BLOA STUDIES

Techniques to Study the Brain and Behavior, Neurotransmitters

Neuroplasticity

Localization

Hormones - Cortisol

Pheromones

Genes and Behavior

Kinship Studies

Evolutionary Explanation
Techniques to Study the Brain and Behavior, Neurotransmitters

● Antonova et al. (2011)

○ Aim: To investigate whether scopolamine affected hippocampal
activity in the creation of spatial memory
○ Methodology:
■ 20 male adults with a mean age of 28
■ 2 conditions; injected with scopolamine or placebo before
the experiment
■ Participants were placed in an fMRI where they were
scanned while playing a VR game called “Arena Task”
where they had to locate a pole in the arena
■ After learning the location of the pole, the screen turns
blank for 30 seconds
■ Participants were advised to practice the path to the pole
during this time
■ Once the arena reappeared, the participant is at a new
starting point and would have to use their spatial memory
to find the pole
■ Participants were trained for the game to familiarize
themselves
■ Their brains were measured for 6 trials
■ After 3-4 weeks, the participants returned to redo the test,
receiving the opposite treatment (repeated measures)
○ Results:
■ Scopolamine: Significant reduction in the hippocampus
compared to when they received the placebo
■ Acetylcholine plays a key role in the encoding of spatial
memory
Neuroplasticity

● Maguire et al. (2000)

○ Aim: To investigate whether neuroplasticity occurs in London cab
drivers, who must memorize 25,000 street names, landmarks,
restaurants, and hotels to earn a cab license
○ Methodology:
■ 16 healthy male taxi drivers had their brains scanned using
an MRI, which was compared with 50 non-taxi drivers
■ Cab drivers have been driving, ranging from 1.5 to 42 years
■ MRI uses magnets to track the flow of oxygenated blood to
see brain structure
○ Results:
■ The pixel counting revealed that the posterior (rear)
hippocampus was significantly larger in the taxi drivers,
while the anterior (front) hippocampus was larger in the
control group
■ The hippocampus is associated with memory, the posterior
is believed to be related to spatial memory and navigation,
which explains the differing brain structures
■ There was a positive correlation between years of
experience and the size of the posterior hippocampus
■ Maguire argued that the hippocampus may change in
response to environmental demands
Localization

● HM: Milner (1965)

○ Background:
■ HM was hit by a cyclist while crossing the street at the age
of 7
■ The accident caused him to experience epileptic seizures
from the age of 10 until 27
■ HM went into surgery at the age of 27 because the seizures
were bothersome
■ During the surgery, tissue from the temporal lobe was
removed, which includes the hippocampus on both sides of
the brain
■ The surgery stopped the seizures but caused new
problems; he was able to retrieve memories before the
surgery but cannot make new memories post-surgery
(anterograde amnesia)
■ HM’s retrograde amnesia diminished and was able to
remember up to 1 year before the operation
○ Aim: To better understand the effects the surgery had on HM,
specifically how the loss of hippocampal tissue played a role in
HM’s memory abilities
○ Methodology:
■ Milner used method triangulation (IQ testing, direct
observations, interviews with HM’s family and friends, and
cognitive testing such as memory recall and learning tasks)
■ Overtime, HM learned how to do the task, showing that he
could create procedural memories but he could not
remember doing the task (episodic memories)
 ■ Corkin later did an MRI to determine the damage that was
done to HM’s brain
○ Results:
■ It was found that the temporal lobe area, including the
hippocampus, had the most damaged
■ HM was able to form a cognitive map and had spatial
recognition as he was able to remember the layout of his
house as well as having the capacity for working memory
as he could carry out normal conversation
■ HM was also able to perform motor skills (procedural
memories) and showed improvement of new skills over
time, but never remembered learning the skill

Hormones - Cortisol

● Newcomer et al. (1999)

○ Aim: To investigate whether high levels of the stress hormone
cortisol interfere with verbal declarative memory
○ Methodology:
■ Participants were either employees or students from
Washington University Medical Center
■ They were given a clinical interview with a physician to
eliminate possible confounding variables
■ Double-blind lab experiment where the participants were
matched for age and gender to one of three conditions
■ 1st Condition→Participants were given high levels of cortisol
(160mg tablet) each day throughout the 4 days
■ The dose is similar to people experiencing a major-
stress event
 ■ 2nd Condition→Low levels of cortisol (40mg tablet)
■ The dose is similar to people undergoing minor
surgical procedures
■ 3rd Condition→Placebo (for control)
■ The participants were asked to listen and recall a prose
paragraph
■ The prose paragraph is different each day (over 3 days) with
the same level of difficulty
■ The participants were first tested without cortisol to form a
baseline
■ The participants were then tested one day after the pill and
again 4 days later
■ Another test was done 6 days later to ensure that there
were no long-term effects from the cortisol tablet
○ Results:
■ High cortisol levels negatively affected memory as
participants who received high levels of cortisol showed
worse performance in verbal declarative memory

