Biology and Psychology

KNOWLEDGE CHECK: WRITE YOUR NAME AND

SCHEDULE ON YOUR PAPER THEN COPY AND ANSWER

 DEFINE THE TERMS DEPENDENT AND INDEPENDENT

VARIABLE IN THE CONTEXT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL
RESEARCH. PROVIDE AN EXAMPLE OF EACH
 DISCUSS THE STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS OF AT
LEAST 3 RESEARCH METHODS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL
RESEARCH. PROVIDE EXAMPLES OF SITUATIONS
WHERE YOU COULD FIND THEM USEFUL OR
UNSUITABLE.
 WHAT IS THE PLACEBO EFFECT IN PSYCHOLOGY,
AND HOW CAN RESEARCHERS MITIGATE IN ITS
INFLUENCE IN EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES?
Human Brain

 Weighs about 1,350 grams, has a pinkish white

color
 has about 1 trillion cells that can be divided into
groups- glial cells and neurons
Human Brain

 Glial Cells 3 functions (900 billion)

 Nourish and insulate neurons to prevent interference
from other electrical signals
 Directthe growth of neurons, and support mature
neurons
 Removes waste products that influence that growth of
neurons
Neuron
 Second group of brain cells.
 100 billion
 A brain cell with two specialized extensions. One extension is for
receiving electrical signals, and a second longer extension is for
transmitting electrical signals
 Functions
 Receive sensory information
 Control muscle movement
 Regulate digestion
 Secrete hormones
 Engage in complex mental processed such as thinking, imagining,
dreaming, and remembering
Structure and Function of a Neuron

 Cell body (soma) – large, egg shaped structure that provides fuel (oxygen and
nutrients, manufactures chemicals and maintains the entire neuron in working
order.
 Dendrites – branchlike extensions that arise from the cell body, they receive
signals from other neurons, muscles or sense organs and pass these signals to
the cell body
 Axon – single threadlike stricture that extends from and carries signals away
from the cell body to neighboring neurons, organs or muscles.
 Myelin sheath – looks like separate tube-like segments composed of fatty
material that wraps around and insulates the axon. Minimizes the leakage of
the electrical current being carried along the axon, thereby allowing
messages to be conducted more efficiently.
Structure and Function of a Neuron

 End bulbs or terminal bulbs. – looks like tiny bubbles that are located at the
extreme ends of the axon’s branches. Each end is like a miniature containers
that stores chemicals called neurotransmitters which a are used to
communicate with neighboring cells.
 Synapse – is an infinitely small space (20-30 billionth of a meter)that exist
between an end bulb and its adjacent body organ or cell body.

 200mph 1/50th of a second

 Afferent from senses to spinal cord (sensory neurons)

 Efferent from brain to muscles (motor neurons)
Sending information
 Neural Impulse – messages that travel within neurons at 225mph
 1. Feeling a sharp object – you feel it almost immediately
 Stimulus
 Skin has sensors
 Neural process
 Brain interprets

 2. Axon Membrane: Chemical gates

 Can open to allow electrical charged particles
 3. Ions: Charged particles
 Chemical particles that have electrical charges. Rule: opposites attract, and like
charges repel
 Potassium, sodium, chloride protein..
 Axons membrane separate negative to positive
Sending Information

 4. Resting State: Charged battery

 Positive outside, negative inside
 Sodium pump – transport that picks up any sodium ions that enter the axon’s
chemical gates and returns them back outside.
 5. Action Potentials: Sending information
 Action potential – a tiny electric current that is generated when the positive
sodium ions rush inside the axon. Inside become positive outside becomes negative
 6. Sending information
 Nerve impulse – series of separate action potentials that take place segment by
segment as they move down the length of an axon.
 7. All or none law
 If an action potential starts at the beginning from an axon, the action potential will
continue at the same speed segment by segment, to the very end of the axon.
 8. Nerve impulse
 Sequence of action potentials. Will return to the resting state immediately
 9. End bulbs and Neurotransmitters
 End bulb release neurotransmitters across the synapse to neighborin
Transmitter

 Is a chemical messenger that transmits information

between nerves and body organs, such as muscles and
heart.
 Heart pounding when angry, afraid.
 Talking, deciding thinking involves the release of
neurotransmitters.

 1. Axon end bulbs contains neurotransmitters

 2. Action potential reaches the end bulb and creates a mini
explosion. Transmitters are ejected and travel through the
synapse and reach the nearby heart muscle
Transmitter

 Strong emotions cause the release of EXCITATORY

TRANSMITTERS, which open the locks in the heart muscle
and cause it to beat faster.
 When you start to calm down, there is a release of
INHIBITORY TRANSMITTERS which block chemical locks in
the heart muscle and decrease its rate.

