Chapter 1: Introduction to Biopsychology

Question 1

Although the average between neurodivergent and control groups may be similar, the variance differs. How do we account for this variance?

Answer 1

By using subgroups - this way, models of the brain shift from dichotomies to spectrums.

Question 2

What are the 5 main approaches to studying behavioral neuroscience?

Answer 2

1) Descriptive perspective: describes behavior (visible aspects)
2) Mechanistic perspective: biological structures linked to behavior (invisible aspects)
3) Applied perspective: specific areas of research focused on intervention (e.g. dysfunction, mental health)
4) Developmental perspective: focusing on an individual’s development and behavior over a life span (time)
5) Evolutionary perspective: focus on development, behavior and time, but on a broader level.

Question 3

Why do we use animal models?

Answer 3

• Time, humans have a long lifespan and its hard to capture how brain and behavior changes throughout the ages.
• Ethics, there are a lot of experiments done on animals that would be very unethical with humans.
• Simplicity, humans have very complex neural structures so animals can provide simplified models while still capturing the essence of what we want to study.
• Evolutionary relation, some animals are closer in relation than others!

Question 4

What are the pros and cons of testing on rodents?

Answer 4

+ short life cycle
+ low cost
+ lots of experimental models available
- limited and unclear relation to humans

Question 5

What are the pros and cons of testing on primates?

Answer 5

+ close anatomy due to close evolutionary relation
+ high relevance to humans as a result
+ lots of experimental models available
- expensive
- ethical issues
- long life cycle with few offspring (sample size is affected)

Question 6

What are the pros and cons of testing on humans?

Answer 6

+ directly relevant and much more translational data
+ cooperative participants
+ access to objective experience and information
- expensive
- ethical issues
- caution with invasive methods
- question of generalizability

Question 7

What are the 3 main approaches to the empirical study of Behavioral Neuroscience?

Answer 7

1) Somatic Intervention: how physiology affects behavior (e.g. administer a hormone to see how it affects mating behavior). Can talk about causality.
2) Behavioral Intervention: how experience affects brain function and structure. Can talk about causality.
3) Correlation: NOT causation. Looks at relationships between physiology and behavior and how much they vary with the other.