Pheromones

● Zhou et al. (2014)

○ Aim: To investigate two potential human pheromones;
androstenedione (AND) found in male semen and sweat, and
estratetraenol (EST) found in female urine, influences sexual
behavior in humans
○ Method:
■ 96 participants; 24 heterosexual men, 24 heterosexual
women, 24 homosexual men, and 24 homosexual women
 ■ Participants were asked to watch stick figures walking on a
screen and determine their gender
■ While carrying out the task, the participants were exposed
to the smell of cloves
■ 3 conditions: cloves mixed with AND, cloves mixed
with EST, and control (non-scented cloves)
○ Results:
■ AND-biased heterosexual females and homosexual men
perceived stick figures as more masculine
■ EST-biased heterosexual males and homosexual females
perceived stick figures as more feminine

Genes and Behavior

● Caspi et al. (2003)

○ Aim: To determine whether 5-HTT alleles play a role in depressive
disorder
○ Methodology:
■ 847 participants from New Zealand with a mean age of 26
■ The participants were grouped into 3, depending on their 5-
HTT allele gene
■ 1st Group→Two short alleles
■ 2nd Group→One long and one short allele
■ 3rd Group→Two long alleles (normal 5-HTT gene)
■ The participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire
called “stressful life events” where they had to rate the
frequency of stress from 14 different stressful life events
(relationships, work, financial aspect, etc.)
■ They were also assessed for depression
 ■ The researchers then compared results from all 3 groups
○ Results:
■ Participants who had the mutated 5-HTT allele gene were
more likely to experience depressive symptoms and have
suicidal ideations than those with longer alleles
■ However, simply inheriting the mutated gene does not
explicitly cause someone to experience depression as a
stressful life event would have to trigger the individual
■ Inheriting a mutated 5-HTT gene would increase the
possibility of developing depression than those with longer
alleles because individuals with short alleles are susceptible
to low amounts of serotonin

Kinship Studies

● Bouchard Twin Studies

○ Aim: To investigate the heritability of intelligence in MZA twins
(raised apart) and MZT twins (raised together)
○ Methodology:
■ Throughout 20 years, a self-selected sample of 137 pairs of
MZT and MZA twins around the world were tested to
investigate the concordance rate for IQ and personality
■ They performed 50 hours of interviews, tests, and surveys
on the participants
○ Results:
■ IQ concordance rates were 69% for MZA and 88% for MZT
■ 70% of intelligence can be attributed to genetics and 30%
attributed to other factors
Evolutionary Explanation

● Wedekind (1995)
○ Aim: To determine whether one’s MHC would affect mate choice
○ Methodology:
■ 49 female and 44 male students from the University of
Bern, Switzerland
■ Each participant was categorized for their MHC and a
variety of MHC was included in the sample
■ It was noted if the women were taking oral contraceptives
■ The students also didn’t know each other since they were
all from different classes
■ The men were asked to wear a T-shirt for 2 nights and to
keep the T-shirt in an open plastic bag during the day
■ The men were instructed to do a few things:
■ Perfume-free detergent was given to wash clothes
and perfume-free soap for showering
■ They were asked to not wear any deodorant or
perfume
■ Refrain from smoking tobacco or drinking alcohol
■ To avoid spicy food
■ Refrain from doing sexual activity
■ 2 days later, the women were asked to rank the smell of 7 t-
shirts, each in a cardboard box with a smelling hole
■ Women were tested whenever possible in the second week
after the beginning of menstruation because they are most
odor-sensitive during this time and to use a nasal spray 14
days before the experiment to support the regeneration of
nasal mucus and to prevent flu/colds
 ■ 3 of the 7 boxes contained t-shirts from men with similar
MHC to the woman’s, 3 other boxes contained t-shirts from
men with dissimilar MHC, and 1 box contained an unworn t-
shirt as a control
■ The women were asked to score the odors of the t-shirts
based on intensity (1-10) and for pleasantness and sexiness
(1-10, 5 = neutral)
○ Results:
■ Women scored male body odors as more pleasant when
they differed from the woman’s own MHC than when they
were more similar