Wood1.1 Credits lightning ©istockphoto.com/Soubrette Based on the Power Point Lecture Slides prepared by Jeffrey W. Grimm, Western Washington University This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law: any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network; preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or in part, of any images; any rental, lease, or lending of the program. Credits lightning ©istockphoto.com/Soubrette background texture ©istockphoto.com/Hedda Gjerpen person rock climbing ©istockphoto.com/Greg Epperson Wood1.1

Topics 1.1 What Is Biopsychology? 1.2 What Is the Relation between Biopsychology and the Other Disciplines of Neuroscience? 1.3 What Types of Research Characterize the Biopsychological Approach? 1.4 What Are the Divisions of Biopsychology? 1.5 Converging Operations: How Do Biopsychologists Work Together? 1.6 Scientific Inference: How Do Biopsychologists Study the Unobservable Workings of the Brain? 1.7 Critical Thinking about Biopsychological Claims Credits lightning ©istockphoto.com/Soubrette background texture ©istockphoto.com/Hedda Gjerpen Wood1.

Neurons and the Human Brain An amazingly intricate network of neurons Cells that receive and transmit electrochemical signals Credits brain ©istockphoto.com/Stephen Kirklys neuron ©istockphoto.com/ktsimage Wood1.

Neuroscience The scientific study of the nervous system May prove to be the brain’s ultimate challenge: Does the brain have the capacity to understand something as complex as itself? Credits person with thought bubble ©istockphoto.com/Digital Savant LLC brain ©istockphoto.com/Stephen Kirklys

The Purpose of This Chapter Biopsychology Neuroscience comprises several related disciplines. The primary purpose of this chapter is to introduce you to one of them: Wood1.

Four Major Themes of This Book 1 2 3 4 Thinking Creatively about Biopsychology Clinical Implications The Evolutionary Perspective Neuroplasticity 1. Thinking creatively about biopsychology Thinking creatively: Thinking in productive, unconventional ways (“Think outside the box.”) Base thinking on the evidence presented rather than on widely accepted views 2. Clinical implications Clinical: Pertaining to illness or treatment Study of diseased or damaged brains leads to new knowledge New knowledge leads to new treatments 3. The evolutionary perspective Evolutionary perspective: Consideration of environmental pressures that likely led to the evolution of our brains and behavior Important component of this approach is the comparative approach: trying to understand biological phenomena by comparing them in different species 4. Neuroplasticity What the adult brain is: A plastic (changeable) organ that continuously grows and changes in response to the individual’s genes and experiences What the adult brain is NOT: A static network of neurons Wood1.

What Is Biopsychology? Wood1.3

Defining Biopsychology What is biopsychology? Biopsychology is the scientific study of the biology of behavior. The term biopsychology denotes a biological approach to the study of psychology (the scientific study of behavior). Biopsychology is also called psychobiology, behavioral biology, or behavioral neuroscience. Credit text messaging ©iStockphoto.com/Freeze Frame Studio, Inc. Wood1.4

History of Biopsychology The Organization of Behavior D.O. Hebb (1949) Key factor in biopsychology’s development into a major neuroscientific discipline Proposed that psychological phenomena might be produced by brain activity Helped discredit the notion that psychological functions were too complex to be derived from physiological activities Hebb based his theory on experiments involving both humans and laboratory animals, on clinical case studies, and on logical arguments developed from his own observations of daily life. This eclectic approach has become a hallmark of biopsychological inquiry. Credit book ©istockphoto.com/Carmen Martínez Banús

What Is the Relation between Biopsychology and the Other Disciplines of Neuroscience? Wood1.3

Biopsychology’s Relationship to Other Disciplines of Neuroscience Neurophysiology Biopsychology is an integrative discipline. Biopsychologists draw together knowledge from the other neuroscientific disciplines and apply it to the study of behavior. Neuropathology Neurochemistry Neuropharmacology Neuroanatomy Biopsychologists’ behavioral orientation and expertise make their contribution to neuroscience unique. Neuroendocrinology

Disciplines of Neuroscience That Are Relevant to Biopsychology Neurophysiology Neuroanatomy Functions and activities of the nervous system Structure of the nervous system Neuroscience Neuropharmacology Neurochemistry Effects of drugs on neural activity Chemical bases of neural activity Neuropathology Neuroendocrinology Nervous system disorders Interactions between the nervous system and the endocrine system

What Types of Research Characterize the Biopsychological Approach? Wood1.

