerves Water = fluids in body Hidden Value = Pineal Sensations, memories and other mental functions produced as animal spirits flowing through “pores” in the brain controlled by the pineal gland

  12. Control Valve: Pineal Gland “Seat of the Soul” First technical model for the NS

  13. Innervation of the Pineal Dependent on the Light/Dark Cycle

  14. Debate: Mind vs Brain Mind vs Brain??? Dualism: Brain is physical mind is not Monism: Mind is product of brain Mind-Body Question..are you a monist or a dualist? Biopsychologist: the mind is just an illusion, a sense of mind is nothing more than the awareness of what the brain is doing

  15. 3 major debates • Mind vs Brain (monism/dualism) • Still up for debate…

  16. Next Debate: Nature of Neural Communication: Settled • Electrical Stimulation of frog legs • Contraction of the muscles “Animal Electricity” Luigi Galvani (1737-1798) Italian Physician Anatomist "While one of those who were assisting me touched lightly, and by chance, the point of his scalpel to the internal crural nerves of the frog, suddenly all the muscles of its limbs were seen to be so contracted that they seemed to have fallen into tonic convulsions. “

  17. Doctrine of specific nerve energies • All nerves carry electrical signals • Different nerves = different outcomes Johannes Muller (1801-1858) German Physiologist Debate: Neural Communication

  18. Camillo Golgi (1843-1956) Italian Physician: Silver Staining Method – continuous mass of tissues…one cytoplasm (holism) Santiago Ramon y Cajal (1852-1934) Spanish Histologist Labeled Cells “neuron doctrine” – discrete entities Nobel Prize 1906: Research on structure of the nervous Debate: Nature of Neural Communication

  19. Debate: Nature of Neural Communication • Neurons are discrete and autonomous cells that can interact • Synapses are gaps that separate neurons • Information is transmitted in one direction from dendrites (input) to the axon (output)

  20. 3 major debates • Nature of Neural Communication • Settled…

  21. Next Debate: Localism vs Holism • brought Anatomy & Psychology together • discrete regions of brain controls specific functions = mental state  localization Phrenology (personology) Franz Joseph Gall (1757-1828) German Physician Neuroanatomist

  22. Forebrain telencephalon • Movement • Orientation • Recognition • Perception of stimuli • Reasoning • Planning • Speech Produce • Movement • Emotions • Problem solving • Personality • Visual Processing • Perception & recognition of auditory stimuli • Memory • Speech Comprehension

  23. Wilder Penfield (1891-1976) • American-Born Canadian Neurosurgeon: • Greatest neurosurgeon of all times • mapped the brain • direct stimulation of the brain • “Grandmother Cell"

  24. http://www.psych.ualberta.ca/~gcpws/Penfield/Penfield.html http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=wilder+penfield&pq=wilder+pen&docid=1068722028792&mid=A96D978895922811F964A96D978895922811F964&FORM=VIVR

  25. Localism vs holism?

  26. Most Valuable Player “The Organization of Behavior” (1949) First comprehensive theory on how psychological phenomena might be produced by BRAIN ACTIVITY • perceptions • emotions • thoughts • memories Donald O. Hebb (1904-1985) Canadian Psychologist A large brain, like large government, may not be able to do simple things in a simple way. Donald O. Hebb

  27. “Cell Assemblies” Synaptic transmission Material basis mental associations “Connectionism” LTP • Hebb based his theories • humans and animals • clinical case studies • logical arguments = eclectic approach became a hallmark of biopsych http://www.psych.ualberta.ca/GCPWS/Hebb/Hebb.html

  28. 3 major debates • Localism vs Holism • a little of both going on…

  29. Watson & Crick ( 1953) Nature171, 737-738 (1953) Molecular structure of Nucleic Acids WATSON, J. D. & CRICK, F. H. C. Medical Research Council Unit for the Study of Molecular Structure of Biological Systems, Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge. A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid discovered chemical structure of DNA New debate Nature vs Nurture

  30. New debates Nature vs Nurture http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/SCIENCE96/ <> http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/genome/program.html Francis Collins Human Genome Project (NIH) J. Craig Venter Celera Genomic www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genome/seq/ Sequencing of the human genome: “the book if life” “NCBI Genome Project”

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