Biological Psychology
(Module 4 + p 50, 54-55)
(aka biopsychology, psychobiology,
physiological psychology)

Studies the biological bases of behavior (brain, body chemistry, genetics, hormones)

(Much of this week’s powerpoints were images, not text. Study the pictures in our text)

3 Approaches to Studying Brain-Behavior Relationships

• Study the effects of brain damage on behavior

– Human clinical cases

– Produce brain damage in animals

• Stimulate or turn on brain region and see how it affects behavior

• Monitor brain activity or differences in anatomy to see how it correlates with behavior

CAT- Scan of Hematoma

• CAT or CT scan –

• Computer uses x-ray data to generate images

CT-Scan of Gunshot Thru Brain

Stroke in a 17 yr old

The Case of Phineas Gage

Bull Stereotaxic Surgery

Electrical Stimulation of Reward System

• MRI

• Uses magnets, not radiation

• Provides detailed anatomy

MRI

PET Scan

• fMRI in Bilingual or single language naming of objects

Neuron Structure

Synapse Structure

Best Known Neurotransmitters

• Acetylcholine (ACh) – contracts muscles; memory

– Alzheimer’s – too little ACh

• Norepinephrine (NE) – sympathetic N.S.; arousal

• Dopamine (DA)- movement; reward system

– Parkinson’s – too little DA; schizophrenia – overactive DA

• Serotonin (5HT) – mood, emotional balance

• Endorphin – pain suppression; mood

• GABA – calm nervous system & emotions

Split Brain Research

Learning about

right brain/left brain differences

Corpus Callosum

• Seizure – period of abnormal firing in brain or brain area

• Epilepsy - Recurring seizures; only about 1 in 100 has epilepsy

• Occurs in many forms

• May be inherited or or may follow some injury to the brain)

• In the latter case, seizures usually begin at the injured spot (the “focus”) and it is called “focal epilepsy”

Fig3_19

Visual Fields

• Each half of your brain sees the opposite half of your visual world

Left Brain Sees a Ball

• “I see a baseball”

Right Brain Sees a Hammer

Can’t verbalize

Aphasia: language problems due to brain damage

• Broca’s aphasia – damage to Broca’s area makes speech very difficult

• Wernicke’s aphasia – damage to Wernicke’s area disrupts speech comprehension & comprehensibility