Biopsychological Research Three dimensions along which biopsychological research varies: SUBJECTS METHODS TYPES OF RESEARCH Human Nonhuman Experiments Nonexperiments Pure Applied

Advantages of Human and Nonhuman Subjects They can follow instructions. They can report their subjective experiences. They are often cheaper to work with. They have a human brain. Simpler brains make it more likely that brain- behavior interactions will be revealed. Insights arise from the comparative approach – making comparisons with other species. There are fewer ethical restrictions. Many questions about the biology of behavior are addressed using human subjects. However, much can be learned from studying the brains of other species, since species differences are often more quantitative than qualitative. The ethics of both human and animal research is carefully scrutinized by independent committees. Credits one person silhouette Derek Borman white rat ©iStockphoto.com/Elena Butinova

Experiments Used to determine cause-and-effect relationships Between- and within-subjects designs Independent and dependent variables (e.g., type of dog and level of fear) Experiments involve the manipulation of variables. Experiments involving living subjects require that subjects be placed in various conditions: Between-subjects design: A different group of subjects is tested under each treatment condition of an experiment. Within-subjects design: The same group of subjects is tested under each condition. Independent variables are set or manipulated by the experimenter; these manipulations produce the different treatment conditions in an experiment. Dependent variables reflect the subject’s behavior; this is what the experimenter measures to assess the effect of the independent variable. The experimenter tries to conduct the experiment so that the independent variable is the only thing that varies between each treatment condition. In a well-designed experiment, the experimenter can conclude that any differences in the dependent variable between the various treatment conditions were caused by the independent variable. Credits barking dog ©iStockphoto.com/Yuriy Zelenenkyy little dog ©iStockphoto.com/Eric Isselée heartbeat animation Derek Borman one person silhouette

? ? ? ? ? ? Confounded Variables Dependent variable Dependent variable Unintended differences between conditions that can influence the dependent variable Can be difficult to eliminate Can make experiments difficult to interpret Hard to tell how much of the effect on the dependent variable was caused by the independent variable and how much was caused by the confounded variable Independent variable Confounded variable ? ? ? ? ? ? Dependent variable Dependent variable Dependent variable Although the principle of good experimentation is conceptually simple, it is often difficult in practice to make sure that there is only one difference among conditions.

Example of Good Experimental Design Lester and Gorzalka (1988) Demonstrated the Coolidge effect in female hamsters Showed that female hamsters were more sexually receptive to an unfamiliar male than to the male they had already copulated with during an earlier test Coolidge effect: The fact that a copulating male who becomes incapable of continuing to copulate with one sex partner can often recommence copulating with a new sex partner Lordosis: The arched-back, rump-up, tail-diverted posture of female rodent sexual receptivity Lester and Gorzalka argued that the Coolidge effect had not been demonstrated in females because it is more difficult to conduct well-controlled Coolidge-effect experiments with females—not because females do not display a Coolidge effect. Because the males of most mammalian species become sexually fatigued more readily than do the females, attempts to demonstrate the Coolidge effect in females are often confounded by the fatigue of the males. Lester and Gorzalka’s study controlled for this confounded variable. Credit Figure 1.3 Pinel 8e, p. 7

Quasiexperimental Studies Nonexperiments Quasiexperimental Studies Case Studies Studies of groups of subjects exposed to conditions in the real world Not real experiments as potential confounded variables have not been controlled Focus on a single case or subject (e.g. Jimmie G.) Usually more in-depth than other approaches Good source of testable hypotheses Major problem is generalizability: the degree to which results can be applied to other cases Sometimes it is impossible to conduct controlled experiments ethical or technical reasons. In a quasiexperimental design, researchers examine subjects in real-world situations who have self-selected into specific conditions (e.g., excessive alcohol intake); in a sense, these subjects have assigned themselves to treatment conditions. The major shortcoming of a quasiexperimental study is that although researchers can examine relations between the variables of interest (e.g., alcohol consumption’s relation to brain damage), a quasiexperimental study cannot control for potential confounding variables. Therefore, it does not allow a researcher to establish direct cause-and-effect relationships.   Case studies are scientific studies that focus on a single subject. The main problem with case studies is their generalizability: because humans differ from one another in both brain function and behavior, it is important to be skeptical of any biopsychological theory based entirely on a few case studies.

