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Psych 275 Chapter 1: Introduction toBiopsychology
Key themes: thinking creatively, clinical implications, evolutionary perspective,
neuroplasticity, epigenetics, and consciousness
Overview: The human brain weighs about 1.3kg (2% of the human body that
consumes 25% of total energy) and is an intricate network of neurons (cells that
receive and transmit electrochemical signals and many other cell types. There are
about 90 millions neurons in a complex array with an estimated 100 trillion
connections.
- Neuroscience: the scientific study of the nervous system
- Many things that researchers learn about the functioning of the brain comes
from studying dysfunctional brains. Many of these findings have relevance to
the treatment of brian dysfunction. Environmental pressures most likely
contributed significantly to the evolution of the brain and behavior.
Evolutionary perspective: comparative approach to try and understand biological
phenomena by comparing different species
Neuroplasticity: the brian is a changeable/plastic organ that continually grows and
changes in response to the environment and experiences.
- Until the early 90’s most neuroscientists thought the brian was a 3D array of
neural elements wired together in a massive network of circuits but it failed to
recognize that the adult brian is not a STATIC network of neurons.
Epigenetics: genes do not control characteristics but rather characteristics are the
product of interactions between your genes and your experiences. Experiences you
have can be passed onto future generations.
Consciousness: the perceptions or awareness of some aspect of one’s self or the
world. We are not consciously aware of much of the information we receive from our
environment, there are many different states of consciousness, and there can be
dramatic alterations in consciousness as a result of brain dysfunction.
What is Biopsychology?
Biopsychology (psychobiology, behavioral biology, behavioral neuroscience): the
scientific study of the biology of behavior (biological approach).
- Psychology is the scientific study of behavior - the scientific study of all overt
activities of the organism as well as the internal processes that are presumed
to underlie them (learning, memory, motivation, perception, and emotion).
→ Biopsychology did not develop into a major neuroscientific discipline until the
20th century in The Organization of Behavior in 1949 by Donald Hebb. *first complex
theory of how perceptions, emotions, thoughts, and memories may be produced by
,brain activity. This discredited the belief that psychological functioning is too
complex to have routes in the psychology and chemistry of the brain. This studied
human and non-human animals using clinical case studies and logical arguments.
- The ultimate purpose of the nervous system is to produce and control
behavior which is why psychology is integrated into other neuro-scientific
subdisciplines.
- Neuroanatomy: the study of the structure of the nervous system
- Neurochemistry: the study of the chemical bases of neural activity
- Neuroendocrinology: the study of interaction between the nervous
system and the endocrine system
- Neuropathology: the study of nervous system dysfunction
- Neuropharmacology: the study of the effects of drugs on neural activity
- Neurophysiology: the study of the functions and activities of the
nervous system
What types of Research Characterize the Biopsychological Approach?
This can involve either human or nonhuman subjects, can take the form of either
experiments or non-experimental studies, and it can be either pure or applied.
Human and Nonhuman Subjects
- Nonhuman subjects typically involve mice or rats however cats, dogs, and
other nonhuman primates are also commonly studied.
- Advantages of human subjects: they can follow instructions, can report their
subjective experiences, and often are “cheaper” because only the highest
standard of animal care is acceptable (high-cost to maintain an animal
laboratory).
- The brains of humans have similar fundamentals to other mammals where
they may differ in size and extent of cortical development **quantitative
differences rather than qualitative
- Advantages of Nonhuman subjects: brains and behavior are typically simpler
then human participants and therefore more likely to reveal fundamental
brian-behaviour interaction. Comparative approach is used where you are
able to compare different species that have different brain
anatomy/chemistry. You are able to conduct studies that are not ethically
allowed to be conducted on humans. (Ethical question: do the potential
benefits of a research study outweigh the stress induced to nonhuman
subjects?) *all research is still regulated on strict ethical guidelines set by
ethical committees that focus on the THREE R’s:
- Reduction: efforts to reduce the number of animals used in research
- Refinement: refining research studies, and the way animal are cared for
to reduce suffering (better living conditions)
, - Replacement: replacing animal subjects with alternate techniques,
such as experimenting in cell cultures or using computer models.
