Lecture 1

Question 1

4 course themes

Answer 1

thinking creatively
clinical implications
evolutionary perspectives
neuroplasticity

Question 2

define biological psychology

Answer 2

biology of behaviour. role of NS in generating behaviours

Question 3

define neuroendocrine

Answer 3

hormones and behaviours

Question 4

define physiological psychology

Answer 4

neurochemical activity and how it affects behaviour

Question 5

define neurochemistry

Answer 5

how the chemicals that are released in the brain impact behaviour

Question 6

define psychopharmacology

Answer 6

specifically how drugs act on the body

Question 7

define neuropathology

Answer 7

studying diseased brains. how did tissue change cause behavioural change

Question 8

define neuropsychology

Answer 8

neurological psychiatric disorders. assessing what behaviours occur in the disorder.

Question 9

define cognitive neuroscience

Answer 9

like physiological psychology - except specifically on human brains

Question 10

define psychophysiology

Answer 10

assessing how brain changes ongoing physiology. peripheral changes due to something going on in your brain.

Question 11

define neuroanatomy

Answer 11

how brain changes due to development.

Question 12

define comparative

Answer 12

compare across species.

Question 13

pro’s and con’s of using human subjects

Answer 13

(+): communication; generalize human brain and behaviour; humans are low maintenance and cost effective
(-): non-invasive techniques; attrition (people don’t come back); uncontrolled lifestyle

Question 14

pro’s and con’s of using animal subjects

Answer 14

(+): 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

Question 15

evolutionary continuity and the comparative approach - how does it work and why?

Answer 15

• 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.

Question 16

similarities and differences between human and rat brain

Answer 16

• 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

Question 17

purpose of experiments and requirements

Answer 17

purpose: study causation
requriements: random assignment, manipulation of independent variable.

Question 18

describe within and between subjects design

Answer 18

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.

Question 19

define quasi-experimental studies

Answer 19

when unable to assign groups due to ethical reasons, use pre-assigned groups.
only correlational, no random assignment, no control for confounding variables.

Question 20

define case studies

Answer 20

focus on single subject; in depth; informative and valuable in combo w experiments/quasi-
cant generalize

Question 21

use quasi-experimental findings in combination with experimental findings.
an example.

Answer 21

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

Question 22

pure vs applied research

Answer 22

pure = conducted or learning new information
applied = conducted to benefit humankind specifically.

Question 23

6 divisions of biopsychology

Answer 23

1. neural control of behaviour - direct/invasive manipulation and recording from brain
2. behaviour on drugs - develop drugs to manipulate or treat brain
3. brain damage - heavy focus on cerebral function
4. effect of brain on peripheral physiology - understand effect of psych on body
5. neural basis of human cognition
   - human brain imaging
6. evolutionary biology of behaviour - evolutionary/behavioural