•
Psychology:
the scientific study of behavior and
mental processes
•
Biopsychology:
subarea which attempts to understand
behavior by studying
its physiological or biological basis
•
a.k.a. biological psychology, physiological
psychology,
psychobiology, behavioral neuroscience
•
Biopsychologists also study how biological mechanisms
underlying
behavior develop in the individual and how they evolved
in the
species.
Areas of Study Within
Biopsychology or Related to Biopsychology (p. 9)
•
“Physiological
psychology” – made use of surgical,
electrical or chemical manipulation to study the biology of behavior
Jane Goodall
studying chimpanzees
•
Comparative
psychology - studies the evolution,
genetics, and adaptive functions of behavior using different species
Studying Language Comprehension in a
Bonobo Chimpanzee
Comparative Psychologist Sue Savage-Rumbaugh
•
Psychophysiology-
uses non-invasive recording
techniques (HR, BP, EEG, etc.) to study bodily changes during behavior or psychological
processes
•
Psychopharmacology
- studies the effects of drugs on
brain chemistry and behavior
•
Neuropsychology – studies the effects of brain damage in
humans &
how to assess those effects
•
Cognitive
neuroscience – hot new area examining the
neural basis of mental processes, usually using new brain imaging
techniques
like PET scans or
fMRI scans.
Behavior Genetics
•
Area
of study which seeks to understand both the genetic and environmental
contributions to individual variations in behavior.
•
This
young man is
grimacing because his genetic makeup allows him to taste the bitter
chemical on
the paper strip on his tongue. Others may be unable to taste this
chemical or
will experience a much milder bitter taste.
Evolutionary Psychology or
Sociobiology
•
Area
interested
in the evolutionary origins of behaviors and mental processes. Attempts to study the adaptive functions of behaviors
and the
presumed selective pressures that caused them to evolve.
Related Medical Specialties
•
Neurologist
– diagnoses and treats those with brain
damage or nervous system disorders
Neurosurgeon – performs brain
surgeries
•
Biopsychology
makes use of many very specialized
research methods & tools.
•
Some
studies are true experiments, where some
independent variable is manipulated and some dependent variables are
measured.
•
Some
possible manipulations:
–
Damaging
a region of brain
–
Stimulating
a region of brain
–
Increasing
or decreasing hormone levels
–
Increasing
or decreasing neurotransmitter levels
•
Sometimes
true experiments aren’t possible so quasiexperiments
are done, e.g.
–
studies where random assignment isn’t possible -use
pre-existing groups so you can’t assume the groups were equal in the
first
place.
–
E.g.
comparing alcoholics vs
non-alcoholics or stroke victims vs normal
adults
•
Many many correlational
studies are done.
–
Look
at the relationship between 2 measures (e.g.
brain activity and behavior, hormone levels and behavior) without manipulating any
independent variable. Must remember that
correlation does not
prove a cause-effect relationship.
•
Brain Atlas
•
Detailed
map of brain with coordinates
•
Our
library has brain atlas guides for rats, monkeys,
“domestic animals” and humans.
Stereotaxic Surgery on a Rat
•
Using
an electrode to create a lesion or area of brain
damage
Bull Stereotaxic
Surgery
Human Stereotaxic
Surgery
•
One
way to study brainàbehavior relationships is to surgically
destroy a
small region of brain and see how behavior changes.
•
An
alternative to studying the effects of damaging a
brain region is to study the effects of stimulating or activating
that
brain region on behavior.
2 Examples of Stimulation
Electrical Stimulation of Reward
System
Remote Control Electrical Brain
Stimulation
by Delgado
Chemical Stimulation via an
implanted “cannula”
Delivery of Drug Stimulus to Rat
Brain via a
Cannula
•
A
third approach is to simply monitor the brain in
some way and correlate your observations with ongoing behavior
Monitoring Electrical Activity During Sleep and Waking
Recording Electrodes in Monkey
Examining the Brain Afterwards
•
Brain
imaging can be used to examine the structure
(anatomy) or the functioning of the brain.
•
Structural
imaging - provide pictures of brain anatomy
–
CAT
or CT scans
–
MRI
scans
•
Functional
imaging - indicate which areas are active during a particular
behavior
–
PET
scans
–
SPECT
and regional cerebral blow flow scans
–
fMRI scans
CT
or
CAT Scan of Intracerebral Hemorrhage (see
p. 74)
“Frontal” or “Coronal” View of brain
using MRI
(magnetic resonance imaging)
Positron Emission Tomography (PET Scan)–see p. 247
•
Brighter
colors indicate more active regions
•
Uses
injection of a radioactive chemical
2 Techniques Similar to PETscans:
SPECT and Regional Cerebral Flood Flow scans
•
fMRI in Bilingual or single language naming of
objects
Electroencephalogram