Pure and Applied Research Many research projects have elements of both approaches. Pure Research: Conducted for the purpose of acquiring knowledge Applied Research: Intended to bring about some direct benefit to humankind Pure and applied research are defined by the motivation of the researcher. Many scientists believe that pure research will ultimately prove to be of more practical benefit than applied research. However, pure research is more vulnerable to political regulation because politicians and the voting public have difficulty understanding why research of no immediate practical benefit should be supported.

What Are the Divisions of Biopsychology? Wood1.

Six Major Divisions of Biopsychology Physiological psychology Neuro- psychology Psycho- physiology Cognitive neuroscience Psycho- pharmacology Comparative psychology Each division has a different approach, but there is much overlap. Wood1. 22 blue sky & clouds ©istockphoto.com/kertlis

Physiological Psychology Division that studies the neural mechanisms of behavior Uses direct manipulation of the brain in controlled experiments (e.g. surgical and electrical methods of brain manipulation) Subjects usually laboratory animals Strong focus on pure research Credit hand holding rat ©iStockphoto.com/sidsnapper

Psychopharmacology Similar to physiological psychology Focuses on the manipulation of neural activity and behavior with drugs Substantial portion of research is applied Although drugs are sometimes used by psychopharmacologists to study the basic principles of brain–behavior interaction, the purpose of many psychopharmacological experiments is to develop therapeutic drugs or to reduce drug abuse. Wood1. Credit pill background ©istockphoto.com/Fotografia Basica

Neuropsychology Studies the psychological effects of brain damage in human patients Cannot be studied in humans by experimentation; focuses on case studies and quasiexperimental studies Has focused on cerebral cortex, since it is most likely to be damaged by accident or surgery Most applied of the biopsychological subdisciplines Cerebral cortex: The outer layer of the cerebral hemispheres Neuropsychological tests of brain-damaged patients facilitate diagnosis, treatment, and lifestyle counseling (e.g., the case of Mr. R described in the text). Wood1. Credit brain ©istockphoto.com/Stephen Kirklys

Psychophysiology Studies the relation between physiological activity and psychological processes in human subjects. Typically uses noninvasive procedures (e.g. electroencephalogram, measures of eye movement) The usual measure of brain activity is the scalp electroencephalogram (EEG). Other common psychophysiological measures are muscle tension, eye movement, and several indicators of autonomic nervous system activity (e.g., heart rate, blood pressure, pupil dilation, and electrical conductance of the skin). The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is the division of the nervous system that regulates the body’s inner environment. Most psychophysiological research focuses on understanding the physiology of psychological processes, such as attention, emotion, and information processing, but there have also been a number of interesting clinical applications of the psychophysiological method. For example, psychophysiological experiments have indicated that people with schizophrenia have difficulty smoothly tracking a moving object such as a pendulum (see FIGURE). Adapted from Iacono & Koenig, 1983. Wood1. Credit Figure 1.4 Pinel 8e, p. 10

Cognitive Neuroscience Newest division of biopsychology Focuses on the neural bases of cognition Often employs human subjects Key methods are functional brain imaging techniques Cognition: A term that generally refers to higher intellectual processes such as thought, memory, attention, and complex perceptual processes. Cognitive neuroscience often involves collaborations between researchers with widely different backgrounds (e.g., biopsychology, cognitive psychology, computer science). Wood1. Credit PET scan ©istockphoto.com/BanksPhotos

Comparative Psychology Deals with biology of behavior Compares different species to understand evolution, genetics, and adaptiveness of behavior Uses laboratory and/or ethological research Areas of research that often employ comparative analysis: Evolutionary psychology Behavioral genetics Ethological research: the study of animal behavior in its natural environment. Evolutionary psychology: Understanding behavior through its evolutionary origins Behavioral genetics: Understanding the genetic influences on behavior Wood1. Credit DNA ©istockphoto.com/Mark Evans

Converging Operations: How Do Biopsychologists Work Together? Wood1.