 CHEMICAL MESSENGERS THAT EITHER EXCITE OR INHIBIT

NEARBY BODY ORGANS.
Neurotransmitters

 Chemicals that are made by neurons and then used for

communication between neurons during the performance
of mental and physical activities
 1. axon end bulbs contains neurotransmitters, fires, travel
to the synapse and to dendrite.
 2. Each neurotransmitter has a unique chemical key that
fits and open only certain chemical locks to communicate
and to participate in so many different activities.
 Excitatory – open locks and activate neurons
 Inhibitory – close locks and turn off neurons.
Neurotransmitters

 Since neurons use this to communicate, any drugs that

acts like or interferes with neurotransmitters has the
potential to change how the brain functions. And how we
feel, think and behave.
GABA gamma amino butyric

 is the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central

nervous system. It helps the neurons recover after
transmission, reduces anxiety and stress.
 Which reduces energy levels and calms everything down.
Glutamate

 Is the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain. It is

required for learning and memory

 Low levels can lead to tiredness and poor brain activity.

Increased levels of glutamate can cause death to the
neurons (nerve cells) in the brain. Dysfunction in
glutamate levels are involved in many neurodegenerative
diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's,
Huntington's, and Tourette's. High levels also contribute to
Depression, OCD, and Autism.
Dopamine

 is responsible for motivation, interest, and drive. It is associated with

positive stress states such as being in love, exercising, listening to
music, and sex .
 also is involved in muscle control and function

 When we don't have enough of it we don't feel alive, we have

difficulty initiating or completing tasks, poor concentration, no
energy, and lack of motivation.
 High dopamine has been observed in patients with poor GI function,
autism, mood swings, psychosis, and children with attention
disorders.
Alcohol

 Alcohol suppresses the release of glutamate, resulting in a slowdown along your

brain’s highways.
 It mimics or closely resembles the GABA neurotransmitters
 What this means for you is that your thought, speech and movements are slowed
down, and the more you drink the more of these effects you’ll feel (hence the
stumbling around, falling over chairs and other clumsy things drunk people do).
 alcohol also increases the release of dopamine in your brain’s “reward center.”
 By jacking up dopamine levels in your brain, alcohol tricks you into thinking that
it’s actually making your feel great (or maybe just better, if you are drinking to
get over something emotionally difficult). The effect is that you keep drinking
to get more dopamine release, but at the same time you’re altering other brain
chemicals that are enhancing feelings of depression
Alcohol

 it slows down the processing of information from the eyes

, ears, mouth and other senses; and it inhibits the thought
processes, making it difficult to think clearly.
 Alcohol affects this center of movement and balance,
resulting in the staggering, off-balance swagger we
associate with the so-called “falling-down drunk.”
Dopamine:

 assists with the ability to experience pleasure

 . Dopamine is the feel good brain chemical and fuels
pathways for the brain’s reward / pain-pleasure systems
 When the eyes of a women that a man finds attractive
look directly at him, his brain secretes the pleasure-
inducing chemical dopamine, but not when she looks
elsewhere.

Chocolates

 "the taste of chocolate is a sensual pleasure in itself, existing in the same world
as sex." The reason? Chocolate stimulates the release of endorphins, natural
hormones produced by the brain, that generates feelings of pleasure and
promotes a sense of well being. Chocolate may also make a person feel better by
directly interacting with the brain. One of the ingredients in chocolate is
tryptophan, an essential amino acid needed by the brain to produce
serotonin. Serotonin is a mood-modulating neurotransmitter, the brain's "happy
chemical." High levels of serotonin can give rise to feelings of happiness.
 ENDORPHINS - Endorphins are produced as a response to certain stimuli,
especially stress, fear or pain.
 SEROTONIN - Helps shape mood, energy levels, memory, outlook on life, and the
experience of joy and contentment. Unmanaged anger, fear, and sadness are
associated with lowered levels of serotonin.
Marijuana
 The chemical in this plant that produces the altered states of consciousness is called
"delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol" or "THC."
 THC acts on cannabinoid receptors which are found on neurons in many places in the
brain.
 Cannabinoid receptors are activated by a neurotransmitter called anandamide. Like THC,
anandamide is a cannabinoid, but one that your body makes. THC mimics the actions of
anandamide, meaning that THC binds with cannabinoid receptors and activates neurons,
which causes adverse effects on the mind and body.
 These brain areas are involved in memory (the hippocampus), concentration (cerebral
cortex), perception (sensory portions of the cerebral cortex) and movement (the
cerebellum, substantia nigra, globus pallidus). When THC activates cannabinoid receptors,
it interfers with the normal functioning of these brain areas. In low to medium doses,
marijuana cause
 hallucinations
 delusions
 impaired memory
 disorientation.
Reflex responses

