psychology

PSY-101: Principles of Psychology

Chapter 3: Biopsychology

SOMETHING TO REMEMBER: Everything psychological is biological!

● Our thoughts, memories, feelings, and behavior can all be traced back to the vast interconnected electrochemical network that is our nervous system

EVOLUTION BY NATURAL SELECTION ● Organisms that are better suited for their environment will

survive and reproduce ○ Their traits will get passed on

● Organisms that are poorly suited for their environment will die off ○ Their traits will NOT get passed on

● We are a result of at least 3.5 BILLION years of this evolutionary process

NEURONS ● The fundamental component of “us”

○ Everything you think, feel, or do is a result of the chemical messages being sent by neurons

● We could have as many as 1 TRILLION neurons throughout our entire nervous system

● They fire “all or none”

NEURONS We should grow familiar with the essential parts of a neuron: ● Dendrites, the axon, the myelin sheath, and terminal buttons

THE SYNAPSE: The space where neurons meet

NEUROTRANSMITTERS ● Chemicals that carry messages across the synapse to a

dendrite of a receiving neuron (e.g., dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, GABA)

● Different neurotransmitters have different psychological and behavioral effects. For example: ○ Dopamine: Pleasure and reward ○ Serotonin: Regulates mood (e.g., happiness) ○ Oxytocin: Love and social bonding ○ GABA: Calming

THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

THE NERVOUS SYSTEM ● Central Nervous System

○ Consists of the brain and spinal cord ● Peripheral Nervous System

○ Everything that branches off of the spinal cord ■ Somatic division: Responsible for conscious

voluntary movements ■ Autonomic division: Responsible for controlling

organs that function automatically

THE EVOLUTION OF OUR BRAIN ● The “first brain” (i.e., the central core)

○ Breathing, heartbeat, fight or flight response ○ Share with lizards, snakes, and birds

● The “second brain” (i.e., the limbic system) ○ Emotional responses, memory ○ Share with dogs and cats

● The “new brain” (i.e., the cerebral cortex) ○ Problem solving, social skills, language ○ Share with other primates (like chimps)

THE BRAIN

We should grow familiar with the basic function of each major lobe: ● Frontal ● Parietal ● Temporal ● Occipital

TO WRAP UP... The Astonishing Hypothesis

"A person's mental activities are entirely due to the behavior of nerve cells, glial cells, and the atoms, ions, and molecules that make them up and influence them."

● In other words… we are the result of a vast and complex association of neurons and their electrochemical reactions. ○ EVERYTHING PSYCHOLOGICAL IS BIOLOGICAL

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The material for these slides was adapted from:

Introduction to Psychology An open-access text written and edited

by multiple individuals and organizations

Greg Mullin, 2022 - Licensed CC BY - SA