What is biopsychology?
The scientific study of the biology of behaviour.
An integrative field of study that is still young, but a rapidly growing science.
What are the types of research in biopsychology?
Describe the Coolidge Effect
A copulating male that becomes incapable of continuing to copulate with one female can often recommence with a new female. Females are more receptive towards a new male.
Tested in 3 Stages (with hamsters)
What are the advantages and disadvantages of animal studies?
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
- need for validation, need to be careful about generalizations about humans based on observations
What are the advantages and disadvantages of human studies?
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
- greater ethical constrains, restricts use of more invasive experiments
Describe the case of Jimmie G and Korsakoff’s Syndrome
1975 - A 49 year old man who cannot form new memories, and has short term memory that only lasts a few minutes (anterograde amnesia), due to alcoholism.
Korsakoff’s Syndrome, common in alcoholics due to lack of Thiamine (Vitamin B1).
Treatment: doses of thiamine, doesn’t reverse damage but it prevents further damage.
Why do certain behaviours persist?
Behaviours have some form of evolutionary advantage, or else they would have been weeded out over time.
Adaptive behaviours is maintained; maladaptive behaviour is not.
Nature and Nurture
What is fitness? What are the different types of fitness?
The ability of an organism to survive and contribute its genes to the next generation.
Direct fitness: genes that are directly deriving from mother/father that are passed on to offspring.
Inclusive fitness: less obvious; portion of genes that are shared between ALL relatives.
Describe the comparative method:
Studies precursors - relatives that come from a common ancestor (ex. humans and primates).
Give an example of evolution being observed in progress
Darwin’s Finches - Galapagos islands:
1997 was a summer of severe drought, and big seeds were left. The average beak size of birds increased, as birds with smaller beaks died off since they weren’t able to feed themselves.
Describe evolution
The idea that species change and adapt and change over time.
Divergent evolution: presumably evolved from a common ancestor with different functions (ex. human arms and bird wings).
Convergent evolution: evolved from different origins that have similar structure and functions (ex. bird wings and insect wings).
Describe Darwin’s observations and deductions
Spandrels
Evolutionary byproducts that don’t seem to have and particular function/significance, can assume an adaptive function over time (ex. bellybutton).
When does reciprocal altruism occur?
When there is:
Structural Genes
Operator Genes
Describe the process of gene expression
Micro and other regulatory RNAs
Epigenetic effects of parental care
More physical contact with offspring (in many species) is associated with higher quality of life and more well adjusted adults, who experience lower levels of anxiety.
Over multiple generations (nongenomic transmissions).
Mouse Example:
High maternal care
(lots of licking and grooming) leads to de-methylation of genes involved in the control of stress responses, equalling lower stress hormones and lower anxiety.
What are examples of histone modifications and what do they do?
Modifications:
They regulate chromatin opening
Modifications change access to DNA.
Seasonal brain plasticity: black-capped chickadees
Birdsong development:
Sensory phase: listen to and memorize the adult’s song.
Sensorimotor phase: practice; twitter/sub-songs - perfect it so that it sounds like adult’s song in memory.
Some birds are age limited learners and must learn songs by adulthood, when they become unchangeable (ex. zebra finch), while others are open-ended learners and can improvise and personalize songs over their lifetimes (ex. canary).
Synaptic transmission
Chemical transmission of signal from one neuron to another. Important that signal is released at the appropriate time, as well as deactivated at the appropriate time.