Psykologins Ml

Biological PerspectiveLrandet and evolution.Det flesta komplexa organismer kan lra sig, and mste lra sig minst 3 viktiga saker:De mste veta vilka hndelser r and inte r viktig fr dess verlevnad and vlbefinnande.Vilken stimuli signalerar att en viktig hndelse ska skeOm dess responsen producerar positiva eller negativa konsekvenserHabituation: (tillvnjning): Minskad styrka p en respons frn en terupprepad stimulus. Lrandet kan inte verfras till nsta generation, men en lrd behavior kan leder till en mer framgngsrik behavior som frmja en art.

Klassisk BetingningIvan PoflovKlassisk Betingning: Att associera en stimuls med en annan.En stimulus framkallar en respons som tidigare hade bara kommit frn en annan stimulus.Biological PerspectiveHow the brain and other physiological processes affect and govern behavior. Neuroscience: (Physiological Psychology): Studies how the brains processes and other physiological functions are the basis for our behavior, sensory experiences, emotions and our thoughts.Genetics and behaviorEvolution and behavior

Evolution and behaviorQuestion: How much of our behavior is preprogrammed to ensure our survival?Evolutionary Psychology: How behavior and abilities have developed to adapt us to our environment in a way that ensures our survival.Biologically based mechanisms: take in information, processes it, and creates a response.I.e. speech, emotions, mating, aggression, altruism Evolution of adaptive mechanismsEvolution: A change over time in the frequency of certain genes in a given population (and the characteristics they produce). Natural selection: properties that raise the possibility of survival (and subsequent reproduction) have a greater probability of remaining in a population. With time the characteristic becomes more and more common within the population.Adaptation : Makes it possible for an organism to meet the demands from the environment and as a result raises the chances of survival and reproduction. AdaptionBroad adaptation: Learning a language, continuing behavior that is rewarded and avoiding behavior that is punished. (its not the behavior that is important , but the fact we are hard wired to work in this manner).Specific adaptations: Exist to solve environment specific problems such as securing safe food, avoiding spiders and snakes, cooperating with certain people.Adaptations that make people peopleLanguage: everyone has an inborn ability to learn a language...even deaf people. Language is central to human thought and communication.We are programmed to recognize and respond to human faces arranged in a specific way. (Frantz 1961).http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GK3ebhSmC4AWhen only a week old, babies can differentiate between 2 and 3 objects (indicates a primitive mathematic ability (Geary 1995)Social anxiety (fear of social disapproval) can be seen as an adaptive Mechanism (Baumeister and Tice, 1990)

Adaptations cont.Cooperation and belonging to a group is central for our survival. We have an exceptionally strong need to belong to a group and are afraid of being rejected or cast out of the group. Altruism: People have a tendency to help others (especially younger people). This tendency increases with closer relations. Basic emotions are universal to all human culture.Violence: A mans game? Man-man violence 30-1 compared to woman-woman violence. Hunting, sexual etc.

Adaptations continuedAltruism: Helping others with little obvious benefit to one self (Bernstein Et. Al 1994).Increases with relatednessMore prevalent when the target of the altruism is a childReasoning s that by helping the in-group it secures ones own gene poolUniversality of Emotion such is smiling, expression of anger etc.Violence: A mans game? Man-man violence 30-1 compared to woman-woman violence. Hunting, sexual etc.

Problem with this theory?Circular reasoning.Minimizes the influence of the social environment on the individual.Non-falsifiable. Can be used as an excuse for non-adaptive behaviour.

Genetics and behaviorHow much of our behavior is hereditary? Genotype: genetic programming of a organismPhenotype: an organisms observable characteristics

Studying behavior and geneticsPremises: 50% genetic material from each parent.Siblings: 50% possibility of having the same geneHalf-Sibling: 25% possibilityHow do genetic make-up and environment affect our behavior?Problem: How do we distinguish between genetic influence and environmental influence?

