Biological Psychology

1
Biological Psychology

• Three major areas
• Level of Genes
• Level of the Nervous System
• Level of the Neuron

2
Basic Genetics

• 46 Chromosomes 23 from each parent
• Genes are located along these chromosomes
• Two genes determine each trait (one from each
  parent)
• Homozygous
• Heterozygous
• Dominant
• Recessive

3
Sex Linked Disorders

• Best examples are color blindness and hemophilia
• Due to differences in sex chromosomes
• Females have XX, Males XY
• Y chromosome is much smaller than the X
• Y chromosome is missing some genes that are
  located on the X
• A recessive gene located on the X chromosome may
  manifest because no dominant gene exists on the
  smaller Y

4
Evolution

• Survival of the fittest/Natural Selection
• Sociobiology

5
Level of the Nervous System

• Central Nervous System
• Brain
• Forebrain
• Limbic system
• Thalamus
• Hypothalamus
• Cerebral Cortex
• Midbrain
• Reticular formation
• Hindbrain
• Medulla
• Pons
• Cerebellum

• Peripheral Nervous System
• Somatic
• Afferent
• Efferent
• Autonomic
• Sympathetic
• Parasympathetic

6
The Brain

• Hindbrain
• Medulla breathing, circulation, swallowing
• Pons connects two halves of brain
• Cerebellum coordinates gross muscular movement

7
The Brain

• Midbrain
• Reticular Formation controls level of arousal
  and awareness
• Forebrain
• Limbic System control and direction of
  emotional behavior
• Hypothalamus arousal, food and water intake,
  sexual behavior
• Thalamus relays incoming information to the
  cerebral cortex

8
The Brain

• Cerebral Cortex
• Occipital Lobe Vision
• Parietal Lobe body senses
• Somatosensory cortex
• Temporal Lobe Hearing, some vision and emotion
• Frontal Lobe decision making, primary motor
  cortex

9
The Neuron

• Structure
• Soma/cell body
• Dendrites
• Axon
• Terminal buttons/Neurotransmitters
• Synapse
• Myelin Sheath

10
Action Potential

• The firing of nerves is not electrical, it is
  chemical
• Resting potential due to concentrations of
  sodium outside the cell and chloride inside the
  cell, the nerve has a relative negative charge
• Action potential gates on neuron open when
  stimulated, sodium rushes in causing a momentary
  positive charge. All or none.