Converging Operations Using multiple approaches to address a single question Strengths of one approach compensate for the weaknesses of the others Example: Korsakoff’s syndrome Characterized by severe memory loss Initially believed to be a direct consequence of the toxic effects of alcohol on the brain Subsequent research: Largely caused by brain damage associated with thiamine deficiency, although the damage is accelerated by alcohol Each of the six approaches to biopsychological research is not without its weaknesses; thus, biopsychological issues are rarely resolved by a single experiment or study, or by any single approach. Alcoholics often develop Korsakoff ’s syndrome because most of their caloric intake comes in the form of alcohol, which lacks vitamins, and because alcohol interferes with the metabolism of what little thiamine they do consume. However, alcohol has been shown to accelerate the development of brain damage in thiamine-deficient rats, so it may have a direct toxic effect on the brain as well. By exploring the possible causes of Korsakoff’s using multiple approaches, or converging operations, findings are more accurate. Credits green beer bottle ©istockphoto.com/Bjørn Heller bottle of vitamins ©istockphoto.com/Baris Simsek

Scientific Inference: How Do Biopsychologists Study the Unobservable Workings of the Brain? Wood1.

Scientific Inference The empirical method that biopsychologists use to study the unobservable Scientists measure what they can observe, use these measures as a basis for inferring what they can’t observe Brain activity is not directly observable (e.g., one cannot see a neuron firing or neurochemicals being released from neurons). This situation is no different than other sciences (e.g., physicists cannot see gravity, chemists cannot see evaporation); the effects of the processes are observable, but not the processes themselves.   Credits ruler ©istockphoto.com/Christopher Hudson woman observing & taking notes ©istockphoto.com/Claudio Arnese

Illustration of Scientific Inference: Perception of Motion Under Four Different Conditions Eye is stationary, and object is stationary; therefore, retinal image is stationary. No movement is seen. 1 Eye actively rotates upward, and Object is stationary; therefore, retinal Image moves up. No movement is seen. 2 Eye is stationary, and object moves down; therefore, retinal image moves up. Object is seen to move down. 3 Eye is passively rotated upward by finger, and object is stationary; therefore, retinal image moves up. Object is seen to move down. 4 The eye-movement example illustrates that biopsychologists can learn much about the activities of the brain through scientific inference, without directly observing them. Conclusion: Therefore, the brain sees as movement the total movement of an object’s image on the retina minus that portion produced by active movement of the eyes: It does not subtract passive movement of the eyes. Charlie: Can we divide these up somehow so each one comes onto the screen at once and they are bigger so you can really see each one (and so the conclusion is bigger as well)? done Credit Figure 1.6 Pinel 8e, p. 14

Critical Thinking about Biopsychological Claims Wood1.

Critical Thinking The ability to evaluate scientific claims by identifying potential omissions or weaknesses in the evidence The first step in judging the validity of any scientific claim is to determine whether the claim and the research on which it is based were published in a reputable scientific journal. In order to be published in a reputable scientific journal, an article must first be reviewed by experts in the field and judged to be of good quality. People should be particularly skeptical of scientific claims that have not gone through this review process, although the review process itself is not a guarantee that scientific papers are free of unrecognized flaws. Credit person thinking ©istockphoto.com/akurtz

Analysis: Subject: José Delgado Exciting account reported in popular press Many possible alternative explanations Morgan’s Canon: Give precedence to the simplest interpretation for a behavioral observation Subject: José Delgado Claimed a charging bull could be tamed using stimulation of its caudate nucleus The biopsychologist José Delgado implanted an electrode into the caudate nucleus of a bull. Each time the bull charged, Delgado used his hand-held transmitter to deliver an electrical stimulation to the caudate nucleus of the bull via the implanted electrode. This stopped the bull’s charge and after a few attempts, the bull stood tamely. Delgado and the popular press declared this a major discovery, the discovery of the caudate taming center. It was even suggested that caudate stimulation might cure human psychopaths. However, there are numerous ways in which brain stimulation can abort a bull’s charge, most of which are simpler or more direct, and thus more probable, than the one suggested by Delgado. For example, the stimulation may have simply rendered the bull confused, dizzy, nauseous, sleepy, or temporarily blind rather than nonaggressive; or the stimulation could have been painful. Credits paper clip ©istockphoto.com/Jon Patton folder ©istockphoto.com/kyoshino tabletop ©istockphoto.com/Andrew Cribb

