Lecture 2-Biological Basis of Psychology PDF

Lecture
2

The Biological Basis of
Behavior
Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved
psychobiology-the area of psychology that focuses on the
biological founda7ons of behavior and mental processes.

(physiological, gene7c, developmental mechanisms)
Neuropsychology-the area of psychology that focuses on the
rela7onship between the brain and behavior.

neuroscience - the study of the brain and the nervous system.
Neurons: The Messengers

neurons - individual cells that are the smallest unit of
the nervous system.
Average human being has 100 billion neurons

Neurons vary in size and shape.
All are specialized to receive and transmit informa7on.
Parts of the Neuron

Soma-cell body
dendrites - short bers that branch out from the cell
body and receive incoming messages.

axon - single long ber extending from the cell body;
it carries outgoing messages.
Axon terminals- branches of the axon
Terminal bu>ons- located at the end of the axon; send
informa7on onto other neurons
myelin sheath - white faJy 7ssue covering axons.

Types of Neurons
sensory (or aerent) neurons - neurons that carry messages from
sense organs to the spinal cord or brain.
motor (or eerent) neurons - neurons that carry messages from the
spinal cord or brain to the muscles and glands.
interneurons (or associaBon neurons) - neurons that carry
messages from one neuron to another.
Glial cells (or glia)

Glia-
supporting cells
-hold neurons in place
-provide nourishment
-remove waste products
-protect the brain from harmful substances
-form myelin sheath
(neurons in blue- green; glia in red)
The Neural Impulse

Neurons communicate through
electrochemical impulses.
acBon potenBal - the ring of a nerve cell.
resBng potenBal - electrical charge across a
neuron membrane as a result of posi7ve ions outside

and nega7ve ions inside the membrane.
PolarizaBon - the condi7on of a neuron when the
inside is nega7vely charged rela7ve to outside; when a

neuron is at rest.

Action potential
Positively (+) charged ions flow
into the cell, creating the
electrical impulse (spike,
firing)
All or none
Rules for the action potential

1. A neuron will re only when it reaches the
threshold of excita7on
threshold of excitaBon the level an impulse must
exceed to cause a neuron to re (is the inside of the
neuron posi7vely charged enough to re?)
2. All-or-none law - principle that the ac7on poten7al

in a neuron does not vary in strength; either the neuron
res at full strength, or it does not re at all.
The incoming
message must be
above a certain
threshold to cause a
neuron to fire
After it fires, the
neuron is returned to
its resting state
Then, the neuron is
ready to fire again
The Synapse
Neurons never touch
synapBc space (or synapBc cleG) - 7ny gap
between the axon terminal of one neuron and the
dendrites of the next neuron.
synapse - area composed of
-axon terminal of one neuron,
-synapBc cleG
-dendrite of the next neuron.
Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights
reserved
PresynapBc /PostsynapBc neurons

terminal bu>ons (or synapBc knob) -
structure at the end of an axon

terminals (here neurotransmiJers are
released).

receptor sites - loca7ons on a
receiving neuron into which a specic

neurotransmiJer ts like a key into a
lock.
reserved
synapBc vesicles - 7ny sacs in a

terminal buJon that release
chemicals into the synapse.

Neurotransmi>ers - chemicals
released by the synap7c vesicles that
travel across the synap7c space and
aect adjacent neurons.

reserved
Neurotransmitters
Acetylcholine-
arousal, attention, memory,

movement, Alzhemers disease
Dopamine- pleasure, motivation, schizophrenia,
Parkinsons disease
Serotonin-sleep, mood, eating, depression
Norepinephrine- arousal, wakefulness, learning
and memory
Glutamate- learning and memory
GABA- inhibitory, sleep, eating disorder
Neural Plas7city and Neurogenesis

Experience can change the brain structurally and
chemically

neural plasBcity - the ability of the brain to change
in response to experience.
Neurogenesis - the growth of new neurons.

