Lecture 1 Flashcards
4 course themes
thinking creatively
clinical implications
evolutionary perspectives
neuroplasticity
define biological psychology
biology of behaviour. role of NS in generating behaviours
define neuroendocrine
hormones and behaviours
define physiological psychology
neurochemical activity and how it affects behaviour
define neurochemistry
how the chemicals that are released in the brain impact behaviour
define psychopharmacology
specifically how drugs act on the body
define neuropathology
studying diseased brains. how did tissue change cause behavioural change
define neuropsychology
neurological psychiatric disorders. assessing what behaviours occur in the disorder.
define cognitive neuroscience
like physiological psychology - except specifically on human brains
define psychophysiology
assessing how brain changes ongoing physiology. peripheral changes due to something going on in your brain.
define neuroanatomy
how brain changes due to development.
define comparative
compare across species.
pro’s and con’s of using human subjects
(+): communication; generalize human brain and behaviour; humans are low maintenance and cost effective
(-): non-invasive techniques; attrition (people don’t come back); uncontrolled lifestyle
pro’s and con’s of using animal subjects
(+): invasive; direct measurements of brain and behaviour; manipulate brain (lesions, drugs, long-lasting/short-lasting); comparative approach (human vs mouse); controlled lifestyle, simple NS, less ethical constraints
(-): cannot communicate; high maintenance = costly
evolutionary continuity and the comparative approach - how does it work and why?
- allows insights into the role of functional and behavioural differences
- there is homology in chemical and anatomical attributes.
- there’s a fundamental brain-behaviour interaction found across species.
similarities and differences between human and rat brain
- human more heavily distributed in cortex than rats
- rat more dependent on non-cortical structure.
- same connectivity between structures
- all neurophysiology is the same, so can be generalized
purpose of experiments and requirements
purpose: study causation
requriements: random assignment, manipulation of independent variable.
describe within and between subjects design
within: all subjects will experience all experimental and control groups. allows for comparison of subject to itself in all conditions - less individual bias, negative = more experience doing test.
between: subjects only experience one condition.
define quasi-experimental studies
when unable to assign groups due to ethical reasons, use pre-assigned groups.
only correlational, no random assignment, no control for confounding variables.
define case studies
focus on single subject; in depth; informative and valuable in combo w experiments/quasi-
cant generalize
use quasi-experimental findings in combination with experimental findings.
an example.
additional “real” experiment can establish cause –> effect relationship that quasi cannot provide.
ex: exposure to alcohol = decreased cell function = cant properly function = leads to death. alcohol interferes with vit B metabolism. Upon vitB supplementation degeneration slows, but brain won’t regenerate. alcohol still causes brain damage in vitB deficient
pure vs applied research
pure = conducted or learning new information applied = conducted to benefit humankind specifically.
6 divisions of biopsychology
- neural control of behaviour - direct/invasive manipulation and recording from brain
- behaviour on drugs - develop drugs to manipulate or treat brain
- brain damage - heavy focus on cerebral function
- effect of brain on peripheral physiology - understand effect of psych on body
- neural basis of human cognition
- human brain imaging - evolutionary biology of behaviour - evolutionary/behavioural