(crash-test dummy instead of live pigs)
Experimental
This is used to study causation.
1. The experimenter designs two or more conditions the subjects will be tested
in
a. Typically different groups are tested under each condition
(between-subjects design)
b. Sometimes it is possible to test the same group under each condition
(within-subjects design)
2. Subjects are assigned to condition, the treatment is administered, and the
researcher measures the outcome to ensure only relevant differences are
compared.
a. Independent variable: the differences between the conditions
b. Dependant variable: the effect of the independent variable *any
differences in the dependent variable between the conditions must
have been caused by the independent variable.
c. Confounded variable: occurs when one or more differences could
affect the dependent variable where it is hard to tell if it was caused by
the independent variable or the unintended difference. *this can be
hard to eliminate - Coolidge effect was tested with the elimination of
the confounding variable with female subjects (not a factor with male
subjects).
Physical or ethical limitations can make it impossible to assign subjects to particular
conditions or administer assigned conditions to specific subjects.
Nonexperimental
→ Quasi-experimental Studies: in prohibited situations this is used to conduct
studies of groups who have been exposed to the conditions of inserts in the real
world. These are not true experiments as they cannot control confounded variables
(no random assignment). This tells us correlation not causation.
→ Case Studies: studies that focus on a single subject or very small number of
subjects. Focus on providing in-depth insight into one situation in order to develop a
testable hypothesis. Although because all individuals are different in both brain
function and behavior we are not able to generalize our findings (low
generalizability)
Pure Research: motivated primarily by the curiosity of the researcher and is done for
the sole purpose of acquiring knowledge. Many scientists believe this is more
practical than applied research.
, - Translational research aims to translate the findings of pure research into
more useful applications
- This is subjected to political regulation more as no immediate practical benefit
is seen.
Applied Research: Intended to bring some direct benefit to humankind. Attempt to
move directly towards application without fully understanding basic principles.
What Are the Divisions or Areas of Biopsychology? **Areas studied in neuroscience
and biopsychology
Physiological psychology
Studies the neural mechanisms of behavior through the direct manipulation and
recording of the brain in control experiments (surgical and electrical methods).
Almost always done on nonhuman subjects fire to the focus of direct brian
manipulation. This is a tradition of pure research that contributes to the development
of theories on the neural control of behavior .
Psychopharmacology
Focuses on the manipulation of the neural activity of behavior and behavior with
drugs. This is typically applied research although sometimes it is used as to study
the basic principles of experiments to develop therapeutic drugs to to reduce drug
abuse. This is done on human and nonhuman animals.
Neuropsychology
The study of the psychological effects of brain dysfunction in human patients. This is
exclusively done through case studies and quasi-experimental studies of patients
with brain dysfunction due to disease, accidents, or neurosurgery. *the main focus is
the cerebral cortex as it is the outer layer that is most likely damaged. This is always
considered to be pure research with the aim of developing effective treatments,
facilitating diagnosis, and aid in patient care/counseling.
Psychophysiology
This studies the relation between physiological activity and psychological processes
in humans. Studies are typically noninvasive and recorded from the surface of the
body. *focus on attention, emotion, and information processing
- Electroencephalogram (EEG): a way of measuring brain active on the scalp.
Muscle tension, eye movement, and ANS activity markers (HR, BP, pupil
dilation, and electrical conductance of the skin can be used). The ANS
regulates the body's internal environment.
Cognitive neuroscience
One of the newest decisions of biopsychology is the study of the neural bases of
cognition (higher intellectual processes such as thought, memory, attention, and
complex perceptual processes). This uses human participants as its methods tend to
be non-invasive rather than involving penetration and direct manipulation of the
brain.
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