In Rosenzweigs experiment, young rats lived in two kinds of cages: impoverished, with nothing to manipulate or explore, or
enriched, with a variety of objects. When Rosenzweig examined the rats brains, he found that the enriched group had larger
neurons with synap7c connec7ons (shown as dendrites in the drawing) than the rats that lived in the bare cages. Experience,
then, can actually aect the structure of the brain.
Source: From Brain changes in response to experience by M. R. Rosenzweig, E. L. Bennett, and M. C. Diamond.
Copyright 1972, Scientific American, Inc.
The Organiza7on of the Nervous System

The nervous system has two
parts:
The central nervous system (CNS)

the brain and spinal cord
The peripheral nervous system
(PNS)
linking all of the body's parts to the
CNS
Fight or flight response

Functional organization of the

human brain
Brain
Hindbrain
Midbrain
Forebrain
Hindbrain
Cerebellum
Pons
Medulla
Hindbrain
medulla -
-breathing
-heart rate
-blood pressure.
pons
-sleep and wake cycles

-dreaming
cerebellum
-certain reexes
-body movements coordina7on
-balance
Midbrain
controls sensory processes (hearing,

sight) and brain activity
Forebrain
Cerebral cortex
thalamus
hypothalamus
limbic system
Forebrain
Cerebral cortex -
-most complex behavior (thinking, reasoning, judgment)

Thalamus-
-relay sta7on between sensory receptors and the brain

Hypothalamus
-emo7ons
-mo7va7on
-stress
-ea7ng and drinking
Limbic system
-learning
-emo7onal response
Forebrain
cerebral cortex
- most complex behavior.

limbic system
- learning and emo7onal behavior

thalamus-
-major sensory relay center between sense receptors and

the brain
Hypothalamus-
-mo7va7on
-emo7onal responses
-stress

Eyes
Cerebral Cortex
frontal lobe
-voluntary movement
-planning goal-directed behavior
-concentra7on
-problem solving
parietal lobe-
-sensory informa7on (visual/spa7al/taste/touch)

Temporal lobe
-language
-hearing
Occipital lobe
-vision

prefrontal cortex
-impulse control
-judgment
-conscious awareness.
primary motor cortex (B)
-voluntary movement
primary somatosensory cortex (C)
-sensa7on

Limbic System
-A system of brain structures (thalamus, hypothalamus,
hippocampus, amygdala, and olfactory bulb)
-involved in learning, mo7va7on, emo7onal behavior

hippocampus - plays an essen7al role in the
forma7on of new memories.
Hypothalamus- emo7ons, mo7va7on, stress, eaBng
amygdala - in conjunc7on with the hippocampus
regulates emo7ons. FEAR.
olfactory bulb - the smell center in the brain.

Hemispheric Specializa7on
The cerebrum has two separate hemispheres
(not iden7cal):
right hemisphere
-
-
controls the LEFT side of the body

nonverbal, visual, and spaBal tasks.
leG hemisphere
-
-
Controls the RIGHT side of the body

language
Corpus Callosum- bers that connect both

hemispheres
Evidence for hemispheric

specialization
The most drama7c evidence for the role of the
corpus callosum and hemispheric specializa7on has
come from pa7ents with severe epilepsy that have
had the corpus callosum cut.
Split brain
(A) When split-brain patients stare at the X in the center of the screen, visual information projected on the right side of the screen
goes to the patients left hemisphere, which controls language. When asked what they see, patients can reply correctly. (B) When
split-brain patients stare at the X in the center of the screen, visual information projected on the left side of the screen goes to the
patients right hemisphere, which does not control language. When asked what they see, patients cannot name the object, but can
pick it out by touch with the left hand.
More evidence for hemispheric

specialization
Pa7ents who have had le8 hemisphere stroke in
areas of the brain associated with language have:
aphasias - impairments of the ability to either use
or understand language as a result of brain damage.
Brocas area- expressive language
Wernickes area- recep7ve language

Processing of speech and language
Brocas and Wernickes areas, generally found only on the left side of the brain, work
together, enabling us to produce and understand speech and language.
Tools for Studying the Brain

Microelectrodes
- to record the ac7vity of a single neuron

Macroelectrodes (EEG)
- to record the overall ac7vity of many neurons

Structural imaging (CT & MRI)-
-to study brain structures

Func7onal imaging (EEG imaging, PET, fMRI)
- to study brain ac7vity

EEG - electroencephalograph
the measurement of the

brains electrical activity,
recorded from electrodes
placed on the scalp.
To study sleep, seizures,
wakefulness
Computerized axial tomography, CAT

threedimensonal
image of the
brain from a
large series of
twodimensional Xray images
To study brain
structures
MRI - magnetic resonance

imaging
The brain is exposed to radio waves, which causes
hydrogen atoms to release energy
The released energy by different brain structures
generates an image
-more detailed image

of brain structures
- Images of brain
slices can be made at
any plane
PET Scanning - positron emission

tomography
Measuring the
brain's blood flow
and metabolic
activity.
Hot colors-
greater activity
radioactive substance
(tracer) is injected
into the blood
fMRI imaging functional

magnetic resonance imaging
Measures changes
in the oxygen level
(the brains blood
flow)
shows the brain
activity
Hot colors-greater
activity
-very detailed image