 Reflex is an unlearned, involuntary reaction to some

stimulus.
 Ex. Knee, pupil constrict/dilate, vomit after eating dangerous
food, heart rate, respiration, blood pressure
 1. Sensors. Sensors of the skin
 2. Afferent Neurons
 3. interneuron – makes connections between other
neurons
 4. Efferent neuron
Studying the Living Brain
 MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging,
involves passing nonharmful radio
frequencies through the brain. A
computer measures how these signals
interact with brain cells and
transforms this interaction into an
incredibly detailed image of the brain
(or body). MRIs are used to study the
structure of the brain
Studying the Living Brain

 The “f” in fMRI

(functional magnetic
resonance imaging)
stands for functional and
measures the changes in
activity of specific
neurons that are
functioning during
cognitive tasks, such as
thinking, listening, or
reading
Studying the Living Brain

 A PET scan, or
positron emission
tomography, involves
injecting a slightly
radioactive solution
into the blood and
then measuring the
amount of radiation
absorbed by brain
cells called neurons
Nervous System: Organization of the
Brain
 Central Nervous System (CNS)
 You are able to do complex cognitive functions – thinking,
speaking, reading, moving feeling, seeing, hearing
 Made up of the brain and the spinal cord
 From the bottom of the brain emerges the spinal cord, which is
made up of neurons and bundles of axons and dendrites that carry
information back and forth between the brain and the body.
Nervous System: Organization of the
Brain
 Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)
 You are able to move your muscles, receive sensations
from your body, and perform many other bodily functions
because of the PNS.

 Includes all the nerves that which are located throughout the body
except in the brain in the spinal cord. Carries messages to and
from various muscles, glands, and sense organs located throughout
the body.
Nervous System: Organization of the
Brain
 PNS: Subdivisions
 Somatic Nervous System
 Consists of a network of nerves that connect either to sensory
receptors or to muscles that you can move voluntarily, such as
muscles in your limbs, back, neck, and chest
 Consists of afferent and efferent neurons
 Autonomic Nervous System
 Regulates heart rate, breathing, blood pressure, digestion,
hormone secretion, and other functions.
 Usually functions without conscious effort.
Nervous System: Organization of the
Brain
 ANS: Subdivision
 Sympathetic division – triggered by threatening or
challenging physical or psychological arousal and prepares
the body for action.
 Fight or Flight
 Our respiratory rate increases. Blood is shunted away from our
digestive tract and directed into our muscles and limbs, which
require extra energy and fuel for running and fighting. Our pupils
dilate. Our awareness intensifies. Our sight sharpens. Our impulses
quicken. Our perception of pain diminishes. Our immune system
mobilizes with increased activation. We become prepared—
physically and psychologically—for fight or flight. We scan and
search our environment, "looking for the enemy."
Nervous System: Organization of the
Brain
 Parasympathetic Division
 Returns the body to a calmer relaxed state and is
involved in digestion
, the parasympathetic system conserves energy as it
slows the heart rate, increases intestinal and gland
activity, and relaxes sphincter muscles in the
gastrointestinal tract.
 Major Parts of the Brain
 1. Forebrain – the largest
part of the brain. Has
right and left sides called
hemispheres which is
responsible for an
incredible number of
functions. Learning and
memory, speaking and
language, emotional
responses, experiencing
sensations, initiating
voluntary movements,
planning and making
decisions.
Major Parts of the Brain
 2.Midbrain – reward
pleasure center which
is stimulated by food,
sex, money, music,
looking at attractive
faces, and some
drugs, has areas for
visual and auditory
reflexes, such as
automatically turning
your head toward a
noise.
 Major Parts of the Brain
 3. Hindbrain
 Pons – means bridge. A bridge to
interconnect messages between the spinal
cord and the brain. Also makes chemicals
involved in sleep.
 Medulla – includes a group of cells that
control vital reflexes, such as respiration,
heart rate and blood pressure.
 Cerebellum – involved in coordinating motor
movements but not in initiating voluntary
movements. Also involved in performing
timed motor responses, such as those in
playing games or sports, and in automatic
reflexive learning, such as blinking the eye.
Control Centers: Four Lobes