Adoption and TwinsHeritability coefficient: estimates the extent to which the differences, or variation, in a specific characteristic within a group of people can be attributed to genetic factors. Adoption studies: when people who were adopted early in life are compared on some characteristic with both their biological parents and with their adoptive parents (with whom they sharn no genetic material).Twin studies: compare trait similarities in identical and fraternal twins. Monozygotic twins share 100% DNA, Dizygotic 50% like normal siblings

Results of studies:

and

Good Siteshttp://psyc150allen.class.arizona.edu/content/biological-bases-psychologyhttp://netstof.dk/artikler/drugs-and-the-brainAxon

Crucial TerminologyResting Potential: negative ions inside cell compared to positive ions outside the cell. Neurons special in that sudden extreme changes can occur in the inside-outside voltage differentialAction Potential: The inside differential shifts from -70 millivolts to +40 millivolts. This shift is termed APThreshold: To cause this action the stimulus must reach response threshold.

Neuroscience TerminolgyNeurons and axonsSignalsSynapseNeuro transmitter (NT)ThresholdInhibitory and excitatoryMAOSpecific NT and behaviorEffects of drugs Action Potential

Terminology contdSynaptic Space: The space between terminal buttonsNeurotransmitters: chemical substances carrying messagesSynaptic vessels: where the molecules are stored in the terminal buttons.Receptor site: where the molecules are picked up, which continues the impulse.

Neurotransmitters and behaviorAcetylcholine Excitatory at synapses involved in muscular movementToo much acetylcholine is related to depression, undersupply produces memory loss in Alzheimers disease; absence produces paralysis.Dopamine Excitatory, involved with voluntary movement, emotional arousal, learning, memory, and experiencing pleasure and pain. Undersupply: Depression and Parkinsons disease. Oversupply related to Schitzophrenia. Neurotransmitters and behaviorNorepinephrine associated with Excitory and inhibitory functions at various sites; involved in neural circuits related to controlling memory, learning, wakefulness, and eating. Too little associated with depression, too much associated with schizophrenia.Serotonin Significant for moods, sleep, eating and arousal. May be related to relaying pleasure and pain. Too little serotonin is related to both depression and panic illnesses as well as OCD. Some anti-depressants raise serotonin levels at the receptor sites. GABA- Inhibitory transmitter in the motor systemUndersupply: tremors and loss of motor control as well as personality changesBiological methods of studying the brainInvasive and Non-invasive2 important categories to keep in mindInvasive: going into the brain physicallyDestruction and Stimulation techniquesNon-Invasive: scanning in other waysEEG:electroencephalogramBrain Imaging such as: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)CAT/CTRadioactive labelingPET (Positron emission tomography)

MRI

PET SCAN

A good videohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMKc8nfPATIhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esPRsT-lmw8Video 1 Bozeman video 2 daniel amen brain imagingThe Brain and behaviorBrain stem: Supports vital life functions i.e. Medulla: which runs the heart and respiration.

Pons: a bridge of sorts that sends nerve impulses between the higher and lower parts of the nervous system.Cerebellum : Muscle movement and coordination, but also plays a role in learning and memory. Midbrain: Clusters of sensory and motor neurons.Thalamus: a switchboard that organizes input from sense organs and routes the input to appropriate areas of the brain. Hypothalamus: A smaller group of neurons that partially control emotion and motivation, sex drive, temperature, sleeping patterns, eating, drinking, and aggression. The brain Continued:The cortexMotor Cortex: Controls more than 600 voluntary musclesSomatosensory cortex: receives sensations in form of nerve impulses. Also coordinates movement and balance

Motor Cortex

Somatosensory cortex

Localisation of function and the split brainSperry Experimenthttp://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/split.htmlLeft hemisphereLanguageMathematicsLogicEtc.

Right HemisphereSpatial understanding and abilityFacial RecognitionMusicalityMental images

Split Brain. Nr man klippa Corpus Callusum

Se split brainlnken p itslearning

Paul Broca (Brocas Area)

Brocas Area responsible for the production of speech.1860s in FranceRises out of the concepts of PhrenologyBased originally on case studies of 2 patientsLeborgne no intelligible speech.One syllable (Tan)Lelong 84 yo suffered strokeCould say oui, non,tois (misspoken trois)Tourjours,lelo (misspoken name)Upon autopsy, both have lesions in above areas of the brainBrocas Aphasia Symptoms: can include problems with fluency, articulation, word-finding, repetition and producing and comprehending complex grammatical structures, both orally and in writing.

