neuro 1

• Speaker: 'The last frontier in the world and perhaps the greatest one lies within us. The human nervous system makes possible all that we can do, all we can know, and all that we can experience. Its complexity is immense, and the task of studying it and understanding it dwarfs all previous explorations our species has undertaken. A mind, a soul, or a spirit. What is the nature of the human mind? Within our bodies the nervous system plays a central role, receiving information from the sensory organs and controlling the movements of the muscles.
• Biological Psychology


  Study of the physiological, evolutionary, and developmental mechanisms of behavior and experience
• Biological Psychology


  • More than a field of study, it is also a perspective; synonymous with biopsychology, psychobiology, physiological psychology, and behavioral neuroscience
• Physiological Psychology


  Branch of Biological Psychology concerned with the relationship between brain functioning and behavior
• Physiological Psychology


  • Basic approach is cognitive, dealing with brain or mental processes; reductionist, attempting to reduce human behavior to basic biological explanations
• Neurobiology


  Study of cells of the nervous system and the organization of these cells into functional circuits that process information and mediate behavior
• Neurobiology


  • Sub-discipline of biology and neuroscience; refers to the study of the effect of chemicals and electrical impulses in the brain on human behavior
• Behavioral neuroscience


  Application of biology principles to study genetic, physiological, and developmental mechanisms of behavior in humans and non-human animals
• Four biological explanations of behavior

  • Physiological
  • Ontogenetic
  • Evolutionary
  • Functional
• Physiological explanation


  Relates a behavior to the activity of the brain and other organs; deals with the machinery of the body
• Ontogenetic explanation


  Describes how a structure or behavior develops including the influences of genes, nutrition, experiences, and their interactions
• Evolutionary explanation


  Reconstructs the evolutionary history of a structure or behavior
• Functional explanation


  Describes why a structure or behavior evolved as it did
• The modern history of physiological psychology has been written by psychologists who have combined the experimental methods of psychology with those of physiology and have applied them to the issues that concern all psychologists
• Behavioral neuroscience as a scientific discipline emerged from a variety of scientific and philosophical traditions in the 18th and 19th centuries
• In philosophy, René Descartes proposed physical models to explain animal as well as human behavior
• Behaviors studied in behavioral neuroscience

  • Sleep and waking
  • Reproductive behaviors
  • Ingestive behaviors
  • Emotional behaviors
  • Learning
  • Language
• Behavioral neuroscience as a scientific discipline emerged from a variety of scientific and philosophical traditions

  18th and 19th centuries
• Dualism


  Belief that mind and body are different kinds of substances that exist independently but somehow interact
• Monism


  Belief that the universe consists of only one kind of existence
• Plato believed that the brain was where all mental thought and processes happened
• Aristotle believed the brain served the purpose of cooling down the emotions derived from the heart
• The mind-body problem is a debate about the connection between the mind and body
• Psychobiology emphasizes the importance of biology in studying organic, neural, and cellular modifications in behavior
• Psychobiology focuses on behavior and its biological correlates from a scientific point of view
• Psychology is a social tool that supports biology in the field of psychobiology
• The term "psychobiology" was first used in its modern sense by Knight Dunlap in his book An Outline of Psychobiology (1914)
• Knight Dunlap was the founder and editor-in-chief of the journal Psychobiology
• The journal Psychobiology publishes research on the interconnection of mental and physiological functions
• What is Biological Psychology?
• Biological Psychology


  • The study of the physiological, evolutionary, and developmental mechanisms of behavior and experience
  • The study of cells of the nervous system and their organization into functional circuits
  • The application of the principles of biology to the study of genetic, physiological, and developmental mechanisms of behavior in humans and non-human animals
  • The study of the relationship between brain functioning and behavior
• What is the difference between Physiological Psychology and Biological Psychology?
• Physiological Psychology vs. Biological Psychology

  • Physiological Psychology is more concerned with the relationship between brain functioning and behavior
  • Biological Psychology is a branch of Physiological Psychology
  • Physiological Psychology is more focused on the cells of the nervous system
  • Biological Psychology is more concerned with the relationship between brain functioning and behavior
• What is Neurobiology?
• What is Behavioral Neuroscience?
• Which of the following is NOT one of the four biological explanations of behavior?
• Four biological explanations of behavior

  • Physiological
  • Ontogenetic
  • Evolutionary
  • Functional
• Who was René Descartes?
• What is the mind-body problem?
• What is the significance of the debate on localization of function or functional specialization versus equipotentiality in the development of Behavioral Neuroscience?