Chapter 1 Biopsychology as a Neuroscience What is Biopsychology Anyway neurons are cells that receive and transmit electrochemical signals 100 billion neurons in a complex array with estimated 100 trillion connections with almost infinite number of paths that neural single scan follow adult brain is not a static network of neurons but a plastic changeable organ that continuously grows and changes in response to the individual s genes and experiences neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system evolutionary perspective is how we try to understand biological phenomena by comparing them in different species 1 What is Biopsychology a Biopsychology is the scientific study of the biology of behavior with psychology at the center i Psychology is the scientific study of behavior but also the scientific study of all overt activities of the organism as well as internal processes that are presumed to underlies then such as learning memory motivation perception and emotion 2 What is the relation between Biopsychology and other Disciplines in Neuroscience a Neuroanatomy study of structure of nervous system b Neurochemistry study of the chemical bases of neural activity c Neuroendocrinology study of the interaction between the nervous system and the endocrine system d Neuropathology the study of nervous system disorders e Neuropharmacology the study of the effects of drugs on the neural activity f Neurophysiology the study of the functions and activities of the nervous system 3 What types of research characterize the bio psychological approach a Human and nonhuman subjects human subjects are better but look at animals like mice and rates or cats dogs or primates to see the evolutionary continuity oft eh brain i sometimes animals even good as they have brains that are somewhat simpler easier to study and insights often come from a comparative approach as well as fact that ethical practices limit what we can do to humans b Experiments and non experiments quasi experiential studies and case studies where in experiments we come up with two or more conditions and test between subjects different groups of subjects for each condition or within subjects where it is possible to have the same group tested for each condition i set up control with only difference between conditions being independent variable producing a dependent variable effect and must have control to be sure that no outside differences confounding variables led to observed effects on the dependent variable ii quasi experiential studies are studies of groups of subjects who have been expose to the conditions of interest in the real world so not real experiment as potential for confound cannot be controlled iii case studies are instances when focus is given to a single case or subject providing an in depth picture of the situation but having low generalizability or low degree to which the results can be applied to other cases c Pure and applied research where pure research is motivated primarily by the curiosity of the researcher done for purpose of gaining knowledge and applied research is intended to bring about some direct benefit to humankind i Many scientists believe that rye research will be more of a practical benefit than applied research yet going straight to application without basic understanding is shortsighted ii Much research has elements of both even if pure research is more greatly impacted by political regulation when voter etc cant see why research of no immediate practical benefit should be funder 4 What are the divisions of biopsychology a Physiological psychology is division that studies the neural mechanisms of behavior through direct manipulation and recording of the brain in controlled experiments surgical an electrical methods are most common i Research that contributes to the development of theories of the neural control of behavior rather then on research of immediate practical benefit mostly done on animals b Psychopharmacology focuses on manipulation of neural activity and behavior with drugs c Neuropsychology is study of the psychological effects of brain damage in human patients and because human volunteers cannot ethically be exposed to experimental treatments that endanger normal brain function these are almost exclusively case studies and quasi experimental studies i Patients after brain damage from disease accident or neurosurgery ii Mostly focused on outer layer of cerebral hemispheres in cerebral cortex a place most likely to be damaged by accident and always done in a way that focuses to benefit patients in some way d Psychophysiology is study of the relation between physiological activity and psychological processes sin human subjects and is typically noninvasive but recorded from surface of the body i EEG electroencephalogram measures brain activity from the scalp as well as various measures of the autonomic nervous system that include muscle tension eye movement as well as heart rate blood pressure and pupil dilation ii focuses on understanding physiology of psychological processes such as attention emotion and information processing e Cognitive neuroscience studies neural bases of cognition or higher intellectual processes such as though memory attention and complex perceptual processes i involves human subjects using non invasive methods such as functional brain imaging to record activity of the living human brain while a volunteer is engaged in an assigned activity f Comparative psychology deals with biology of behavior comparing it across species in order to understand the evolution genetics and adaptiveness of behavior i Some engage in ethological research the sty of animal behavior in the natural environment while others do so in labs ii Evolutionary psychology focuses on understanding behavior by considering it s likely evolutionary origins while behavioral genetics studies genetic influences on behavior 5 Converging operations how do biopsychologists work together a Converging operations is a combined approach using different fields of biopsychology to compensate for each other s weaknesses progress is most likely different approaches are focused on a single problem b Korsakoff s syndrome the result of heavy drinking has a primary symptom of severe memory loss although the sufferers are often otherwise quite capable i A result of toxic effects of alcohol on the brain ii Largely caused by brain damage associated with thiamine vitamin B1 deficiency 6 Scientific Inference How