Good Links for Brocashttp://brain.oxfordjournals.org/content/130/5/1432Paul Broca's historic cases: high resolution MR imaging of the brains of Leborgne and LelongN. F. Dronkers, O. Plaisant, M. T. Iba-Zizen, E. A. CabanisFindings briefly: that damage in other areas also contribute to the absolute lack of speech production.Therefore, it is possible that the aphemia characterized by Broca as an absence of productive speech was also influenced by the lesions in the region of the superior longitudinal fasciculus. Damage to Broca's area in both cases may, in isolation, have resulted in milder speech deficits, but would not likely have caused the complete and persisting disruption of productive speech in these cases.The Brain Continued: LanguageBrocas area: In the frontal lobe. Connected to the motor cortex and significant for speech formation. Wernickes area: Speech comprehension. Called Receptive Aphasia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKTdMV6cOZw&noredirect=1https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVhYN7NTIKU&list=PLzsjWkh3G2DbdebFNfHItKWgFP0xCdCVSSara scott brocas aphasiahttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zNKz7YoUaohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9z6eX85Zn4 6 years onGlandsEndocrine SystemReleases hormonesMade up of cells and neurons whichreact to specific hormonesMuch slower than nerve impulsesStays in the blood system a longer amount of time

56BasicsThe endocrine systemthe other communication system in the bodyis made up of endocrine glands that produce hormones, chemical substances released into the bloodstream to guide such processes as metabolism, growth, and sexual development. Hormones are also involved in regulating emotional life.

Glands in the endocrine systemThyroid: Releases Thyroxin, a hormone that can decrease concentration and lead to irritation when the thyroid is overactive. When underactive it causes drowsiness and a slow rate of metabolism.Parathyroid: Within the thyroid are four tiny pea-shaped organs, the parathyroids, that secrete parathormone to control and balance the levels of calcium and phosphate in the blood and tissue fluids. This, in turn, affects the excitability of the nervous systemEndocrine contdThe Pineal Gland:The pineal gland is a pea-sized gland that apparently responds to exposure to light and regulates activity levels over the course of the day. The Pancreas: The pancreas lies in a curve between the stomach and the small intestine and controls the level of sugar in the blood by secreting insulin and glucagon.The Gonads: These reproductive glandsthe testes in males and the ovaries in females, and, to a lesser extent, the adrenal glandssecrete androgens (including testosterone) and estrogens.

More endocrine systemThe Adrenal GlandeThe two adrenal glands are located above the kidneys. Each has two parts: an outer covering, the adrenal cortex, and an inner core, the adrenal medulla. Both influence the body's responses to stress. For example, in response to a stressful situation, the pituitary gland may release beta endorphin and ACTH, which, in turn, prompt the adrenal cortex to release hormones. Meanwhile, the autonomic nervous system stimulates the adrenal medulla to secrete hormones such as epinephrine into the bloodstream. Cortisol and Memory. Functions of hormones on human behaviour.Cortisol: produced by the adrenal cortex in response to stress.Prolonged stress may caused prolonged cortisol secretion.Can lead to damaged immune system, impairment of learning, impairment of memory.High amounts results in the atrophy of the hippocampus.Newcomer et al. Experiment on cortisol and memory.http://www.thinkib.net/psychology/page/3430/newcomer-et-al simple versionhttp://archpsyc.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1673779#tab4 actual journal article

