PSYC 2410 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Franz Nissl, Silver Nitrate, Substantia Nigra
27 Jun 2018
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Professor
Lecture 1
What is Biopsychology?
- A young, but rapidly growing science
- The scientific study of the biology of behaviour (Dewsbury, 1991)
- A Biological approach to the study of behaviour
- Aka: Psychobiology, behavioural neuroscience, behavioural biology
- Neuroscience: study of nervous system
- Psychology: study of behaviour
- D.O. Hebb (1949) - The Organization of Behaviour
- He presented the first comprehensive theory of how complex psychological
phenomena (perceptions, memories, emotions, etc.) might be caused by brain
activity.
- Biopsychology is a branch of NEUROSCIENCE
- Neuroscience has many branches, including:
- Neuroanatomy, Neurochemistry, Neuroendocrinology, Neuropathology
(nervous system disorders), Neuropharmacology, Neurophysiology
- Biopsychology itself has 6 subdivisions
- Physiological Psychology, Psychopharmacology, Neuropsychology,
Psychophysiology, Cognitive Neuroscience, and Comparative Psychology and
Ethology
Research in Biopsychology:
- Pure/Basic research: building blocks - trying to find out how things work
- Applied: more specific research. Uses the building blocks from pure/basic research as a
foundation.
Two lines of research
- Animal studies and human studies
- The differences in the species are more quantitative than qualitative
- Animal studies
- Comparative method
- Simple brains → direct analysis (helps discover brain-behaviour relationships)
- Fewer ethical restrictions
- CONS: lots of paperwork/validation required
- Human studies:
- Humans follow instructions
- Report subjective experiences
- Cheaper than animals
- CONS: greater ethical constraints
Research Methods:
- Experimental: control variable can be manipulated to see any changes in second
variable
- Between subjects design: different groups tested under different conditions
- Within subjects design: same subject tested under multiple conditions
- Variables:
- Independent (control variable) - manipulated by researcher
- Dependent - measured for changes
- Measured once or several times
- Confounded variables: Unintended differences in other conditions that can affect
the dependent variable. This is an “experimenter’s nightmare”
- Non-experimental
- Quasiexperimental methods: when the experimental method can’t be used
- Ex: you want to assess whether alcohol consumption causes brain damage
- differences in brain function → caused by alcohol
- Case studies
- Looks at one specific subject in detail
- Lots of information, but hard to generalize. Good source for
hypotheses that can be tested.
Research methods used in the subdivisions of Biopsychology:
- Physiological Psychology: surgical or electrical brain manipulation. Done on lab
animals, mainly basic research.
- Psychopharmacology: Drug manipulation done on lab animals, basic and applied
research
- Neuropsychology: effects of brain damage on behaviour. Human,
quasiexperimental/case studies. Basic and applied research.
- Psychophysiology: Non-invasive basic/applied research on humans (EEG, eye
movement, heart rate, pupil dilation, etc.)
- Cognitive Neuroscience: neural bases of cognition. Humans, non-invasive recording
brain activity (PET, fMRI, etc.)
- Comparative Psychology and Ethology: interpretation of neurobiology of behaviour of
whole, functioning organisms in their ecological/evolutionary realities. Animal studies.
- This field also includes Behaviour Genetics (lectures 3 and 4 - animals)
Biopsychology: Converging Operations and Multidisciplinary Approach
- The case of Jimmie G. (case study)
- Age 49 in 1975
- Alcoholic
- Cannot form new memories (ANTEROGRADE AMNESIA)
- Short term memory but only lasts a few minutes
- High scores in tests of intelligence (old knowledge is still there)
- Jimmie’s diagnosis today: Korsakoff’s Syndrome
- Common in alcoholics
- Hence:
- Alcohol caused Jimmie’s amnesia HOWEVER, Alcohol isn’t the only thing
that causes it, and not all alcoholics will develop Korsakoff’s Syndrome
- Thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency → Korsakoff’s Syndrome
- Malnourished people (quasiexperimental) and thiamine deficient
rats (experimental) show memory loss and brain damage like
alcoholics
- Alcohol’s brain damaging effects: indirect
- Alcohol lacks vitamins (hence low B1 intake)
- Interferes with metabolism of the little B1 already
consumed
- Some direct effects of alcohol: neurodegeneration in B1 deficient
rats
- Note that in the diagnosis and discovery of the cause of Korsakoff’s Syndrome (thiamine
deficiency), multiple research methods were used.
- MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH → most effective approach to biopsychology
Scientific Inference
- Observe the consequences of unobservable processes and from these, LOGICALLY
infer the nature of those unobservable processes
Critical Thinking
- Jose Delgado: stopped a charging bull with caudate stimulation
- Initial conclusion: Caudate nucleus regulates aggression
- “Caudate taming centre”
- Possible treatment for psychopaths?
- But, when we think critically…
- Not a critically examined event (moreso done for the media)
- Simpler explanations are ignored (Occam’s Razor - law of parsimony)
- Bull rotated in circles when stimulation applied, didn’t stop in its tracks
- Morgan’s canon: In no case is an animal activity to be interpreted in terms of higher
psychological processes if it can be fairly interpreted in terms of processes which stand
lower in the scale of psychological evolution and development
Neuron:
- Dendrites
- Axon
- White matter
- Collection of axons:
- “Tracts” in CNS
- “Nerves” in PNS
- Cell body
- Gray matter
- Collection of cell bodies
- “Nuclei” in CNS
- “Ganglia” in PNS
Central Nervous System: Brain and Spinal Cord
Peripheral Nervous System: Nerves and Ganglia
Document Summary
The scientific study of the biology of behaviour (dewsbury, 1991) A biological approach to the study of behaviour. He presented the first comprehensive theory of how complex psychological phenomena (perceptions, memories, emotions, etc. ) might be caused by brain activity. Neuroanatomy, neurochemistry, neuroendocrinology, neuropathology (nervous system disorders), neuropharmacology, neurophysiology. Pure/basic research: building blocks - trying to find out how things work. Uses the building blocks from pure/basic research as a foundation. The differences in the species are more quantitative than qualitative. Simple brains direct analysis (helps discover brain-behaviour relationships) Experimental: control variable can be manipulated to see any changes in second variable. Between subjects design: different groups tested under different conditions. Within subjects design: same subject tested under multiple conditions. Confounded variables: unintended differences in other conditions that can affect the dependent variable. Quasiexperimental methods: when the experimental method can"t be used. Ex: you want to assess whether alcohol consumption causes brain damage. Differences in brain function caused by alcohol.
