HORMONES AND BEHAVIOR Psychology

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Introduction to Brain and Behavior
PSB 2000-06,07 Spring, 2007
When Tuesday and Thursday, 200-315
pmWhere 201 PSYInstructor Dr. Lisa
Eckel Office PSY 306 tel [phone] email
eckel_at_psy.fsu.edu Office Hours Tues Thurs
900 1000 am By appointment (my preference)

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Exams
There will be 4 sectional exams on the dates
shown on your syllabus. Each exam will consist of
50 multiple choice questions and 2-3 bonus
questions. Note that a documented medical excuse
is required to make up a missed exam.
Grading
Your lowest exam score will be dropped and the 3
highest exam scores will be used to calculate
your final grade. Because you will be able to
drop your lowest grade, there will be no extra
credit available. Your final grade will be
determined according to the following
scale. Plus/minus grades will be assigned
based on class attendance and participation
in review sessions.
A 90-100 B- to B 80-89 C- to C 70-79 D-
to D 60-69 F 59 or less
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Lecture Notes are on my Website
http//www.psy.fsu.edu/eckel/syllabuspsb2000.html

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Some questions you might be asking
yourself 1) Will I need a previous biology
classes to understand the material? - not
necessary - I will assume very little prior
science background 2) What can I do to
achieve an A in this class? - print the
lecture notes and read them prior to class -
read the relevant sections of the text book prior
to class - supplement the lecture notes in
class - ask questions if something isnt
clear - establish a study group - attend the
optional review session prior to each exam -
always come to class
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Chapter 1 Introduction

• Biological Psychology
• what is it?
• how is it studied?
• The Genetics of Behavior (1.2)
• what are genes?
• heritability

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Biological Psychology
What is it ??? The study of the physiological,
evolutionary, and developmental mechanisms of
behavior and experience with a special focus on
brain functions.

• What types of questions are addressed by those
  that study biological psychology ???
• how does the brain influence behavior?
• how does the environment influence behavior?
• what factors contribute to psychological
  disorders?
• what factors contribute to physiological
  disorders?
• how does one recover from brain damage?
• how does our immune system protect us from
  infection?

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The Genetics of Behavior

• What are genes ???
• units of heredity that maintain their
• structural identity across generations
• genes are aligned along 23 pairs of
• chromosomes (except the male sex
• chromosomes)
• chromosomes are composed of
• deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)
• 22 pairs of autosomal chromosomes
• 1 pair of sex chromosomes (XX or XY)

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• How do genes influence behavior ???
• by directing the synthesis of proteins that
  ultimately determine the
• development and properties of an organism
• single stranded DNA serves as the template for
  transcription of RNA
• one form of RNA (mRNA) is translated into
  proteins

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• How do genes determine our physical makeup ?
• Genotype is determined by the composition of
  your genes
• homozygous identical pair of genes (e.g.,
  ob/ob or OB/OB)
• heterozygous unmatched pair of genes (e.g.,
  OB/ob)
• Phenotype is the behavioral or physiological
  expression of your
• genotype.
• the ob/ob mouse is obese
• the OB/OB mouse is lean
• A dominant gene produces a strong phenotype
  whether
• homozygous or heterozygous.
• A recessive gene shows its effect only in the
  homozygous
• condition.

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An Example --- The Genetically Obese Mouse
ob/ob mouse
OB/OB mouse
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• Heritability
• an estimate of how much of the variance in a
  particular trait is
• determined by genes (range 0 to 1)
• all traits are determined by a complex
  interaction between genes
• and the environment
• in humans heritability is often studied using
  twins

• Monozygotic (MZ) Twins
• develop in the same placenta
• share 100 environment
• share 100 genotype

• Dizygotic (DZ) Twins
• develop in separate placenta
• do not share 100 environment
• share 50 genotype