Oxytocin and Trust: Baumgartner

Oxytocin and Trust: BaumgartnerMore precisely, the bilateral amygdala and functionally connected brainstem effector sites showed significantly increased activation in the placebo compared to the OT group in postfeedback trust periods. Moreover, both human neuroimaging (Domes etal., 2007aandKirsch etal., 2005) and animal studies (Huber etal., 2005) have shown that the neuropeptide OT decreases fear responses by modulating activation in the amygdala and brainstem effector sites. Finally, it has been reported that the amygdala shows increased activation during viewing faces of people that look untrustworthy (Winston etal., 2002) and that patients with bilateral amygdala damage judged other people to look more trustworthy and more approachable than did normal viewers or other patients with brain damage in other areas (Adolphs etal., 1998). Taken together, these findings are consistent with the view that OT reduces fear responses during the trust game by reducing activation in the amygdala and connected brainstem effector sites, which in turn enhances subjects' ability to trust in situations characterized by the risk of betrayal.Neuroplasticity and its implicationsEnvironmental factors that influence the brains physical structures.Dendritic branchingEnriched environment provides stimulationSocial interactionLearningExperiences processed by the brain resulting in an increased number of synapsesanimal researchCase studies on neglected childrenDendritic Branching

Rozenweig, Bennet, Diamond 1972

The role of environmental stimulation on brain plasticityRats placed in enriched or deprived environmentEnriched Condition (EC): 10-12 rats in cage with things to explore and play withImpoverished Condition (IC): One rat per cage and no stimulation.30-60 days in each condition

ResultsAnatomy of brains different for IC and ECBrains of EC rats had:Increased thickness and higher cortex weightEC rats had developed more Acetylcholine receptors which are important for learning and memory.

Evaluation of the studyWell controlled lab studyAnimal models present problems for validity to humansFollow up research showed 2 hours per day in EC produced same changes as EC groupEthical issues?? Justified?

Discuss two effects of the environment on physiological processeshttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229101/Above is Bremmer article about ptsd/childhood abuseInfo about the function of the hippocampus in simple languagehttp://psycheducation.org/brain-tours/memory-learning-and-emotion-the-hippocampus/Perry (1997)Read Article and make some notes about the interesting points.http://www.sakkyndig.com/psykologi/artvit/perry1997.pdf

ImplicationsLearning can produce new synaptic connectionsEnvironmental stimulus actually changes the physiology of the brainCase study, Alzheimers diseasehttps://www.alz.org/braintour/3_main_parts.aspExamine one interaction between cognition and physiology in terms of behaviour.Basically this question is asking how thinking and physiology (biological structure) are interrelated.Such as how biological structures affect thinking and cognitive reality.And how thinking (cognition) can affect biology.Cognition can be defined as internal mental processing. Amnesia and relevant case studies.Amnesia: The inability to learn new information or retrieve information that has already been stored in memory. Amnesia is the condition in which people lose their ability to memorize/recall information.

Connection to topic 2.6There is an interaction between biological and cognitive factors in amnesiaAmnesia has a biological cause (e.g. brain damage) and affects cognition (e.g. memory)In amnesia patients, episodic memory is affected to a greater extent than semantic memory.Episodic memories are memories linked to a certain time and place.Semantic memories are memories for the meaning of information.

CausesAmnesia can be caused by brain damage through:injurystrokesinfectionsspecific drugs usually sedativeClosed head injuriesBilateral strokesChronic alcoholism leads to Korsakoffs syndromeAlzheimers disease

Regions affectedDiencephalon (subcortical)Medial temporal lobe (cortical)Hippocampus

2 major types of amnesiaAnterograde AmnesiaImpairment in ability to recall new information after the onsetInability to form new memoriesAntero = newRetrograde AmnesiaImpairment in ability to recall old information before the onsetInability to recall old memoriesRetro = old

Supporting Study 3: Milner & Scoville (1957) HMBackground:H.M first fell off a bicycle at 9 years old resulting in brain damage.Epileptic seizures started at age 10Major seizures happened since age 16Drugs failed to control seizures

HM continuedMethod:At age 27 (1953) H.M had brain surgery to control his epilepsy and to stop seizures.He had a bilateral medial temporal lobectomy.They removed tissue from the temporal lobe, including the hippocampus.H.M. was studied extensively for 40 years.In 1997, researchers used an MRI scan

HM continuedResults:After the operation, HM had anterograde amnesia he was unable to create new memoriesNothing could be stored in his long-term memory (LTM).His childhood memories were intactMemories immediately before the operation were lost.His working memory was intact.MRI Scan Results (1997) Brain damage was pervasive and included the hippocampus, the amygdala, and other areas close to the hippocampus.

HMConclusion:The hippocampus is needed for memories to be transferred to long-term memory.Connection of study to questionThe case of HM reveals the interaction of cognition (memory) and physiology (brain damage in the hippocampus) in amnesia.Brain damage in relevant areas caused memory impairmentThis study suggests that certain brain regions are responsible for the cognitive process of memory

Supporting Study : Sacks Clive Wearing (2007)Another significant individual who suffered from a severe and rare case of amnesia is Clive Wearing, studied by Oliver Sacks (2007).Background:Clive Wearing was a musician who got a viral infection - encephalitis.This left him with serious brain damage in the hippocampus (biological cause), which caused memory impairment (effect on cognition)He suffered from anterograde and retrograde amnesia

Results:He could not transfer information from STM to LTM.His memory lasted 7-30 seconds, and he was unable to form new memories.Wearing still had the ability to talk, read, write, conduct and sight-read music (procedural knowledge)Wearings episodic memory and some of his semantic memory were lost.MRI scans of Wearings brain showed damage to the hippocampus and some of the frontal regions.

Conclusion:The case of Clive Wearing provides insight into the biological foundation of different memory systems, which is a cognitive process.Wearings case highlights the interaction between cognition and physiology as it establishes the link by illustrating the effect of physiological causes in the brain (brain damage occurring in hippocampi region, on the social and cognitive interactions of the individual.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c62C_yTUyVg

Evaluation:

Conclusion:

Concluding thoughts about amnesia and the topic.In amnesia patients, damage to certain brain areas impaired the patients' memory, therefore supporting the idea of the interaction between the physiology (of the brain) and cognition (of memory) in amnesia.Therefore, amnesia has a bidirectional relationship between its physiological cause occurring in the brain and the cognitive process of memory.

The effect of meditation on brain structure: cortical thickness mapping and diffusion tensor imaging. Hyung-Kang et.al 2013METHODSA total of 46 meditation practitioners (16 men and 30 women) and 46 control subjects (17 men and 29 women) participated in the study.Most meditation practitioners were individuals trained with BWV, a meditation practice that combines ancient Eastern philosophy with modern scientific methods to elevate human awarenessThe mean duration of meditation practice was 41.2327.57 months.Control subjects had no previous experience with meditation or similar practices.Study continuedBrain imagingData acquired using MRI

FindingsMeditators had thicker cortex in the anterior portions of the brain, located in the frontaltemporal region, including bilateral ventromedial PFC, superior frontal cortex and middle and interior temporal cortices than controlsMeditators compared with controls had thinner cortex in the posterior portions of the brain, located in parietaloccipital region, including bilateral postcentral and inferior parietal cortices and left posterior cingulate cortex.EVALUATION OF STUDY: ConsVague grouping of term Meditation Practitioner. Varied times of meditation.Not a well controlled groupI.e. hours per day, thoughts during meditation and so on.Correlational, not causational.Are their brains different so that is why they seek meditation?Or does Meditation cause the difference. If so, how?

Eval: ProsWell organized Lab studyPrecise with MRIProbably repeatable, but the participants poses a problemEthical guidelines followed (volunteers) , etcTie to 2.6A link shown between thinking (cognition) and actually changing the physiology of the brain.Thus proof of and interaction between cognition and physiologyWeaknesses with the Biological PerspectiveReductionistic: We are bio-machines.Difficult to differentiate between natural and cultural factors when considering behavior. A lot is based on tests on animals. Brings into question the validity to humans. Treatment is first and foremost medical.(often effectivebut there is more)

Strengths with the biological perspectiveScientificDependablePracticalClearly proven to a certain extent. Clear and obvious connections between our biological functions and our behavior.Effective in a wide range of treatments.