 Cortex – a thin layer of cells that essentially

covers the entire surface of the forebrain

 Frontal Lobe – personality, emotions, and motor

behaviors
 Parietal Lobe – perception and sensory
experiences
 Occipital Lobe – processing visual information
 Temporal Lobe – hearing and speaking
 Frontal Lobe
 Largest of the brain’s four lobes.
 Located at the front part of the brain
 Functions: performing voluntary movements,
interpreting and performing emotional behaviors,
behaving normally in social situations, maintaining a
healthy personality, paying attention to things in the
environment, making decisions, and executing plans.
 Because the frontal lobe is involved in making
decisions, planning, reasoning, and carrying out
behaviors, it is said to have executive functions, much
like the duties of a company’s executive officer.
Frontal Lobe
 Motor Cortex – located at the back
edge of the frontal lobe. Involved in
the initiation of all voluntary
movements. Right controls left, left
controls right.

 Damage: disruption of personality,

emotional swings, attention,
remembering decision making,
planning and organizing
Frontal Lobe
 Parietal Lobe
 Located behind the frontal lobe.
 Functions in processing sensory information
from body parts, which includes touching,
locating positions of limbs, and feeling
temperature and pain, and attending to
perceiving and analyzing objects in space.
 Somatosensory cortex – processes sensory
information about touch, location of limbs,
pain, and temperature. Right receives from
the left side of the body. Left from right
Parietal Lobe: Damage

 Cannot recognize common objects by touch or feel

 Temporal Lobe:

Located directly below the

parietal lobe
Involves in hearing, speaking,
coherently, and understanding
verbal and written material.
 Temporal Lobe

 Primary auditory cortex – receives electrical

signals from receptors in the ears and transforms
these signals into meaningless sound sensations,
such as vowels and consonants.
 Individual sounds, noises clicks
 Auditory association area – transforms basic
sensory information such as noises or sounds,
into recognizable auditory information such as
words or music.
 Temporal Lobe
 Broca’s Area (Paul Broca) – located at the
left frontal lobe, necessary for combining
sounds into words and arranging words into
meaningful sentences.
 Speech production
 Wernicke’s Area (Carl Wernicke) – left
temporal lobe. Necessary for speaking in
coherent sentences and for understanding
speech.
 Language comprehension,
interpretation
 Broca’s Aphasia – damage in that area. A person cannot speak in fluent
sentences but can understand written and spoken words.
 For example, a patient was asked, “What have you been doing in the
hospital?” The patient answered, “Yes, sure. Me go, er, uh, P.T. non
o’cot, speech . . . two times . . . read . . . wr . . . ripe, er, rike, er,
write . . . practice . . . get-ting better”

 Wernicke’s Aphasia – difficulty in understanding spoken and written

words and difficulty in putting words into meaningful sentences.
 “You know, once in awhile I get caught up, I mention the tarripoi, a
month ago, quite a little, I’ve done a lot well”
Occipital Lobe

 Processing visual information, which includes

seeing colors and perceiving and recognizing
objects, animals, and people.

 Primary visual cortex – which is located at the

very back of the occipital lobe, receives
electrical signals from receptors in the eyes and
transforms these signals into meaningless basic
visual sensations, such as lights, lines, shadows,
colors, textures.

 Visual association area – transforms basic

sensations into complete meaningful visual
perceptions such as persons, objects or animals.
Occipital lobe

 Visual agnosia – the individual fails

to recognize some object, person,
or color, yet has the ability to see
and even describe parts of some
stimulus.

 Neglect Syndrome – damage in

association areas of parietal and
occipital. Failure of a patient to
see objects or parts of the body on
the side opposite the brain
damage.
Limbic System

 What triggers wide array of emotional

responses
 They make up the core of the forebrain
 Involved with regulating many
motivational behaviors such as obtaining
food, drink, and sex; with organizing
emotional behaviors such as fear, anger
and aggression; and with strong
memories.
 Referred to as our primitive, or animal
brain
Limbic System

 Hypothalamus – regulates many motivational

behaviors, including, eating, drinking, sexual
responses, emotional behaviors, such as
arousing the body when fighting or fleeing. It
controls the autonomic nervous system

 Amygdala – receives all input from the senses.

Plays a major role in evaluating the emotional
significance of stimuli and facial expressions,
especially those involving fear, distress, or
threat.
 It helps the brain recognize potential threats and
helps prepare the body for fight or flight
Limbic System

 Thalamus – involved in receiving sensory

information, doing some initial processing, and
the relaying the sensory information to areas of
the cortex

 Hippocampus – is involved in saving many kinds

of fleeting memories by putting them into
permanent storage in various parts of the brain
 it plays an essential role in the formation of new
memories about past experiences