Analysis: Subject: Egas Moniz Adoption for human therapy based largely on study of a single chimpanzee (Becky) Inadequate postoperative evaluation of human patients Procedure can produce undesirable side effects: amorality, lack of foresight, emotional unresponsiveness, epilepsy, urinary incontinence Subject: Egas Moniz Developed the prefrontal lobotomy, cutting connections between the prefrontal lobes and the rest of the brain to treat mental illness In 1949, Dr. Egas Moniz received a Nobel prize for developing prefrontal lobotomy. Moniz based his technique on a report that a chimpanzee (Becky) was easier to handle after part of her prefrontal lobes – large areas, left and right, at the very front of the brain – had been destroyed as part of an experiment. Various forms of the operation were devised, such as the transorbital lobotomy procedure, which was performed by inserting an ice pick-like device through the eye sockets, often in a doctor's office. Following the initial reports by Moniz of the operation’s benefits, it was performed on mentally-ill patients all over the world. No program of psychosurgery (any brain surgery performed for the treatment of a psychological problem) should ever be initiated without a thorough assessment of the effects of the surgery on a large sample of subjects from various nonhuman mammalian species. Moniz and others failed to carefully evaluate the consequences of the surgery in the first patients to undergo the operation. The early reports that the operation was therapeutically successful were based on the impressions of the individuals who were the least objective—the physicians who had prescribed the surgery and their colleagues. Credits paper clip ©istockphoto.com/Jon Patton folder ©istockphoto.com/kyoshino tabletop ©istockphoto.com/Andrew Cribb

The Prefrontal Lobotomy The leucotome was inserted six times into the patient’s brain with the cutting wire retracted. FIGURE 1: The right and left prefrontal lobes, whose connections to the rest of the brain are disrupted by prefrontal lobotomy FIGURE 2: The prefrontal lobotomy procedure developed by Moniz and Lima FIGURE 3: The transorbital procedure for performing prefrontal lobotomy After each insertion, the cutting wire was extruded and the leucotome rotated to cut out a core of tissue. Credits Figure 1.7 Pinel 8e, p. 16 Figure 1.8 Figure 1.9 Pinel 8e, p. 17

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Acknowledgments Slide Image Description Image Source template lightning ©istockphoto.com/Soubrette background texture ©istockphoto.com/Hedda Gjerpen ch01 image person rock climbing ©istockphoto.com/Greg Epperson 3 brain ©istockphoto.com/Stephen Kirklys neuron ©istockphoto.com/ktsimage 4 person with thought bubble ©istockphoto.com/Digital Savant LLC 8 text messaging ©iStockphoto.com/Freeze Frame Studio, Inc. 9 book ©istockphoto.com/Carmen Martínez Banús 15 one person silhouette Derek Borman white rat ©iStockphoto.com/Elena Butinova 16 barking dog ©iStockphoto.com/Yuriy Zelenenkyy little dog ©iStockphoto.com/Eric Isselée heartbeat animation 18 Figure 1.3 Pinel 8e, p. 7 22 blue sky & clouds ©istockphoto.com/kertlis 23 hand holding rat ©iStockphoto.com/sidsnapper 24 pill background ©istockphoto.com/Fotografia Basica 25 26 Figure 1.4 Pinel 8e, p. 10 27 PET scan ©istockphoto.com/BanksPhotos 28 DNA ©istockphoto.com/Mark Evans 30 green beer bottle ©istockphoto.com/Bjørn Heller bottle of vitamins ©istockphoto.com/Baris Simsek 32 ruler ©istockphoto.com/Christopher Hudson woman observing & taking notes ©istockphoto.com/Claudio Arnese 33 Figure 1.6 Pinel 8e, p. 14 35 person thinking ©istockphoto.com/akurtz 36-37 paper clip ©istockphoto.com/Jon Patton

Acknowledgments 39 laptop ©istockphoto.com/CostinT table and wall 36-37 folder ©istockphoto.com/kyoshino tabletop ©istockphoto.com/Andrew Cribb 38 Figure 1.7 Pinel 8e, p. 16 Figure 1.8 Figure 1.9 Pinel 8e, p. 17 39 laptop ©istockphoto.com/CostinT table and wall ©istockphoto.com/David Clark