- No radioactive
chemicals
Genes, Evolu7on, and Behavior

Two dierent but related elds contribute to the
understanding of how heredity inuences behavior.
Both try to seJle the nature/nurture debate.

behavioral geneBcs - study of the rela7onship
between heredity and behavior.
evoluBonary psychology - study of the evolu7onary
roots of behaviors and mental processes.
Gene7cs
deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) - the code for all gene7c
informa7on.
genes - elements found on chromosomes that control
the transmission of traits.
chromosomes 23 pairs of threadlike bodies within the
cell nucleus that contain the genes.
human genome - the full set of genes (35,000 genes)
Genes run in pairs:

dominant genes - member of a gene pair that controls the
appearance of a certain trait.
recessive genes - member of a gene pair that can control the
appearance of a certain trait only if it is paired with another
recessive gene.

Most traits are determined by many genes

genotype - an organisms en7re unique gene7c makeup (she
carries genes for schizophrenia).
phenotype - the observable characteris7cs determined by
both gene7cs and experience ( she has schizophrenia)
Behavior Gene7cs
Nature or nurture?
A variety of methods are used to study the contribu7on of
genes:
Twin studies - studies of iden7cal and fraternal twins to
determine the rela7ve inuence of heredity and
environment on human behavior.
idenBcal twins - from a single fer7lized egg; share 100% of
gene7c makeup at concep7on.

fraternal twins - twins developed from two separate fer7lized
eggs; share only 50% of gene7c makeup.
Behavior Gene7cs (cont.)

family studies
- does the trait run in the family?
- assump7on: if genes inuence a certain
trait, close rela7ves should be more similar on
that trait than distant rela7ves.
e.g. homosexuality; au7sm

adopBon studies - research carried out on
children, adopted at birth by parents not
related to them, to determine the rela7ve
inuence of heredity and environment on
human behavior.
Average Risk of Schizophrenia Among Biological Relatives of

People with Schizophrenia
Evolu7onary Psychology
EvoluBonary psychology- examines the adap7ve
value of behaviors from an evolu7onary perspec7ve

Natural selecBon:
-based on Darwins theory of evolu7on
-organisms best adapted to their environment tend
to survive and carry their genes
- organisms with less adap7ve characteris7cs tend to
vanish from the earth.

e.g. innate fear of spiders/snakes; language
acquisi7on

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Lecture

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved

psychobiology-the area of psychology that focuses on the

biological founda7ons of behavior and mental processes.

Neuropsychology-the area of psychology that focuses on the

rela7onship between the brain and behavior.

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved

Neurons: The Messengers

the nervous system.

Average human being has 100 billion neurons

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved

Parts of the Neuron

body and receive incoming messages.

Terminal bu>ons- located at the end of the axon; send

informa7on onto other neurons

myelin sheath - white faJy 7ssue covering axons.

sense organs to the spinal cord or brain.

spinal cord or brain to the muscles and glands.

interneurons (or associaBon neurons) - neurons that carry

messages from one neuron to another.

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved

Glial cells (or glia)

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved

The Neural Impulse

neuron membrane as a result of posi7ve ions outside

inside is nega7vely charged rela7ve to outside; when a

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved

Rules for the action potential

2. All-or-none law - principle that the ac7on poten7al

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved

PresynapBc /PostsynapBc neurons

structure at the end of an axon

receiving neuron into which a specic

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved

synapBc vesicles - 7ny sacs in a

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved

arousal, attention, memory,

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved

Neural Plas7city and Neurogenesis

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved

The Organiza7on of the Nervous System

The central nervous system (CNS)

The peripheral nervous system

linking all of the body's parts to the

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved

Fight or flight response

Functional organization of the

-sleep and wake cycles

controls sensory processes (hearing,

-most complex behavior (thinking, reasoning, judgment)

-relay sta7on between sensory receptors and the brain

- most complex behavior.

- learning and emo7onal behavior

-major sensory relay center between sense receptors and

-sensory informa7on (visual/spa7al/taste/touch)

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved