Introduction

Everything is psychologicalevery idea, every mood, every urge- is biological

- psychologists working from a biological perspective study the links between biology
and behavior
- humans are biopsychosocial systems (biological, psychological & social cultural
factors interact to influence behavior)
Phenology (Frans Gall)  bumps on the skull reveal our mental abilities and our character
traits; called skull readings
Now we know nerve cells conduct electricity and communicate through chemical messages
across tiny gaps that separate neurons; specific brain systems serve specific functions
and information is integrated to construct a wide range of experiences; through our
experiences the brain can change
Two primary systems that direct the activities of the body
- Nervous system: a vast network of nerve cells that work together; receives input
from our senses and then integrates it with past experiences and knowledge that we
have
- Endocrine system

Cells of the nervous system

When electrical impulses (action potentials) reach the axon terminal of the sending neuron,
they stimulate the release of these chemical messengers called neurotransmitters
Neurotransmitter then travel across the junction between the two neurons at a synapse
(synaptic cleft)
After diffusion across the cleft, they bind to receptor sites on the receiving neuron's membrane
and in doing so they pass on their excitatory or inhibitory messages
Neurotransmitters
(Chemical signal from the sending neuron triggers an electrical signal in the receiving neuron)
Different neurotransmitters have different molecular shapes (can only affect neurons whose
receptors match the shape)  can have different actions on the receiving neuron
- excitatory (increase the probability of firing AP)
o acetylcholine, glutamate, dopamine
- inhibitory (decrease the probability of firing an AP)
o GABA, glycine, dopamine
Re-uptake of neurotransmitter to the axonal terminal
Excitatory causes the ion channels in the cell membrane to open and positive ions will rush
into the cell causing depolarization and increasing the likelihood of an action potential
Inhibitory negative ions flow into the cell or positive ions flow out, but the result is that
membrane potential becomes more negative, and this decreases the probability of an action
potential
excitatory and inhibitory signals received by a neuron summate to determine what happens
Why study neurotransmitters?
- regulate many of our biological functions
- imbalances in neurotransmitters are associated with psychological disorders and
medical problems (ex. low levels of serotonin in the brain are associated with
 depression and anxiety and the neurotransmitter dopamine is implicated in
Parkinson's disease)
- researchers have discovered hundreds of substances that function as
neurotransmitters (ex. develop drugs to treat some medical problems that result
from malfunctions or imbalances in neurotransmitters)
o mimic the action of the neurotransmitter
o block the action of the neurotransmitters
Acetylcholine (excitatory or inhibitory)
- excites skeletal muscles (movement)
- Inhibits heart muscles
- involved in learning and memory
- malfunctions in the acetylcholine system are associated with various effects
o Alzheimer's disease is associated with low levels of acetylcholine
o Muscle weakness has also been associated with malfunction of Ach
Dopamine (excitatory or inhibitory)
- involved in motivation, attention, and feelings of pleasure, as well as movement
- reward system
- many stimulants work by increasing dopamine in the brain
o cocaine, ADHD treatment like Ritalin also exert actions on the dopamine system
- Malfunctions in the dopamine system
o Parkinson's disease, low levels of dopamine
o Schizophrenia, increased levels of dopamine
Serotonin (inhibitory effect)
- involved in mood, appetite, impulsivity, aggression, and sleep
- Malfunctions in the serotonin system can cause mood and appetite problems
- Depression and anxiety, low levels
GABA (gamma aminobutyric acid, inhibitory neurotransmitter)
- control of anxiety
- neural inhibition of the CNS
- Malfunction in the GABA system can cause epilepsy
Norepinephrine
- eating habits, sleep, and arousal
Epinephrine
- metabolism of glucose energy and energy released during exercise
Endorphins
- relief from pain and feelings of pleasure and well-being
Drugs that act on receptors
Agonist chemical that mimics a neurotransmitter at the receptor site and strengthens its
effects
Antagonist chemical that blocks/prevents the neurotransmitter from binding to the receptor
Reuptake inhibitors prevent the neurotransmitters from being transported back into the
axonal terminal for recycling (activity/action of the neurotransmitter is prolonged)
Central vs. periphery nervous system
 - adult brain has about 86 billion neurons
- brain accounts for only about 2% of our body weight but it uses 20% of our body’s
energy
- made-up of neural networks and pathways that govern reflexes through a highly
efficient system of electrochemical transmission
Types of neurons
Sensory neurons (afferent) carry messages from the body’s tissues and sensory
receptors to your spinal cord then brain for processing
Motor neurons (efferent) carry information from the CNS out to your body's muscles
Interneurons located within the brain and the spinal cord, in-between sensory input
and motor output
Periphery nervous system
Somatic: voluntary movement and receiving/processing sensory information
Autonomic: involuntary movement
Sympathetic: fight or flight; mobilize our bodies resource is to respond to
a stressor. ex. increase heart rate, respiration, blood pressure, and decrease
digestive and eliminative processes; endocrine system release hormones into
the blood: adaptive evolutionary advantage
Parasympathetic: returns the body to normal functioning; ex. heart rate
slows, blood pressure decreases, digestive and eliminative processes continue

Central command centre

Localization of function: specialization of various parts of the brain for particular functions
Hindbrain
- generates most of your vital bodily processes
- Consists of the medulla, pons, reticular formation, and the cerebellum
o Medulla
 essential autonomic functions
 ex. heartbeat, breathing rate, blood pressure, coughing, and swallowing
o Reticular formation (RAS)
 crucial in arousal, attention, and consciousness; when it slows down, we
go to sleep (some info can still be passed through when we’re asleep)
 filter/screen incoming information to the brain
 (Between the medulla and pons)
o Pons
 connects the left and the right halves of the cerebellum
 involved in body movement and in dreaming
 role in relaying sensory information to higher brain structures
o Cerebellum
 receives information from the sensory systems, the spinal cord, and
other parts of the brain and it regulates motor movements
 coordination of fine muscle movements and balance
Forebrain (largest and most prominent part of the human brain)
- Thalamus
 o receives sensory input and directs it to an appropriate cortical region
o involved in learning and memory; it's located at the top of the brainstem;
resembles two egg shaped structures
o info travels from your senses to the thalamus and then to the area of the
cerebral cortex that handles that information
- Hypothalamus
o controls the autonomic nervous system
o control centre for many essential survival behaviours
o ex. hunger, thirst, sexual behavior, and a variety of emotional behaviors
o involved in the limbic system
o regulates our internal body temperature and our biological clock
o governs the endocrine system via the pituitary gland
- Limbic system (Emotional memory)
o responsible for emotions, learning, and memory (composed of 3 structures)
 Amygdala
 emotion
 aggression/fear responses
 various aspects of learning
 damage is associated with a loss of awareness of the individuals
own emotions responding inappropriately and no fear
 Hippocampus
 essential for the formation of long-term memories and spatial
navigation
 Hypothalamus
 bodily maintenance, rewards, controls the endocrine system
*Pituitary gland is considered the master gland of the body
 Cingulate gyrus: focus attention and danger
 Active for physical pain and ostracism (social shunned)
Cerebral hemispheres
o fissure in the middle that divides the brain into right and left hemispheres
o connected via the corpus callosum
o control opposite sides of the body (separate areas of specialization)
Corpus callosum neural fibers connecting the left and the right cerebral (white matter)
Cerebral cortex
o outermost layer of the brain (0.5cm) composed of gray matter
o responsible for regulating most of our complex behavior
o ex. processing sensations, motor control, and higher mental processes like language and
cognition
o Convolutions (folds) allow it to maximize its surface area
**different parts of the brain do communicate with each other
Frontal lobes
- Frontal association areas
o thinking, motivation, planning, impulse control, and emotional responses
 o case study of Phineas Gage (metal through frontal lobe) provided insight
o damage causes impaired motivation, creativity, self-awareness, reasoning, and
suitable emotional behavior
- Motor cortex
o thin band located near the back of the frontal lobe
o initiating voluntary movement
o decussation
o homunculus: areas with fine motor movements have a larger area on the cortex
- Broca's area
o lower left frontal lobe
o important for speech formation
o damage causes difficulty producing language but not understanding it (Broca’s
aphasia)
Parietal lobes
Interpret bodily sensations ex. pressure, pain, touch, temperature, and location of body parts
- Somatosensory cortex
- thin band of cortex on the front of the parietal lobe
- receives information about touch and other skin and visceral senses
- decussation
- homunculus: areas with fine motor movements have a larger area on the cortex
Occipital lobes
- responsible primarily for vision and visual perception
- damage can produce blindness (eyes can be perfectly intact and the neural connections
from the eyes to the brain can be perfectly functional but if there's damage to the
occipital lobes then vision will be impaired)
Temporal lobes
- responsible for hearing and language comprehension (understanding speech)
o Auditory cortex
 processes incoming sound (sensory information) and sends it to the
parietal and frontal association areas for further processing
o Wernicke’s area
 responsible for language comprehension and producing coherent
language; located in left hemisphere
 “Word salad” incoherent words strung together Wernicke’s aphasia
o Temporal association areas
 important for memories of various sounds
 ex. allows you to recognize the sound of running water
Lateralization: each hemisphere is specialized for certain functions
Note: corpus callosum connects the two hemispheres so although one hemisphere may be
better at something than the other, they do work together and communicate with each other
Left hemisphere analytical, mathematical (language from Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas)
Right hemisphere visual-spatial information; recognizing and expressing emotions
 Endocrine system
- uses hormones from the bloodstream to carry messages
- controlled by the hypothalamus
- Functions to help regulate long term bodily process (growth); maintain on going bodily
process (metabolism); help control the bodies response to an emergency
- acts more slowly than AP’s but their effects last longer
Hormones chemicals synthesized by endocrine glands that are released into the bloodstream
and bind to target tissues and organs, producing bodily changes or maintaining normal
functioning (ex. testosterone, estrogen, growth hormone)
HPA axis; Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal-axis
(Stress response) Hypothalamus releases corticotropin-releasing hormone, causes pituitary
gland to release adrenocorticotropic hormones, causes adrenal glands to release
glucocorticoids (ex. cortisol) (Negative feedback loop)
Pituitary gland (master gland) secrets many hormones that affect other glands (ex. thyroid,
ovaries, testes); also important for growth (influenced by the hypothalamus)
Hormones secreted by the pituitary gland:
thyroid stimulating hormone
adrenocorticotropic hormone (related to the stress response)
follicle stimulating hormone
luteinizing hormone
Pineal gland helps regulate sleep cycles and body rhythms; produces melatonin
Thyroid gland controls our metabolism; produces thyroxine
Dysfunctions influence weight gain (hypothyroidism) or weight loss (hyperthyroidism)
Adrenal glands responsible for activating the sympathetic nervous system; produces
epinephrine and norepinephrine (important in our stress response)
Pancreas regulates blood sugar levels by releasing the hormones: insulin and Glucagon
insulin decreases blood sugar; Glucagon increasing blood sugar
Dysfunctions: diabetes
Sex glands ovaries in females and the testicles in males; release sex hormones that make
reproduction possible and are also responsible for secondary sex characteristics

Research methods
CT scans  X-ray of the brain; fast, cheap, and non-invasive; used if somebody has head
trauma; disadvantages is that it exposes the individual to radiation
Positron emission tomography (PET)  use a radioactive isotope of some compound to track
changes in blood flow in the brain; tell the researcher which parts of the brain are active
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)  which areas of the brain are active while
performing a movement; tells us which part of the motor cortex is responsible for initiating that
motor movement
DTI tracks and images water movement
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)  uses magnetic fields to align water molecules and image
them to see what types of tissues are present; non-invasive, precise, no radiation
Expensive; can't undergo an MRI scan if you have any metal in your body
**These allow us to measure different aspects of the brain and study brain function in healthy
individuals (no longer need to rely on case studies)